SILENT FILM CATALOG
Get ready for an unbeatable blend of cinema and concert you won't find online! The Invincible Czars transform classic silent films into electrifying live experiences, blending our tastefully modern soundtracks with timeless movies. From art house cinemas to colleges, our shows have entertained audiences across the US and Canada.
Using flute, clarinet, guitars, piano, drums and more, we craft music scores that perfectly complement each film's vibe, drawing inspiration from legends like Bernard Herrmann, Carl Stahling and Ennio Morricone. But our performances aren't just museum pieces—they're interactive, thrilling, and downright fun! Join us in spooky attire, howling, laughing, and even leaving your seat—it's all part of the show! And it doesn't stop there—we've got custom artwork, merch, and photo ops to make sure you can take the magic home.
FAUST
New for 2026, the Czars have written an electrifying score to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Faust, the first known film adaptation of Goethe's classic novel from 1808, itself based on an older European legend of an elderly alchemist who makes a pact with the devil to gain the power to protect his village from plague. Faust soon succumbs to temptation and asks Mephisto to restore his youth and help him acquire all the hedonistic pleasures that earth can offer. Eventually, his love affair with a young woman named Gretchen leads to tragic and devastating consequences for them both.
NOSFERATU
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We have performed this score hundreds of times - more than any other in our catalog. Many call Nosferatu the first vampire film but it is universally recognized as a milestone of early cinema and a quintessential piece of German Expressionism. Max Shreck terrified audiences as Count Orlok in the 1920s.
If you've only seen us do this live, check out our 2022 DVD release, which features lush orchestration that would require twice as many people to perform live. It's really a pleasure to hear!
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
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One of the move important films in the history of cinema, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari kicked off the German Expressionist movement. Its strikingly modern visuals - craggy edges, disjointed backgrounds and heavy makeup - inspired modern day creators like Tim Burton and musicians like David Bowie. Its twist ending is considered the first in cinematic history.
Our score is the most angular music we've ever recorded, full of piano chords that sound like broken glass, ominous bass clarinet and tense violin passages. We also recorded a rock version of Dr. Caligari's main theme music entitled "Return of the Pink Elephants"
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
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One of the most revered of the silent films, Phantom of the Opera is considered the most important horror film of the silent era and one of Lon Chaney’s most famous roles. Long before Andrew Lloyd Webber's broadway adaptation, the silent film gave international celebrity to the story and the character of the Phantom.
The Invincible Czars partnered with renowned engineer Jason Schimmel (Secret Chiefs 3, Estradasphere) to produce their highest quality recording to date, featuring some of the richest music the group has ever created.
DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
Featuring John Barrymore’s double-edged performance of both titular characters, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) is a landmark of silent horror, transforming a literary story into a popular sensation. Through his magnetic dual performance and dramatic physical transformations, Barrymore's portrayal set a high bar for pantomime acting, utilizing intense, facial contortions and body language to portray psychological and moral descent.
The Invincible Czars debuted this score in 2011 - our first to incorporate vocals - and finally toured nationally with it in 2017, including our first appearance at The Seattle International Film Festival.
THE WIND
Set deep in the Texas dustbowl, The Wind features Lilian Gish as a young woman from the East Coast thrust into the harsh elements of the American West and beleaguered by the advances of several lustful men and an incessant wind which slowly erodes her sanity.
The Bob Bullock Museum in Austin commissioned the Invincible Czars to create and perform a score for this psychological thriller / western for Women in Texas History Month in May 2014. We chose to go very minimal, eliminating drums completely and using all acoustic instruments except the bass guitar (the upright bass was too big and delicate to truck around the country on tour!) to create a soundscape as stark as the West Texas setting of the film.
THE UNKNOWN
Lon Chaney stars as an armless knife thrower in a Spanish circus alongside a very young Joan Crawford for this bizarre film about a love triangle gone wrong.
We debuted this for a sold out audience at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in 2010 and also performed it for the hand-off between SxSW Film and SxSW Music that same year. Later, we brought it to Discovery Green and the Alamo Drafthouse in Houston.