HORROR LIBRARY: PART I (1895-1919)
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- DirectorLouis FeuilladeStarsMusidoraÉdouard MathéMarcel LévesqueAn intrepid reporter and his loyal friend battle a bizarre secret society of criminals known as The Vampires.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsHenry B. WalthallSpottiswoode AitkenBlanche SweetPrevented from dating his sweetheart by his uncle, a young man turns his thoughts to murder.
- DirectorRichard OswaldStarsAnita BerberConrad VeidtReinhold SchünzelA demon, a reaper, and the ghost of a prostitute read gothic short stories and act them out.
- DirectorPaul HurstStarsJack HoxieAnn LittlePaul HurstTwo prospectors, one the father of Skye "Lightning" Bryce and the other the father of Kate Arnold, find a large gold deposit belonging to an Indian tribe. They head for home but each sends a note to their respective off-springs advising them of their good fortune. One of the fathers conceives a plan of taking a dagger and wrapping a piece of string around the blade, after which he prints on the string with a lead pencil, the exact location of their find. If something happens to them, the string goes to the son and the knife to the daughter. That night an Indian approaches their camp and blows some mysterious wolf powder which causes a man to see wolves in place of human beings. Lightning's father see his partner as a wolf and stabs him to death; later he is brought into town in a dying condition but before dying, hands the knife and the string over to the sheriff with instructions to deliver to Lightning and Kate. The sheriff also informs Kate that Lightning's father killed her father, and she immediately turns against Lightning. "Powder" Solvang also knows the story behind the knife and the string, and is determined to gain possession of both, even to the extent of making Kate his prisoner in an opium den in Chinatown.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorConrad VeidtStarsConrad VeidtReinhold SchünzelGrit HegesaA banker, after a prophetic meeting with a Gypsy fortune teller, becomes delusional as he searches for a trunk which the seer has told him holds the key to either his happiness or his death.
- DirectorRupert JulianStarsMary MacLarenHerbert PriorJack MulhallDearie Lane loves Fred Millard, but she turns down his offer of marriage because she was once involved with the disreputable Mark Winfield. When she explains the situation, Fred forgives her, and they get married. For a while they live happily in a modest home. But the situation gets complex when Winfield, who owns the house, comes by to collect a delinquent payment and suddenly dies. Dearie, afraid that Fred will not understand what really happened, gets a boarder and her cook to help her hide the body. At midnight they carry it down the stairs to the countryside, but Fred hears their steps creaking on the stairs. All seems lost when the police find the body and the suspicious Fred finds Winfield's hat under a couch. He opens Dearie's private trunk and discovers the fancy clothes that Winfield gave her. Fred goes after Dearie, furiously chopping with an ax through the closet door behind which she is hiding. Dearie persuades him to listen and explains that she had kept the clothes only because she thought Fred would admire them, and that in fact Winfield died from a heart attack.
- DirectorErich KoberStarsHerr AknerElga BeckErnst EscherichIn this apparently lost film an inventor uses a strange jewel to bring to life a statue of Lilith, and falls in love with her. Soon, however, she begins to appear on a screen, also developed by the inventor, which reveals her to be a vampire who is slowly sucking his life essence from him, causing him to gradually fade away. He realizes the situation has become even more drastic when he notices his new love, Ly, is being possessed by Lilith and has also begun fading away.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsCarl de VogtGilda LangerErika UnruhResiding in a castle in the Carpathian Mountains, Hungarian nobleman Vasile Disecu becomes infatuated with Suzette, the daughter of his neighbor. He mistakes Stefana, a maid who is secretly in love with him.
- DirectorDuke WorneStarsBen F. WilsonNeva GerberWilliam DyerCarter Holmes, master criminologist, must help the oft-kidnapped Ruth Stanhope to find the 9 daggers that will unlock the secret of the cursed Devil's Trademark!
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorJohn Francis DillonStarsEdith RobertsLew CodyCharles K. GerrardBrewster, the bean king, has an option of renewal on a certain bean canning plant owned by Ellis. Ellis does not desire to renew and hires Wingate, a shyster lawyer, to help him. Brewster has to send Betty to renew the contract. Later he sends his lawyer to help her and Ellis' man persuades her that he is a plotter. There follows plot and counter-plot, but all-innocently Betty carries the day.
- DirectorWillis H. O'BrienStarsAlan V. DayChauncey A. DayHerbert M. DawleyIn a dream Uncle Jack looks through a magic telescope owned by the ghost of a hermit and sees what life was like millions of years ago, including a battle between prehistoric monsters.
- DirectorHolger-MadsenStarsGunnar TolnæsZanny PetersenNicolai NeiiendamA group of researchers from Earth travel in a spaceship to Mars, where, to big surprise, they find a peaceful vegetarian and pacifist civilization.
- DirectorChester WitheyStarsDorothy GishGeorge FawcettCharles K. GerrardA German-American father, loyal to his new U.S. home, finds himself on opposite sides with his son in the wartime conflict between Germany and America. The son becomes involved with German agents plotting against U.S., and the father must decide between his son and his adopted homeland.
- DirectorHarry A. PollardStarsMargarita FischerMonroe SalisburyKathleen KirkhamWhen Marta marries John Lane, Dr. Lorenz, a former suitor, determines to take her away from her husband. A year later John and Marta's happiness over an expected event is turned to grief, for the child dies and Marta suffers intensely. Dr. Lorenz attends her and administers dope, until she becomes a confirmed "fiend." Marion, who loved John, conspires with the doctor, pretending to be Marta's friend, and attempts to win John. Driven desperate by her husband's apparent neglect of her, and craving the "dope" which the doctor withholds, she leaves with Lorenz. Taking refuge from the storm in a hut, the doctor attempts to take advantage of the situation, but lighting strikes the hut and they are buried in the ruins, The doctor is killed, but Marta is saved from the ruins by John and they start life anew.
