Month: June 2018
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The Early Death Ray Serials
NO RATING The death ray was a staple of American silent film serials. In this post we’ll explore the real-life background of the death ray, as well as the early serials in which sinister villains steal death ray machines and kidnap damsels in distress. The Exploits of Elaine. 1914, USA.…
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(4/10) This 1920 version of R.L. Stevenson’s novella is not the famous John Barrymore version. This is the much ridiculed Sheldon Lewis version, which is in fact not as terrible as its reputation would suggest. That is, if you ignore the zany intertitles, the inept camera work and Lewis’ anachronistic…
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The Last Man on Earth
NO RATING: FILM NOT AVAILABLE The United States’ first all-out sci-fi film, released in 1924, imagines what the world would look like if all men (but one) had been wiped out by a virus, leaving women to run the world. With such a ridiculous premise (a woman president!) this is…
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Aelita, Queen of Mars
(8/10) Ostensibly Russia’s/USSR’s first sci-fi film, this political 1924 space fantasy lays down a surprisingly intelligent criticism of the communist revolution, once you look past the clunky, propagandistic symbolism on the surface. Although most of the movie is Earth-bound, it is remembered for the amazing constructivist sets and costumes on…
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The Hands of Orlac
(9/10) The Austrian 1924 film that inspired cult classics like Mad Love, The Beast with Five Fingers and Body Parts is a tour de force of psychological Expressionist terror. Horror icon Conrad Veidt plays a pianist who is driven mad after receiving a hand transplant from a hanged murderer. The…
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Black Oxen
This 1923 film about a woman who undergoes medical treatment to become thirty years younger is a steadily paced and calmly directed mystery drama as well as a poignant, but subtle, social commentary on the Roaring Twenties, sexual liberation and feminism. Not necessarily a favourite among sci-fi fans, but is…
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The Man from Beyond
(2/10) Harry Houdini is frozen in ice for a hundred years, and is too busy longing for love and escaping from danger to realise it is no longer 1820, but 1922. Houdini is charismatic, but the film derivative, and the escape acts don’t transfer well to the screen. The Man…
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Top 10 Sci-Fi Films Pre-1910
1895 is generally considered the the starting point for the movies as a mass medium, and sci-fi films were part of the staple diet from the very beginning. Here’s a list of the ten best science fiction (or proto-sci-fi) movies made between 1895 and 1909. Do you agree or disagree?…
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L’uomo meccanico
NO RATING: PARTIALLY LOST FILM Partially lost Italian silent sci-fi action comedy from 1921, notable for being the first feature film to revolve around a robot. Comedy superstar André Deed writes, acts and directs this fast-paced and well-made cheapo. The Mechanical Man (L’uomo meccanico). 1921, Italy. Written and directed by…
Scifist. 