Sacred Bones Records and Back Lot Music release the original motion picture soundtrack to Nosferatu (2024), by Robin Carolan. The film, written for the screen and directed by Robert Eggers, is based on the classic 1922 silent movie of the same name, which is itself ‘loosely’ based on Bram Stoker’s timeless novel, Dracula. Although the vampire was named Count Orlok in the original Nosferatu, too many similarities meant that the Stoker estate objected and, consequently, it was ordered that all copies should be destroyed. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, so we still have that visual masterpiece of a movie to enjoy today – remastered by the British Film Institute (among others). If we didn’t have that film, we certainly wouldn’t have had this one, which is said to pay tribute to the styling and set-pieces of the classic whilst offering its own ‘haunting, gothic-infused’ stance. The movie – which premiered in America last December and the UK the following month – stars Bill Skarsgard, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, RalphIneson, Simon McBurney and Willem Dafoe.

So, what about the music then, I hear you ask. Well, let me say first of all that there are too many tracks – a massive 51! It opens with the representation of a music box style and eases us into the gothic setting, before hinting in the sinister 'Herr Knock' and 'Incantation' with what is to come. The romanticism and stark fear come through, as you would expect in a grand operatic yet somewhat claustrophobic setting. However, what comes through just as much is an underlying sadness and melancholy, the music playing with the listener’s emotions somewhat. It’s not surprising the composer has managed to create so many different nuances within the 1800s setting of the film. Carolan worked previously with Eggers on The Northman, and that feeling of familiarity to be more diverse and exploratory this time is evident.

There is undoubted some nice music here, but it is all presented in snatches of sound. I fully realise that film scores are matched to enhance the movie scenes; however, for the sales release, I would prefer to enjoy longer pieces, which run into each other – rather than the cold reality of stop-start tracks. The soundtrack to Nosferatu is available on CD, download, and on a number of limited edition release vinyl records (Lilac LP, Art Edition Blue Incantation LP, Society Exclusive Black & Oxblood Hand Pour LP, Oxblood Red LP, Black LP, Waxwork Exclusive Clear & Oxblood Splatter LP).

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Ty Power