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Silent movies and modern music. It's become a rich field, with numerous contemporary groups taking the plunge into the past. Boston's Cul de Sac has scored five shorts and three full-lengths and they take up F.W. Murnau's 1926 silent film masterwork “Faust" on Haloween at 8 p.m. Cul de Sac's music is primarily instrumental, drawing inspiration from sources such as 1960s psychedelia, surf-rock, Middle Eastern folk music, krautrock, American folk music, and the more industrial elements of the avant-garde. "We took our name from a Roman Polanski film, so the band has always been interested in film," says Cul de Sac bassist-violinist Jonathan LaMaster. "Murnau is one of the greatest silent film directors of the 20th century. We've worked on this for several years, and toured Europe with it in 2005. It's a great story, a story of Goethe, the same story as Robert Johnson going down to the crossroads.Faust goes down to the crossroads and sells his soul in order to save the village from the plague." Tickets: $10.

7 Medford St., Arlington 781-646-4849 regenttheatre.com/events/faust.htm