Nosferatu (1922)

Running time: 94 mins

2022 brought the centenary of the most influential horror film of all time. The turning point in the career of legendary director F.W. Murnau ( Sunrise, The Last Laugh), the screen's first, albeit unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (which itself celebrates its 125th Anniversary this year) features Max Schreck's unforgettable performance as the vampire Count Orlok, the most chilling portrayal of cadaverous evil in film history.

Although a court order to destroy the film was successfully brought by the Bram Stoker estate, some copies escaped, and subsequently gave the 20th century some of its defining images of supernatural terror and dread.

Todays presentation is accompanied on the Compton Paramount Cinema organ, itself 87 years old, by celebrated organist Donald Mackenzie.