Get into the Halloween spirit with a classic silent horror film.
Nosferatu (1922), the first screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, will be screened with live music on Friday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. at Red River Theatres, 11 S. Main St.
The film will include live music performed by New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. Admission is $10.
Directed by German filmmaker F.W. Murnau, Nosferatu remains a landmark work of the cinematic horror genre. It was among the first movies to use visual design to contribute to an overall sense of terror. To modern viewers, the passage of time has made this unusual film seem even more strange and otherworldly. It’s an atmosphere that Rapsis will try to enhance in improvising live music on the spot for the screenings.
In Nosferatu, German actor Max Schreck portrays the title character, a mysterious count from Transylvania who travels to the German city of Bremen to take up residence. A rise in deaths from the plague is attributed to the count’s arrival. Only when a young woman reads “The Book of Vampires” does it become clear how to rid the town of this frightening menace.
Murnau told the story with strange camera angles, weird lighting and special effects that include sequences deliberately speeded up.
Although Nosferatu is suitable for all family members, the overall program may be too much for very young children to enjoy.
The film was an unauthorized adaptation of Stoker’s novel, with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain rights to the novel.
