Robert Eggers discusses Batman Returns influences on Nosferatu

[The Laughing Fish]

Robert Eggers's darkly beautiful remake of the silent 1922 horror classic Nosferatu is a hit with critics and audiences alike, with many praising its stunning visuals, intense performances, gothic atmosphere, and neverending sense of dread. Set in 19th-century Europe, 2024's Nosferatu tells the story of the ancient and reclusive Count Orlok and his bloody quest to make an innocent young woman his eternal bride. While on its surface, the film has little in common with Tim Burton's 1992 superhero flick Batman Returns – other than the fact that they're both helmed by visionary directors – a closer look reveals that there are actually a fair number of similarities between the two films.

In fact, this is something that was confirmed by Eggers himself, who stated recently on an episode of the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, "I was watching on one of these flights... I threw on Batman Returns and, like, snowy, gothic, atmosphere of that movie is, it's quite like, shockingly similar to a lot of the stuff we were doing here, which is something that I never really considered at all. But Wayne Manor, like, doesn't look a hell of a lot different than Grűnewald Manor. I have got to say except for falling apart. So that was kind of interesting."

Once you see the similarities, it becomes difficult to unsee them. While Eggers doesn't outright say that Batman Returns directly influenced the aesthetics of Nosferatu, it's possible that certain elements from Burton's film crept into his thinking from a previous viewing of the film without his realizing it. Or it may simply be an example of parallel thinking; after all, both Burton and Eggers have used heavy gothic elements in almost all of their respective films, though Burton's use of the moody visual style tends to lean a slightly more playful direction than Eggers.

https://web.archive.org/web/20250210222416/https://comicbook.com/movies/news/nosferatu-robert-eggers-batman-returns-connection-explained/




I saw Nosferatu a little over a month ago. The story was quite out there, but visually it's a masterpiece - the kind of film you could pause on a shot and have it as a picture hung up on your wall. I would have to agree with the assertion that Eggers and Burton's gothic and artistic sensibilities, from scene composition to lighting, perhaps made the comparisons with BR more coincidental than anything. Nevertheless, it shows what a unique film that BR still is, that even film students and film directors still talk about it to this day as a piece of art. It's a reminder that not many superhero films can do that.