Curse of Vampire Orchestra

CVO is a large-scale production that takes an unconventional approach, speaking the language of culture by screening the 1922 silent film Nosferatu on Hallowe’en, accompanied by a live orchestra. Most non-believers wouldn’t dream of going to church that night, but they’ll happily head to a theatre to watch a vampire film.

In this story, right in the middle of the nightmare—when much of the town has died under the vampire’s curse and scientists insist it’s an epidemic, or rats (perhaps bats?) — the heroine, Ellen, finds in an ancient book that only the willing sacrifice of an innocent can break the curse, banish the darkness and destroy the supposedly ‘immortal’ villain. She does exactly that, saving the whole town.

Whether the filmmakers in 1922 intended such an overt parallel with Christ is hard to say, but the modern response is telling: when the conductor asks the audience afterwards, “Who is Ellen?”, someone always shouts, “Jesus!” That tells us the message has clearly landed, and the language we’re using is being understood. CVO has been leading more and more people to salvation.