Chicas Cucuy
Horror movie reviews and true scary stories!
Join hosts Esme and Laura as they dive into lighthearted reviews and commentary on the latest horror movies and shows with some personality. Both are life long horror fans based out of Los Angeles, California. Movie details and outcomes are definitely mentioned so **SPOILER ALERT!!!** for basically this whole podcast! They also share REAL-LIFE ghost stories and eerie encounters, whether from first or second hand telling from guests, their own, or listener experiences too.
Join us if you like horror, scary , spooky, or gory movies and film (sometimes shows) and listen to reviews, opinions and recommendations for them, also if you like real true scary stories and supernatural sightings or eerie haunting experiences. Thanks for listening... tune in if you dare!
Chicas Cucuy
Nosferatu 2024 Review (and Dracula, and Shadow of the Vampire 🤪) / Fernie's Haunting Childhood Mirror Reflection
1/10/25 - Ever wondered how the legacy of horror classics continues to haunt modern cinema? Join Laura and Esme from Chicas Cucuy, as they unravel the mysteries of Robert Eggers' "Nosferatu 2024." They navigate the chilling blend of Murnau's silent classic and Bram Stoker's "Dracula," and Steven A. Katz's "Shadow of the Vampire" exploring the adaptations' journey through creative evolution. They also pause to send thoughts and support to those affected by the fires in Los Angeles, reminding us of the real-world drama outside the silver screen.
**THIS EPISODE HAS SPOILERS GALORE!" you have been warned 🤪
Vampire lore, with its gothic imagery and themes of sacrifice and eternal love, takes center stage as we dissect the spiritual undertones of "Nosferatu 2024" and its classic counterparts. This episode ventures into the realm of remarkable performances that bring horror to life. This episode is a testament to the vampire genre's enduring appeal and its ability to touch the darkest corners of human imagination.We spotlight an opera-trained voice actor Bill Skarsgård who gave chills as Pennywise and explore the unforgettable portrayals by Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, and Keanu Reeves in "Bram Stoker's Dracula." Get ready to meet rising horror star Lily-Rose Depp, whose debut performance in possession roles is as captivating as it is haunting. Our discussion also embraces the versatile Willem Dafoe, Cary Elwes, a familiar face across Dracula-themed films, weaving their unique presence into the genre's tapestry.
As a final treat we have a haunting childhood memories shared by our return guest Fernie Valdez, as he takes us through his unnerving 9 yr old experience.
Do you have a true scary story you would like to share? Send us an email with a brief description of your story at chicascucuy@gmail.com
Support the show! We will reach out to you to send you a free thank you gift when you do! https://www.buzzsprout.com/2408079/support
Send us a message at: chicascucuy@gmail.com
Hello listeners. I'm Laura and I'm Esme, and we are Chicas Cucuy. Thank you for tuning in to our podcast.
Esmeralda:This is a podcast dedicated to horror movies and real life cucuy. We take a deep dive into the horror film world and bring you the latest and greatest and sometimes the not so great. We will give you our cinematic reviews and insights to what makes them so terrifyingly good. And please beware of spoilers
Laura:.
Laura:We want you to be happy hearing us, not mad at us for telling you what happens, and after each session we'll feature a real life scary story.
Esmeralda:If you have one to share, we'd love to hear about it and, hey, it may even end up in one of our episodes. Tune in if you dare. Hi, everyone hi. Thank you so much for continuing to listen to us. Today's movie that we're going to review is Nosferatu 2024.
Laura:It was such a great start of the year because we watched it 2025 so we watched it when it was already 2025, just to make happy new years to listeners.
Esmeralda:Oh yes, happy new year, even though there's a lot happy, scary new year because, as you know, we live in LA and we are currently dealing with fires and there's a continuous crisis that's going on.
Laura:That is affecting a lot of people and luckily our podcast continues
Laura:.
Laura:We're not victims to it yet, but everyone's nervous in LA yes, everyone's nervous in some way affected because of the air quality yeah,
Esmeralda:so we're a little bit south of where the fires are, so we're not affected directly, but for anybody that's listening that has been affected, we want to just wish everyone health and hopefully everyone recovers from this and hopefully la recovers from this, because it's been a lot of damage. So we just wanted to pinpoint that and that we have all the people that have been suffering or passed or are continuing to be evacuated as we speak that there are prayers yes, agreed.
Laura:So what was your first impression? Because esmeralda is a diehard dracula fan, so you can go ahead and start telling us the connection between nosferatu and dracula, because there's obviously a very distinct connection
Esmeralda:. And before, further ado.
Esmeralda:Super huge big props to robert eagers, which is a director of nosferatu 2024, because he understood the assignment. He went above and beyond with this assignment yes, like he's.
Esmeralda:So, oh my god and one day he hears our podcast. You are amazing and and you obviously, like, did your homework and watched all those damn movies yeah, yeah, he sat there and watched them before, like you know yeah, thank you.
Esmeralda:thank you for having a wonderful mind, because now I want to watch some of his other movies which I haven't seen the Witch 2015. The Lighthouse 2019. I'm going to go watch those now, yes, and the Connection, I'm not going to go like super, super deep. This is about films, not books. So obviously, there was a book written by Bram Stoker once upon a time that was before even the first Nosferatu, and the first Nosferatu, a symphony of horror, was back in 1922. Wow, that's throwback. Yes, so that's a silent film. If anyone wants to still watch it, it's on Amazon Prime.
Laura:you're able to stream it there and given that this Nosferatu story is a melting pot of both Dracula and the older Nosferatu films, we're intentionally not going to summarize chronologically the scenes of the movie. We're gonna base our podcast today on the similarities of that have to do with Dracula and Nosferatu and then, of course, what stands out the most in this 2024 version.
Esmeralda:Yes, because I think at this point most of the viewers. If you are into horror, at some point you may have already come across Nosferatu or Bram Stoker's Dracula or Shadow of a Vampire, and maybe you've read it too, because it's a book.
Esmeralda:So Bram Stoker is an author. He wrote the Gothic book back in 1897 called Dracula. The story is about a vampire who tries to move to London and feed off of local population. A group of vampire hunters try to stop and destroy him and the novel is considered the original vampire book. It is a horror and scary book and Dracula is not intended to be a complex villain or anything like that. Some say that the novel's unique structure and wonderful writing makes it an enthralling read, so anyone wants to read it. I mean, like I said, I'm not going to go back and deep dive on the book, but it's important to say that that existed back in 1897. You know, at some point 40 years later or around there In 1922, fw Murnau he wanted to create a film.
Esmeralda:At that point the widow of Bram Stoker did not want to release the rights to use the name Dracula or the story. So therefore, based on Bram Stoker, the writer, henrik Glein, he wrote another screenplay that was meant to be similar. They didn't even use the word or name Dracula, they used Count Orlok the vampire. There was Graf Orlok in that movie, but this is still based on that book. There were a lot of changes made. For example, there is a person that was a real estate agent, that worked for a real estate company, that went to see this count. Where the story basically begins, the names are different. In Nosferatu, alexander Ganach is like Mr Knock, which is the boss, and then the best real estate person that goes to see Count Arlok is Hutter. That's his last name and in that sense it is similar to the story of Dracula, because in Dracula there is a real estate company and they do send a guy to go see Count Dracula. Okay, so they change the names and that part of the story is the same.
Laura:That connection is very interesting, especially if you are someone that has seen that film and then now you're seeing something that was made, you know, years, almost a century later huh.
Esmeralda:Yes, it is a century. It is a century later Plus two.
