THE SUBTERRANEAN HOWL SCORES INTENSE 1927 LON CHANEY CARNY CRIME FLICK
Our winter series of silent film and soundtracking is rolling on with Nosferatu!! We are back in the newly renovated Hollywood Theatre with ultra-comfy seats and a slick paint job. Strangled Darlings have put together an awesome piece this month for the original vampire feature. It’s a visually brilliant film if you haven’t seen it. Come sink into the new seats with a wine or beer and check out Organ Grinder’s February offering!
On February 18th, The Strangled Darlings creep from the crypt and into the Hollywood Theatre. The tome, Nosferatu, FW Murnau’s 1922 tale of purity of heart, vampires, and blood. The Strangled Darlings present a disconcerting mix of styles. They paint an eerily dark portrait that seems like it was made for the classic horror genre. In a special one-time performance, the Hollywood Theatre is transformed back to its vaudeville days of bowler hat bedecked musicians and big screen spectacles.
The Darlings came from outer space upon the Devil’s ship. God was making cookies, peanut butter chocolate chip. He forgot his new creation, as gods are wont to do, and the Devil caught the Darlings & choked them white to blue. Strangled now & heartsick by their true forsaken Lord, the lost & longing Darlings are wobbled troubadours. They sings of things unspoken, to hide from good & bad they always dress immaculate in case conceptions’ had. They flitter through the country side looking for a perch & if you want to hear their tale, the Darlings are your Church.
NOSFERATU
– Wisbourg, Germany based estate agent Knock dispatches his associate, Hutter, to Count Orlok’s castle in Transylvania as the Count wants to purchase a isolated house in Wisbourg. They plan on selling him the one across the way from Hutter’s own home. Hutter leaves his innocent wife, Ellen, with some friends while he is away. Hutter’s trek is an unusual one, with many locals not wanting to take him near the castle where strange events have been occurring. Once at the castle, Hutter does manage to sell the Count the house, but he also notices and feels unusual occurrences, primarily feeling like there is a dark shadow hanging over him, even in the daytime when the Count is unusually asleep. Hutter eventually sees the Count’s sleeping chamber in a crypt, and based on a book he has recently read, believes the Count is really a vampire or Nosferatu. While Hutter is trapped in the castle, the Count, hiding in a shipment of coffins, makes his way to Wisbourg, causing death along his way, which most attribute to the plague. Hutter himself tries to rush home to save his town and most importantly save Ellen from Nosferatu’s imminent arrival. In Wisbourg, Ellen can feel the impending darkness as Nosferatu gets closer. But she learns that a sinless woman can sacrifice herself to kill the vampire. Will Hutter be able to save Ellen either from Nosferatu and/or her self-sacrifice?
ORGAN GRINDERS
- From under the screen, the sounds of modern groups are paired with movies from a different era, updating the genre of Silent Film accompaniment to the sounds around us today. Organ Grinders revisits the original vision of the Hollywood Theatre, built in 1926 with an orchestra pit and a hydraulically ascending theatre organ.