NOSFERATU
"Gorgeous"
- Metal Sucks
"Bizarre, haunting scores"
- Kerrang!
“(The Invincible Czars' soundtrack for Nosferatu is) a brilliantly realized wedding of contemporary musical sensibility and technology with early 20th century cinema.”
– Chico News Review
Nosferatu is one of the most revered films in the history of cinema and we're bringing our updated soundtrack back for the centennial in 2022!.
It is most certainly the most important horror film of the silent era and one of the first vampire movies — though it was almost completely lost when Bram Stoker's widow sued the filmmakers for copyright infringement and most of the prints of the movie were destroyed.
Fans, theaters and media have praised our soundtrack for making the near century-old movie “actually scary” for modern day audiences since we debuted it in 2015. We have performed it more than any other film in our catalog - over 100 times - across the US and Canada.
Using a mix of acoustic and electric instruments helped. Violin, glockenspiel, organ, flute, bass clarinet, voices and vocals, music box, loops, electric guitar, bass, piano and percussion all play prominent roles in the score and are a sight to behold when performed live by only four or five players!
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.
We encourage fans and attendees to dress for the Halloween season at these shows - even when it's not close to Halloween.
2022 Tentative Tour Dates:
Sept
5 - Lubbock, TX - Alamo
6 - ABQ, NM - Guild
7 - Santa Fe, NM - CCA ?
8 - Denver, CO - Alamo
9 - Ft. Collins, CO - Lyric Cinema
10 - SLC, UT - Broadway
13 - Seattle, WA - SIFF
14 - Olympia, WA - Capitol
15 - Tacoma, WA - Grand
16 - Vancouver, BC - Rio
18 - Eureka, CA - Eureka
19 - Sacramento - Crest
20 - Chico, CA - Pageant
21 - SF, CA - Alamo
22 - Oakland, CA - New Parkway
23 - Larkspur, CA - Lark
24 - Huntington Beach - Frida
25 - Los Angeles, CA - Alamo
27 - Phoenix, AZ - Majestic
28 - Tucson, AZ - Loft
30 - El Paso, TX - Alamo
Oct
5 - Houston, TX - Alamo
6 - Mobile, AL - Crescent
7 - Atlanta, GA - Teh Springs
8 - Athens, GA - Cine
10 - Raleigh, NC - Alamo
11 - DC - Alamo
12 - Ashburn, VA - Alamo
13 - Lancaster, PA - Zoetropolis
15 - Emmaus, PA - Emmaus
16 - Brooklyn, NY - Alamo
17 - Yonkers, NY - Alamo
18 - Huntington - Cinema Arts
19 - Ithaca, NY - Cornell
20 - Buffalo, NY - North Park
22 - Kitchener, ON - Apollo
24 - Chicago, IL - Music Box
25 - Des Moines, IA -
26 - Omaha, NE - Alamo
27 - Normal, IL - Normal Theatre
28 - Carbondale, IL - Varsity
29 - Tulsa, OK - Circle
30 - Dallas, TX - Texas Theatre
31 - Austin, TX - Alamo
NOV
? - San Antonio, TX - Alamo
? - Corpus Christi, TX - Alamo
ABOUT THE BAND
We started making weird rock music at clubs in 2003 but our wide scope of styles, cinematic flare and and mix of modern and classical instruments led to bigger projects in the arts realm starting with our whimsical re-imagining of The Nutcracker Suite in 2004. There's hardly a more eclectic band in our home of Austin, Texas!
We've composed 9 tastefully modern soundtracks for silent films and performed live with the movies all over the US and Canada since 2006. Our goal is to create music that gives modern-day audiences a context in which to appreciate these near century-old films. We also create custom artwork, incorporate audience participation into our shows. The Alamo Drafthouse called us one of the best silent film orchestras in the nation and many art house cinemas and film festivals have echoed that. Aw, shucks!
We operate as a collective with a few core members (Josh Robins - guitar, Phil Davidson - violin, Skunk Manhattan - keys) and rotating cast of additional members on any given project or tour. We sound different from season to season and year to year!
PAST VENUES
We've performed this soundtrack and others all over the US and Canada at film festivals, colleges, PACs, parks, art house cinemas, museums and even comic book stores!
Cornell University
Seattle International Film Festival
Texas A&M University
Cleveland Institute of Art
Fort Worth Museum of of Science and History
Sam Houston State University
Discovery Green (Houston)
Alamo Drafhouse (almost every location including - Austin, Houston, El Paso, Lubbock, Brooklyn, Yonkers, DC, Denton, Minneapolis, Omaha, Raleigh, San Francisco)
University of Hartford
North Park Theatre (Buffalo)
Texas Theatre (Dallas),
Webster University
Adventures Underground
Tower Theatre (SLC)
Loft Cinema (Tucson)
CCA Santa Fe
Pickford Film Center (Bellingham, WA)
The Athenaeum (Chicago)
Cine (Athens)
Rio Theatre (Vancouver, BC)
Apollo Cinema (Kitchener, ON)
Fox Cinema (Toronto, ON)
The New Parkway (Oakland, CA)
Eureka Theatre (Eureka, CA)
Pageant Theatre (Chico, CA)
Kiggins Theatre (Vancouver, WA)
Grand Cinema (Tacoma, WA)
Crescent Theatre (Mobile, AL)
Olympia Theatre (Olympia, WA)
The Marquis (Montgomery, AL)
Lark THeatre (Larkspur, CA)
Clinton St. Theatre (Portland, OR)
etc., etc., etc!