Horror movies 1896-1920
A collection of the earliest horror movies made, ranging from 1896-1920. The movies are set in chronological order.
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- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyJules-Eugène LegrisGeorges MélièsWith the help of a magic cauldron, Mephistopheles conjures up a variety of supernatural characters.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges Méliès
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithA King (played by Georges Méliès) shows up at his new castle where he is haunted.
- DirectorGeorges Méliès"The picture shows the Devil working at a fire. Two cavaliers appear, and the Devil takes the form of a seer, old, bent and wrinkled. Then he disappears in a cloud of smoke, to reappear shortly as a ghost, whose head comes off and floats around the room. Suddenly the table gets up of itself, and flies up the chimney. All sorts of wonderful things happen. A cannon takes the place occupied by the table, and belches forth flame and smoke. A large cage appears mysteriously in the center of the room, through the bars of which the Devil passes as if it were an open door. By his magic, he makes the cavalier pass through the bars in the same wonderful fashion. Everything is so weird and fantastic, that such a small trifle as a man turning into a donkey excites but passing notice."
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsMisidentified as The Mysterious Retort (1906), sadly, this film is currently presumed lost; however, according to Wikipedia, an anthropomorphous star with five female heads and a giant face has people coming out of its mouth.
- DirectorGeorges HatotAlexandre Promio
- DirectorLouis LumièreA skeleton dances joyously, often collapsing into a heap of bones and quickly putting itself back together.
- DirectorEdwin S. Porter"He sits asleep at a bare table; old witch enters, raps three times, then disappears; cavalier sees table spread for a sumptuous repast. Mephistopheles appears; then the old witch, who suddenly changes to a beautiful young girl. The changes and magical appearances are startling and instantaneous."
- DirectorGeorges MélièsThe German legend of a scholar's unholy pact with the Devil would have been very familiar to most moviegoers (at least European ones), so Georges Méliès' early cinematic treatment likely got away with simply offering a fancifully illustrated late episode without the earlier narrative context (however, spoken narration provides some of the latter in this restored print). Tempted by Mephistopheles with all kinds of dancing and ethereal babes, Faust is at first excited and then terrified by the sight of various demons and monsters. The painted-set designers really went hog wild on this one, depicting the (sometimes sexy) torments of subterranean Hell with in bold terms (even when ballerinas prance in the foreground). - Dennis Harvey
- DirectorGeorges MélièsA young woman stumbles across a cave that is populated by the spirits and skeletons of people who died there under mysterious circumstances.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithPhotographer tries to take a picture of a ghost, but it won't keep still and then vanishes.
- DirectorJames H. White
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithSatan conjures a vision of a girl, for whom an old man signs a pact and is made young.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA man dressed in red is ushered into an antechamber in a Castle and offered a seat. When he tried to sit down the chair moves to the other side of the room causing the man to fall on the floor. Standing up he strides to the chair but on trying to lift it a Spector materializes in the chair, arises and challenges the man. The man pulls out his sword and lunges at the Spector but it changes into a skeleton. Seeing the change the man tried to grab the skeleton but it changes into an armor clad guard. The man attempts to move the guard but a devil appears and waves the man away. The man recoils from the devil and tries to leave but the Spector reappears. Both it and the devil frighten the man from the antechamber.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsSatan appears in a convent and takes the guise of a priest. Before long he is causing all manner of perturbation and despair.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsA man digging inside an Egyptian tomb chops up a mummy, then resurrects the woman inside it.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA magician presents a wreath which in turn transforms into other things.
- Silas Hayseed arrives in town and proceeds to put up a hotel noted for its 'tables,' which are all made of hard wood. The country yokel is shown to his room and divests himself of his best Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes. His little bunch of whiskers that adorn his chin seem to be as proud of him as his Melindy Jane, whom he left in Grassville, back over yonder. He is finally undressed and tumbles into bed, resolving meanwhile to dream of the good prices he will realize in his produce. While pondering over matters, he looks around and discovers a Ghost standing in the middle of the room. Silas becomes scared, begosh, and leaping out on the floor begs the Ghost to do him no harm. The Ghost suddenly vanishes and the Hayseed is about to jump into bed again when Satan appears from under the sheets and scares him to such an extent that he is willing to promise him even a box of fresh rooster eggs if he will only go away. But his Satanic Majesty says 'nit,' and he is almost frantic. After causing much excitement our poor unfortunate Silas is hustled out in the street, but we are not informed whether he gets his money back or not. This film will cause tears to flow with laughter."
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA sleeping apartment of a friend who retires for the night. The rays of the moon are shining upon the bed through the window. He is suddenly awakened by a bug of gigantic proportions crawling over him. This he attacks and destroys, but before again retiring he notices three more climbing up the wall. He lights the candle and applies the flame to each, causing them to explode with fine smoke effect. After this slaughter he retires in contentment and soon sleeps the sleep of the just. A very funny subject.
- "Mysterious figures, draped in white, advance slowly from the gloom. As they go into the light they suddenly throw their drapery aside and appear as ballet girls dancing a sprightly dance. The action is then reversed and they gradually disappear."
- DirectorWalter R. BoothA miser dies of shock when the ghost of a poor woman appears.
