What can we learn from silent horror films?

johnny_ultimate

Given some recent requests for more threads about classic cinema, let's see if we can kickstart a discussion about some of the oldest classics of 'em all.

Over the last month or two I've watched a trio of influential silent horror films: Murnau's Nosferatu, Teinosuke Kinugasa's A Page of Madness and just this morning Victor Sjöström's The Phantom Carriage. Now, calling them 'horror' is perhaps too restrictive a description, particularly in the case of the latter two: The Phantom Carriage, for example, could be considered a dark riff on A Christmas Carol as much as a predecessor to the modern horror genre. But I was struck watching each of them how fresh and vibrant they seem, and think many of today's horror filmmakers could learn a thing or two from them.

It's debatable how 'scary' modern audiences will find any of these films, but they all contain many moments that remain genuinely creepy almost a century later. In The Phantom Carriage, the multi-exposed images of the eponymous carriage and its driver still can send a shiver down the spine, as can the intense scene where the lead character furiously chops down a door with an axe to reach his terrified wife and children (Stanley Kubrick was clearly a fan!). Kinugasa's furiously edited 'madness' sequences remain some of the most experimental and disorientating in cinema history, putting the viewer right into the eye of the storm (almost literally, in one case). And I hardly have to describe Nosferatu's creepiest moments: from the eerie boat journey to the unforgettable shadowplay. Using relatively primitive technology, all these directors managed to create discomforting moods and atmospheres, and without the assistance of creeping strings. They might not have had the established knowledge and resources filmmakers have today, but they're all examples of pure cinematic horror, managing to conjure disturbing imagery through the camera alone.

It's also worth noticing how they all handle narrative. Like many silent films, the storytelling and acting can seem melodramatic and unsubtle if you're not used to early cinema, and heck even if you are. But all three films offer engaging, emotional and very human stories that ensure they're more than just otherworldly creepshows. In fact, if we're to insist on genre classification, they could easily be considered romances and dramas just as much as horror. At the risk of generalising, many modern horror filmmakers tend to focus on typical slasher / haunted house / 'cabin in the woods' etc... type narratives, with characterisation and themes often a distant second to pure scares. These early films show the supernatural or dark elements can easily exist or intriguingly enhance more developed stories, as well as having deep thematic resonances.

If you haven't seen these films (they're all readily available online, and the Masters of Cinema Nosferatu digital / BluRay re-release is particularly worth investing in) they all still work extremely well. It's really surprising how fresh and experimental they feel: despite decades of filmmakers building on the core motifs, techniques and iconography (as well as directly influencing later masters such as - most obviously - Bergman, Herzog and Kubrick), they all still offer utterly unique assets. It's a shame the still-effective aesthetics of these types of films have been largely rendered redundant, although we should be glad a handful of filmmakers Guy Maddin are still embracing the experimental, distinctive spirit of these early horror classics, as well as some of their simple techniques.

Do you have any interest in early horror, or do you think their capability to impress or even scare have been significantly diminished after 100 years of cinematic advances? Any other silent horror gems anyone cares to recommend, as it's one area I'm always keen to build up my knowledge of!

Sad Professor

I haven't seen A Page of Madness or The Phantom Carriage (my ever burgeoning watchlist thanks you), but I'm a big fan of Nosfetratu. I just love the use of doubling/parallelism to mirror the protagonist (a common feature of German Expressionism that's mostly absent from contemporary films). I also love the fact that his true foe is the woman (his planned victim) rather than the man. If you haven't yet, listen to the David Kalat commentary on the MoC Blu-ray - it's excellent. I'd take or leave the other one, though.

I watched The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari for the first time recently and loved it. A sort of surreal and demented fairy tale with the ultimate twist ending. It was recently restored, so hopefully a Blu-ray release from MoC isn't far off.

The more silent films I watch the more I realise that silent cinema was basically a separate art form from sound films. The "talkies" really did kill it, replacing it with films that owed more to theatre than what was previously considered cinema.

Fysh

Like Sad Professor, I've not seen A Page Of Madness or The Phantom Carriage, but hold both Nosferatu and Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in extremely high regard - the latter is one of my all-time favourite films as a result of its combination of a clever (and at the time, very progressive) narrative and a wonderful visual style that perfectly complemented. Nosferatu as well has a fantastic style and some exceptionally creepy sequences.

I think that the limitations imposed at the time on the use of dialogue, and to some extent music, in particular means that the use of light and shadow, set design, and physical acting from the performers is much more important - and when used well, is much more effective than many films which aren't constrained in how they convey narrative.

I'll have to take a look at both A Page Of Madness and The Phantom Carriage - I've also found this BFI article listing some more silent horror films - the only one I already had on my radar as one to watch is Der Golem, so that's a good addition to my already lengthy to-watch list.

johnny_ultimate

Above all, I think I'm fond of Caligari's production design. Even today it stands out as an almost completely unique piece of cinematic art, and it's a shame more filmmakers haven't been brave and gone for such an abstract art design. It's certainly to a degree quite theatrical, but the way the shapes and geometry add to the mood is fascinating. Even later expressionist films seemed to be less explicitly and I'd suggest proudly artificial - which certainly works in a lot of cases, but there's something to be said for filmmakers embracing pure fantasy as well!

It's definitely another good example of how to conjure up a disturbing or uneasy atmosphere by relying almost entirely on visuals. I definitely have also come to the conclusion that silent film was almost a separate artform, and the incredible things people were do in the years before it became unpopular (you could say something like Murnau's astonishing Tabu, although that has a proper score which distorts the classification a bit if we're being pedantic) are powerful indicators that there was a lot of potential in the form before it was deemed commercially and artistically unpopular. It's especially frustrating when modern day efforts like The Artist are mere empty, unambitious homages, although Blancanieves was really interesting. Still, it would be great to see more people exploring and experimenting without sound - and if they could draw some inspiration from the horror masters, all the better

Oh, and thanks for reminding me of Der Golem, I've definitely heard it mentioned before and will be sure to seek it out!

Fysh

I just noticed that the BFI have a web-based video player, and amongst other things they have a silent Gothic horror short called The Mistletoe Bough.