Silent Horror movies are such a huge part of our culture that we can easily recognize
in pictures and moments, even if we have never seen the movie.
From Nosferatu to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, these movies are absolutely legendary and have played
a huge part in horror cinema as we know it today.
So today on Top 5 Scary Videos, I’m going to be counting down our list of the Top 5
Scariest Silent Horror Movies.
Before we begin though, be sure to stick around until the end of the video where I’ll be
responding to some of your comments, and with that, let’s jump in
5 The Phantom Carriage (1921) The Phantom Carriage is a 1921 swedish silent
horror movie, generally considered to be one of the central works in the history of Swedish
cinema.
The movie takes place on New Year’s Eve, when a driver of a ghostly carriage forces
a drunken man to look back at his wasted life.
The movie is notable for its special effects and advanced narrative structure with flashbacks
within flashbacks.
Post-production on the movie was famously long and gruelling due to the extensive use
of special effects, developed by cinematographer Julius Jaenzon.
The movie was a major influence on the later Swedish film director Ingma Bergman who also
utilised the figure of Death in The Seventh Seal, where referring to him as a “Strict
Master” is a reference to The Phantom Carriage.
Not to mention, it was listed in the film reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before
You Die, which states, “The Phantom Carriage not only cemented the fame of director-screenwriter-actor
Victor Sjostrom and Swedish silent cinema, but also had a well-documented, artistic influence
on many great directors and producers”.
More interesting still, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, features several thematic similarities,
as well as the famous sequence where Jack Nicholson uses an axe to break through a wooden
door to reach his fleeing wife and child.
4 The Phantom of the Opera (1925) The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 silent
horror film adapted from Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel Le Fantome de l’OPera.
Directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney in the title role of the deformed Phantom
who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the
woman he loves a star.
To this day, the film remains most famous for Chaney’s ghastly, self-devised make-up,
which was kept a studio secret until the film’s premiere on November 25, 1925.
Now, the initial response to the film was mixed, with the New York Times giving it fairly
positive reviews as a spectacle picture, but felt that the story and acting may have been
slightly improved.
Variety wrote, I quote: “The Phantom of the Opera is not a bad film from a technical
viewpoint, but revolving around the terrifying of all inmates of the Grand Opera House in
Paris by a criminally insane mind behind a hideous face, the combination makes a welsh
rarebit look foolish as a sleep destroyer.”
Now, the movie was troubled during production and was in turn shot and reshot countless
times following poor reviews.
As such, it’s a movie that is essentially made by Hollywood committee, but is still
enjoyable and absolutely horrifying to feast upon.
Not to mention, when the Phantom removes his mask.
That may still be one of the most terrifying scenes in horror movie history.
3 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1920 silent horror
produced by Famous Players-Lasky.
Starring John Barrymore, the movie is based on the 1886 novella The Strange Case of Dr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
The story, set in late Victorian London, portrays the tragic consequences of a doctor’s experiments
in separating the dual personalities he thinks defines all humans: one good, the other evil.
The movie itself follows scientist, Dr Henry Jekyll, intelligent and diligent but also
uptight and extremely serious about his work.
When his friend, Sir George Carew take hims to a show featuring the sensual Miss Gina,
an aroused Jekyll sets out on a quest to separate man’s saintly and sinsul sides.
His experiments succeed, and his evil alter ego, Mr Hyde is created.
As the doctor uncontrollably alternates between Jekyll and Hyde, danger looms.
Barrymore is absolutely incredible in this movie, with his own hands, extended by gruesome,
gnarled fingers being a tribute to the Famous Players-Lasky’s makeup department.
Even back in the 20’s, the movie became easily one of the most talked about pictures
of all time.
According to one magazine, the popularity was so large, a door and two windows were
broken by crowds that tried to see the movie on its first showing in New York.
2 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1020 German
silent horror film, directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer.
Now, this movie is considered to be the quintessential work of German Expressionist cinema.
Inspired by a trip to the funfair, the movie tells the story of an insane hypnotist who
uses a somnambulist to commit murders.
Every frame of this movie screams madness, and fear: from the tilted backdrops, to the
death mask makeup, there is a real sense of unease throughout that you just can’t shake.
The script was inspired by various experiences from the lives of Janowitz and Mayer, both
pacifists who were left distrustful of authority after their experiences with the military
during World War I.
Though often considered an art film by some critics, Caligari was produced and marketed
the same way as any normal commercial production of its time period.
It is the visual style of Caligari that makes this film so damn terrifying.
It is dark, twisted and bizarre, with radical distoritions in perspective, form, dimension
and scale, in turn creating a chaotic and unhinged appearance.
Roger Ebert described it as “a jagged landscape of sharp angles and tilted walls and windows,
staircases climbing crazy diagonals, trees with spiky leaves, grass that looks like knives.”
Caligari is enduringly popular, and incredibly influential, and remains one of the most terrifying
movies of all time.
1 Nosferatu (1922) Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, or simply
known as Nosferatu, a 1922 silent German expressionist horror movie directed by F.W. Murnau and starring
Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire with an interest in both a new residence and the
wife of his estate agent.
The film is an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula.
With various names and other minute details being changed from the novel, including the
world vampire being replaced with Nosferatu.Now, what Silent Horror does best, particularly
German Expressionism, is psychological unsea, shadowy contracts, and of course quesy perspective.
There is no greater example of this than Nosferatu.
Nosferatu has been noted for its themes regarding fear of “the other”, as well as for possible
anti-Semitic undertones.
In 1997, legendary film critic Roger Ebert added Nosferatu to his list of The Great Movies,
stating, I quote: “Here is the story of Dracula before it was buried alive in cliches,
jokes, TV skits, cartoons, and more than 30 other films.
The film is in awe of its material.
It seems to really believe in vampires.
I admire it for its artistry and ideas, its atmosphere and images, than for its ability
to manipulate my emotions like a skillful modern horror film.
It knowns none of the later tricks of the trade, like sudden threats that pop in from
the side of the screen.
But Nosferatu remains effective: It doesn’t scare us, but it haunts us.”
Now, Stoker’s heirs actually sued over the adaptation, and a court ruling ordered all
copies of the film to be destroyed.
However, a few prints of Nosferatu survived, and the film came to be regarded as an influential
masterpiece of cinema.
Well, there we have it!
Do you guys agree with our list?
Were there any silent horror movies that we missed?
Leave us all your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below and perhaps we can
do a part 2.
Before I go though, I just want to respond to a few comments from one of our last videos,
Top 5 Scariest Cosmic Horror Movies Part 4.
Clay schuetz said: “Thank you Mistress Lucy for showing love to Lifeforce, nobody ever
mentions it unless they mean to trash it, it’s about time this forgotten gem gets
a little respect.”
-----
Mattmanw54301 said: “Lucy wearing that hat makes my weekend.
Thank you Goddess!”
----
Matt Dematteis said: “Lucy you’re 99% perfect but minus the 1% for never telling
us what the clip is in front of your list.”
----
Chris Hoyland said: “Is Lucy short?”
---
And on that note, if you haven’t already, be sure to give this video a big thumbs up,
subscribe, and turn on notifications so you never miss another Scary vid.
And until next time, see ya later.