DRACULA (1931) W/ LIVE MUSICAL SCORE

OCTOBER 29

Spooky Season Screenings

Witness the original Universal monster movie on the big screen: 1931's Dracula. Starring the immortal (on celluloid at least) Bella Lugosi as author Bram Stoker's titular vampire count, his portrayal set the standard vampires in media for the next century. Not only the first Universal monster movie, Dracula is authentically the first American Horror-Genre feature film, and one of the first 'talkies' made. Bram Stoker's terrifying tale was previously (unofficially) adapted in Germany as 1922's silent Nosferatu- but it was Universal Dracula's glossily gothic visage and sinister SOUND bite that sank in for movie-watchers.

Although Dracula IS a sound film, stylistically it very much hails from the Silent era- using dramatic close-ups, inter-title cards, and theatrical performance punctuated by so much... silence. Film scores were a new concept (and expensive), especially for a scary movie! Previously films would have live music played in cinemas- just as this screening of Dracula will feature- a terrifically spooky live score played on synth-piano by professional film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. His live score will compliment the few bits of music in the film and the early eerie sound effects. (The Foley artist- or sound effect technician- on this film was... Jack Foley.) The result will be an unforgettably gratifying cinematic experience sure to linger in the shadows of your memory!

The dashing, mysterious Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), after hypnotizing a British soldier, Renfield (Dwight Frye), into his mindless slave, travels to London and takes up residence in an old castle. Soon Dracula begins to wreak havoc, sucking the blood of young women and turning them into vampires. When he sets his sights on Mina (Helen Chandler), the daughter of a prominent doctor, vampire-hunter Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) is enlisted to put a stop to the count's never-ending bloodlust.