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The Crazy Ray
The first feature film dealing with the stopping of time, French experimental movie Paris qui dort is a poetical comedy that uses science fiction trappings to recapture the romanticism of a Paris before the hustle and bustle of the modern speed-crazy world of the 1920s. (7/10) Read more
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The City Struck by Lightning
(6/10) The first feature film containing a death ray is a rather obscure little French movie from 1924 about a man threatening to destroy Paris unless he is paid a huge sum of money. The City Struck by Lightning (La cité foudroyée). 1924, France. Directed by Luitz-Morat. Written by Jean-Louise Bouquet. Starring: Daniel Mendaille, Jane… Read more
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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. Starring: Pearl White, Arnold Daly,… Read more
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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 Hyde portrayal. Dr. Jekyll and… Read more
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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 naturally a comedy. The Last… Read more
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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 Mars, designed by internationally famed… Read more
Bela Lugosi Bert I. Gordon Boris Karloff Brigitte Helm Charles Gemora Crash Corrigan Curt Siodmak Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Eiji Tsuburaya Frankenstein Georges Melies George Worthing Yates George Zucco H.G. Wells Haruo Nakajima Invisible Man Irving Block Ishiro Honda Jack Arnold Jack Pierce Jack Rabin Jimmy Sangster John Carradine John P. Fulton Jules Verne Lionel Atwill Lon Chaney Jr. Mary Shelley Morris Ankrum Paul Blaisdell Paul Frees Richard Carlson Richard Denning Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Shayne Roger Corman Sam Katzman Segundo de Chomon Top Lists Top Silents Walter R. Booth Whit Bissell William Alland William Schallert Willis O'Brien
Scifist. 