Hold on to your neck!

Nosferatu’s in town. Eighty years have passed since this hideous vampire first graced a movie screen, and yet he remains one of the scariest icons in horror cinema. The unnerving sight of shadowy claws aside, the making of Nosferatu itself is shrouded in mystery and controversy. Actor Max Schreck (whose last name means “fear” in German), was a professional enigma, which caused speculation that he was actually a vampire who had been roped into acting. Nosferatu, with a plot stolen entirely and unapologetically from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, proved a cursed debut for the film’s production company. Prana Films declared bankruptcy after a lawsuit by Stoker’s widow without ever making a second movie. Florence Stoker had the negatives and every print of the film destroyed. After her death, a hidden copy was resurrected and made its way to America—much like Dracula himself—where it has gained cult status. Get an early start on Halloween with a screening of Nosferatu this Friday at 8 p.m. Paul Quarino will accompany the film with an eerie score played on the Wurlitzer theater pipe organ. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for children or $20 per family. The screening is located at the Towe Auto Museum, 2200 Front Street. Call 442-6802 for more information.