- "Two men and two girls in gay evening clothes are dining together with much merriment. Wine is flowing freely. Suddenly a skeleton appears, advancing slowly through the air. It walks upon the table, and points a warning finger at the quartette, who are filled with consternation. One of the girls faints."
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonAlbert E. SmithThis is acknowledged by exhibitors to be the funniest of all moving magical films. A countryman is seen entering the office of the spiritualist and paying his fee. He is then mesmerized and sees funny things. He drops his handkerchief on the floor and as he reaches for it, it gradually grows larger and larger, dancing up and down, and going through funny antics until before the eye of the spectator it turns into a ghost of enormous proportions. It then vanishes and as the countryman is in the act of sitting in the chair, the ghost suddenly appears and the countryman receives a great fright. He then jumps up and throws off his hat and coat, and they immediately fly back on his body. He repeatedly throws them off and they as often return. This scene finally closes by numerous ghost and hobgoblins appearing and disappearing before the eyes of the frightened countryman, who finally leaves the room in great haste.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsCharles ManleyAnother adventure involving the recurring character from silent era Uncle Josh, one of the first characters to have film sequels of his own. This episode involves a haunted hotel where a ghost keeps slapping Uncle Josh and the manager, causing a great deal confusion between both men and delivering funny situations to the audience.
- DirectorEdwin S. PorterStarsCharles ManleyPoor Uncle Josh is trying to get to sleep, but being constantly bedeviled by a fellow in red long underwear with horns. A short early trick editing film using a stationary camera.
- In this picture some very remarkable effects are obtained by the reversal of the motion of the negative. A man comes home, somewhat under the influence of liquor, and starts to remove his outer clothes. As fast as he removes each article and throws it from him, it immediately flies back, and when he is completely bewildered by this weird proceeding, His Satanic Majesty suddenly appears, and the man collapses.
- DirectorArthur MarvinA huge fly is bothering an old man, who is trying to take a nap. The old man, after standing the torment as long as he can, jumps up and taking a shot-gun, fires at the fly and blows it to pieces, then goes back to bed to sleep in peace.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsJehanne d'AlcyBleuette BernonA young woman becomes the eighth wife of the wealthy Bluebeard, whose first seven wives have died under mysterious circumstances.
- DirectorWalter R. BoothAn old proprietor is startled by the sudden appearance of a skull. Just as he draws back from the uncanny object, the doors of a mediaeval wardrobe fly back and a hand prods him with a sword. He turns to confront his assailant when it vanishes, and at the same instant the skull flies to the other end of the room. He clutches at the skull, when it turns into the half form of a girl from the waist up, suspended in mid-air. As he gazes in amusement, the other half of the girl, fully dressed from her waist down, walks across the room, and the two halves of the figure join, making a girl complete. In an amorous fashion the old man folds his arms around the girl's waist with the intention of stealing a kiss, but the girl immediately changes into an old woman, who grins in evident delight at the old man's discomfort. In great anger he throws her into the wardrobe and locks the door. Unseen by him, the woman has again become a girl. A great effect is here produced. Through the doors, which are solid and closed, the form of the girl appears through the woodwork. Hastily opening the door, the old man is then confronted by an Egyptian mummy. Other strange things happen. As the pawnbroker flies from the room a large and grotesque head arises from the smoke and slowly advances toward the spectators. Larger and larger the head grows until it fills the entire picture, and appears as though it would swallow the whole audience. A most laughable and mystifying scene.
- DirectorWalter R. BoothMephistopholes causes an artist's model to disappear.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsThe setting of this fantastic scene represents the hall of an old chateau in which a miser has locked up seven large bags containing his wealth. Satan, who has made his way into the chateau, puts the seven bags in a strong box, and makes with his hands some cabalistic motions. The miser comes into the hall and is greatly astonished to find his fortune missing. He opens the coffer and immediately the bags leap out. He gathers them up and puts them back into the coffer. When he opens it again he finds that they have been transformed into seven young girls, who rush out and chase after him, beating him unmercifully. They shut him up in the coffer from which his gold has vanished. The miser pushes open the lid of the coffer, and to his profound despair finds that both young girls and money have disappeared. (This view is most sensational in its mysterious scenes.)
- DirectorDicky WinslowStarsA.W. FitzgeraldMrs. FitzgeraldFive scenes: Maria's disguise, the murder, the dream, the arrest, the condemned cell.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsTwo demons throw helpless captives into a boiling cauldron, and then try to summon forth their spirits.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsAgainst a moonlit Egyptian backdrop duly encompassing the Sphinx, a narrator explains how a prince hires a mystic to bring back his beloved late wife.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsDenied a handout, a witch exacts vengeance by cursing the village well.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsBeelzebub, making fire on the tips of his fingers, develops a large blaze, from which three girls emerge, who commence a dance in the heart of the flames, while two devils shake burning torches; all disappear. This scene is the first of its kind and is quite magical in its effect.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA human skeleton is placed upon a table by an attendant. When the attendant leaves the room the skeleton begins kicking his legs and throwing his arms about and suddenly turns into a magician. The magician produces an egg, performing several sleight-of-hand tricks, and places it upon the table with the small end downward. He then crudely draws a human face upon the shell, and the egg immediately begins growing larger and larger until it reaches the size of a normal head. The form of the egg fades away and there immediately appears the head of a very pretty girl. Then two or more of the same type appear on either side of the original. The heads of the girls are merged into one head and from this appears the hideous head of a hobgoblin. The hobgoblin fades away into the original egg. The egg is reduced to its normal size and is removed from the table by the magician, who swallows it. He then takes his place on the table, reverting back to the skeleton, which is removed by the attendant, thus closing the picture.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJeanne CalvièreGeorges MélièsOld and burdened Faust sells his soul to the Devil for the exchange of youth and pleasures. He seduces Marguerite and is finally condemned to hell.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA traveler at an inn is harassed by a mischievous devil in his room.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsTwo travelers are tormented by Satan from inn to inn and eventually experience a buggy ride through the heavens courtesy of the Devil.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónThree friends go on a trip and decided to rest at an abandoned house. Everything seems pretty normal until really weird things start to happen.
