German silent film master F.W. Murnau's uncredited appropriation of Bram Stoker's DRACULA set the standard for all vampire flicks to come, casting its long and terrifying shadow over the genre. Max Schreck's truly monstrous Count Orlock is a singular fright, repulsive and beastly where Bela Lugosi was courtly and Christopher Lee seductive. Silent Orchestra - local keyboardist Carlos Garza and percussionist Rich O'Meara - will once again accompany the film with their acclaimed original score, by turns dreamlike, ambient, thundering and hell bent.

DIR F.W. Murnau; SCR Henrik Galeen; PROD Enrico Dieckmann and Albin Grau. Germany, 1922, b&w, 84 min. NR