the fear.

The Haunted Castle (1921) - F.W. Murnau

The Haunted Castle is a hard film to get a hold of on the internet! I went to all of my usual sites and ended up just buying the film on Amazon. I am not regretful of this what-so-ever. This is an awesome movie that just happens to have a creepy title, not really a creepy film. 

Expressionist F.W. Murnau put a ton of work into Schloß Vogelöd; dressing sets, getting the costumes just right (Which are fantastic), and choosing locations. The entire film takes place inside of a huge creepy mansion. The outside shots of the mansion are the ones that actually make this film seem like a horror movie. When you see the mansion from the outside you really want SOMETHING to happen. But, it doesn’t. There are one

Der müde Tod/Destiny (1921) - Fritz Lang

Destiny from 1921 is the first successful film by Fritz Lang. Since I am doing this in chronological order, this is the first Horror movie to be made this well. Fritz Lang takes into account every aspect of the film. He weighs the contrast of the lighting with the mood in the scene. He gets these wonderful HUGE shots outside and the film is still visible. He actually spent the time experimenting with film to get the actual science behind successful cinematography. Sure, Robert Wiene had some fantastic sets in Caligari. However, Lang is successful with both artistic set design and beautiful cinematography. 

The story is deeper than most horror films up to this point. The title suggests that Death might be the “Destiny” of every man, or I should say that every man’s destiny is Death. However, I believe that it actually shows that bringing souls out of the living is the Destiny for Death. 

Death in this movie is quite well portrayed, perhaps the most well portrayed version of Death. His character, although the antagonist, is quite sad and full of moroseness. He challenges our leading lady to a game; if she can stop Death with love in three trys then she can win back the soul of her fiancee. Thus the movie is broken up into three tales. 

The three tales all feature our characters in different roles, in different places, in different times. The first takes place in old Arabia, the next is a renaissance era piece, and the final is a comedy that takes place in China. Each are beautifully sculpted pieces of cinema. However, they are all very involved. This isn’t just a casual silent picture. Every scene has been carefully crafted by Fritz Lang. This is a film that is very deep and involved. It is not light. 

That being said I am going to have to condemn this film on the basis of being a weak horror film. I can’t really say that the movie was scary but it was great under so many different aspects. Death was portrayed here by, quite possibly, the best actor to take the role at the time. The other choices were disposable. This is a great film but it is just an okay horror movie. 

Brandon

The Penalty (1920) - Wallace Worsley

The Penalty from 1920 just might be the most demanding role that Lon Chaney has ever had to take on. This role called for him to play Blizzard, a gangster that has not had legs for most of his life. They were amputated. To preform this role Lon Chaney had to literally tie his legs behind his back so that he could appear as an amputee for the film. This proved to be extremely painful for Chaney who would only be able to film scenes for about 5 - 10 minuets at a time. This was about when the pain would become excruciating. This role actually left the great actor with permanent damage to the muscles in his legs. Now, that is going out on a limb (or two) for your role.

The Penalty is nothing more than a gangster picture. Wikipedia and the sources that I use to research horror movies says otherwise. They classify this movie as a Cime/Horror film. However, there isn’t a scene in the entire movie that makes a hair stand vertical on my neck. That being said the movie is really interesting. The lengths that Chaney went through for his role should at least give the movie some credit. It’s a fine movie too, the timing is just fine, the acting is spectacular. This just isn’t scary.

The movie introduces us to Blizzard, the perspective kingpin of San Francisco. Blizzard has huge visions for his city. Visions of chaos and carnage that would leave him sitting as king of the city. The police are wise to him though and they get a young girl to infiltrate his lair. She is witness to the various abuses that he puts people through including cold-blooded murder.

Chaney is frightening. He describes himself in the film as the closest thing to the devil himself. He is coldblooded and maniacal, yet strangely sad. He “befriends” a young sculptor that uses him as a muse for sculpting a bust of Satan. Through these modeling sessions the two grow close, but how close is too much for this young innocent.

If you agree that Lon Chaney is a master of the silver screen and a father of horror, then I would suggest looking this movie up. You can probably find it on YouTube (its Public Domain). It is a great movie if only for Chaney’s performance. Watching himself put it all into a role is really a great treat. Also, try watching this movie with the Nine Inch Nail’s album Ghosts on. It kinda fits.

Thats it for now…

Brandon