Silent Horrors
The 5th Annual Letterboxd Season Challenge: 2019-20
Week 4: September 29th-October 5th
Horrors Beyond Words Week
This week's challenge is to watch a previously unseen silent horror film. Paul D's list can help you get started.
Week 4: September 29th-October 5th
Horrors Beyond Words Week
This week's challenge is to watch a previously unseen silent horror film. Paul D's list can help you get started.
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- DirectorHanns Heinz EwersStellan RyeStarsPaul WegenerGrete BergerLyda SalmonovaBalduin, a student of Prague, leaves his roystering companions in the beer garden, when he finds he has reached the end of his resources. He is scarcely seated in a quiet corner when a hideous, shriveled-up old man taps him upon the shoulder and whispers vaguely of a big inheritance for Prague's finest swordsman and wildest student if he will enter into a certain agreement. Balduin rebuffs him, satirically asking his weird companion to procure him "the luckiest ticket in a lottery or a doweried wife." The old man goes off chuckling and thence onward persistently shadows Balduin, exerting a sinister influence over him, while Balduin is still disconsolate under the frowns of fortune. The Countess Margit Schwarzenberg, hunting with her cousin, to whom her father has betrothed her, meets with an accident. She is thrown over her horse's head into a river, but Balduin, who has been directed to the spot by his evil genius, plunges in and rescues her. Subsequently Balduin calls to inquire as to her condition at the castle of her father, the count, but be makes a hurried departure when Baron Waldis arrives, the contrast in their appearance discrediting him. His desire to win the countess and to humiliate the baron becomes so pronounced that he readily accedes to the compact suggested by Scapinelli, the old man, who has so pertinaciously dogged his footsteps, particularly when he learns that untold wealth and power will be his when he assigns to the other the right to take from his room whatever he chooses for his own use as he desires. The agreement is signed. Balduin receives a shower of gold and notes as his portion; Scapinelli takes Balduin's soul exposed in concrete form by his shadow. Balduin prosecutes his love affair assiduously and with apparent success, till the baron is informed of it by a jealous gypsy girl. He challenges Balduin to a duel, and the latter, assured of his superiority as a fencer, readily agrees. Count Schwarzenberg learns of the impending duel and appeals to Balduin not to kill "my sister's child, my daughter's future husband, and my heir." Balduin gives his promise, but when he goes to the venue of the duel he meets, his own counterpart stalking away derisively wiping his gory sword on his cloak. Balduin turns and in the far distance sees the dying victim of the deed he swore he would not do. He rushes from the spot horror-stricken. When he regains sufficient composure he makes his way to the castle of the count, but is refused admission. Determined to explain that he had no complicity in the death of the baron, Balduin climbs into a room in which the countess is seated. She receives him coldly, but soon succumbs to his ardent wooing. Just as he seeks to leave her she notices he has no shadow and that the mirror gives no reflection of him; and she drops back affrighted, the ghastly apparition of himself which takes shape in the corner of the room sends Balduin scuttling away from the castle in a paroxysm of terror. He makes a frenzied flight through a woodland estate and the streets of Prague, but wherever he stops to recover his breath he is haunted by the counterpart of himself. He reaches his rooms and draws a murderous looking fire-arm from its case. As the phantasmagorical figure strides towards him with a sinister grin, he fires, and in a few minutes the blood gushes from his own side from a fatal wound.
- DirectorPaul WegenerHenrik GaleenStarsPaul WegenerHenrik GaleenLyda SalmonovaAn antiques dealer finds a golem, a clay statue that had been brought to life four centuries earlier by a Kabbalist rabbi to protect his people from persecution. The dealer resurrects the golem as a servant but it goes on a rampage.
- DirectorT. Hayes HunterStarsMaurice CostelloEthel GrandinThomas J. McGraneDr. Montrose's attempts to develop a chemical which would make a person super-intelligent fail, and the subjects of his experiments metamorphose into hideous monsters who band together and prey on humans. With the police stymied, a young detective attempts to track down the leader of the group of killers, known only to have a small crimson stain in one eye.
- DirectorPaul WegenerRochus GlieseStarsPaul WegenerLyda SalmonovaRochus GlieseAs a practical joke, an actor impersonates the screen monster he made famous. Complications ensue.
- DirectorJoe MayStarsMia MayBruno KastnerGeorg JohnHilde Warren, a famous actress, is impregnated by a convicted murderer and becomes plagued by visions of an extremely gaunt and sepulchral Death. Upon discovering her child is the image of its criminal father, Hilde must decide whether to allow it to live or to kill it and risk the embrace of Death himself.
