Robert Eggers is the latest director to tell the story of Nosferatu, one of the most iconic vampire stories in film history. There are some notable differences between Focus Features’ version and the classic 1922 German film. One of the biggest differences is the look of the film’s titular vampire, Count Orlok, played by Bill Skarsgård. In an interview with Variety, the director revealed his reasoning for the changes he made.

Eggers’ version of Count Orlok has some similar features still, such as long nails, pointed ears, and sharp teeth. But Eggers said he still wanted to make some changes. “To try to make a more scary vampire than we’ve had in quite some time, I went back to the folklore,” Eggers explained. “It’s something that I like anyway, but the early folk vampire was written about by people who believed that vampires existed. There was going to be some good stuff there, and the vampire of folklore is a putrid, walking undead corpse.” Skarsgård’s Count Orlok is heavily based on Transylvanian mythology, and Eggars explains that he used a “complex Hungarian costume with very long sleeves, strange high-heeled shoes and a furry hat” to get the look of a “dead Transylvanian nobleman.”

A mustache was also a must have. “Try to find a Transylvanian person who’s of age who can grow a mustache that doesn’t have a mustache. It’s part of the culture,” said Eggers.

This version of Nosferatu is based on the 1922 film, which is based on Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. It tells the tale of a young married couple Thomas and Ellen Hutter, played by Nicholas Hoult and Lily-Rose Depp. Thomas is a real estate agent and is tasked with selling a home to the nobleman Count Orlok aka the infamous Nosferatu. Things take a turn once the vampire goes after Ellen, and Thomas teams up with an occult professor to save his wife and rid her of the vampire.

The film also stars Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Inseon, and Simon McBurney. Eggers directed Nosferatu from a self-adapted script. The Focus Features film comes from Studio 8, Maiden Voyage Pictures, and Birch Hill Road Entertainment, and is produced by Eggers, Jeff Robinov, and John Graham for Studio 8, and Chris Columbus and Eleanor Columbus for Maiden Voyage.

Nosferatu is currently playing in theaters.