- DirectorJ. Stuart BlacktonStarsPaul PanzerWilliam V. RanousOn a dark and stormy night, a traveler takes a room at a spooky hotel in the forest. As soon as the proprietor leaves, the room comes alive with ghosts and poltergeists who torment the man as he tries to unpack, eat, and go to sleep.
- DirectorOtis TurnerStarsHobart BosworthBetty HarteDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónStarsJulienne MathieuA young woman passing through a cemetery at night is suddenly startled by a voice coming from one of the graves. She wishes to rush away, but the ghost appearing compels her to remain. He explains to the terrified girl that she must go to the kingdom of Satan and get a bottle of the Water of Life, which she must bring back to him. The girl consents to do as he desires and starts forth on her expedition after the precious fluid. She summons a lot of soldiers and friends to her aid, and we follow the whole army down into the bowels of the earth. Arriving at the gate of Satan's kingdom, they mount a chariot of fire and, arriving at the devil's palace, give fight to the demons mounting guard over their king, and after having defeated them rush into the palace. Now Satan, seeing his life in peril, disappears in a cloud of smoke, and thunder, and is seen again as he dashes through his vast domains gathering together his people, and while they await the conquering chariot another fight ensues. The devil is beaten again and the bottle of life is stolen by the leader of the victorious army, and they are all about to depart when a terrible explosion takes place and the chariot and its occupants are dashed to the ground. All are killed: but the brave woman who undertook the expedition, and she goes forth alone, meeting on her way dragons and vampires, who try to stop her progress towards earth. She defeats them all, however, and arriving at the ghost's grave raps on the marble slab, the ghost appears, drinks the water and is immediately transformed into a beautiful prince. The last scene of this interesting film shows the happy marriage of the once-deceased man and the beautiful and courageous bride.
- DirectorViggo LarsenStarsViggo LarsenHolger-MadsenGustav LundIn a mansion full of secret rooms and passageways, people are dying shortly after seeing the ghost of a woman in gray, as an old legend dictates. Called in to solve the mystery, Sherlock Holmes has doubts about the supernatural aspect of the crimes and focuses on a more earthly culprit.
- DirectorJ. Searle DawleyStarsMary FullerCharles OgleAugustus PhillipsThe first filmed version of Frankenstein. The young doctor discovers the secret of life, which he uses to create a perfect human. Things do not go according to plan.
- DirectorAxel StrømStarsValdemar PsilanderClara PontoppidanAdam PoulsenA corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.
- DirectorAugust BlomStarsAlwin NeußOda AlstrupAugust BlomDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- DirectorJ. Searle DawleyStarsMary FullerThere is a carpenter by the name of Maule who owns a pretty little cottage in the historic town of Salem. A great man of the village, Col, Pyncheon by name, fancies this place as a site for a great house for his own family. He makes an offer of purchase which Maule refuses, he then insists upon buying whether the poor man will or no. When he meets with a stubborn refusal his wits set to work, and the days of witchcraft being at their height, he soon sees a way of accomplishing his purpose. Maule is accused of witchcraft and is arrested in his own home and dragged away from his wife, daughter and son. Then a startling scene is shown in which the carpenter is being led to the stake to be burned. The fires are lighted, and as the flames leap toward their victim we see the unfortunate man pronounce a curse upon Colonel Pyncheon and upon his house and children and their children's children. The next scene shows Maule's son, a young man, engaged upon some finishing touches in the work of the great house which Colonel Pyncheon has built upon the site of father Maule's dismantled cottage. Being left alone in the room, the son notices a grant from the king to a vast territory in the east, a grant which means the fortunes and affluence of the whole Pyncheon family. He secretes this document in a niche in the wall in the very room where he finds it, behind the great picture of Colonel Pyncheon's father. When the great man returns and misses the document he flies in a passion and would pursue the young man, but at that moment he finds himself confronted by a vision of the older Maule at the stake, his clenched bands upraised as he again seems to hurl the awful curse at the cringing rascal. The sight is so terrible that the old man falls back in his chair dead, and is found there by the villagers when they come to see the great house for the first time. Then the scene shifts to the fortunes of the family two hundred years later. The descendant who occupies the house is an old maiden woman, whose circumstances are so reduced by the lack of this wonderful grant from the king that she opens a little shop in the lower part of the house. She is not a very successful storekeeper and takes a lodger, a young man who bears a great resemblance to the Maule family of preceding generations, and who watches her unsuccessful business efforts until a young niece of hers, an embodiment of youth and buoyancy, comes to help her with the shop. Trade immediately picks up because of the young girl's fascinations, and the fortunes of the family mend a little, while the lodger becomes interested in the Pyncheon family from an entirely new point of view. It is evident, too, that the interest is mutual. One day, while he and the young girl are away for the day, Judge Pyncheon, a miserly relative and an exact prototype of the original Pyncheon, comes to the house and insists upon the family's right to have it razed to the ground and a thorough search made for the missing grant. In his search he almost stumbles upon the button which would open the space behind the portrait, but just as his finger rests upon it the ghostly figure of Maule at the stake appears above him and warns him away. The shock is too great for the old man, and like his ancestor he drops into the same antique chair and breathes, his last. When the young people return to the house they find the man dead, and that the aunt has been frightened by the happening and stolen away. She returns, however, in time to hear the young man announce his love and his right to speak of it even in the presence of death. He tells the whole secret of the story of "The House of the Seven Gables." which is that the curse pronounced upon the Pyncheons is operative until the mighty force of love overrules it. His love for the young girl and hers for him can remove the curse; and as evidence that it is gone he steps to the old portrait, pushes the button, and as it swings out, shows them the long lost grant from the king, and, raising it, places the fortune in the hands of the girl.
