Tag: Thomas Edison

  • A Trip to Mars

    A Trip to Mars

    A scientist floats to Mars and is captured by Martians in this early American short film. Not a masterpiece, but a well made and intriguing little film. 5/10 A Trip to Mars. USA, 1910. Silent short. Directed by Ashley Miller. Loosely based on H.G. Wells’ novel The First Men in…

  • The Mechanical Butcher

    The Mechanical Butcher

    (5/10) The first science fiction film in history was made by movie pioneer Louis Lumière in 1895, and depicts a futuristic machine turning a live pork into sausages and ham at lightning speed.  The Mechanical Butcher (La Charcuterie Mecanique). 1895, France. Directed, filmed and produced by Louis Lumière for Lumière. …

  • Frankenstein 1, 2 and 3

    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…

  • The Trailblazers

    The Trailblazers

    Early cinema was the pulp fiction of its time: a crude and undistinguished novelty, and just as with other lower-tier entertainment, there were surefire moneymakers: nudity, shock, thrills and escapism. And thanks to the possibility for movie magic, science fiction was popular in these early days. All the pioneers dabbled…