Laura:Yeah. So then also, there's another movie that I have had the opportunity to watch, which was filmed in a release in 2000. So that's my birth year.
Laura:Nonetheless, it's still very modern in comparison to the one that you just mentioned, and I like that one because it shows a behind the scenes story of how it was to film that first Nosferatu, which was in 1922, right yeah. Of how it was to film that first Nosferatu, which was in 1922, right yeah. So it's literally portraying a director and his team shooting that movie with a real life vampire, but he convinces his crew and everyone to think that it's a very skilled actor that stays in character for the whole time and the whole I guess the whole like premise of the movie is that there's this deal that's made that the vampire which is Orlok, he is promised by the director permission to drink the blood of his co-star, greta, which is the star yeah like the protagonist of the story, the main girl, in real life, so like after they shoot that, yeah, he ate her and they had their whole encounter In real life.
Laura:He's like you can can keep her, you can have her, and that's a really like I don't know, like a really messed up situation, which also just alludes that the director is insane and that he's just so passionate into making the best movie out there that he's willing to do whatever it takes literally so this movie is called the shadow shadow of a vampire and released in 2000, and that also has a lot of correlation to this movie, and one of the best ones that I could think of off the bat is that the director is working with the actor who plays a Green Goblin in Spider-Man.
Laura:What's his name?
Esmeralda:Willem Dafoe.
Laura:Okay, so Willem Dafoe is the vampire in this 2000 film and he plays a really good Count Orlok.
Esmeralda:He's really creepy and ugly and yeah, he does a really good account, orlock, he's really creepy and ugly and yeah, he does a really good.
Laura:Yeah, he does a good. He convinces you that he's like a ancient being and like scary. So in this movie, naseratu, the, the most recent one, he's the mad doctor. That's philosophical and what he he like studies the mystic and the occult.
Esmeralda:Yeah, and his name here is professor albin. You can't pronounce it. No, how do you say let?
Laura:me try it I don't even show the whole name, professor amber heart. Yeah, let's just say he's the only professor in the movie. You just know that, but they're. That, for me, is that they paid a little homage to shadow of a vampire by using him in this new movie, because it's the same story. He just he's just a different character now and he does a really good job portraying that too, being that crazy professor that was laughed out of his country and that was banished from sweden because of his beliefs and teachings yeah, like he went another direction, but he's still very wise and he does end up helping the whole cause of nasradu and so he's actually now we call him a crazy professor, but he's not really crazy.
Esmeralda:Everybody thinks he's crazy. Yeah, everyone thinks that. That's why I call him that crazy he was, but he's not really crazy.
Laura:Everybody thinks he's crazy. Yeah, everyone thinks that. That's why I call him that Crazy. He was just ahead of his time in believing that there's other dark forces in the world, things that we can't see. He even said the things that he's seen will cause Isaac Newton to crawl back into his mother's womb.
Esmeralda:Yeah, that was a very funny line and it just goes to show how rivalry between science and religion, I rivalry between science and religion. I'm not gonna say religion because, like, this is not really about religion, this is about just beliefs, not like the spiritual world.
Laura:yeah, science and spiritual world never, never unite, because they would basically clash. Yeah, like they would put down a scientific concept if you were to believe that this is possible and vice versa.
Esmeralda:They're contradictory next to each other so as we go, we're also going to mention a lot of the similarities. In bram stoker's dracula. You kind of look into the new nosferatu that came out 2024. It literally says that it's a combination of bram stoker's dracula and the 1922 film nosferatu.
Esmeralda:So me being that I love both movies and shadow of Vampire the one that Lara was just mentioning and I love Bram Stoker's Dracula, I saw right away that they did combine it. So I read this after the fact. But I knew that they combined it because they actually included the other characters and also, like, for example, they named her different. It was like in the Bram Stoker's Dracula there was Mina Harker instead of Hutter, like Parker. In Bram Stoker's dracula there was mina harker instead of hutter, like parker in bram stoker's. But they were the characters and the real estate agent that went out there that was married, that became like the victim of dracula in this case, count orlok is jonathan harker in bram stoker and in nosferatu his character is thomas hutter and ellen hutter is his wife, the one that becomes mina from dracula. So it's all very confusing, but people that are like us, that know all three, four stories, you'll know what we're talking about.
Laura:And a quick side note, since we are revealing the actors and actresses of the cast, we would love to point out what's his name. I don't want to pronounce his last name, wrong, bill.
Esmeralda:Bill Skarsgård.
Laura:More importantly, the actor that plays it is our Count Orlok in this movie.
Esmeralda:And he does such. I feel like he needs a whole podcast episode for himself. We should do it. How amazing he is, I mean, literally in this movie. You don't even know it's him Never. If you would not know it's him, you would never in a million years know that he is the actor behind Orlok.
Laura:And the thing is that that's what makes him so magnificent, because you really are just taken aback by the character and, of course, you wouldn't recognize him because, yes, he does have, like mask, makeup, whatever you know to make him look like this grotesque count from you know ancient right, but his acting, his men, like he does the very good, like menacing creature, you know, yeah, and it's impressive to see that, because of his portfolio, like because he's able to play like a scary clown and then now a vampire, it just shows that he is made for that type of role. Like I think it's already hard enough to be an actor that has to like, embody, like you know, a certain mindset character, like we're saying. So, like one thing is to act as, let's say, as a sailor or like a scientist, whatever.
Laura:there's an endless endless titles of what you could. You can be hired to portray, but it's another thing to act like you're a creature, like what I guess. What I'm trying to say is I'm not trying to downplay the job of an actress or an actor, but you can definitely feel like you're in the safe zone when you're playing a human being because it's like oh how fun. But when they're offering you to play a role that's of another creature, I think there's way more to that yeah, like you're not playing a human, you're playing a another worldly thing, an entity or some, and yeah, and I'm sure, creature.
Laura:I'm sure there's so much to it that we can possibly imagine, but like in regards of training and preparation of what he had to do, do that role. But one thing I did know for a fact was that he trained with a opera singer so he could learn how to speak in a lower octave.
Esmeralda:Oh, yeah, because he had a really better tone, all of his.
Laura:His voice was him. That's another thing.
Esmeralda:Like he's a really good voice actor, yeah, and then like the first time I ever saw him was in castle rock season one, and he played there was like a really creepy. I don't even know what he was, because he didn't even have a name. Okay, like he didn't have a name in this, like he was just someone that they found in the bottom of some hole and then they had him as a prisoner and they were trying to figure out if he was this kid that they had kidnapped for a decade ago. You know, he had like like psychological trauma. They thought that like he had the power to do horrible things. I don't know how, but anyways, he played a really creepy and a very interesting character and that's the first time I ever came across him and that was like 2018. He did the crow. I cannot say that I've seen it. I haven't seen it and maybe we should watch it.
Laura:I'm sure he did a great job.
Esmeralda:Yeah, but he just like he was just outstanding.
Laura:He was made for this.
Esmeralda:Yeah, pennywise, he was perfect. I thought that was like how could he beat that? You know, like his performance as Pennywise in it, but, as we could see, there's no limit to his talent. Yeah, there really isn't okay.
Esmeralda:So, anyways, going back to bram stoker's dracula um, gary oldman, he was count dracula and he was like my favorite, uh, dracula for a very, very long time. And winona rider was in it, um, as mina harker, and she does a really great job. You know she was at like her prime during that time. And you know anthony hopkins was in it and even monica valucci whatever.