- DirectorFrancesco BertoliniAdolfo PadovanGiuseppe de LiguoroStarsSalvatore PapaArturo PirovanoGiuseppe de LiguoroLoosely adapted from Dante's Divine Comedy and inspired by the illustrations of Gustav Doré the original silent film has been restored and has a new score by Tangerine Dream.
- DirectorLucius HendersonStarsJames CruzeFlorence La BadieMarie ElineDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- DirectorLuigi MaggiStarsMario BonnardMary Cleo TarlariniFernanda Negri PougetA four chapter film including Satan vs the Creator, Satan vs the Saviour, The Green Demon/Satan during the Dark Ages and The Red Demon/Satan in modern times.
- DirectorGeorges TrévilleStarsGeorges TrévilleMr. MoyseThe strained expression on the face of one maid servant in a group of six, gives to the mind of Sherlock Holmes, the master of all detectives, the clue to the unraveling of this remarkable and unusual mystery. The maid and the butler planned and carried out a daring robbery in which they secured a mysterious ritual which told of a hidden treasure and gave directions for the finding of the money and jewels. Following the directions, the butler and the maid locate the hidden fortune, but coming suddenly in possession of such enormous riches, turned the head of this daring woman. The decision was reached in an instant, "I will have it all," and just as the butler handed out the treasure laden box, she allowed the heavy flag stone to crash down upon him. Imprisoning him in this death trap where the treasure had lain for years. When he arrived on the scene. Holmes wanted a clue. By clever grouping of the servants of the household, he flashed the old parchment hearing the ritual and watched their faces. Only the maid recognized the ritual and her startled look gave Holmes his entering wedge. The forcing of a confession from the woman is quickly brought about in most dramatic fashion.
- DirectorHanns Heinz EwersStellan RyeStarsPaul WegenerGrete BergerLyda SalmonovaBalduin, a student of Prague, leaves his roystering companions in the beer garden, when he finds he has reached the end of his resources. He is scarcely seated in a quiet corner when a hideous, shriveled-up old man taps him upon the shoulder and whispers vaguely of a big inheritance for Prague's finest swordsman and wildest student if he will enter into a certain agreement. Balduin rebuffs him, satirically asking his weird companion to procure him "the luckiest ticket in a lottery or a doweried wife." The old man goes off chuckling and thence onward persistently shadows Balduin, exerting a sinister influence over him, while Balduin is still disconsolate under the frowns of fortune. The Countess Margit Schwarzenberg, hunting with her cousin, to whom her father has betrothed her, meets with an accident. She is thrown over her horse's head into a river, but Balduin, who has been directed to the spot by his evil genius, plunges in and rescues her. Subsequently Balduin calls to inquire as to her condition at the castle of her father, the count, but be makes a hurried departure when Baron Waldis arrives, the contrast in their appearance discrediting him. His desire to win the countess and to humiliate the baron becomes so pronounced that he readily accedes to the compact suggested by Scapinelli, the old man, who has so pertinaciously dogged his footsteps, particularly when he learns that untold wealth and power will be his when he assigns to the other the right to take from his room whatever he chooses for his own use as he desires. The agreement is signed. Balduin receives a shower of gold and notes as his portion; Scapinelli takes Balduin's soul exposed in concrete form by his shadow. Balduin prosecutes his love affair assiduously and with apparent success, till the baron is informed of it by a jealous gypsy girl. He challenges Balduin to a duel, and the latter, assured of his superiority as a fencer, readily agrees. Count Schwarzenberg learns of the impending duel and appeals to Balduin not to kill "my sister's child, my daughter's future husband, and my heir." Balduin gives his promise, but when he goes to the venue of the duel he meets, his own counterpart stalking away derisively wiping his gory sword on his cloak. Balduin turns and in the far distance sees the dying victim of the deed he swore he would not do. He rushes from the spot horror-stricken. When he regains sufficient composure he makes his way to the castle of the count, but is refused admission. Determined to explain that he had no complicity in the death of the baron, Balduin climbs into a room in which the countess is seated. She receives him coldly, but soon succumbs to his ardent wooing. Just as he seeks to leave her she notices he has no shadow and that the mirror gives no reflection of him; and she drops back affrighted, the ghastly apparition of himself which takes shape in the corner of the room sends Balduin scuttling away from the castle in a paroxysm of terror. He makes a frenzied flight through a woodland estate and the streets of Prague, but wherever he stops to recover his breath he is haunted by the counterpart of himself. He reaches his rooms and draws a murderous looking fire-arm from its case. As the phantasmagorical figure strides towards him with a sinister grin, he fires, and in a few minutes the blood gushes from his own side from a fatal wound.
