Nosferatu- Film and Live Score Review

I have been a film aficionado for a long time. My father brought me up on classics like David Lean's adaptations of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations as well as the various black and white classic comedies of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. However, I became interested in cult TV series and films whilst attending University. Our campus was media-centered and as a result it had a huge catalogue of videos to rent, free of charge; I ploughed through many often taking the maximum 8 out at a time and consumed them voraciously.

As a result, I believe I am quite literate in films and TV but Nosferatu, the German Expressionist masterpiece is like the Rosetta Stone. Over 100 years old and nearly obliterated from history, this masterpiece still haunts my dreams with its otherworldly imagery. I've seen it on film and DVD at home lots of times but never on the big screen. A chance to see it on the big screen at my local theatre was too good to pass up. Throw in a live score and it was a must watch for me, so I quickly booked a ticket for just myself... this was a bit too niche for even my wife who still hadn't forgiven me dragging her to the Werner Herzog documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams over 10 years ago in Cambodia.

So, on a cold, dark Monday night I descended on the Teignmouth Pavilion, wondering what the audience would be like. I picked up my ticket and saw that there was a small group of about 30 people with the average age of 60. I was one of the youngest member in the audience apart from a couple of teenagers who came along with their elders.

The film itself is a masterpiece of early cinema, mixing humour like, 'She has a beautiful neck,' when Orlok sees a picture of Ellen (a Mina Harker-a-like) or when we see Orlok using his powers to carry the coffins onto a carriage before using his powers to get the horses to gallop, to full on dread like when Orlok rises from the coffin in the ship and the crew are slowly picked off. When the title card read, ‘The ship of death had a new captain,’ and I saw Orlok on the ship, which was slowly moving forward under his evil influence, it sent shivers down my spine.

All through this, the music by Chris Green enhanced the experience and offered a new way to appreciate the hundred year old movie. As the blueish tint gave way to a yellow hue it felt ethereal on the big screen. I have had a copy of the dvd at home since the late 90s but that had a different musical track so seeing this new soundtracked version certainly was a boon.

Overall, I loved the experience and hope that many more events like this come to our local pavilion theatre; it's a way for people to appreciate old classics and brings the media to a new audience.

The Best of Popol Vuh for Werner Herzog- Retro Soundtrack Review

There are many prog rock groups who are fondly remembered but one that I think are underappreciated or overlooked are Popol Vuh. Popol Vuh soundtracked many of Werner Herzog’s movies and formed an integral part of the experience, without which the films would seem incomplete or lacking. I recently purchased the Best of Popul Vuh Werner Herzog Soundtrack and this is my review of said album but first some context of how I discovered this band.

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I first experienced Popol Vuh when I rented out Aguirre: Wrath of God from my university library. The opening scene, of an expeditionary caravan travelling through the misty mountains of the Andes to find El Dorado was set to the haunting mesmerising score and seared itself into my soul and I knew then that I was watching something special. As the film continued and I saw the true madness of Aguirre's journey into the heart of darkness (Joseph Conrad style), the visuals and music mixed into a heady cocktail and enveloped me.

The whole Aguirre score reminded me of probably my most formative media experience, that from my favourite children's television programme, The Mysterious Cities of Gold. Aguirre and MCOG shared much in common as both were set amongst the time of the Inca and Conquistadors but it was more than that, the Moog synthesiser combined with ethnographic religious voices from both the TV show and Aguirre echo a move away from stereotypical panpipes and woodwind interpretations of the 'other' and instead seemed more mysterious and spiritual. Aguirre's soundtrack tapped into my love of the acclaimed MCOG soundtrack by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy. I had to find out more about Popol Vuh, which in the mid 90s was quite difficult as the internet barely existed.

So, after Aguirre I rented out Fitzcarraldo, the tale of another explorer who ventures once again into a Conradian heart of darkness to set up a rubber plantation and build an opera house to bring culture to the 'savages.' To achieve this he persuades many local tribesmen to drag a steamboat over the rainforest and hills to a river many miles away.

The music was once again magnificent but was in direct contrast to the actions portrayed on screen of the enigmatic but deeply reprehensible characters, played with deranged, barely controlled, ferocity by Herzog regular Klaus Kinski. These deeply flawed protagonists are on a self-destructive journey but believe they are on the path to greatness.
Popul Vuh's music doesn't celebrate the protagonists but rather the cultures they are trying to subjugate and control. Aguirre is an imperialist conqueror looking for gold and glory, Fitzcarraldo an arrogant man who wants to achieve fame and repute amongst the  ultra elite and Francisco Manoel da Silva, from the film Cobra Verde, wants to build a kingdom upon the slavery of the people he initially befriends.

