Nosferatu with Live Score by Invincible Czars

Austin’s most adventurous band, The Invincible Czars, bring their new tastefully modern score for the 1922 German silent film Nosferatu (1922 F.W. Murnau) to select cities in the South, Midwest and East Coast this fall – including several double feature performances with the 1920 American film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring John Barrymore.

Nosferatu is one of the most revered films in the history of cinema. It is most certainly as the most important horror film of the silent era and one of the first vampire movies — though it was almost completely lost when the estate of Bram Stoker sued the filmmakers for copyright infringement and most of the prints of the movie were destroyed.

Fans, theaters and media have praised The Invincible Czars for making the near century-old movie “actually scary” for modern day audiences. The score and their performance of it complements the tone and emotion on-screen at any given moment.

Using a mix of acoustic and electric instruments helped. Violin, glockenspiel, organ, flute, bass clarinet, voices and vocals, music box, loops, electric guitar, bass, singing bowl and percussion all play prominent roles in the score and are a sight to behold when performed live by only four players!

The band always borrows music from the classical realm in their scores. For Nosferatu, they chose Bela Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances in a nod to the fictional Count Orlock’s home turf and because the pieces were composed around the same time as the movie was made. The highlight of the Czars’ arrangements is a haunting version of Romanian Dance IV (Buciumeana) featuring an otherworldly vocal performance by the band’s wind mistress Leila Henley – who also created much of the group’s wardrobe for the show.

Nosferatu tells the story of Hutter and Ellen, a couple from the village of Wisborg. Hutter travels to Transylvania to sell a piece of property in Wisborg to Count Orlok. Hutter stays in Orlok’s castle only to learn that the Count is a vampire. Orlok purchases a house next to Hutter’s, locks Hutter in the castle and travels to Wisborg. On the way, he manages to possess Hutter’s employer and Ellen and strike the village with an outbreak of the plague. Hutter rushes home to stop him before it’s too late.

The band encourages fans and attendees to dress for the Halloween season at these shows. Even in June.