10 of the oldest silent horror films that were filmed at the beginning of the 20th century, and you can still watch them today

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The term "horror" (horror movie) did not appear until the 1930s, but elements of the genre can be traced back to the silent films of the 1800s. The so-called "stunt films" then used experimental methods to demonstrate special effects, and also such mystical characters - ghosts, witches and vampires - were often found in them. Many of these early films were irretrievably lost, either due to damaged tapes or simply lost over the years. Yet some of the iconic horror films of the silent film era can still be seen today.

1. "Devil's Castle"

The name Georges Méliès is synonymous with silent films. Known to many for his 1902 film Le Voyage dans la Lune, Méliès was one of the first experimenters with a variety of shooting techniques, special effects and horror stories, many of which are still widely used today. Melies began his film career in 1896 with the film Le Manoir du Diable (Devil's Castle), which was released in the United States under the title Lost Castle. The plot of the picture, which lasts only three minutes, begins with the fact that a bat appears in an ancient castle, which then turns into the demon Mephistopheles.

The demon conjures a cauldron in which he creates a beautiful woman. Suddenly, two knights interrupt him, and Mephistopheles tries to scare them away by creating a skeleton, ghosts and many old witches. Ultimately, he is chased away by one of the knights, approaching the demon with the crucifix. Despite its comedic elements, Devil's Castle is considered to be the first horror movie and possibly even the first appearance of a vampire on screen. For decades, the film was considered lost, until in 1988 a lucky customer discovered it in a junk store. Georges Méliès then created several other silent fantasy and stunt films, in which some of the first elements of horror could be found. These include "Une Nuit Terrible", where a person wakes up from the fact that a huge spider climbed onto his bed, as well as "Astronomer's Dream", where a giant Moon eats an astronomer's telescope, after which many of people.

2. Blue beard

In 1901, Georges Méliès continued his exploration of the horror genre with Bluebeard, possibly the first film about a serial killer. The film is based on the fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault (the same person who wrote Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood). The nine-minute film tells the story of a creepy old man who is looking for a new wife. His previous seven wives have mysteriously disappeared. The father allows his daughter to marry the old man, and she moves to his castle.

The girl is told that she can walk around the castle anywhere except in one room. Naturally, when she is left alone, she immediately sneaks into this room. The girl opens the door, makes her way to the touch in the dark room and pulls back the curtains to light up the room a little. Then, when she turns around, she sees seven bloody dead bodies hanging from the hooks. The film is a great example of technical prowess and the ability to adapt the story to the screen.

3. Haunted shop

In 1901, British director Walter Boof directed The Haunted Shop. The film follows an old merchant who finds that the items in his shop have suddenly taken on a life of their own. A head floating in the air, a skeleton, a ghost and an ethereal woman who is trying to connect two parts of her body appear in front of him. Like other silent films in this early era, The Haunted Shop contains many elements of horror, without the direct intention of scaring the audience. Prior to directing, Booth previously worked as a magician, and he used the "Haunted Shop" to show all his best tricks and techniques. In 1906 he opened his own studio, where he created the first British animated film, The Artist's Hand.

4. Hell's Cauldron

In 1903, Georges Méliès returned to the familiar horror theme with Le Chaudron Infernal. The film shows a green demon throwing three people into a cauldron. Each time, a giant streak of fire appears. Shortly thereafter, all three emerge from the cauldron in the form of ghosts, transform into balls of fire and chase the demon until he himself jumps into the cauldron. Hell's Cauldron is one of many films in which Méliès hand-painted every frame. Subsequently, he collaborated on numerous occasions with a French company that employed more than 200 women as colorists, painting the shots.

Around the same time, Melies began to fight piracy (yes, already in 1903, there was piracy in the cinema). One of the most famous criminals was the American director Sigmund Lubin, who sold illegal copies of Melies' films. To combat this, Melies developed a camera that shot with two lenses. Thus, he could create two film negatives, one for the domestic market and the other for the international market. Modern researchers have made an unexpected but exciting discovery: thanks to a similar method of filming, Méliès' films can now be easily converted to 3D.

