Out of all the genres in cinema (aside from pornography), horror is the most represented. As long as there has been celluloid to stamp the print on, horror has been an integral part of the industry. But an unfortunate side effect to the longevity of film is, over the length of the years, a lot of silent movies have been overlooked by modern audiences. As the title of the article indicates, the purpose of this piece is to familiarize you, the reader, with some of the best of the bunch when it comes to silent Horror flicks.

Frankenstein (1910): Perhaps the first of the recognizable landmarks of the Silent Era, Thomas Edison's Frankenstein (1910) is undoubtedly the first milestone in horror cinema. Clocking in at a little over 15 minutes, this film, like many of its descendants, takes quite a bit of liberty with the "Frankenstein" base story by Mary Shelley. Not much more can be said about this film, because no copies of it are in circulation. One surviving print is part of a private collection, but the owner will not release it (maybe upon his death?)*.

Der Golem (1915): One of the first and only vaguely popular cinematic tales of the legendary "golem" (a clay statue that can be animated), the story begins in the 1500s when a golem is animated by a Polish Rabbi to save his city's Jews from the persecution of their rulers. Later found in the ruins of an old synagogue, it is brought to life by an antique dealer and used as [essentially] a slave. It eventually falls in love with the wife of the dealer, and it goes on a murderous rampage when its love for her goes unanswered.

Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari/The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920): Caligari follows the story of Francis, Alan, and Francis' fianc? Jane. Alan and Francis take a day at the fair, where they meet the exhibitionist Dr. Caligari and his "exhibit", a somnambulist named Cesare who can predict the future. Alan asks how long he has to live, and Cesare says he has until dawn. The prophecy comes to pass, and Alan is found murdered. Of course, Cesare is a prime suspect. Cesare then creeps into Jane's bedroom and abducts her, running from the townspeople and finally dying of exhaustion. Meanwhile, the police discover a dummy in Cesare's cabinet, and Caligari flees. Francis then tracks Caligari to the mental asylum. A fabulous twist in the story then occurs, but telling it to you would spoil the whole thing more than I already have.

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922): The first theatrical edition of Bram Stoker's novel, F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922), portrayed Dracula as a nosferatu that had many of the physical characteristics of the novel's Count. Name changes were necessary because this version was so close to the novel's plot - Murnau did not have the rights to produce a movie using the Dracula name. So, Count Dracula became "Count Graf Orlock" (played by Max Schreck), Renfield became "Knock ein H?usermakler", and so on. Enough of the film was altered from the book so as not to completely infringe, but the Stoker estate sued the production company nonetheless and won. All known prints and negatives were destroyed under the terms of the settlement, but fortunately the film subsequently surfaced in other countries. Schreck's Orlock is undoubtedly one of the most faithful representations of the Dracula character.

Germany no doubt ruled the Silent Horror scene, and Caligari and Nosferatu are still recognized as some of the best horror in existence: they are in the top 15 of the Top 50 Horror Movies of All-Time list at the Internet Movie Database. But that's not to say everyone else didn't have a say in the genre of Silent Horror: "The Man of a Thousand Faces" Lon Chaney hit 3 homers with The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), and London After Midnight (1927), and the best of the numerous Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde movies was released in 1920, starring John Barrymore as the good/bad doctor. Needless to say, this era foreshadowed the following few decades of horror quite nicely, when one entity, as with Germany, ruled the scene: Universal Studios. I'd almost go out on a limb and say that without these films, Universal wouldn't have immortalized the Horror movie. But that's just my two cents.

* - Since the original version of this article, I've happened upon a website that claims to be selling Frankenstein on video tape, along with Nosferatu. Take it for what you will, but visit this link for more info.


CREDITS:
The IMDB
Doug Sederberg
Rick Gregory