Big Top plays a live score to silent horror classic The Unknown at the Shadbolt Centre, November 1

Director Tod Browning’s 1927 film starring Lon Chaney is characterized by sadomasochistic obsession, deception, murder, and disfigurement

SPONSORED POST BY Shadbolt Centre for the Arts

Shadbolt Centre for the Arts presents The Unknown, a silent horror classic presented with an original live score by Big Top, on November 1 at 7:30 pm.

The Unknown is the most celebrated and exquisitely perverse of the many collaborations between director Tod Browning and his legendary leading man Lon Chaney. It features a wrenchingly physical performance from “the Man of a Thousand Faces” as the armless Spanish knife-thrower Alonzo, whose dastardly infatuation with his beautiful assistant drives him to unspeakable extremes. With sadomasochistic obsession, deception, murder, disfigurement, and a spectacular Grand Guignol climax, Browning wrings every last frisson from the 1927 film’s lurid premise.

Vancouver-based Big Top creates and performs an instrumental soundtrack to the film. The band’s music is a tip of the hat to Ennio Morricone’s soundscapes with a bit of circus style thrown in for good measure—cinematic, atmospheric guitar-based instrumentals.

Tickets to The Unknown are available through the Shadbolt Centre.

Post sponsored by Shadbolt Centre for the Arts.

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SCREEN, MUSICStir VancouverOctober 9, 2025Partner Content, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Shadbolt Centre

Big Top plays a live score to silent horror classic The Unknown at the Shadbolt Centre, November 1

Director Tod Browning’s 1927 film starring Lon Chaney is characterized by sadomasochistic obsession, deception, murder, and disfigurement

Shadbolt Centre for the Arts presents The Unknown, a silent horror classic presented with an original live score by Big Top, on November 1 at 7:30 pm.

Vancouver-based Big Top creates and performs an instrumental soundtrack to the film. The band’s music is a tip of the hat to Ennio Morricone’s soundscapes with a bit of circus style thrown in for good measure—cinematic, atmospheric guitar-based instrumentals.

Tickets to The Unknown are available through the Shadbolt Centre.

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