The working relationship between Herzog and and Popol Vuh, led by his longtime friend Florian Fricke, was a very fruitful one with XX soundtracks scored. This is many hours of music  but the best of Popol Vuh features 14 tracks which are as follows:

  1. Wehe Khoorazin
  2. Im Garten der Gemeinschaft
  3. Der Tod des Banditen
  4. Agape, Agape
  5. Gemeinsam aßen sie das Brot
  6. Gemeinsam tranken sie den Wein
  7. Als lebten die Engel auf Erden
  8. Eine andere Welt
  9. Höre, der du wagst
  10. Brüder des Schattens - Söhne des Lichts
  11. Engel der Luft
  12. Wir Wissen von der Not
  13. Take the Tention High
  14. Lacrime di Re

This 14 track playlist just seems too short to truly showcase the importance that Popol Vuh had in bringing Herzog’s vision and more importantly ethno-religious soul to something as seemingly mechanical and soulless like the synthesiser but it offers an appetising amuse-bouche for those willing to dip their toes into a kind of prog rock that flourished before the decadence of 20 minute keyboard solos. Fricke was a spiritual man and this comes through in his music.

The sublime Lacrime De Ri from the opening of Aguirre sounds like an otherworldly choir of angels before it opens up into ethno-religious percussive rhythms. The visuals of a hopeful group emerging from the misty mountains is one of cinemas greatest openings and the music brings a sense of spirituality into the mix with an angelic choir created by the melotron.

Popol Vuh's soundtrack for Nosferatu The Vampyre, is phenomenal but a particular standout is Brüder des Schattens - Söhne des Licht, which plays at several key points during the movie bit most memorably at the beginning which opens with the mummified remains of the victims of an 1833 cholera epidemic. I have never forgotten the simple yet haunting two-note choral motif, it plays in my dreams and haunts my nightmares.

Wehe Khorazin is a profound, powerful, and deeply moving piece in its simplicity and it touches the deepest part of my soul. It starts off with an almost angry booming Gregorian-like chant and then gets prog rocky with sitars and a more calming repetitive chant.

Ein Andere Welt is a hypnotic ambient drone that calms and soothes, recalling Jean Michel Jarre's stunning Waiting for Cousteau.

Höre, der du wagst is an interesting piece as gentle piano wends in with synthesiser and sitar sounds to create a soft melodic piece which is relaxing.

Der Todd Der Banditen is a harmonious sonorous song similar to many devotional chants I've heard. It's touching and deeply resonates with me as it seems to be ascending to heaven, like when people say Om and it comes from deep within the body, this has that effect.

The whole package is stunning and even though there are many more amazing tracks missing, these 14 are all mesmerising and well worth a listen.

Fear Itself- Cult TV Review

I watched Fear Itself last night and it was an interesting piece of work which used clips from over a hundred years of horror cinema to create something new. It talks about how the scariest movies exploit our greatest – and most basic – fears.

Charlie Lyne’s film explores how filmmakers scare us – and why we let them. The monologue and story is told from the perspective of a girl haunted by traumatic events, here presented through clips of films as varied as Vertigo, Psycho and Nosferatu- a real smorgasbord of world cinema over the last 100 or so years.
This mesmerising journey through horror cinema looks at the fundamental nature of fear and there are profound truths toldincluding my favourite line “You never see fear coming ‘til it swallows you whole”. The film covers a lot of ground; school shootings, home invasions and the fear of the great unknown: all are presented with a though provoking monologue spoken with gravitas that draws you in.

This is an unusual film as it feels almost like a YouTube mash up or a think-piece from Radio 4 but the effect was unsettling. It was enhanced by the fact that I live in the countryside and my wife and child are away, my cottage is old and creepy and whilst watching this I locked my bedroom door and didn't go downstairs to pee. It's not wet yourself scary but there is definitely a higher filmic literacy required here to appreciate its full effect.

My affection for Cult Films and TV Series

I have been a film aficionado for a long time. My father brought me up on classics like David Lean's adaptations of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations as well as the various black and white classic comedies of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. However I became interested in cult TV series and films whilst attending University. Our campus was media-centered and as a result it had a huge catalogue of videos to rent, free of charge. I ploughed through many often taking the maximum 8 out at a time and consumed them voraciously. As a result I believe that I am quite literate in films and TV but the series that really attracts me are the more offbeat curios.

I've explained my love for old creepy films here before and now on this website I will be sharing my love by writing reviews . There are hundred of reviews about Metropolis, Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and other stone-cold classics so I don't think I could add anything new to the conversation but lesser remembered works like Quatermass, Children of the Stones, The Stone Tapes, Moondial and Threads; now those are something I feel I could add to the conversation so occasionally I may post a review or article about these films and series... Come join me and maybe find some works which may interest you.