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Taking F.W. Murnau’s film and twisting it ever-so-slightly, Eggers finds his groove in a highly gothic world. His vampire – Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) – is as creepy as they get, particularly since he’s kept in the shadows throughout much of the film.

We enter his world through a real estate agent (Nicholas Hoult) who is looking for a listing. Little does he know, though, that Orlok is interested in his wife (Lily-Rose Depp).

In case your sense of history is a little hazy, Orlok (or “Nosferatu�) is Murnau’s take on Dracula. Because he didn’t want to get involved with the creator’s representatives, the director devised his own vampire and came away with a cinematic classic. His “Nosferatu� introduced plenty of film techniques. A lawsuit with Bram Stoker’s relatives resulted and Murnau was ordered to destroy prints of the film. Luckily, some survived, prompting other remakes and now, this one.

Because Eggers has mastered the art of stealth drama (his “The Lighthouse� is a classic example), he’s the man most likely to take this on. Using familiar faces (Willem Dafoe, for example) in key roles helps lift the film’s status. This isn’t just any remake. It’s a second take that uses the bones of Murnau’s story and adds its own flesh.

Rats pouring out of the streets suggest something is afoot in the 19th-century German town. A series of deaths points to a plague but then there’s a connection to Orlok that lifts them onto the plain of “plague.�

All sorts of speculation emerges until we see the vampire in play with Depp’s Ellen Hutter. Eggers uses sound effects to heighten the moment and gives Skarsgard camera angles that add to his performance. Unlike other horror films released this year, “Nosferatu� plays on the possibility, not the probability. That makes moments heart-pounding and, yes, frightening.

While some characters are mere diversions, the three main ones get all the time they need to drive home the, um, point.

“Nosferatu� is easily the scariest film of the year and yet another milestone for Eggers. He knows cinema and he’s not afraid to make it a little bit better.