- DirectorHerbert BrenonStarsKing BaggotJane GailMatt SnyderDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- DirectorHenry MacRaeStarsClarence BurtonMarie WalcampPhyllis GordonAn old Indian legend tells of the supposed ability of persons who have been turned into wolves through magic power to assume human form at will for purposes of vengeance.
- DirectorVictorin-Hippolyte JassetStarsLucien BatailleCamille BardouHenri GougetAn ape, turned near human by Dr. Coriolis and given the name 'Balaoo', is smitten by the beauty of Coriolis' niece, Madeleine. Being inquisitive, though, he runs off, getting into mischief, and falls in with a poacher who saves his life. Acting now as his slave Balaoo kills a man for the poacher, but balks on his orders to kidnap Madeleine, deciding instead to set a trap for the poacher.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLionel BarrymoreClaire McDowellCharles Hill MailesA potentially violent patient in an insane asylum is calmed when he hears a nurse playing the piano. But shortly afterwards he breaks free, eludes his pursuers, and acquires a gun. He soon comes to a house where a young wife is home alone, and there is a tense confrontation.
- DirectorRobert G. VignolaStarsHarry F. MillardeMarguerite CourtotAlice HollisterHarold is ensnared by the wiles of Sybil, an adventuress. The boy forgets Helen, his country sweetheart. Sybil's influence over him is so evil that he can no longer apply himself to his work. His employer finally discharges him. When Harold's money is gone, the adventuress throws him over. He becomes a drunkard. Helen, failing to hear from him, comes to the city, where she secures a position. Harold decides to become a hold-up man. To pass away the time before midnight, he goes to a theater where Bert French and Alice Eis are presenting their famous "Vampire Dance." The characters are an artist and a vampire, in the guise of a wood nymph. Harold sees the artist attracted by the beautiful creature and then his struggles as he realizes what the result of the fascination must inevitably be. The victim beats her in his frenzy of fear, but is irresistibly drawn into the coils by the vampire's fiendish wiles. The vampire fascinates the man by her beauty and lures him toward a forest dell There the horrible creature succeeds in taking his life. Harold feels that a veil has been torn from his eyes. He seems to have reviewed his life with Sybil, and vows to reform. He succeeds in regaining his position and once more takes his place among men. The boy learns of Helen's presence in the city, but can find no trace of her. Sybil, learning of Harold's prosperity, attempts to drag him into her net once more, but the boy, with the memory of "The Vampire Dance" before him, resists her efforts. That night he finds Helen, and to insure his reformation, proposes immediate marriage. His sweetheart consents, and the knot is tied.
- DirectorPhillips SmalleyStarsWallace ReidLois WeberPhillips SmalleyA corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.
- DirectorMauritz StillerStarsGrete WiesenthalGösta EkmanRagnhild Ovenberg LycheA rich young man falls for a beautiful girl and meets with trouble.
- DirectorMaurice TourneurStarsHenri GougetHenry RousselRenée SylvaireAdapted from a one-act Grand Guignol play based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story 'The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether', the film portrays a visitor to an insane asylum where it becomes clear that the inmates have taken control. Telling the visitor that a cure for insanity has been found by cutting out an eye of the patient and then slitting his throat, the "director" hurries into another room, reemerges with blood all over his hands and, as blood seeps from beneath the door, incites other inmates who now surround the visitor.
- DirectorOscar ApfelCecil B. DeMilleStarsH.B. WarnerRita StanwoodTheodore RobertsThe treasure of the Aragon family has never been found or any trace of it, until one day, while Princess Maria Theresa is looking over her jewels, she drops the casket and a secret compartment flies open, disclosing an old parchment which tells of a locket that contains the diagram describing the location. The Princess goes for the locket and finds it has been stolen. Carmencita, her maid, has stolen it and, being jealous of her rival, Juanita, for Jose's affections, has sold it to Gaines, an American art collector. Juanita, during a fit of jealousy, stabs Carmencita, and Carmencita, on her death bed, tells the Princess and her brother she sold the locket. The Duke D'Alva overhears the conversation and starts in search of it, as does the Princess and her brother. In a southern town a feud has existed between the Jarvis and Markam families, and Markam kills Judge Jarvis. Warren Jarvis, his son, follows Markam to New York. Markam goes along the street and sees the locket brought from Spain by Gaines, the collector, and buys it. The Princess enters and finds the locket has been sold. She starts to find Markam. The Duke enters the store and asks about the locket, and he also starts to find Markam. The Princess gets the locket from Markam, who is at the same hotel that she is staying at. Jarvis, in search of Markam, finds him and kills him. While trying to escape he enters the Princess' room and tells her the story. Her trunk is nearly packed to go on the boat for her return to Spain. She hides Jarvis in trunk and he is taken on board the boat. In the meantime, Jarvis has telephoned to Rusty, his colored servant, to procure tickets. Two detectives enter and search for Jarvis, but fail to find him. He goes to Spain to help the Princess recover her treasure. Before the Princess goes to America, her father, who enters the castle which is supposed to be haunted, but in reality the ghosts are only the tools of the Duke dressed in armor and as ghosts, is killed by the Duke's men who also capture her brother and hold him prisoner. Jarvis, upon his arrival in Spain, starts with Rusty, his servant, to explore the castle. While at the inn near the old castle, the Duke steals the locket from the Princess' bag and tells Robledo, his tool, to keep Jarvis away from the castle. The Princess learns that the locket has been stolen and tells Jarvis. Jarvis starts to go out, when Robledo appears with drawn gun. He and Jarvis both fire. Jarvis seriously wounds Robledo who, on his death bed, tells the Princess about the castle and also about her brother. The brother, who has escaped by diving into the same place where the Duke's tools killed the Princess' father, swims the moat and escapes on the horse Jarvis rode to the castle. He notifies the police, who come to the castle. They are about to seize the Duke when he jumps down the trap and is killed. Jarvis and the Princess then each discover a mutual desire to possess the other and the story ends with the pair pledging their troth.
