Newcastle composer and multi-instrumentalist Edwin Montgomery is breathing new life into F.W. Murnau's chilling 1922 horror masterpiece, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.
The silent German expressionist film is screening at Newcastle's Civic Theatre next week while Montgomery performs an original score, live.
Using loop pedals and ghostly distortions, they will work with synths, violin, guitar, theremin, mandolin, voice and percussion to create an eerie and provocative soundscape for this darkly Gothic movie.
Thursday night's screening is a sell-out but Montgomery is taking the show - and his score - on the road, just in time for Halloween, on a tour that stops off at Armidale (October 22), Sydney (October 25), Hobart (October 31) and Melbourne (November 1).
Bram Stoker's heirs sued the German film studio responsible for Nosferatu as they thought it was too similar to the novel, Dracula. They won and the court ordered all copies of the film to be destroyed - but fortunately for Montgomery, a few remain.
Montgomery says the making of Nosferatu and its cast and crew have been subject to their own mythologising. The film Shadow of the Vampire (2000) starring Willem Dafoe posits that the film's original actor, Max Schreck, really was a vampire who entered into a pact with director F. W. Murnau to give his film the ultimate authenticity - in exchange for the blood of the film's leading lady.
Interestingly, at the end of the year a remake of this film is set to be released starring Willem Dafoe and Bill Skarsgard.
Montgomery likes German expressionist films, and they've also played music for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
"There's something about the style of 1920s German expressionist films; they have quite an odd theatrical feel to them, the use of camera angles composed and constructed is a really nice theatrical element," they say.
Nosferatu also resonated for Montgomery because they like the horror element.
"There's a lot of drama, there is a lot of striking imagery, rats and ruined castles; that's so evocative," they say.
"It's a great tapestry to create atmospheric music on top of."
Montgomery adds that it's not a horror film compared to modern movies; there's no overt violence or blood, and instead it's "kind of creeping".
Montgomery dreamed up the score during their Lighthouse Arts residency a year ago.
"I went into the lighthouse with zero music and came out five days later with basically the entire scores written over that week," they say.
"It was kind of non-stop, but in a very enjoyable way. It didn't feel exhausting."
Montgomery says it was a really productive, focused time, with the only distraction being the view. Now they're ready to give audiences a sophisticated and powerful score that is also visual and compelling.
Montgomery has lived in Newcastle for the past three years but is originally from Sydney. They started playing violin at five years old before picking up other instruments like keyboard and guitar.
They studied classical composition at the University of Sydney and completed a Masters in Screen Composition at the Australian Film Television and Radio School.
Details of the tour can be found online at edwinmontgomeryaudio.com/nosferatu
