Disturbed people get a Christmas gift from Robert Eggers this year.
No one has a more consistently twisted and wicked filmography than Robert Eggers’ four-movie run of Nosferatu, The Lighthouse, The Northman and The Witch.
The folklore master has given us pagan rituals, sadistic vampires, brain-stewing madness, barbaric Vikings and fart jokes.
Now, Eggers brings us his fifth feature film with the trailer for Werwulf, a period gothic horror about a man with a terrifying curse and a village that soon finds out the local folklore may actually be a shocking reality.
In the lead-up to the trailer’s release, Robert Eggers stated that “all the clichés of being bitten by a werewolf and silver bullets and a lot of the stuff that has become almost campy doesn’t exist in the mythology of this movie”.
Robert Eggers also sat down with Straw Hat Goofy’s Movies to break down the trailer and answer some first questions about the film’s plot and themes.
He confirmed that this is his darkest film yet, stating that “the world of the movie is as dark and as scary as the werewolf itself”.
“[Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s character] is a man that is cursed, his kin are cursed, his world is cursed… He’s trying to break that curse… you’re hopefully rooting for this guy to find his way out of this.”
In regards to the return of Lily-Rose Depp, Eggers commented that her role will be equally as important as Johnson’s, describing her as the “heart and soul of the movie”.
“It’s through their relationship… that you get to explore this tragedy… A family drama is always something that people can relate to.”
The film also sees the return of Willem Dafoe, who has already stolen the show as a lunatic lighthouse keeper, occult professor and court jester in the Eggerverse.
The film arrives with the snowflakes of winter during Christmas this year, with no specific date set.
Coincidentally, the director is also set to bring his twisted mind to A Christmas Carol and the rumoured sequel to Jim Henson’s Labyrinth.
Whatever comes next, it will surely be a beautifully dark twisted fantasy that stuns sickos and casuals alike.