Esmeralda:Keanu reeves did a really good job, even though though you know Keanu Reeves, he's such a like like a low key actor Like he does. His lines are very simple, whatever, but his I think it's more his expressions like when things are happening, but he looks like I don't know he's cool. The funny part is that Cary Elves he's another actor that came out also in Shadow of Vampire and in Bram stoker's dracula. He came out in both, which is funny. I see how they like reuse some of these actors and that's kind of cool that they do that. They use willem dafoe, even though he's played a different character, but they use them for nasferatu too, so let's talk about illy rose dip, okay I thought she was a great actress.
Laura:Considering that I've never seen her in um any other things prior, I want to assume this is her debut movie. Is that safe to say? Um? But she was a great actress in the sense that there was a lot of scenes of possession, epilepsy episodes trances and all of those things, I think, make it exceptionally harder to deliver, because you're like, you have to, like drool, get out of your comfort zone and I roll your eyes back twitch.
Laura:She did all of those things in this movie, so you'll see that in that sense she was a good actress, because I know it took a lot to like be comfortable looking ugly and demonic and trying to like contort yourself and make it believable like you're actually possessed, and she really did hit the mark on it.
Esmeralda:I think that she did a really wonderful job and I think that she played a really good role. You know, she is the character that is like stuck between the two worlds, trying to live her life as a normal person, a normal wife. But in osferatu they say how very early on she had a supernatural link so it was easy for her to call upon count warlock. According to this version, very early on she is the one who summoned him, unintentionally, so like they kind of say that and if you're really paying attention, that's basically what they find and she even agrees to it that she did that. She just needed the closeness of someone and that very young, like she was like basically summoning. But because she had that link to supernatural, it was easy for him to attach himself to her and that attachment was not going to be severed. So I do like that because, like I said, it's not the same as the original nosferatu and it's not the same as count dracula either. So I like that they had a different take on it. But the part that is similar to dracula is that you know she was married and she was very much in love with her husband and she was kind of stuck because a part of her wanted to be there for her husband, especially when he started having problems. When he went and was around the count, he knew that he had to get away because he knew that something was happening and he was being attacked and weakened by him.
Esmeralda:Okay, first of all, let me also include in this that this film, the visuals, were so beautiful and gothic and captivating. The mood that that movie had is what I like. I feel like it's like my favorite and it's crazy because I mean, I didn't really look at all of them, but I did see some reviews that people were like they didn't get it or they just like, oh yeah, I like how it looked, but I don't get the movie and I'm just like that's freaking weird, and I just feel like maybe it's because they're watching it with fresh eyes and they really don't know any of the history, which I mean I feel like even then it would be an interesting movie, but I don't know, maybe it's too Too abstract for their mind.
Laura:Yeah, because when I went to see it the first, I saw this movie twice in the theaters. The first time I went to go see it, the whole theater clapped at the end, so I had a good crowd. Okay, they all seemed to.
Esmeralda:Nosferatu was about yeah, when I watched it, I don't think I no one can, no one can. But I mean I don't think it was a thing. I mean it wasn't like we watched it right in the premiere. I mean, I didn't watch it in the premiere, I watched it. Well, me neither this last week. Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
Laura:But I mean, like you know, I Shut up baby, I just want to.
Esmeralda:I feel like that was like a really good movie. Okay, the one thing I really liked about Nosferatu is that they gave us a little bit more of the people that lived there in Transylvania, which it looked like a lot of them were gypsies. We are assuming they're gypsies because of the location and the way they looked and their dancing and playing music, but I think they did note that on Bram Stoker's Dracula and then note that on Bram Stoker's Dracula and then also like a shadow of the vampire, john Malkovich, which is one of my favorite actors. So he's playing this actor and he actually tells when, like his, like the screenwriter and like the you know, assistant and like all these other people that were involved in the movie. Um, when they asked him, like okay, but we are gonna need extras, like where are the extras? And he said these people, these people that live here in the village where they were filming, adjacent to the entrance of where orlok's castle was, there was a small village and they were super scared of nosferatu. They had crosses everywhere and they were really like superstitious people, but they looked different. Those did not look like gypsies, but in that village they all knew who he was and he basically said well, these people are extras and they're like, these are not actors. And he told them they don't have to be actors, they just need to be. And I like that he said that because it's like, basically, that's what he wants. He doesn't want actors, he wants these people to be as authentic and realistic as possible. So those are the people that represent the gypsies and this nosferatu. They use more of a gypsy scene, like Dracula does, instead of Nosferatu.
Esmeralda:There was a time that they also wanted to sacrifice. It looked like they were doing some kind of ritual because they had a nude young woman, virgin on a horse and they were taking her to the resting place of so-called Orla and they were saying that she was there, was a sacrifice to him. They were trying to do something to appease him, but that's the thing. It wasn't her that needed to be sacrificed. Maybe he did eat her in order to leave the gypsies alone. Hutter saw this while he was there and stayed there before going to the castle, so he thought it was all weird already. That was one of his first scary moments, besides the fact that he almost got killed by these gypsies. But when he woke up the next day the gypsies were nowhere to be seen and he had recollection of certain things and he was already in his bed, but there was no gypsies. It was almost like he was sleeping in an abandoned, freaking little hostel or something like that. Now the visuals were really, really cool.
Laura:So when I first saw this movie, the cinematography seemed to stand out at a certain moment.
Laura:like you mentioned, the whole movie was carefully curated and every scene I felt was somehow beautifully organized and well thought out but, it like hit me once they showed thomas, which is like the real estate agent, um once they showed him in the middle of the woods when the forest is like all black, there's like clearly one road of snow and then you see the count's carriage pull up, but that whole scene looks so beautiful. It seemed like romantic, it seemed dark fantasy, but surreal, but surreal like beautiful and very gothic, yeah it was so nice.
Laura:So my favorite part was actually that part, and only because in the carriage I loved how you could see through, so it made it look even more ghostly and creepy because the carriage clearly had no one in it, no one driving it, and the door just swung open from the carriage but you could see through the other side of the little window and it just looked like damn, like, if I get on this, where am I going? Where is it leading me to? You think that's interesting, because if I was realistically there, I would be like okay, I know I'm supposed to go to this castle or this manor, wherever he's at your castle, yeah. But in my head I would question like, but is this the character gonna lead me there? Like, is there someone I could talk to? Like he just blindly like went on it, but I wouldn't have gone on it. It was part of the transit.
Esmeralda:But also remember he was just starting and he wanted to like that was his first mission and they did tell him um ahead of time, like look, it's in a very obscure, you know location and this and that. And it also reminds me again of dracula, because keanu reeves, which plays the guy, the jonathan harker, which is his counterpart.
Esmeralda:Um, he goes out there and like they're telling him you know what the area that you're going to is really very like, very old, like uh, beliefs, very superstitious people. They are still like they didn't in London. They did not consider them as civilized as they were they are. They just kind of saw them as still very medieval thinking type people, you know. So he was basically telling him that, like you know, when you go to the East, areas are not like us Developed Basically, you know. So he was kind of already expecting something to be different and, yes, it definitely was.
Esmeralda:Yeah so when you guys watch this movie, you'll for sure pick up these scenes that we're talking about, these beautiful scenes, and you'll know what vibe we're discussing here, because that we're talking about these beautiful scenes and you'll know what we're, what vi were discussing here, because it's something that you don't see in a lot of movies, especially not scary movies, right.
Esmeralda:And then I love it when he actually arrives to his destination and he gets off and then, just like the there's like I don't know if it's in the forest or when he gets out, there's like a silence.
