The annual block party may be over, but Athens will still have a chance to celebrate Halloween in classic, horror movie style.
A cinema classic, Nosferatu, will be brought to life Thursday with a live performance from The Ridges.
The folk rock band from Athens, founded in 2010, partnered with the Athena Cinema and ACRN to bring a live score to the projection of the silent film.
Alexandra Kamody, managing director of the Athena, said the theater is happy to be hosting an event celebrating live music and classic movies and she expects the show to sell out.
“We’re happy to host events that we consider ‘programming plus,’ where it’s more than just a movie,” she said.
Victor Rasgaitis, vocalist and guitarist for The Ridges, said the event was the band’s idea.
“We have a passion for classic cinema and film scores,” he said. “We’ve felt our music was often cinematic.”
The Ridges are following a tradition of scoring Nosferatu with live music.
“Musicians around the globe score and put their own perspective on it,” Rasgaitis said. “So we’re giving our orchestral folk perspective on the film.”
Gabbi Thacker, a sophomore studying media studies and recording industry, is attending the event because she’s a fan of the film and thinks it’s “perfectly terrifying.”
“I love the film as is, and I’ve seen The Ridges perform before,” Thacker said. “They are so talented, so getting to see two really awesome things come together is going to be amazing.”
The Ridges premiered its score at the Cincinnati Art Museum this past Friday for a crowd of about 600 people, Rasgaitis said.
“We didn’t know what to expect, but the crowd was so attentive,” he said.
The band cut the 94-minute film to 35 minutes and highlighted what they thought the cool shots were, Rasgaitis said.
“We just started at the beginning and started writing for it,” he said. “So if something is happening on-screen, then there’s a musical representation of that.”
Rasgaitis added that Nosferatu’s theme is based off a chord progression from the band’s song “Shadows” because shadows are important in the movie.
Thacker said she is excited to see what The Ridges’ live performance will bring to the film.
“I would like to be able to feel Nosferatu’s evil looming right on top of me, and I think this is exactly what The Ridges’ performance will do,” Thacker said.
The band loves live performances and hopes this event is a one-of-a-kind experience for audiences, Rasgaitis said.
“We’re really excited to see the audience react and experience it with them,” he said.
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