One movie, two cinema experiences: how watching Nosferatu taught me a valuable AV lesson

Nicholas hoult's character, thomas, stands in a dark room. Just above his head is an arched window with a stream of white light coming through. There is shadow across his face so we can't really see his expression. He is looking ahead with the camera straight on.

There’s a reason you buy a ticket to see a movie at the cinema beyond just wanting to watch the latest releases. You go there for the big screen and the immersive sound which is difficult to replicate completely at home. Whether you’re watching Wicked, the perfect popcorn muncher, or the tear-jerking romance We Live in Time, the cinema’s got you covered. Not only that, but the shared experience of watching a film with others is something special.

Robert Eggers’ take on Nosferatu was the latest film to pique my interest and get me into the movie theatre, scratching my horror movie itch. For the uninitiated, Egger’s Nosferatu is a remake of the 1922 film, which itself was an unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It follows Lily Rose Depp’s Ellen as she is plagued by the nightmarish presence of Count Orlok, a vampire obsessed with claiming her as his bride. Ellen’s husband Thomas (played by Nicholas Hoult) is sent unknowingly to the home of Orlok in deepest Transylvania, and soon is also caught in his web.

In typical What Hi-Fi? fashion, much of our conversation revolves around what films we have seen recently. Myself and editor-in-chief Alastair Stevenson saw Nosferatu separately and at different cinema chains, and found we had wildly juxtaposing experiences based on the cinema’s sound set up. Here’s how two different cinema set-ups made all the difference to our thoughts on Nosferatu…

Sound as the director intended

Willem Dafoe as a crazed vampire hunter is having a bit too much fun. (Image credit: Universal Pictures UK)

The importance of subtlety over scale

(Image credit: Universal Pictures UK)

There’s certainly a balance to be struck between scale and dynamic expression when it comes to sound, especially on the big screen. Perhaps the answer is to speak to the cinema staff and simply ask them to turn it down a notch? But then you run the risk of missing key parts of the film, and where’s the fun in that.

A more introverted approach could be to research reviews of the audio quality before you go to see if there have been complaints in the past. One thing is for sure: sound quality, at home or in the cinema, can make or break your enjoyment of a film.

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