Esmeralda:And that silence while he's trying to, you know that he's trying to just like look ahead and out of this darkness he sees the castle entrance, he's trying to look at it and he could see someone, but he's like obviously scared to go in. And this takes us back also to like the original Nosferatu and to Shadow of the Vampire, because again, the director in Shadow of the Vampire was trying to get that part Like he was. It was like a very important part of the movie that he wanted to capture on film and he even says out loud like this is the first time that he sees orlock and he wanted to get his authentic like facial expression or scared or whatever. Obviously that's a different story because said already that there was a fictionalized like that. We don't know what happened, but in remembrance to that when you see this scene he is taken aback and he's looked.
Laura:You could kind of almost feel what he must be feeling when he sees this figure appear from the shadows yeah, and then a similarity that continues on in all three movies is when the real estate agent actually has the first conversation with count orlock or jackie like all of that is the same in all three versions. He is intrigued as as to like who he's meeting, but quickly he he becomes very fearful, like he notices something's wrong, something's off. I just feel like with dracula they make they portray him as like not so terrible, but in in nosferatu and all the nosferatu versions they make him as like a creature. Do you agree? Like dracula still can pass as a human, but in nosferatu it's like no, we know that something's really wrong he looks almost like death, like death is dead already yeah.
Laura:But yeah, in dracula he passes like because for a while he, the real estate agent, even asks him like oh, were you married once? Like trying to small talk.
Esmeralda:It takes a while before he realizes himself like okay, there's something fishy even though, yes, you're right about that, he does still notice a lot of things, like he notices very quickly, like how, the weird thing?
Esmeralda:with his shadow moving separate than him and being like its own entity, um, or like his shadow, is also an extension of dracula that can do things and cause things to fall. And like we see dracula like he tries to like choke him while he's talking to him. Normally he like almost, like, is like choking him from behind and, um, he spills like the ink over Mina In this case it would be Ellen Hunter Little portrait that he's carrying, and he's carrying it like in a little locket right and that's his excuse to pick it up or want like demand that he wants to see it. So he's obviously captivated by her and in both times Dracula and this current Nosferatu that's his whole point of having lured him there. Like his whole reason for supposedly needing a real estate to relocate etc.
Laura:Is obvious his real motive is because he wants to get in contact with this woman that he has an obsession with I mean, I don't know if it's like a staple scene, but it seems like it's relevant to all these directors, like they, of course, want to include it. It's when he's slicing the loaf of bread, like somehow they never seem to miss that part. It seems like if that's a pivotal moment that shows the agent that he's a vampire or no, because they keep adding that in every scene.
Esmeralda:And then this scene I thought dracula was when he cut his. They changed it to when he cut his. Remember he's shaving him you're right.
Laura:Only the nosferatu version does that have that scene.
Esmeralda:Forget dracula but the point is that the minute um sees blood like there is a reaction and it's a pivotal moment where the human now realizes that he's weird. Yeah, and then, like also in Dracula, he's like repelled by his gold cross that he's wearing around his neck In Nosferatu.
Laura:So that's the thing that is very interesting about vampire lore.
Laura:There's different remedies to vampires and keeping them away, but it looks like Nosferatu is so powerful that really like none of that stands in its in his way and I found that in this 2024 version there's like a sense of hopelessness that I feel is like it's scary, like as a viewer, because you see everyone practicing prayer, everyone is like very optimistic and they always, they always say like your mind is is the most powerful thing ever.
Laura:So you would think, with so much positivity and like belief in god and faith in god, you would think that there's some light at the end of this tunnel. But the vibe that nastratu gave me was that not that it's irrelevant or pointless to do prayer or to like give words of encouragement, but it almost seems like it's no match for how dark and evil Nosferatu is. It's like the legend, because there's a codex of secrets that they end up involving in the movie that shows, like the prophecy, like what's supposed to happen where he came from and it's very like clear that the girl has to willingly like sacrifice herself to set them both free into like wherever they're going.
Laura:But also the world would be cleansed of nosferatu, the plague, which in latin means plague, right, yeah, or vampire. It means um, I forget if nosferatu means plague or vampire in vampire, but but yeah, it leaves a big impression on me because I don't want to believe that, as a human, that God is not the most powerful thing in the world.
Esmeralda:It's not a Latin word meaning the offensive, the insufferable one. Nosferitu yeah, the offensive or insufferable one. So it could be either a plague or a vampire In Romanian.
Laura:They both mean that, so it's a synonym. But, yeah, like as a viewer, as a human being, I I don't want to believe that god is not number one, that you cannot like overcome anything through those like prayers and and just like unity with among people. But in this movie it's showing you, like it gives you that, that vibe, that like all those actions, all those faithful um beliefs and actions, are just like passing thoughts. I don't know if it gave that vibe to you, but it made me feel like, yeah, that shit's not working, or like that's pointless, because he's coming for you and, sure enough, he does do his damage on all these people that are supposed to be protected, like they have the cross necklace on them, they're praying every night, well, I think, and it's just showing you like that's how powerful his, like his, the darkness is and you know what yes, I get what you're saying that's an ugly feeling.
Esmeralda:But also it just highlights, because of how powerful the darkness that envelopes everyone because of him, requires something a little bit stronger than just prayer, and it is the only thing that could counter, you know, know, fight it or be counteractive to it would be the sacrifice, a willing sacrifice. So someone has to sacrifice themselves in order to kill him, like literally, like that's the ultimate sacrifice when you are like willing to give yourself. And in Dracula let me bring out Dracula also at the very end the ending was very different. In Dracula they kind of like nod toward reincarnation and the girl coming back and whatever, whatever, right. But in that sense she was able to release them both because she sacrificed herself, by forgiving him and giving into him like love, like her love toward him, which at the end is basically the love that she had for him, enough to sacrifice, kind of removed the damnation that he had, including hers, because in Dracula he damned himself when the church basically turned their back on him, when she killed herself and he was unable to, he renounced God and stuff.
Laura:So that's a different ending and if we're confusing you, maybe there's people who don't know the exact distinctions of what's what. But let's just say it, just make it clear. Nosferatu 2024 is not so much of a love story. It's more like she was like in tune to the spiritual world, so she summoned him somehow and then they got linked. An accidental connection was established between the two and then the plot start with dracula. It's a love story. He's seeking one specific girl through oceans of time.
Esmeralda:So, yes, so there is a difference. Like we said, nosferatu was inspired from the bram stoker's dracula, but obviously it was a much darker version. But they both ended with the fact that someone has to sacrifice themselves, which is whatever it is, by love or by just sacrificing themselves for the rest of the humanity, so they won't suffer.
Laura:But it's still a sacrifice and that's the only way to defeat it sacrifice and I kind of challenged the sacrifice made in nas for all to 2024, because for me I feel like she was still forced, but supposedly she willingly summoned him and told him like yeah, the prophecy is fulfilled. Like do give dude, give myself to you. But he threatened her like crazy, so I don't know. Yeah, he threatened her.
Esmeralda:I don't think that was. I think at the end, no, it was emotional, but I think she accepted the fact that she knew deep down that was the only way and her like seeing like the people who were being affected and her husband and people that was staying with and stuff like made her see how horrible that he was gonna like destroy people and I think she just felt responsible. So she felt like you know what, I do have to do this willingly, because she did it not like wanting to do it, but like willing to be the sacrificial lamb. Basically okay, but you know what there's like? Yeah, it's like everybody could have a different take, but the thing is that it does take us through like all these feelings and all these like feelings of dread that he was giving us again the acting was phenomenal for for orlock and everyone involved because even thomas, I felt, had to prove himself as an actor because he was the only one that had the opportunity to face count orlock like directly.