- DirectorPaul WegenerHenrik GaleenStarsPaul WegenerHenrik GaleenLyda SalmonovaAn antiques dealer finds a golem, a clay statue that had been brought to life four centuries earlier by a Kabbalist rabbi to protect his people from persecution. The dealer resurrects the golem as a servant but it goes on a rampage.
- DirectorJoseph W. SmileyStarsWilliam W. CohillPercy StandingGeorge De CarltonA young man gives life to a statue with disastrous results.
- DirectorYakov ProtazanovStarsTamara DuvanIvan MozzhukhinVera OrlovaWhile hosting a game of cards one night, Narumov tells his friends a story about his grandmother, a Countess. As a young woman, she had once incurred an enormous gambling debt, which she was able to erase by learning a secret that guaranteed that she could win by playing her cards in a certain order. One of Narumov's friends, German, has never gambled, but he is intrigued by the story about the Countess and her secret. He soon becomes obsessed with learning this secret from her, and he starts by courting her young ward Lizaveta, hoping to use her to gain access to the Countess.
- DirectorOtto RippertStarsOlaf FønssErnst LudwigAdolf PaulFoenss, a Danish star, is the perfect creature manufactured in a laboratory by Kuehne. Having discovered his origins, that he has no 'soul' and is incapable of love, he revenges himself on mankind, instigating revolutions and becoming a monstrous but beautiful tyrant, relentlessly pursued by his creator-father who seeks to rectify his mistake.
- DirectorOtto RippertStarsOlaf FønssErnst LudwigAlbert PaulA group of scientists, led by a Professor Ortmann, produce a living human child using scientific processes - a "homunculus." This creature is human in every way, except that he cannot experience love.
- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsLouis LeubasÉdouard MathéMarcel LévesqueAfter Phil Guard and Normandin capture two Vampires, Irma Vep and Moreno, the latter is guillotined and the woman is condemned to life imprisonment. The authorities as well as Philip, good reporter that he was, were lulled into security, thinking the Vampires were now powerless. They did not even know about Satanas, who was now leader of the band. Before her incarceration for life, Irma Vep is sent by the authorities to Algeria to testify regarding a crime committed there. Before leaving the detention home to board the vessel, she receives comforting information from a priest. The man is really Satanas in disguise. Satanas tells her that once on shipboard she must feign illness and be sent to the infirmary near the stern of the vessel, with his wonderful electric gun Satanas will destroy the ship, the projectile striking near the bow. Thus Irma will have a chance to regain her liberty. Even if she dies, that will be better than a life spent in prison. The ship is destroyed and Irma Vep is saved. She does not find Satanas, being afraid to disclose her identity in Algeria. She works her way back to Paris, whither Satanas has also returned. The head of the Vampires plans to destroy Philip Guard. The reporter is bound and gagged in his room and left to wait for the explosion of a bomb which will destroy him and those dear to him. Fortunately Normandin arrives, hears the clock-work tick of the infernal machine, and throws it into the garden just in time to save Philip. Satanas is living as a wealthy man in a new apartment, but the faithful Normandin penetrates his disguise and finds one of the shells for the electric gun. Normandin is accompanied by his son who enters the apartment upon a pretext. When he thinks he is alone he admits his father. Normandin hides in a chest, a fact known to Satanas, who has been watching through a mask on the wall, which is really a peep-hole from another room. The boy and Satanas struggle, after the former sees the chest locked and fears that his father is to be smothered. The fight is going in favor of the Vampire, despite his young adversary's revolver, when the door is broken and Philip and the police enter. Satanas is overcome and Normandin is released. He is suffering from a slight wound. His own son has shot him, grazing his big nose! The Vampires hold a meeting to discuss the capture of their chief. Irma Vep appears for the first time after her return and is loudly welcomed by the band. Venenos, the "man of poisons," takes from his pocket directions Satanas left with him in case he was captured. The request is for a certain letter to be smuggled to him in prison. This is done. Satanas chews the letter into a pulp and drops dead. The paper has been steeped in a deadly poison.
