The Garrys, Haxan, and The Roxy Halloween Screenings (Saskatoon)

This Halloween, join the Roxy Theatre for encore viewings of their Riversdale Silent Classics, complete with local bands like The Garrys doing the (prerecorded) scores.

The Roxy Theatre has been putting on their Silence is Golden series for a few years now, where they’ll play a classic silent film and have the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra perform a live score. This evolved into Riversdale Silent Classics, with different local bands creating and performing the live scores; doom rockers Shooting Guns did a score for Nosferatu, horror metal band The New Jacobin Club did Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and so forth. The Roxy will replay all of the films with the recorded scores in the days leading up to Halloween (schedule below).

One such score was done by The Garrys, creating and performing the music for Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, which has led to a new album for the band.

For context, Haxan is a really cool Swedish/Danish silent film that was released in 1922. It’s a fictionalized documentary, that also utilizes dramatized horror scenes to explore superstition and how it led to witch hunts. It’s atmospheric, even without sound, and has comments to make about the hysterical torches and pitchforks set.

In October 2019, after months of writing and rehearsal, prairie surf trio, The Garrys took to the historic Roxy for a one-time performance of their original score, played live with the film. Sisters and bandmates Erica, Julie, and Lenore Maier did a great job of mixing their signature 50s style reverb drenched rock and doo-wop vocal harmonies with something more foreboding. They’ve cleverly referred to it as ‘Doom-wop.’ Roomy psychedelic guitars, accordion drones, brass melodies, synth and pedal effects that swirl and churn as if inside a sonic cauldron, and witchy incantations to create a cinematic mood.

Earlier this month, the score became available digitally and on limited edition double vinyl via Grey Records. The release coincides with the Roxy screenings at the end of the month. There will be a special beer collab with 9 Mile Legacy Brewing and a Covid-conscious screening of the film with the pre-recorded Garrys soundtrack, on October 30^th.

The Roxy schedule:

Faust with Mahogany Frog – Oct 28^th

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with The New Jacobin Club – Oct 29^th

Haxan with The Garrys – Oct 30^th

Nosferatu with Shooting Guns – Oct 31^st

Tags: halloween, haxan, movies, music, saskatoon film, saskatoon music, the garrys, the roxy theatre

About the Author

Craig Silliphant is a D-level celebrity with delusions of grandeur. A writer, critic, creative director, editor, broadcaster, and occasional filmmaker, his thoughts have appeared on radio, television, in print, and on the web. He is a juror on the Polaris Music Prize and the Juno Awards. He loves Saskatoon. He has horrible night terrors and apocalyptic dreams.