Laura:So it was on him to truly show the audience how scared he's supposed to be and how scary it is to be in his presence. And he did like when, when count orlock approached him while he was by the fire, that was the first time you see him like. He couldn't contain himself because the whole period of time that he was talking to him and trying to, like you know, bring out these documents to for him to sign, like he was really scared, but he was still trying to be professional and trying to compose himself.
Fernie Valdez:Yeah, he was trying to be at a certain point, then that's where the scene cuts.
Laura:I feel like if the scene didn't cut, he wasn't there screaming yeah, because he was about to start screaming, like he got so like, even like, like he just knew like no, I'm not coming out of this castle alive and you know he made a really good facial expression he did.
Esmeralda:He did like it was really authentic, like we felt, like we were. He was taking us to what he was feeling he did really good and you know when he was supposed to sign his name, you know how at the end she kind of like uh, throws it in his face. Like you sold me for a bag of gold where I guess in those documents but wasn't it in another language?
Laura:because she said it, it was in his language, so he read that part. In Count Orlok's language.
Esmeralda:Right. So somehow she said that you signed it and it said literally there that you were giving me up and he added this bag of gold. So at the time I don't think he really knew that part. No, he didn't, she was just saying it that basically that he sold her or whatever.
Laura:But that's because count orlock told her. Yeah, he didn't tell her like but why does she believe anyways?
Esmeralda:okay, so the thing is that even when he kept telling him like sign, I think he thought he signed already but he didn't, I think because of fear. That's how terrified he was that he thought he signed and then like signed, like he told him again to sign it, and that's when he went and you could see that he was like reluctantly, just trying to just do his best to sign the paper to get the fuck out of there, right. So like that part you could really you felt like it was like real, like he was really fearful.
Laura:So, yeah, a plus acting for sure and then, who else was a good actor? I mean, everybody was for sure, willem dafoe. I mean obviously we already said that, though he's for sure, I was gonna say renfield, not rainfield yeah I was gonna say him yeah.
Esmeralda:So renfield and you know, there's even like a spoof movie of renfield by himself, that I think I'm not renfield, it's not renfield well, renfield is um a character in dracula yes a character confused for a while with her knock and her knock. Her is an h-e-r-r knock. He was the boss of thomas hutter. He was the one that ran that was his real estate company. He was the one that sent him that sent him.
Laura:He was the person, like you said, that sent thomas out to that adventure to meet count orlock. But he was in cahoots all along with the count because he knew that that specific man needed to be summoned over there. He knew what the documents said because he prepared them. He helped. So at one point he's this sane owner professional company but that's not where his acting is amazing.
Laura:It's. It becomes exceptional once he becomes insane, and it was like a switch once, uh, thomas began his venture out to his destination. This guy went mad and he was doing a lot of like blasphemy, like self-harm to himself, eating raw animals. But like the way he would like move his body, his facial expressions and his dialogue, he sounded like he was so possessed yeah, like just so.
Esmeralda:Another, yeah, another possession was taking over like from lily rose yeah, like, but that he was like able to function like a functional possession, right like because he was talking and telling people yeah, yeah, he was good, he was a good actor for that yeah. So simon mcbirney, good props to you, because he did a really really good part.
Laura:That's his name that's the actor, and he came out naked like two times, so he had to be comfortable in his body so kudos for that too.
Esmeralda:And my favorite part was, yeah, he was eating animals and stuff and when he busted a ozzy osbourne and ate the head of the pigeon pigeon, oh my god, and he was like literally crunching on it. He's like you're still talking to the people that were in charge. Yeah, he was. He was a really good actor and, um, also, like the friend, the one that was helping them, aaron was named frederick.
Laura:Yeah, aaron taylor johnson frederick harrington I think he's so cute and he's married to this old ass lady why we need to ask him that.
Esmeralda:Why, oh my god, he was groomed wait, is this his real life are you're talking about? Yeah, oh, yeah, okay, I don't know his personal life like that I do, but anyways, yes, he does a very good job. Also in his character. I like the fact that he was always like that's preposterous, like he had no, like anything that was like anything that was like even close to sounding that was not scientific and not like Kept saying like I'm a ship, a ship man. There you go.
Laura:Yeah, I'm a ship man.
Esmeralda:But you know so he didn't believe, even when his wife started like getting possessed and everything. And it was really sad the way like his family died because Orlite just took them all in one swipe.
Laura:Okay, don't go into detail.
Esmeralda:I'm not going to go into detail, even though we say spoilers I was.
Laura:I was purposely not trying to say that one, I don't know why, okay even though we say spoilers all the time, just know that I'm gonna give you enough details on that specific family, because it was like a treat, a bad one a treat.
Esmeralda:A treat, if you like, scary and gore, like it was like damn, like I'm.
Laura:I'm telling you guys, that's why I feel like nasferatu was like untouchable, like he, like you could pray all you want, but he was still gonna do his damage. It ain't safe, it ain't safe. But yeah, I've seen him, the actor, in like very select movies, but never like a role where he had to do like an accent and act like old-fashioned I love that.
Esmeralda:They said it in the old faction.
Laura:I don't know how to describe it, but he did good.
Esmeralda:No, he did really good, and the thing is that I like when they I feel like I give more props to people that can play those parts like the old victorian type, like like um, old hat style of acting or whatever, because it's not an easy role. And then also just in general, like you know how sometimes they try to remake movies and they try to make it in more like modern times that would have killed the whole thing. You know, like in this case they had to keep it old school, like that, like they had to to get the right vibes, to get the right everything.
Laura:So I'm glad that they stayed true. When I, when I first started watching the movie the first time, I didn't know what vibe it was in like what's what um setting, what time frame so right when I saw the carriages and like the housing of like germany or wherever they're at. When I saw it old I'm like okay, like we're in that mode now.
Esmeralda:Yeah, no, I was worried about it when I first heard they were gonna make.
Esmeralda:I'm like man, I hope they keep like the same time, like the timeline, because that gave room for the artistry, and like the, the scenes and the the filming and the photography that they had in those movies, like all those scenes, even like when he's in the castle, remember when, um, he's in the castle and he like they kind of like swivel the camera from one scene to the next. I noticed that and the reason I noticed that is because I get motion sickness. Everybody, everybody listening to me, I get motion sickness. So there's, like some movies that I actually can't watch, which is sad. But anyways, this one is not like that. It did not give me motion sickness, but I am very aware of how they move the camera around. So, like, I noticed very early on that they'll have one scene and they'll swivel, they'll like pivot the camera and they'll swivel to a different scene. Like they do it straight, like it's not like this bobbing up and down, like it's like a damn documentary, not like that. I hate that. But they swivel it so like.
Esmeralda:There was a part that I really, really liked when they were in the castle, when thomas hutter was, I guess, hearing, hearing noises, he was trying to get out, when he was trying to figure out how to escape the castle Before he saw Orlok in his coffin and he said like basically I knew it, like he was trying to like find a way out and he saw him in there Before that happened, when he was going through the maze of whatever. The castle was Just that photography, like the way the corridors looked, it was just like really stunning filmography. I agree, let's um rewind it back because we want to talk about, I'm just saying, bill skargegaard, I think, because, like, I'm still obsessed with his acting abilities, but anyways, okay, so count orlock, we're gonna talk a little bit more about his features.
