Jesus Christ.
My heart is still pounding. I think my hands are literally shaking right now. Just got back from the theater and I can't... I can't get those images out of my head. The vampire. Count Orlok. That face. Those eyes.
I jumped. Actually jumped out of my seat when he appeared in that doorway. The whole theater gasped. Some girl even dropped her popcorn. The sound of it hitting the floor was like... punctuation to the horror. And the theater was SO DARK. Like, they actually dimmed the lights more than usual. Smart. Evil, but smart.
The shadows in this movie. God, the shadows. They're not just shadows. They're alive. They breathe. There's this one shot where Orlok's shadow stretches across the entire wall, but his body isn't even in the frame. It's just this elongated, distorted thing with claws. And it moves. It MOVES independently. I can't stop thinking about it. It's like the shadow is the real monster and the body is just... a vessel.
My apartment is going to feel so empty and unsafe tonight. I keep looking at the corners of my room. Every shadow looks wrong now. Reminds me of when I was a kid and my parents would leave the hall light on just enough to cast weird shapes in my bedroom. I used to think there were monsters in the closet. I'd sleep with my blankets pulled up to my chin, sweating, but too scared to move. One time I actually...
But this was worse. So much worse.
The sound design. The way they used silence. The theater was so quiet you could hear people breathing. And then that score would kick in. Not jump scare music. Just this low, guttural hum that vibrated through the floor. Through my bones. I felt it in my teeth.
And Lily-Rose Depp. Ellen. Her performance. The way her body contorted when she was having those visions. I thought it was brilliant at the time, but now that I'm thinking about it... was it too much? Was it trying too hard? I don't know. I don't know anymore. My brain is scrambled eggs.
Theater experience was weird though. Some guy two rows down kept checking his phone. Bright blue light in the darkness. Ruining the immersion. I wanted to throw my drink at him. But then I thought... maybe he needed to check. Maybe someone was sick. Or maybe he was just an asshole. Probably an asshole.
The cinematography. Every frame looks like a painting. A really, really disturbing painting. But there's this one moment. This ONE moment that's burned into my retinas. When Orlok is standing on the ship, and the camera is below him, looking up. And he's just this silhouette against this sickly yellow sky. His fingers are long. Too long. And they're curled like... like spider legs. And he doesn't move. He just stands there. For like, ten full seconds. Just breathing. You can see his chest moving under that coat. That's it. That's the moment. I can't unsee it.
I keep thinking about how they did the effects. Practical? CGI? Does it even matter? It worked. It worked too well.
The ending. God, the ending. I'm not going to spoil it but... I didn't breathe for like, a full minute. The entire theater was silent when the credits rolled. No one moved. We were all just... frozen. Then someone coughed and it was like a spell was broken. Everyone started shuffling out, looking dazed.
I had to walk through the parking garage to my car. Alone. At 1 AM. Bad idea. Really bad idea. Every shadow looked like him. Every sound was his footsteps. I practically ran to my car. Fumbled with the keys. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely get the key in the lock.
This is going to sound stupid but... I keep looking at my neck. Like, in the mirror. Checking for marks. I know it's just a movie. I know it's not real. But...
And that final shot. The way the light hits the dust motes in the room. The way it all just... stops. The stillness. The finality of it.
I think I need to watch something happy now. Like, a cartoon. Or cat videos. Lots and lots of cat videos.
8.5/10
-Alex
Trailer English - https://youtu.be/nulvWqYUM8k?si=-53BXYGtXtUVak5G
Review English - https://youtu.be/y7ElL5U4VmU?si=uXDFaE43p3P2KnA7
Review Hindi - https://youtu.be/dUvhE2o2mSY?si=ClxK4-hcwizxLRyG
EXPLANATION hindi - https://youtu.be/aCIDs_AU4s4?si=oxTHXMG9mpdalEax
EXPLANATION english - https://youtu.be/7QLt6BYwYY4?si=kBv-_BOs0i-a_ioE