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Nosferatu The Vampyre

by Network 23

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1.
2.
Jonathan 02:26
3.
4.
Lucy 01:46
5.
6.
7.
8.
The Castle 01:46
9.
10.
Nightmare 03:09
11.
Escape 02:38
12.
13.
14.
15.
The Plague 04:53
16.
Folk Tune 02:34
17.
Van Helsing 02:18
18.
Sacrifice 04:47
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20.

about

Inspired by the classic films by F.W. Murnau and Werner Herzog, we imagined our own variation on the classic tale of the Vampyre. This is our soundtrack for a new movie.

Nosferatu
The inevitability of death is known to us all. We try to keep it at a distance and for the most part we succeed. Sometimes it returns, as a thought or as a reality. Love makes the presence of death but a moment, like a punctuation mark. Love makes life worthwhile.

There are worse things than death. For death is not evil, it is decisive, not cruel. To be left unable to love and unable to die - what worse fate could there be?

Jonathan.
Jonathan is an average fellow, handsome and in good health, though some would say a little dull at times. That said he is loyal and charming and you'd be pleased to count him as a friend. He is devoted to his young wife Lucy and he sparkles in her presence. He never knew such love could exist. He works hard and hopes to build for their future together. He has no idea what that future will hold.


Journey to Transylvania.
Jonathan and his wife Lucy live happily in Wismar. One day, Jonathan’s employer, Mr Renfield asks him to visit Transylvania, to complete the sale of a house. Jonathan rides day and night across open country to reach his goal. He is nervous but keen to fulfill his role.

Lucy.
Her beauty is unquestionable and is equalled by the kindness of her heart. She brightens up any room she enters and her smile is like an embrace. Her loveliness encloses a strength within.

The villagers warning
Stopping on route to Transylvania, Jonathan enjoys the hospitality of the locals at a tavern in a small village one night. When they hear of his destination, they are concerned and share their tales about “the land beyond the trees” and the fearsome creatures that dwell there.

The Children of the Night
Arriving at the castle just as the sun sets, Jonathan meets the mysterious Count Dracula for the first time. He is a stark, unsettling figure, seemingly alone in this place, surrounded by the sounds of night creatures. As Jonathan eats, Dracula tells of his loneliness.


Count Dracula.
Nothing can quite prepare you for the shock of first seeing this legendary figure. Bald and emaciated, he appears both young and strong as well as ancient and frail at the same time. His soft voice is beguiling, his words heavy with the thoughts of many years, regret mixed with darkness, a longing never to be satisfied. He is doomed to be undead forever living on the lifeblood of innocents. Tragic and demonic, beware the Count!


The Castle.
That night, unable to sleep and disturbed by the cries of wolves, Jonathan explores the castle. Its strange shadows and echoing corridors weave endlessly into the night. He hears the laughter of women but finds no one in the many rooms he enters. It seems there is something evil lurking in this place, something ancient and loathsome which can never be found but is all around.

In the depths of the castle Jonathan finds a number of black coffins. Prizing one open he is shocked to find the Count seemingly asleep, motionless as a corpse. His eyes open and he lurches forward, sinking his teeth into Jonathan’s neck. Unable to fight against the weariness that falls upon him, he collapses, feeling his life begin to drain away.

The Villager's song
They sing for one more lost soul, fearing for poor Jonathan, an innocent abroad, one more victim of the night.

Nightmare.
The slow rhythmic pulse of a bat’s wings beats across the empty night. The candle’s flame flickers in the wind as the curtains wave around the open window. Beautiful naked women settle into the bed around him, and Jonathan is comforted by their sweet ruby lips. He is unable to move as they scratch his chest with long razor-like finger nails. Their smiles reveal gleaming white canines like those of a wolf. He screams as multiple blades sink into his throat and neatly, painlessly remove his head, which falls from the bed onto the floor. The priest picks up the head and Jonathan continues to see as it is carried out of the room on a red cushion. His body remains lifeless on the bed as they leave.

Escape.
He awakes suddenly, his heart racing, head pounding. His mind is a blur – did he dream it or did Dracula really bite him like a beast? Surely not, he thinks as he touches his neck to find the blood has begun to dry. He must escape this evil place or he will surely die here. He dashes through the hallways, now illuminated by the dawn, chased by eerie voices and feminine laughter. Trapped, he makes his escape by jumping from a window, injuring himself in the fall.