Laura:Yeah, so the first few things that you obviously see from him are his face. You see that he's bald. He has like long acrylic nails, but whatever. All of that is disgusting and ew. But for me, when they show him feeding off of someone, I don't know why they show him naked or where you could see his body, and it's not like the nudity at all, because they don't even show his private. Generally they don't show him. Well, one time they do. But you know what I mean.
Laura:Like, like in those scenes it's not that you're seeing something like oh, that's inappropriate, it's more like the way they make his body contract as he's feeding it shows like if he yeah, like, if he's like chugging and chugging you know what I mean like it's going through his whole body, like it looks like, yeah, like if his body's suctioning the blood, but in a very dramatic way, and I think that's so gross. What does it remind?
Esmeralda:me of. I'm actually like an animal, but I can't. Yeah, but what animal? Like a snake? No, I was gonna say a snake, a snake like when it's um like just pulling and pulling like an animal inside.
Laura:Yeah, like.
Esmeralda:It's like just turning the other body inside out, which is not.
Laura:He's just very aggressively drinking the blood yeah, like it shows that he's not taking like a little bit at a time. He's like chugging, like like drying the body up it's not the way that we would like.
Esmeralda:Just um try to drink a vanilla ice cream shake. Not like that, like so that's so ugly.
Laura:So yeah, that that's like the gross part of of him count warlock. And yeah, you're right, they do show us one time his hopeful body and he's ugly like he has like um his skin like maggots on him.
Esmeralda:Huh, he has maggots like incisions or something he has incisions. He has like no, not incisions uh legions, lesions, not legions he has legions of lesions, he has openings in his body.
Laura:It's ugly like wounds and he has maggots and he looks like decomposed he looks decomposing.
Esmeralda:He looks like almost like a body that has been found in the river, because it looks almost like it's been like gray huh, like gray, like in water, but decomposing or something no, he's not hunchback, yes, he is.
Esmeralda:His back is like excessively big it's big, but he's not hunchback. They even show him very like big, looking like tall. Big it's big, but he's not hunchback. They even show him very like big, looking like tall when he's standing. So he's not hunchback. Okay, I think we just see that because when he's drinking the blood he like does that crouching, that contraction yeah, okay, and then you want to talk about, like at the end, how he looks like within the sunlight at the end, when, finally we see ellen gives herself willingly, he goes into her room.
Esmeralda:You could see more close-up, like his skin, his face, and then like when he proceeds to drink her body, and like he said that they have to basically consummate, like the whole thing right, so basically he has to have sex with her I don't know what happened there like yeah, the whole flesh there again he chugged like he did that thing with his body but then also, like there was parts where she was like pulling him in, like it looked like she was trying to kiss him and hug him, but her hands are like going over his fish skin, you know, decomposed, slick, shiny, gross looking, slimy body.
Esmeralda:And there's even a time that I don't know if you noticed that she, like he has like a, like one of the little opening wounds that she puts her finger in it. Did you see that part? Oh my god, I saw that. I was like oh my god, but it was. She only did it once.
Esmeralda:Like she went like this, like she put her finger accidentally, huh I don't know if she did it accidental or not, or it was meant for us to see that and get grossed out, because I definitely like, oh, it's kind of like, so that was gross, but anyways, go on I don't even know what to say after that.
Laura:I don't know what to say, but the sunlight hits him he looks crazy when he's looking into the light, that's like a cool picture to even paint like. When he looks like he looks shocked, that he's like oh I'm still here for the sun.
Esmeralda:But see, that's the thing, because she was basically dead, like she was already, like her blood was gone, you could tell that she kept them there till dawn. And when he looked up because he sees the sun, he's like looking up, like slowly, like oh shit, okay, the sun's coming out but she took like every like out of sheer willpower, like every strength she had left, and she pulled him back, like she grabbed his face and she pulled him back. And I think that she did that knowing like I cannot give him time to flee, like I have to keep him here until dawn is out in order for him to die, you know, and it was nasty because he still threw up, like I feel like he was being wasteful because he chugged so much blood, but then he like threw some up but he threw it up because the sun was already killing him.
Esmeralda:Yeah, it wasn't a wasteful thing. It wasn't like he was like, oh, I'm gonna just throw it up. No, he was beginning to feel the sun and the sun was starting to kill him. So, yes, he started throwing up first and it was just such a horrific but when they show his body from the top view, he has no butt.
Laura:His little legs are shriveled into skeleton legs like palitos, and then his whole hunchback is still out.
Esmeralda:I think because he started to disintegrate.
Laura:No, yeah, he looked like those people that are so fat that they have lollipop legs. He looked non-proportionate and ugly Because you got to see all of his cuts and him cuts and like him, like in life.
Esmeralda:And then he started shriveling up. No, that's when he was shriveled Like.
Laura:He looked so gross. From that one aerial view he was already done like shriveled and it looked so bad, so bad.
Esmeralda:Yeah, and poor her, just dead under him. But you know.
Laura:I wish freaking Aaron Taylor. That's his real name, but I wish he would have been alive and that's another spoiler At the end of the movie, because he was such a non-believer. I was happy that his carcass was there, but I wish that he would have been alive to see it.
Laura:Because all this time he didn't believe and I was happy that his residue stayed, because another movie, oh, it turned into dust or something dumb. Yeah, but he stayed. I'm like, yeah, so they could carry his ass around the city and show like this is what exists, like this fool is dead now. And she, I felt like that was very, um, like a token, like yes, you're, you're gone and you're here, we could see and you know what I was satisfied with the ending, the way they did it, the way they took it.
Esmeralda:Because, like in Nosferatu, like the old one, obviously he hits the son, hits him, and they trick him into doing that because, like when he has, well, shadow of Vampire tricks him. Because, like in that one, the director once he gave you know how we talked about that he gave her the girl which was Greta, which was the actress that um, he let her like, okay, you're welcome to eat her, drink her blood or whatever. At the end, that's your payment. They did like they were able to open the things that he didn't. He knew it was dawn but he's like, oh, I don't, it doesn't matter, just because I'm awake at dawn doesn't mean I'm gonna die. He says I could still stay in the darkness as long as, like, the sun didn't hit him. Basically, is what he's saying? So, like they opened up this, like a vertical lift type door was raised up, um, and the sun hit some. They did like a weird ending where you know when the films are, when there's exposure to the film, and they just kind of like burn up. So they did that. So basically, the sun killed him. That's how they did.
Esmeralda:Shadow of vampire um in dracula. Obviously it was like a whole different thing, you know, because they he, um, he wasn't down anymore, like he was pardoned or whatever, so he died like a regular human being. I, yeah, I also agree with you that I really like the way that they actually shriveled him up, but he didn't just turn to dust, he didn't just disappear or liquefy or whatever the hell you know, he actually shriveled and remained. And. But I was sad that um ellen hunter died, but it had to be done to save the rest of humanity, right?
Laura:Yeah, so what would you rate this movie in scary In?
Esmeralda:scary. I would rate it 7. Okay.
Laura:I would rate it 6. But I would still agree with you with 7., just because there are a little bit of jump scares. No, there are. And there's times where I wanted to cover my face, like just because I didn't know what to expect. But I, where I wanted to cover my face, like just because I didn't know what to expect, but I never did like it wasn't that extent, but you just feel like, oh, it's gonna happen, like there was this one moment in the darkness.
