With both Robert Eggers' remake and Ryan Coogler's reinvention of the genre with Sinners, this seems an apt time to revisit the OG vampire film. In F.W. Murnau's haunting masterpiece, a simple real-estate transaction leads an intrepid businessman deep into the superstitious heart of Transylvania. There he encounters the otherworldly Count Orlok (Max Schreck) who soon after embarks upon a cross-continental voyage to take up residence in a distant new land, along with his shipful of plague rats.

The use of real locations instead of stylized studio sets, and special effects such as negative exposure and fast-speed motion make this first (and unauthorized) adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula one of the eeriest and most magical. Its treatment of themes from the novel—like xenophobia, antisemitism, homophobia and a suspicion toward scientific progress—offers insight into the time in which it was made, and how much things have changed in the last 100 years (or not).

D: F.W. Murnau, US, 1922, 1h21m, Silent with Live Accompaniment

With live accompaniment by organist Peter Krasinski. Introduction by Film & Media Studies Professor Paul Young.

Please join us for a free pre-show reception in Top of the Hop from 8-8:30pm, hosted by East Wheelock House and School House and open to all!

Programmed in collaboration with the Tucker Center and Church of Christ at Dartmouth College.