The Chelsea Theater’s 'Vampire Weekends' gives a spooky look into vampire tellings

To celebrate Halloween, the Chelsea Theater in Chapel Hill is screening selected vampire films throughout October and November.

Nicknamed “Vampire Weekends,” the spooky-season special hosts different vampire film screenings during mornings and late nights on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. 

The Chelsea Theater has special showings every October, but with a different theme. Last year’s theme was for Italian “killer thrillers,” showing screenings of different Italian horror films produced in the 1970s and 1980s.

Program and media manager Matt Brown researches different films and organizes the theater's events. He said that this year is vampire-themed because it is roughly the 100th anniversary of vampire cinema, which started with the 1922 horror film, "Nosferatu." A re-make of the film by director Robert Eggers will show in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day. Eggers is known for his horror fiction films, including adaptations of known tales like “Hansel and Gretel” (2007) and “The Northman” (2022). 

"Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror," is one of the variety of vampire films shown in the program. It is a German silent film based on the 1897 novel, "Dracula," by Bram Stoker that came to the big screens in 1922, before retellings such as the 1979 "Nosferatu the Vampyre" by Werner Herzog.

Matt Brown said that early vampire motion pictures created their own audiovisual tools, which ties into the development and expansion of film as a profitable industry in the 20th century. Since then, the vampire genre has expanded into major motion pictures. 

Sean Brown, Matt Brown's brother and regular attendee of the Chelsea Theater, attended the Oct. 11 showing of “Silents Synced: Nosferatu + Radiohead” a special edition of the traditional movie with soundtracks from musical artists, including Radiohead, REM and Pearl Jam.

“The vampire Nosferatu is the most interesting character," he said. “The way he's presented in the movie is exceptionally influential. It's really clear when you see it that a lot of villains are based on this: a lot of the ways he's put in frame, the way that he shows up in the scene."

Sean Brown also said that he thinks many of the movie's scenes have been replicated throughout horror movies ever since. 

Rachel Kiel, another regular moviegoer also went to the screening of "Silents Synced: Nosferatu + Radiohead." 

“I'm a huge Radiohead fan and have been for many years,” Kiel said. “And I also really love vampire movies. So, it was really like a perfect collection of things.” 

Events like the Vampire Weekends are possible because of the theater's relationship with Kino Corner, a series of film screenings followed by discussions, created by UNC graduate students. Together, they will host a Halloween party on Oct. 25. 

Much of the Chelsea Theater’s desire for events is to educate film enthusiasts on the centuries of vampire lore, even selling books at the theater for people interested in vampire and other gothic folklore.

“We're trying to get folks to understand why this is important and how this is connected through the wall of cinema,” Matt Brown said. “There are images in this film that have spanned throughout cinema history, and you'll see it in different films.” 

Since the program's start, the theater has seen a lot more attendees. The showing of "Silents Synced: Nosferatu + Radiohead" attracted an audience of nearly fifty people. Matt Brown said that the theater sees more attendees during the semester when students are in Chapel Hill. 

He also said that they receive great feedback from their attendees, some even emailing their reviews to the theater.

"I watched as this totally dead strip mall gradually got more and more active with people coming to this 10:00 [p.m.] random vampire movie,” Sean Brown said. “And I love that.” 

The vampire-centered screenings will continue until Nov. 17 for the 2014 Iranian film “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.” 

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