It was Halloween, and the 8th annual South African Horrorfest was a week into its 10 day programme. As dusk descended on the Labia Theatre, a crowd began to gather for the evening’s show – a screening of the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu, revived by a live soundtrack performed by The Makabra Ensemble.
Being Halloween, there were a few people in costumes though not as many as I was expecting…Once inside, prizes were awarded for best costumes (to an epic steampunk guy and a male Wednesday Addams, both worthy winners) and books and posters were thrown into the crowd.
Consisting of Terminatryx’s Sonja Ruppersberg and Paul Blom, violinist Matthijs Van Dijk and Lark‘s Sean Ou Tim (AKA Mr Sakitumi) and Simon ‘Fuzzy’ Ratcliffe, The Makabra Ensemble’s birth co-incided with that of the Horrorfest, and they’ve written and performed soundtracks to 7 films to date.
Earlier this year they performed Metropolis, which I was very sad to have missed; they first scored Nosferatu in 2006 and were doing it again in honour of the film’s 90th anniversary. As a bonus, the crowd was treated to the short film ‘Frankenstein‘ from 1910 which was very entertaining and a nice warm-up to the main event.
Though still spellbinding after 90 years, much of Nosferatu‘s acting and story-telling technique’s seem over-the-top by modern standards, so I was particularly impressed by the subtlety and restraint of the soundtrack. The haunting orchestral combination of drones, violin, distorted guitars, otherworldly vocals, double bass, theremin, a variety of woodwinds and percussion was perfectly measured and never overpowered the visuals, and the occasional sound effects (the clip-clopping of horse’s hooves here, a bout of maniacal laughter there) were also spot on.
Their combination of modern sound and aged visuals felt almost timeless; it really was something special.
A great idea that translates into a stunning experience, a performance by the Makabra Ensemble is definitely something not easily forgotten – I look forward to whatever they do next.
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The Makabra Ensemble: Facebook | website | Nosferatu on DVD
The South African annual Horrorfest | The Labia Theatre
