Nosferatu 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. 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. (Germany, 1922, 94min., NR, Silent | Dir. F.W. Murnau)

Ben Model is one of the nation’s leading silent film accompanists, performing on both piano and theatre organ. For more than 40 years, he has created and performed several hundred live scores for silent films on piano and theatre organ. He has worked at the Museum of Modern Art (NY) and the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus Theater.