Category: The New Man
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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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Melchiad Koloman
(2/10) Czechoslovakia’s first science fiction film, and one of its earliest domestically produced feature-length films, this 1920 production brings together a mad scientist, a spiritualist and a Japanese businessman in order to resurrect a dead alchemist in order to create gold. A cheap production with awkwardly bad cinematography, but the…
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
In a career-defining role as Jekyll/Hyde screen legend John Barrymore elevates this 1920 adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel from a run-of-the-mill potboiler to a minor masterpiece. Barrymore’s amazing physical transformation and magnetic charisma makes him this reviewer’s favourite Jekyll & Hyde of all time. (8/10) Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.…
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Homunculus
(8/10) A huge success upon its release, this German 1916 6-part epic film series follows the exploits of the soulless supervillain Homunculus, a creature created by science, as he wows to find love or destroy humanity. Robert Reinert’s multi-layered script draws on Frankenstein and Faust, as well as Freud, Nietzsche…
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(5/10) This 1913 version of the famous story is almost half an hour in length. It has some impressive production values, but falls short because of movie megastar King Baggot’s unintentionally comic portrayal of Hyde. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 1913, USA. Directed by: Herbert Brenon. Written by Herbert Brenon,…
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(4/10) The earliest surviving adaptation of R.L. Stevenson’s novella was produced by American independent Thanhouser in 1912. The 12 minute short has some fair acting and decent production, but its static camerawork, sloppy direction and unimaginative sets and effects fail to impress. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 1912, USA. Directed…
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Long Distance Wireless Photography
(5/10) A fun and well-made 1908 short by Georges Méliès about a fantastic camera projecting images in real time of the subjects’ real selves, this French one-reeler mostly rehashes old in-camera film tricks, betraying the director losing the creativity that once made him the greatest fimmaker in the world. Long…
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
No rating: Lost film The first ever adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1908 in many ways marked the beginning for Hollywood. Although filmed in Chicago, it was the first film starring Hollywood’s first two movie stars, for a company that would be the first to permanently set…
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An Over-Incubated Baby
(5/10) Britain’s first sci-fi film features a marvelous incubator. The short comedy clip was directed by Walter R. Booth, early cinema’s most prolific science fiction director and the artistic dynamo behind early British cinema. An Over-Incubated Baby. 1901, Great-Britain. Directed by Walter R. Booth. Produced by Robert W. Paul. IMDb…
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The Invisible Thief
(8/10) The first film based on H.G. Wells novel The Invisible Man is a 5 minute short with stunning special effects and superb acting, directed by Segundo de Chomon and Ferdinand Zecca. The Invisible Thief (Le veleour invisible). 1909, France. Directed by Segundo de Chomon & Ferdinand Zecca. Based on…
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Frankenstein 1, 2 and 3
The supposedly first Frankenstein movie of 1910 turns the monster metaphysical rather than physical, but the gruesome special effects in the creation scene is fleshy enough. We also take a peek at two lost silent Frankenstein films. (6/10) Frankenstein (1910, USA). Written and directed by J. Searle Dawley. Based on…
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