- DirectorEugen IllésJoseph KleinStarsSzokol AolesMax AuzingerJoseph KleinInsane doctor Ten Brinken, using the semen of a dead man, artificially inseminate a prostitute. The resultant child grows up to be a beautiful but evil woman who turns against the man who created her.
- DirectorOtto RippertStarsErich BartelsTheodor BeckerKarl BernhardSuddenly appearing in Florence, an evil seductress causes Cesare, the city's ruler, and his son to both fall madly in love with her. The son, killing his father before an order to torture the woman can be carried out, then turns the city's churches into dens of sexual debauchery. Acts of evil and corruption continue unabated until the arrival of Death, who brings with her a horrible plague which she is about to loose upon the city.
- DirectorRichard OswaldStarsAnita BerberConrad VeidtReinhold SchünzelA demon, a reaper, and the ghost of a prostitute read gothic short stories and act them out.
- DirectorJohn S. RobertsonStarsJohn BarrymoreMartha MansfieldBrandon HurstDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
- DirectorPaul WegenerCarl BoeseStarsPaul WegenerAlbert SteinrückErnst DeutschIn 16th-century Prague, a rabbi creates the Golem - a giant creature made of clay. Using sorcery, he brings the creature to life in order to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsConrad VeidtMagnus StifterMargarete SchlegelTwo opposing characters are hidden in the person of the inconspicuous London gentleman.Dr.Warren and Janus
- DirectorWallace WorsleyStarsCharles ClaryDoris PawnJim MasonA deformed criminal mastermind plans to loot the city of San Francisco as well as revenge himself on the doctor who mistakenly amputated his legs.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsFern AndraHans Heinrich von TwardowskiErnst GronauGenuine is an ancient and cruel divinity, who seduces men and induce them to kill as a proof of love.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBernhard GoetzkeLil DagoverWalter JanssenWhen a woman's fiancé disappears, Death gives her three chances to save him from his fate.
- DirectorVictor SjöströmStarsVictor SjöströmHilda BorgströmTore SvennbergOn New Year's Eve, the driver of a ghostly carriage forces a drunken man to reflect on his selfish, wasted life.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsArnold KorffLulu Kyser-KorffLothar MehnertIn the castle Vogeloed, a few aristocrats are awaiting baroness Safferstätt. But first count Oetsch invites himself.. Everyone thinks he murdered his brother, baroness Safferstat's first husband, three years ago. So he is rather undesirable. But Oetsch stays; arguing he is not the murderer and will find the real one...
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsMax SchreckAlexander GranachGustav von WangenheimVampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife.
- DirectorWallace WorsleyStarsLon ChaneyRaymond McKeeVirginia True BoardmanIn return for money and medical aid for his invalid mother, struggling author Robert Sandell agrees to subject himself to experiments by Dr. Lamb, who claims he is trying to extend the human lifespan. Despite warnings from the doctor's wife and a hunchbacked assistant, Robert allows himself to be strapped to an operating table, whereupon he learns the true nature of the surgeon's experiments: To prove the theory of evolution by devolving his human subjects into an approximation of their simian ancestors. However, before Dr. Lamb can proceed, the hunchback un-cages another victim, an ape-man, who crushes Dr. Lamb to death.
- DirectorBenjamin ChristensenStarsBenjamin ChristensenElisabeth ChristensenMaren PedersenFictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.
- DirectorEdward D. VenturiniStarsWill RogersLois MeredithBen Hendricks Jr.The village of Sleepy Hollow is getting ready to greet the new schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane, who is coming from New York City. Crane has already heard of the village's legendary ghost, a headless horseman who is said to be searching for the head that he lost in battle. The schoolteacher has barely arrived when he starts to pursue beautiful young heiress Katrina Van Tassel, angering Abraham Van Brunt, who is courting her. Crane's harsh, small-minded approach to teaching also turns some of the villagers against him. Soon, many want to see him leave the village altogether.
- DirectorWallace WorsleyStarsLon ChaneyPatsy Ruth MillerNorman KerryIn 15th-century Paris, the brother of the archdeacon plots with the gypsy king to foment a peasant revolt. Meanwhile, a freakish hunchback falls in love with a gypsy dancer.