- DirectorRichard OswaldStarsErnst LudwigHans MartonFranz RamharterA Curse ? Every Friday the 13th dies a family member of the Family Eulenstein. The last victim is the Herbert von Eulenstein and his son engages the detectives Fix and Fox.They caught a crazy member of the Family who lives as Prof. Cardallhan in the same village.Cardallhan murders to get the money for himself.
- DirectorFred W. DurrantStarsHenry VictorPat O'MalleySydney BlandA rake remains young while his portrait grows old.
- DirectorGeorge IrvingStarsC. Aubrey SmithMarie ShotwellRobert ConnessJack Brookfield, a famous gentleman gambler of Louisville, Ky., finds that he is possessed of remarkable psychic power. His intuition in card games and other games of chance seems to be the result of mental telepathy or mindreading and his power over other men is a combination of hypnotism and will. He dominates everyone with whom he comes in contact. As a young man, Brookfield was deeply in love with Helen who answered his proposal with a request that he give her a written promise never to gamble again. Brookfield resented her distrust of him and they drifted apart. Years afterward, Brookfield, now conducting a famous gambling house to which only the wealthy come, finds that Helen, who has been married and is now a widow, is again in Louisville with her son Clay, a youth of twenty-one. Brookfield sees in the eyes of the boy the reflection of his mother, and his old love for the mother is awakened. Brookfield gives a theater and supper party in honor of Helen's return to Louisville, and while the guests are enjoying themselves, one of the habitues of Brookfield's place intrudes and makes himself obnoxious to both the men and women of the party. He has been annoying Clay Whipple ever since Clay first came to Brookfield's gambling house, and the night of the party, this annoyance reaches its height. For generations, the Whipple family has had a strange obsession in the form of a fear and unexplained dread of the sight of a cat's eye, and this fear is most marked in Clay. At the dinner party. Denning, the pest, is wearing a large cat's eye pin, and as he torments Clay, the boy's eyes fall upon the dreaded cat's eye. Immediately he becomes half-crazed but tries to control himself. Clay rushes from the room, only to be followed by the drunken, leaving Denning, who is bound that the boy shall look at the pin. Finally Clay, driven to desperation, picks up a heavy ivory tusk, which Brookfield uses for a paper cutter, and kills Denning. One of the guests of the party is Frank Hardmuth, the District Attorney of Louisville, who is in love with Brookfield's niece, Viola Campbell. Hardmuth is jealous of Clay, who is the real object of Viola's affection. As a witness to the murder, Hardmuth sees a means of putting Clay out of the way and he conducts the trial himself, obtaining a verdict of guilty, and a sentence of death. There seems to be no appeal from the verdict until Clay's mother is looking over some old letters finds one from George Prentice to her mother. George Prentice has become a justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S., and Helen goes with Brookfield to obtain Justice Prentice's help. The Justice agrees to be a witness for the defense. The Justice gives his testimony at the trial and then he and Brookfield, who has recognized in one of the jurors a mind susceptible to his telepathic powers, tries to project, by telepathy, the thought that Clay should be acquitted. Frank Hardmuth, the prosecuting attorney, is now candidate for Governor and just before the first trial, Hardmuth and his corrupt political associates had tried to murder the then-Governor of the State, Scovill. Failing in the first attempt, Hardmuth had called at the gambling house where, sitting with Brookfield, discussing the attempt, Brookfield had thought of a way of killing Scovill, which thought was telepathically transmitted to Hardmuth, and when the murder occurred in exactly the way that Brookfield had thought of he realized and felt that he was partially guilty. While he and Prentice are awaiting the verdict in the second trial, the actual murderer of Scovill, a broken-down gambler named Raynor, comes to Brookfield seeking information about Hardmuth. Brookfield's suspicions are aroused and through the force of will power and hypnotism, he makes Raynor confess that Hardmuth instigated the shooting. He then telephones the news to the papers, believing that the mental reaction in the minds of the people against Hardmuth will influence the jury in their verdict. This actually occurs and a verdict of "Not Guilty" is brought in. Freed from the law, Clay is still afraid of the cat's eye, but Brookfield forces him to realize that it is a purely mental state of mind and makes him get the cat's eye pin and hold it before his eyes. And finally, to prove that Clay is entirely cured of that fear and also that he is not a coward, Brookfield sends him to Hardmuth's hiding place to bring Hardmuth back as he intends to help him escape, feeling that Hardmuth was more or less the victim of his telepathic suggestion. This Clay does, and Viola realizes that her sweetheart is now worthy of her love. Brookfield promises Helen that he will quit his gambling and she accepts his word for it, and the old romance is completed.
- DirectorNino OxiliaStarsLyda BorelliAndrea HabayUgo BazziniA Faustian tale about an old woman who makes a pact with Mephisto to regain her youth, in return she must stay away from love. After the deal she meets two brothers who fall in love with her.
- DirectorPaul WegenerRochus GlieseStarsPaul WegenerLyda SalmonovaRochus GlieseAs a practical joke, an actor impersonates the screen monster he made famous. Complications ensue.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsBruno DecarliBernhard GoetzkeHermann PichaAfter years travelling the world, Count Greven returns home with the art treasures he has collected. But his disposition has altered dramatically and he is a troubled man. Will he suffer alone or can he be helped and freed from this malady?