Laura:there's like a candlelight whatever you get a vibe of like oh, it's gonna pop up, but yeah, I would say six. Um, because the story is more scary, not so much like the scenes are scary. Yeah the moment um but it's like the story is really scary and creepy and then would you watch it again. Definitely I would watch it again. I would watch it again too, because I watched it twice already and I felt like, yeah, it was still good, like you know, like.
Esmeralda:I would be down to watch it again. For me it's an instant classic.
Laura:I just do feel like it's really long. It is long.
Esmeralda:It's two hours and 12 minutes long. That's pretty long for a movie.
Laura:It's like an extra half an hour than the average movie yeah, and you feel it, but doesn't mean it's not good, but I felt it. I feel like I felt it to the two times.
Esmeralda:I'm like, oh, this shit is on I did notice it, but it's something that you feel like is necessary, because it wasn't like, oh, this was unnecessary or no. Everything like that happened in the movie was something that had to be, like it was part of the movie and it belonged there, like I don't think I would edit anything out, so no, I think it was good. Another thing that made me remember there was a book and I know we're not doing books, I know I know I keep saying that, but there is a book and I've even told Laura that I want her to read it, but she hasn't um and it's called Dracula in Love by Karen Essex, and this book I really recommend it. If you like all of these stories and you happen to be a reader, please read Dracula in Love. It's a whole other version and this one is through Dracula, like Bram Stoker's Dracula, mina Wilhelmina, like that's her through her eyes and it kind of tells like her perception and everything she went through, because she also went through stuff that obviously they're so focused on Dracula. You know we're not taking her side as much.
Esmeralda:It's crazy because it goes back to the romantic side and you know I think lara has heard me say this and I'll say it again, bram stoker's dracula, like I said it like when people have asked me like oh, what's your favorite love story, I say dracula. They're like what? But to me it's such a romantic just the fact that one will change their life for another human. For another human being. I mean this case, he's not a human being, he stops, he ceases being a human being just because of his love. For like he lost so dearly. It's very like um, you know, like a tragic love story type of thing. You know, um and dracula and love kind of carries that and it does we need more loyal people like that out here this generation yes, that are gonna.
Laura:That doesn't work they're gonna find you in every century.
Esmeralda:Yeah, so in dracula love, they kind of touch on that.
Esmeralda:They touch more on that about the fact that dracula has been searching for her through so many centuries, that he has found her in so many places, but that and he's so like distraught because he says that, no matter what, she never chooses him. Like even when she does, like find out who he is and regains his love for, like her love for him, that she always doesn't want to stay with him or become um undead with him, because in that life that's all she remembers. She doesn't remember her other lives, all the lives that she's had and all the times that she's met him. So she always chooses to stay because she either has has children and wants to be there for her children, or she wants children, or she wants to have this life, or she has loved ones. So he always says that, no matter what, he will always choose her, but that she never chooses him. And I always found that really like sad and like, yeah, like you get it and you understand it, you know, as a woman especially so.
Laura:All in all, laura, I think we both agree that this is like an instant classic and that it's something that could be watched again for years and years to come so, all in all, watch nosferatu 2024, but in case you want to keep up with all the movies that we also talked about today, we're going to recommend them to you and hopefully you get a chance to watch them at some point.
Esmeralda:It doesn't have to be in any particular order, and thank you for listening this far, because we did scramble a lot, trying to, you know, bring in the ties from each and every one a little tiny footnote, I came into some information that I also want to, uh, rediscover, and this is something that we would have to, like, read, and supposedly there's a novel that came out a few years before bram stoker's dracula, back in 18, whenever I said earlier, um, and it was called carmilla, and this supposedly is like the first vampire novel that came out, and the crazy part is that it has a lot of similarities too, but a lot of the lore is similar, you know, and um, how she's able to be a vampire and she walks by night and she drinks blood and she's able to shift, change like a shape shift, shape shape shift and into other animals when she's eating people's blood and things like that.
Esmeralda:So that's something that's interesting. The vampire lore has been around for a very long time and, um, sometimes it's interesting to find out, like, where it actually came from, you know yeah, definitely.
Laura:So our first recommendation would be the 1922 nosferatu symphony of horror. Yes, then the second one that came out would be would?
Esmeralda:be bram stoker's dracula, and that came out 1992 and then shadow of a vampire.
Laura:That came out in 2000, best year and then a whole century later from 1922 from the original nas for a two. We now have nas for a two 2024 and wouldn't it be cool if that cast or director could be alive to see it today oh my god, what would he think.
Esmeralda:What would he say? I mean, what would he say? What would bram stoker say? Or henrik gillian, which is the writer that kind of adapted it to be different than bram stoker?
Laura:because the technology is way more advanced today. And you know, it would just be, they would be like shocked and amazed right otherworldly for them, for sure, very surreal. So that's how powerful, uh, creative people and authors are that they can leave a legacy and, you know, it ends up on the silver screen one day and, thank goodness for artists, it influences, yeah, a big audience. So now we're going to conclude with our Gary story.
Esmeralda:So now, everyone, we have a spooky little story by our return guest, and by return. He's not here physically again, but we saved this tasty little story that he gave us on his last visit that he had the story we have for you today is from berniedez.
Laura:He has a bunch of scary stories to share with us, and this one in particular has to do with a memory he had when he was a child.
Laura:Yes, and it takes in a little bit, to the movie we just watched, not because of any vampires, but because he has always said that he's had some tie to the spiritual world and that he's been a target for hauntings and just weird things happening to him. So, as we saw our protagonist, ellen hutter from nosferatu, she was somewhat of a conduit. She was spiritually inclined, yeah. So since she was younger, she shared that things would happen to her. She would already know what was wrapped in her christmas presents, whatever she had like this little thing following her. Until later it got worse and worse. So fernie is our ellen no, I'm just kidding and he, yeah, he has a lot to unpack with us. Hopefully this is not the last time we hear him. I'm sure be on our podcast again soon.
Fernie Valdez:So take it away about the darkness man when I was about eight years old, nine, because my, my cousin was about four years old and we were living in culver city, california, and across the street we used to live on one side of the street and then my aunt used to live right across the street from us, right, but she would always spend the whole day in my house and whenever we would be like being bad or like annoying, my grandma would tell my aunt hey, nana, go, take these things and take them to your house and lock them up over there, because, yeah, they fed me up. So then one day that happened, she took us there. Somebody's trying to think stupid things, right? So my cousin goes to the bathroom and I'm like, ha ha ha, I'm gonna play a prank on him, I'm gonna scare him.
Fernie Valdez:So then I go into the closet and I close the closet and I'm waiting for my cousin to come out and look for me, and and then I'm thinking like he's going to come to the closet, he's going to open the closet and I'm going to jump and I'm going to scare him, right, yeah? So then I'm standing there in the closet and my uncle which was my tia nena's brother, you know used to live in the same apartment and he had this, you know, like taller than me mirror in the closet that he would just like put it in there and then when he would he dress up? You know like he put on the wall and like he was really conceited, you know and he looked at himself.
Fernie Valdez:You know like, oh, yeah, you know like you look good, you know, so I'm there? Is it like those kind of doors that you open and the no, no, no, it was a mirror that he would actually take in and out of the closet.
Fernie Valdez:Oh, okay, yeah, so he just like stand there like at one end of the closet and oh, okay, yeah, so he just like stand there like at one end of the closet and then you know like he would take it out and put it back when it was done. So I'm standing there and I hear like like something you know, like I don't know, like a funny noise, and mine, at the closet I just had a little crack looking for me, right. So there was some light coming in and I seen like a reflection through the mirror and I got close to the mirror and I saw that it was my reflection and I was like, but then, when I'm looking at my reflection out of the blue, my reflection starts going and like the face, the face looked kind of fucking scary right so I fucking got scared.