Renfield's madness.
Mr Renfield was an upstanding member of the community before this, reliable, efficient and eminently polite. Now, since that ship came into the harbour, he seems to have completely lost his mind. Why does he laugh so unceasingly? What madness has grips him that makes for such hysteria? It is as if he laughs from fear which is so inevitable and so overwhelming, he cannot cope with the horror he now sees inside. It is for the best that he has now been locked away, cackling to himself and calling for “the Master”. What on earth is he on about?

Coffins on ship.
A trading ship is bound for Germany, and its mysterious cargo is hidden from the crew. Half a dozen coffins, black as night, stacked neatly together below deck. The Captain has been sworn to secrecy and paid well for the task. His crew whisper rumours amongst each other and cross themselves as they share a bottle of schnapps.

The rats come in their thousands, scuttling from the black coffins like an ashen tide. Bringing their disease which will lay waste to the population.

The ship arrives in port, gliding listlessly into its mooring unguided by human hand. All is quiet, except for the occasional rat. And what of the crew, some 8 men should be aboard but where? Below deck, we find half of them, dead and cold many hours. Their faces grey and weakened and tinged with horror as if they had seem something hideous moments before they died. Bite marks on their throats from the rats? Perhaps it was a malady, a sickness that finished them off and those not here had thrown themselves overboard. We find the Captain, lashed to the wheel to bravely maintain their course. Dead like the others.

Encounter with Lucy.
As Lucy is getting ready for bed, she thinks about her beloved Jonathan who returned from Transylvania a shadow of his former self. What strange sickness has affected him and will he recover? She is startled by the sudden presence of the Count. They speak of the shadow which has cast itself across the town. Dracula speaks of love and how he yearns for it. Lucy tells him she would never betray Jonathan and the Count is repelled by the candlelight glinting off the crucifix she wears.

The Plague.
The church bells toll solemnly as Lucy crosses the town square. Coffin bearers are everywhere heading to already over flowing graveyard. Death is everywhere, the flies fill the air like the stench from corpses all around. Where is the Mayor? Where are the police? She has news to tell them. All dead....

Folk Tune
Rats swarm everywhere and pestilence is throughout the city. Driven mad by the horror the population dance and eat in the streets and await their fate’

Van Helsing. Some say vampires and creatures of the night are just a myth, a superstition passed down over the years. But there is one man who knows better. He has made it his life’s work to seek out and destroy them, those children of the night. He knows their weaknesses and is ready to take them on. Van Helsing has arrived. He confronts Dracula and they fight. Wounded but unafraid, Van Helsing banishes Dracula into the night.

Sacrifice.
A determined Lucy goes to bed, taking off her cross and hiding it from view. She blows out the candle and waits. The sun will rise shortly as her trap is ready. The Count appears and silently enters from her open window. She keeps her eyes closed as he approaches and offers now resistance as he plunges his teeth into her neck. She expected more pain but is consoled that her death will be almost gentle. The Count drinks deeply as Lucy’s heartbeat slowly fades. This may be the closest feeling to love he will ever know.

Death at dawn.
Count Dracula has feasted for the last time. He rises from Lucy’s bedside feeling elated and in no hurry to leave. What is that on the horizon? A beautiful glow he has not seen in years. It transfixes him and as the sun rises it strikes against his blackened soul, a final blow to the undead one. His knees give way as he collapses to the floor, a look of shock, almost contentment on his pale face.

Jonathan transformed.
Having slept deeply, Jonathan awakens feeling refreshed and better than he can remember. He has not eaten for days but feels no hunger. Not for food anyway. He has a new compulsion, a new desire – for blood! He must leave this place. It is finished now and for the first time since he returned he feels free, ready to take on the world. There is only one place he wants to see now – the dark hinterlands of Transylvania are calling him. He mounts his horse and tells the servants “I have much work to do”. We never saw him again.

credits

released October 31, 2019

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Network 23 Eastbourne, UK

An experimental, electronic music duo, exploring the sonic possibilities of vst synths, effects and digital audio.

Simon Meader and Alan Bruzon both have long and varied musical pasts but they were brought together by their love of synthesizers, ambient music, Berlin School electronica, Ableton Live and VST soft synths. Their work is based around live improvised pieces including guitars.
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