Vampire Film Series Related by Blood : Movies: Monthlong event exploring the monster’s mystique begins tonight at the Newport Harbor Art Museum.

Max Schreck.

My, there’s poetry in that name. Wreck, dreck, Schreck. ..

To lovers of the vampire mystique, however, Max Schreck is lyrical history, pure and simple. Pure as a cup of blood, simple as the word “Nosferatu.”

Schreck was the first Dracula, in 1922, when F.W. Murnau’s silent film “Nosferatu” was released. The actor’s name also has become something of a cinematic pun, as Arthur Taussig, an Orange Coast College photography professor, movie fan and author of the “Film Analyst” newsletter, likes to point out.

Taussig, who put together the monthlong “Vampires in Our Midst” film series at the Newport Harbor Art Museum that opens tonight with “Nosferatu,” has observed that Batman’s nemesis in the recent “Batman Returns” is called Max Shreck.

There may be one “c” missing in the name but symbolically, the character who pulls the Penguin’s strings (played by Christopher Walken, more bleached out than usual) is a modern version of Schreck’s vampire, Taussig says.

“He’s a new breed of the monster. In him, we see the myth evolving again. . . . (The Count in ‘Nosferatu’) wanted to drain his victims of blood; the Shreck in ‘Batman Returns’ wants to drain the city of all its power,” he said.

“He’s a technological vampire. The myth takes on new clothes, but it is still here, good and strong.”

Indeed, Taussig’s series will end with the Batman picture. Besides the Schreck-Shreck connection, the references in both films to bats, the shadowy, dark side of night (and the psyche) and the battle between good and evil make for a nice symmetry.

The series also will include “Dracula” (1931) on April 2; “Dracula Has Risen From the Grave” (1968) on April 16, and “Little Shop of Horrors” (1986) on April 23. “Batman Returns” will be shown April 30.

“I hope to go into the historical, cultural and symbolic considerations (of each film) but I don’t plan to make it too academic,” Taussig said. “Really, I want to make the movies more fun to watch. Increasing people’s enjoyment is the point of my talks.” (That’s also, he added, the point of “Film Analyst,” which comes out whenever he wants and has a local circulation of about 500.)

“For ‘Nosferatu,’ I’ll go into the connection to German Expressionism, what Murnau was up to, maybe talk about the vampire as a valuable archetype,” he said. “But I don’t want to get too heavy, (the audience) can count on that.”

Like others fascinated by the Dracula story, Taussig has studied its origins for years. While credit usually is given to Bram Stoker and his famous novel for giving the myth a modern form, Taussig agrees with historians that the vampire tale is ancient. Most cultures, from the primitive to the advanced, have folklore concerning a monster who drinks the blood of his victims.

“I realized that’s important, and wanted to look at the depth and breadth of this myth structure,” he said. “The vampire movies, (of which there are) more than 250, seemed like a good contemporary starting point.”

Taussig has some notions about why people crave the Count. It’s not so much the suspense, he said, or a relishing of fear (he noted that we tend to already know what’s coming in these films). On a more subconscious level, he believes, we find pleasure, even liberation, in confronting the demons that the movies symbolically portray.

“Many of these films deal with negative things, like violence, forbidden sex, incest, even child molestation, and by facing them projected on the screen, we have the opportunity to feel a sense of growth and healing,” he said. “Because it’s on film, it’s symbolized, and thus somewhat removed. That makes it safe.”

While “Nosferatu,” “Dracula” and “Dracula Has Risen From the Grave” (one of the many British versions of the story, this one starring Christopher Lee) are obvious choices for his series, Taussig was asked to explain the inclusion of “Little Shop of Horrors,” a musical spoof with Steve Martin and Rick Moranis.

He answered that the movie’s huge blood-gulping plant from outer space clearly is a vampire, albeit a leafy, extraterrestrial one. Seymour (the Moranis character who brings fresh bodies to the pushy plant) is empowered by the monster, much the same way that Dracula’s victims become, Taussig said.

* The “Vampires in Our Midst” film series at the Newport Harbor Art Museum, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach, begins tonight at 6:30 with “Nosferatu” (1922) by F.W. Murnau. $3 and $5. (714) 759-1122.

‘VAMPIRES IN OUR MIDST’

Film series: March 26: “Nosferatu” (1922) April 2: “Dracula” (1931) April 16: “Dracula Has Risen From the Grave” (1968) April 23: “Little Shop of Horrors” (1986) April 30: “Batman Returns” (1992) All screenings will take place at the Newport Harbor Art Museum, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $3 and $5. (714) 759-1122.