Fernie Valdez:And then I yeah, I tried to open the closet door and my cousin had locked me in from the outside. So I'm kicking, kicking, kicking, kicking and I kicked the door until I fucking kicked the hole and I crawled through the hole.
Esmeralda:I was scared. No way you broke the door.
Fernie Valdez:Yeah, well, I kicked the hole.
Esmeralda:Oh, my God.
Fernie Valdez:I kicked the hole because this fucking thing in the mirror was like still making that stupid sound and shaking his head what so? It was your reflection, making that weird noise and like staring at you yes, I would never look at a mirror in my life again and this fucking thing that's shaking the head I can't remember what other horror movie I saw and there's a fucking demon that's shaking his fucking head like that oh my god.
Esmeralda:No, yeah, I know which one. I've seen so many scary movies. It's not the one that's in um house on haunted hill I remember because I'm not as a haunted hill.
Esmeralda:That's the first movie that I ever saw. The remake has a haunted hill I forgot what year it came out, but not. There's like a really, really ancient old one where what's his name price comes out in, but not him. It's a remake and that one came out like maybe 2000s or something. But anyways, on that one it's the first movie where they put spirits. They see them like through cameras and they're not. They can't see them in real person, but they can see them through a camera and they're doing that weird movement Like it looks like they recorded like moving, this weird awkward movement and it's kind of the same thing as like how it looks on the ring. But on that same movie there's a part the guy he's like I don't know he's going crazy or what. There's a demon behind him and he's shaking his head all hard like. So I'm thinking like when you, when you're describing, I'm remembering like different little visual things that I've seen and I'm thinking maybe it's that movie that you're talking about and that.
Fernie Valdez:How crazy how these things happen after this experience, I mean this experience with the mirror and the fucking head shaking and like, well, you know.
Esmeralda:I was nine years old. You know like hell, no, yeah, you've seen too many things since you were a kid. That's already like yeah, you're definitely already like a sensitive person to that, and those are scary things, like things that you're not going to just forget.
Fernie Valdez:You're not. No, it's like it was just tattooed in my brain.
Esmeralda:And what did you do when you got out of the door?
Fernie Valdez:I fucking, you know like started screaming and banging on the door and my cousin was looking out the window like towards my house and we're screaming and my cousin is terrified because I'm terrified. And then I guess my aunt saw us or she was going to come check. She found out that the fucking daughter was fucking a big asshole.
Esmeralda:She was like what the hell?
Fernie Valdez:And then she whooped my ass for doing that. And then I told them and none of them believed me.
Esmeralda:They thought that I was fucking just making it up and I was like alright, whatever, that's the worst thing that nobody believes you yeah, you know, like and, but that taught me never to undermine what your kid is telling you.
Fernie Valdez:Like lynette, you know she went to some fucking nightcares when she was a baby and stuff like that. So that taught me never to not believe them, you know right?
Esmeralda:yeah, definitely, because you've already experienced being not believed yeah, so, yeah.
Fernie Valdez:so when I had my very bad accident and you know, like pre-covid, I had a positive experience, you know, I mean, if you consider almost dying, a positive experience, you know. But there I am in the floor with my stomach, you know, like in the worst pain that I've ever been, and my ears were like humming, like like I don't know, like a raptured tank full of air and and my eyes were like blurry as fuck and I couldn't get up and I'm thinking God, you know like I'm done, my back is gone, it's broken.
Fernie Valdez:And again this little voice, like in my head, tells me you know like wiggle your feet, so I wiggle my feet. Wiggle your hands, so I wiggle my hands. Wiggle your head, so I wiggle my head, you're not broken.
Esmeralda:Get up. And I got up and this was like your own voice that you were hearing, like in your head, or did it sound totally separate than you?
Fernie Valdez:it sounded like me, but it you know, like I knew at the time. Even then, you know that it wasn't me like you knew those were not your thoughts exactly that. That's the way it is. You know, like, like when you, when you say hmm, esmeralda, and Esmeralda is thinking something, and you hear your own thoughts, you hear your own voice, right. So that's the way I felt, but I knew that it wasn't me because you know, like I, was under Because you were thinking the opposite.
Fernie Valdez:Yeah, I was under dire stress. You know like I'm thinking my back is broken, so I'm not thinking clearly. I'm not thinking clearly. I'm not thinking, you know like, okay, well, you know, how can we find this? You know like, why don't you shake your feet or your legs or whatever the fuck?
Esmeralda:you know like, but these things were asked in a specific order. So, yeah, well, yeah, that's a positive thing right there when you're already giving up hope. Yeah, wow, yeah, these stories were crazy.
Laura:Yeah, I have a lot more stories we'll call. Call you next week, same time next week.
Esmeralda:Well, we're definitely going to add more, more of your stories in the future, so don't be surprised when I call you again.
Fernie Valdez:All right, all right Thank you Bye, good night you guys have a good night, be safe, bye.
Esmeralda:Okay, everyone. So what do you think of that? Let's just talk about that a little bit. Let's recap so you're a child playing an innocent game with your cousins, thinking it's like a normal visit, and it turns into horror suddenly because of something you were not expecting to see in the mirror of all places. Now, wouldn't that scare you to ever look at a mirror ever again, laura?
Laura:probably you know how some rooms have mirrors embedded into your wall, like in your, where you have a closet that has a sliding mirror.
Laura:I feel like I would want to take all that down, like cover it up, and I would just feel very uncomfortable around my reflection, especially if it's something that happened to you as a small child, because that's not gonna be like something that's gonna just leave your mind, you know yeah, and it's very sinister that the demon or whatever it was pretended to be, him because it's like fernie can never look back and be like, oh, I saw this red monster, like doing or whatever, like he can't describe the monster in any way like a shadow trying to grab me.
Esmeralda:He's like it was me. Yeah, like, and the crazy part is that he heard it first and you know, you think you're hiding in a closet, you know from someone. Then you hear a noise that makes you turn around and then like, like, what a sight that would be to see yourself doing something that you're not doing.
Laura:That's very much like Dracula 2, though Like he had a shadow that was following him around that wasn't doing what he was doing.
Esmeralda:That was an extension that was not doing, although Orlok from the original, like Nosferatu, on Shadow of a Vampire as well, had no reflection. Right yeah.
Laura:But the point is I've never heard something like that before. I don't think I've ever had, like a friend or family member like, yeah, confide that in me, like my reflection did something that I wasn't doing.
Esmeralda:Yeah, I've seen movies like that before, though yeah, fresher fiction.
Laura:That's why, like I said, let's move past the like the movies, because I feel like that's a that's a reoccurring like scene, like we could see that in movies and stuff but in real life I think that's crazy. It is crazy, that's unique. I haven't heard that ever. Has that happened to anyone else that's listened around the world? I know, because if it, has, please let us know.
Esmeralda:Send us an email and we will definitely interview you. Thank you for all the people that we have seen. That hears us not just in the US, but around the world other countries and we'll send a shout out next time. If any of you have any experiences like that, feel free to send us an email and let us know and you never know, we might reach out to you to be our next podcast story and, like we tell fernie, hopefully it doesn't happen to you ever again, but if it does, you'll hear it here from us, yes, all right, everyone.
Esmeralda:I hope you enjoyed that and see you next time. Bye, thank you.
