31 Days of Zemo's Halloween Movie Fest

It has become a first year tradition at my house for my husband Bruce, he has decided to start the spooky season with his very own Halloween movie marathon. Amongst his busy schedule, his plan is to watch a different horror movie every night for 31 days; so far he is two for two. October 1st was the unforgettable Nosferatu, A Symphony of Terror. This 1921 film is the earliest surviving film adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, starring Max Schreak as the vampire Count Orlok. The film was almost destroyed by Stoker's widow because of copyright infringement; many of the names and other details were changed because the studio could not get rights to the novel. For example "vampire" became "Nosferatu" and Count Dracula became Count Orlok. This is a very dark film that relies on twisted facial expressions and an original score by Hans Erdmann. You can view the whole film here.

October 2nd, I joined Bruce for the classic 1931 film of Dracula, starring Béla Lugosi as the definitive Dracula himself. His presence as Dracula as the talking corpse terrified 1930s movie audiences.  His facial features and his eyes were so compelling that his face jumped off of the screen even with no dialogue. My personal favorite quote is "To die, to be *really* dead, that must be glorious!" I am also a huge fan of the character Renfield, he is so unusal looking and switches his personality in a manner of seconds, from innocent to a raving lunatic.

These two films are a a must see for this season! I look forward to more of these vampire films this weekend and can't wait to share all the details this month!