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsGeraldine FarrarWallace ReidHobart BosworthFishermaid Marcia Manot finds an emerald which once belonged to a Norse queen and is cursed. Greedy American Silas Martin marries her, then sets her up for divorce. She kills him and weds his business manager Sterling, but a detective learns about Silas' death.
- DirectorRichard OswaldStarsBernd AldorErnst PittschauErnst LudwigA variation of the famous Oscar Wilde tale in which Dorian Gray's soul is manifested in a painting instead of his own body.
- DirectorRichard OswaldArthur RobisonStarsEmil JanningsWerner KraussLorenz KöhlerAn extremely jealous artist slips into a monkey costume and kills all those men who come too close to his wife, another artist.
- DirectorYakov ProtazanovStarsIvan MozzhukhinNathalie LissenkoPolycarpe PavloffPastor Talnox furiously urges the flock to fight temptations, but he himself becomes a victim of temptation. In his house appears Satan, pushing the hero to theft and spiritual fall.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsPola NegriHarry LiedtkeEmil JanningsA girl is kidnapped and held captive in an ancient Egyptian temple. She is rescued and flees to England, but soon finds that her mysterious captor is still haunting her.
- DirectorRichard EichbergStarsLeontine KühnbergFerdinand Bonn
- DirectorFrancis FordJohn FordStarsFrancis FordMae GastonPeter GeraldAn Indian scholar seeks an American colleague who is working on a powerful explosive, trying to get to his formula by taking advantage of his drinking problem.
- DirectorRichard OswaldStarsAnita BerberConrad VeidtReinhold SchünzelA demon, a reaper, and the ghost of a prostitute read gothic short stories and act them out.
- DirectorOtto RippertStarsKarl BernhardArnold CzempinFred GoebelIn this apparently lost film, a beautiful dancer's sexual allure is used by an evil cripple to entice men to their deaths. Falling in love with one of the potential victims, she is told by the cripple that he will set her free if her lover, actually a murderer himself, survives and escapes a bizarre labyrinthe which runs beneath the cripple's house.
- DirectorAlexander ButlerStarsMaudie DunhamHebden FosterFred MorganA beetle is possessed by the soul of an ancient Egyptian princess, who is determined to get her revenge on a member of the British Parliament.
- DirectorMichael CurtizEdmund FritzStarsGyula GálRózsi SzöllösiKálmán KörmendyA mad scientist "creates" a beautiful but demonic woman, the result of a forced sexual union between a woman and a mandrake root, a plant said to have magical powers due to its uncanny resemblance to the human body.
- DirectorFred NibloStarsEnid BennettDorcas MatthewsJack NelsonJournalist Betsy Thorne travels from New York to Virginia to cover a story about the disappearance of Daniel Arnold at a supposedly haunted estate. In order to get into the house, she pretends to be a maid. In the household she meets Daniel's sister Dolores, the neighbor Dr. James Dunwoody who loves Dolores, and his son Roland, who is under suspicion. Betsy pretends to be tough, but when she sees a ghost emerge from the chapel, she screams. The result is that Dolores locks her in at night. The following night, Betsy climbs out of her window and sees the ghost again, this time in the graveyard. After some intrepid investigating, she finds that playing certain chords on the chapel organ cause a door to open, leading into a passage to a tomb. Betsy bravely pursues the ghost who turns out to be Daniel, though he has become deranged. Further, she discovers that he is actually desired by the law as an international forger.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
- DirectorJohn S. RobertsonStarsJohn BarrymoreMartha MansfieldBrandon HurstDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- DirectorPaul WegenerCarl BoeseStarsPaul WegenerAlbert SteinrückErnst DeutschIn 16th-century Prague, a rabbi creates the Golem - a giant creature made of clay. Using sorcery, he brings the creature to life in order to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution.
- DirectorWallace WorsleyStarsCharles ClaryDoris PawnJim MasonA deformed criminal mastermind plans to loot the city of San Francisco as well as revenge himself on the doctor who mistakenly amputated his legs.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsFern AndraHans Heinrich von TwardowskiErnst GronauGenuine is an ancient and cruel divinity, who seduces men and induce them to kill as a proof of love.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsHelge NissenHalvard HoffJacob TexiereIn 4 episodic tales of human suffering: the temptation of Jesus, the Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution and the Russo-Finnish war of 1918, Satan attempts to win God's favor.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsFritz KortnerSadjah GezzaErnst HofmannA three-part historical film, with episode one taking place in ancient Egypt, the second is based on the Hugo novel, and the third episode takes place during the 1917 Russian revolution.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsConrad VeidtMagnus StifterMargarete SchlegelTwo opposing characters are hidden in the person of the inconspicuous London gentleman.Dr.Warren and Janus
- DirectorJ. Charles HaydonStarsSheldon LewisAlex ShannonDora Mills AdamsDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- DirectorF.W. MurnauStarsSascha GuraJohn GottowtPaul BiensfeldtWilton, a hunchback, who was always scorned and ridiculed by women, returns from Java a rich man after having discovered a diamond mine. He romances Gina, who is on the rebound from a broken affair, and showers her with expensive gifts. After Gina reconciles with her boyfriend, she continues to see Wilton because of what he gives her. After he discovers her perfidy, Wilton develops a poison and mixes it into her lipstick, which will kill any man who kisses her.