It has been more than a century since Count Orlok first crept across movie screens, as Nosferatu remains one of the most enduring vampire movies of all time. Let's return to the darkness, this time accompanied by live musicians.
The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and the Cameo Art House Theatre will bring F.W. Murnau's 1922 silent horror classic, Nosferatu, on Oct. 24 at the Cameo on 225 Hay Street. A small ensemble of musicians from the FSO will perform a live score as the movie plays on the big screen, combining film and live music for a must-not-miss Halloween event. The FSO ensemble will consist of 8 musicians, mainly strings, and the piano.
Long before we saw Bela Lugosi don the Dracula cape, and more than a 100 years before Robert Eggers brought a new version of Nosferatu to a new audience, there was Max Schreck's Count Orlok.
Released in Germany in 1922, Nosferatu was directed by F.W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It is considered one of the defining works of German Expressionist cinema and, without a doubt, is one of the most influential horror films of all time.
Nosferatu was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Names and details were changed, but the basic story remained recognizable. Murnau's vampire is also very different-looking when compared to the Dracula of later movies played by Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee.
And then there are the shadows. One of the most enduring images is Orlok's distorted silhouette cast across a wall, his long fingers reaching ahead of him. Due to Murnau's use of unusual camera techniques, he turned otherwise recognizable surroundings into something unsettling and created a visual vocabulary that filmmakers continued to use for generations.
Watching Nosferatu with live musicians will connect modern audiences with an important part of early moviegoing: that silent films were not necessarily experienced in silence. Composer Hans Erdmann wrote music for the film's original 1922 presentation, and the restored versions of the film can be seen with Erdmann's score, as well as scores created by
other composers.
People who have attended this great Halloween event in the past most likely saw it at Dirtbag Ales.
"We have loved performing Nosferatu at Dirtbag Ales, but as interest in the program grew, we realized it was becoming difficult for everyone interested to see the movie and hear the music in that space,” said Thomas Hill, Marketing and Office Manager, FSO. "We hope to enhance the viewing and listening experience by moving to a space dedicated to watching movies. The musicians will also be in a more prominent position-on the stage below the screen-rather than tucked in a corner."
Don't miss a spooky night at the Cameo, where a 1922 vampire will once again be accompanied by musicians playing as his shadow crosses the screen, bringing an experience from the earliest days of horror cinema to downtown Fayetteville more than a century later.
Doors will open at 7 p.m., and the film will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 with general admission seating. Tickets can be purchased on the Cameo website at https://tinyurl.com/yjdt4uw9.