Vampire classic for film festival

John C Reilly and Salma Hayek in Hollywood offering Cirque du Freak

The 1920s German gothic horror Nosferatu is to be screened during next month's Inverness Film Festival.

The event's director Paul Taylor said showing the film amid the release of vampire blockbusters was a "co-incidence".

FW Murnau's classic will be accompanied by live music played by musician David Allison.

The festival at Eden Court in Inverness will also feature 15 films to be shown for the first time in Scotland.

Mr Taylor said he hoped this year's event - from 11-15 November - will be the biggest yet.

Swedish thriller

Nosferatu's screening in Inverness comes amid a resurgent interest in vampire films.

Cirque du Freak, starring John C Reilly and Salma Hayek, and New Moon, the follow-up to blockbuster Twilight, are among the latest Hollywood releases.

Meanwhile, director Scott Hicks' The Boys Are Back starring Clive Owen and Scots actress Laura Fraser will open the festival.

The story about a sports journalist who becomes a single parent will be followed by director Steven Soderbergh's The Informant and Ethan and Joel Coen's black comedy A Serious Man.

World and European cinema will also be represented with a screening of Departures and Swedish thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Called Okuribito in Japan where it was made, Departures tells the story of an unemployed cellist who takes a job as a funeral professional.

The festival will close with Valhalla Rising.

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Mads Mikkelsen, who played the villian in the last Bond film Casino Royale, the feature is about a slave who escapes his Scottish masters before joining a band of Vikings.

Scenes for the film were shot in the Highlands.