- DirectorArthur RobisonStarsFritz KortnerRuth WeyherGustav von WangenheimA wealthy man invites the local wealthy bachelors over for a puppet show about men who covet another man's wife. The puppeteer is actually a witch and gives the men nightmares about what could happen if they date the lady of the house.
- DirectorLeo BirinskyPaul LeniStarsEmil JanningsConrad VeidtWerner KraussA wax museum hires a writer to give the sculptures stories. The writer imagines himself and the museum owner's daughter in the stories.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsConrad VeidtAlexandra SorinaFritz StrassnyA world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he doesn't know they once belonged to a murderer.
- DirectorRupert JulianLon ChaneyErnst LaemmleStarsLon ChaneyMary PhilbinNorman KerryA mad, disfigured composer seeks love with a lovely young opera singer.
- DirectorRoland WestStarsLon ChaneyGertrude OlmsteadHallam CooleyA meek clerk who doubles as an amateur detective investigates some very strange goings-on at a remote mental sanitarium.
- DirectorGeorge ChesebroBruce MitchellStarsGeorge ChesebroRoy WatsonMilburn MoranteAfter wolf blood transfusion, man thinks he's becoming a wolf.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsGösta EkmanEmil JanningsCamilla HornThe demon Mephisto wagers with God that he can corrupt a mortal man's soul.
- DirectorHenrik GaleenStarsConrad VeidtElizza La PortaFritz AlbertiFor Balduin, going out to beer parties with his fellow students and fighting out disputes at the tip of the sword have lost their charms. He wants to find love; but how would he, a penniless student, ever dare looking up to any woman worth of loving? Absorbed in his dreary thoughts and indifferent to the advances of Lyduschka, Balduin is unexpectedly offered a fortune by the mysterious money-lender Scapinelli - but on a strange condition...
- DirectorTeinosuke KinugasaStarsMasuo InoueAyako IijimaYoshie NakagawaA man takes a job at an asylum with hopes of freeing his imprisoned wife.
- DirectorRex IngramStarsAlice TerryPaul WegenerFirmin GémierA magician/alchemist, seeking to create life, finds that he needs the "blood of a virgin" to continue his experiments. He sends out his dwarf assistant to pick out the right girl.
- DirectorBennett CohenStarsFrancis X. Bushman Jr.Jack PerrinKathryn McGuireA young man inherits a mansion in a Florida swamp from an uncle he never knew he had. When he, his assistant and the estate's executor arrive at the house, the audience catches sight of someone crawling in the window, though the house is supposed to be unoccupied. As the house staff begins to arrive they sense a strange presence in the house, and when a young woman no one knows runs into the house to escape a knife-wielding psycho, the occupants realize they may be in danger from both outside and inside the house.
- DirectorRoland WestStarsGeorge BerangerCharles HerzingerEmily FitzroyA masked criminal who dresses like a giant bat terrorizes the guests at an old house rented by a mystery writer.
- DirectorPaul LeniStarsLaura La PlanteCreighton HaleForrest StanleyRelatives of an eccentric millionaire gather in his spooky mansion on the 20th anniversary of his death for the reading of his will.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsLon ChaneyNorman KerryJoan CrawfordA criminal on the run hides in a circus and seeks to possess the daughter of the ringmaster at any cost.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsLon ChaneyMarceline DayHenry B. WalthallThe abandoned home of a wealthy man who supposedly committed suicide five years earlier is taken over by ghoulish figures - could they be vampires?
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJune TrippIvor NovelloMarie AultA landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.
- DirectorPaul LeniStarsMary PhilbinConrad VeidtJulius MolnarWhen a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured.
- DirectorJean EpsteinStarsJean DebucourtMarguerite GanceCharles LamyAllan visits the sinister Usher family mansion, where his friend Roderick is painting a portrait of his sickly wife Madeline. The portrait seems to be draining the life out of Madeline, slowly leading to her death.
- DirectorHenrik GaleenStarsBrigitte HelmPaul WegenerIván PetrovichA scientist with an interest in genetics impregnates a sex worker with the seed of a hanged murderer. The sex worker gives birth to a child who has no concept of love, whom the scientist adopts.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsLon ChaneyLionel BarrymoreMary NolanA magician seeks vengeance upon the man who paralyzed him and the illegitimate daughter he sired with the magician's wife.
- DirectorAndrew LemanStarsMatt FoyerJohn BolenRalph LucasWhile sorting the affairs of his late Uncle, a man accidentally stumbles across a series of dark secrets connected to an ancient horror waiting to be freed.