5. Frankenstein

In the early 1900s, film studios began using books for new stories. Many books have been filmed, and one of the first horror films based on the plot of the book was Frankenstein by Thomas Edison and J. Searle Dawley, released in 1910. The adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel has faced heavy criticism from religious groups and people who questioned the moral values in the industry. Edison then cut out any scenes or content from the film that might "shock" the audience. He also provided for a disclaimer at the beginning of the film, explaining to the audience that it was an adaptation of the book. The silent tape was believed to have been lost until the 1980s, when a Wisconsin collector named Alois Felix Detlaff claimed to have a copy.

6. Hell

In 1911, the silent film L'Inferno became the first Italian full-length feature film. As the industry slowly moved to longer films with more story-driven developments, Inferno was a huge success. In the US alone, he made $ 2 million. The film, which ran for 68 minutes, was radically different from tapes of the late 1800s, which were only a few minutes long. The film was highly praised for its design and authentic costumes. In 2004, this film was released on DVD.

7. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Perhaps the studios have run out of ideas, or maybe for some reason everyone liked this story by Robert Louis Stevenson so much. But the fact remains that between 1900 and 1920 more than 10 different adaptations of The Strange Story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were released, as well as several parodies. The first was released in 1908 and is considered America's first horror film. But since then it has been lost.

The oldest surviving films based on this story are the 1912 Lucius Henderson and 1913 Herbert Brenon films. Brenon's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was directed by Universal Film Manufacturing Company, which later became Universal Studios. Interestingly, it was Universal's first horror movie. And the most famous silent film "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is the 1920 version of Paramount Studios with the participation of John Barrymore. Barrymore's acting was praised for his amazing ability to play both Jekyll and Hyde without any makeup at all. Instead, he relied solely on his facial expressions.

8. Prague student

The Prague Student is a 1913 German horror film that is considered the first independent film. The plot is a unique fusion of William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe, The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde's December Night by Alfred de Musset and the German legend of Faust. The Prague student is a young man named Baldwin who falls in love with the Countess. He hesitates to admit it to her, because he is poor. Once a wizard named Scapinelli offered Baldwin 100,000 gold, and in return the opportunity to take anything from the young man's room. Suspecting nothing, the student agreed.

Then he saw in horror how Scapinelli takes his reflection from the mirror. The film had a strong influence on the German Expressionist movement. Since its release, everyone has been delighted with the innovative filming techniques (especially those used to create the doppelganger), plot, and the film's renewed interest in psychoanalysis, in particular Sigmund Freud's The Creepy Theory. The Prague Student was re-filmed in 1926, 1935 and 2004. But none of these versions have the same cultural significance as the 1913 original.

9. Conscience-avenger or "Thou shalt not kill"

Like some of the other films on this list, the inspiration for Avenger Conscience or Thou shalt not kill is literature. This time, the film combines the works of "Annabelle Lee" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. According to the plot, a young man falls in love with a woman, but his uncle is categorically against the engagement. He is haunted by dark visions that force the young man to kill his uncle and hide his body behind a wall.

After every night the sign of the murdered began to appear to him, the young man finally plunged into hallucinations and madness. The film was directed by D. W. Griffith, who became famous for the highly controversial 1915 film, The Birth of a Nation. This civil war story featured black actors and the Ku Klux Klan was portrayed as "the saviors of the post-war South." The film caused quite a few scandals, but Griffith's talent was evident.

10. Dr. Caligari's office

Perhaps one of the most famous silent films of all time, The Study of Dr. Caligari (1920) has had a significant impact on the development of modern horror movies. Like The Prague Student, The Study of Dr. Caligari (1920) became an integral part of the German Expressionist movement. The film is known for its innovative use of whimsical shapes and shadows to create nightmarish visuals. Renowned film critic Roger Ebert even called it "the first real horror movie." In the film, a young man attends a local fair and sees an exhibition called "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari."

In it, he discovers a man named Cesare, who has been sleeping in a coffin for 23 years. After the young man was killed and his girlfriend was kidnapped, people begin to suspect that the doctor and Cesare are to blame. Dr. Caligari's Office is essentially a psychological study, which is why it has become an integral part of psychological films all over the world. He also had such a lasting impact on film noir, horror and science fiction that his influence is still felt today.