- DirectorPaul WegenerRochus GlieseStarsPaul WegenerLyda SalmonovaRochus GlieseAs a practical joke, an actor impersonates the screen monster he made famous. Complications ensue.
- DirectorRex IngramStarsCleo MadisonDick La RenoFrancis McDonaldFrivolous young Marie de Severac is frightened into following a more virtuous path, when her father relates a story in which an equally frivolous woman is entombed alive.
- DirectorDavid SmithStarsChet RyanWalter RodgersCharles WheelockSam, in love with Katie, drinks too much absinthe and dreams he is a hero saving Katie from danger.
- DirectorE. Magnus IngletonLeslie T. PeacockeStarsClaire McDowellT.D. CrittendenLeo PiersonDeath reviews the life of a mean, miserly old woman.
- 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.
- DirectorHugh FordStarsGeorge M. CohanAnna Q. NilssonHedda HopperA writer bets a friend that he can write a 10,000-word novel in 24 hours. The friends takes the bet, and gives him the keys to his Baldpate Inn, which has been closed for the winter, so he can write in complete seclusion. Things start heating up, though, when a succession of people who also have keys to the inn begin showing up.
- DirectorJ.P. McGowanStarsHelen HolmesLeo D. MaloneyThomas G. LinghamA train that is carrying the formula for a valuable form of granulated gasoline disappears before it reaches its destination. Railroad investigators and the authorities try to determine where it is and who took it.
- DirectorCharles WestonStarsAimee EhrlichRuth RichieEleanor Assmus"Mirror, mirror on the wall who's the fairest of them all?" The Wicked Queen knows that the looking glass will always answer, "you are." But one day, the magic mirror has something new to say: Snow White, the Queen's stepdaughter, has grown into the most beautiful woman in the land. Enraged by this news, the Wicked Queen orders one of her underlings to murder the girl. But the assassin does not have the heart to hurt such a lovely and innocent creature. Instead, he tells Snow White of the Queen's evil plot, and urges her to escape. Frightened by the news, Snow White flees the castle and finds a new home with a family of gold-mining dwarfs. But her jealous stepmother possesses powers that may still bring harm to the sweet and generous girl...
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorFred W. DurrantStarsHenry VictorPat O'MalleySydney BlandA rake remains young while his portrait grows old.
- DirectorKing BaggotStarsKing BaggotIrene HuntFrank SmithThe man is a mystery in the little town. He lives alone in his cabin and will not meet the advanced of his neighbors. One night he talks and tells the story of his life. He had been a prosperous lawyer in an eastern town and was engaged to be married to the sweetest of girls. The night before the wedding day she died and in his anguish he called in the devil. The devil said that he would bring back the departed life, but that if the man laughed he would lose his love again. And in the man's joy at his sweetheart's recovery he forgot and laughed and straight the girl died. "Here is Satan now," said the man, as he fell over dead.
- DirectorStuart PatonStarsAllen HolubarDan HanlonEdna PendletonA French professor and his daughter accompany Captain Nemo on an adventure aboard a submarine.
- DirectorWilliam S. HartStarsWilliam S. HartEnid MarkeyRobert McKimVan Dyke Tarleton is an artist. He is absorbed body and soul in his latest creation, "Lucifer, Son of the Morning," but lacks a model to depict the brooding evil, the smoldering, sardonic sin that he has visualized in the spirit's face. Naomi Tarleton, his wife, is a beautiful and gentle creature. Tarleton has an attack which necessitates a sojourn in the desert, and he, with his wife, arrive in Tophet, an Arizona border town, where "Bowie Blake," bad man, witnesses their arrival. Tarleton recognizes in Blake a Lucifer in the flesh, and insists that "Bowie" become his model. His demand is refused. Later Blake becomes enthralled when he sees Naomi. Tarleton witnesses the meeting from a window and determines that his wife shall accomplish what he has failed to do. He sends her to the gambler, telling her to beg Blake to come. She does this, and Blake becomes the model. Tarleton insults his wife continually in Blake's presence to prevent the brooding evil, sardonic hardness, and the grim deadliness in the eyes and face of his model from disappearing. One day Tarleton faints at the canvas and the doctor advises that he be taken to the mountains. The three find an ideal camp, and the painting goes on, Tarleton insulting his wife more and more, until Blake decides to leave them, as he can stand it no more. He hesitates on the road, not willing to leave Naomi alone with Tarleton, and eventually returns to find that "Red" Gleason and Jose Ramirez, two outlaws, have killed the painter and are drawing cards to see who shall possess the woman. He kills them both, and takes Naomi to a cave farther in the mountains. Through an injury, Naomi loses her mind. Blake treats her as a child, until her mind becomes clear. He then tells her that he intends to have her as his own. Naomi exerts her influence, and he fights his battle, and wins over himself, upon which he agrees to take her back to town. They stand where the trail leads to the desert town. She holds her hand out to him: "What can I say?" she cries plaintively; "What is there for you and me to say to each other?" Bowie remarks: "I'm sayin' just this: some day I'm comin' after you." She looks at him and answers softly: "Yes, I think you will do that, but I make no promise, there are things to be done, that time and striving will do. It is in your hands, Bowie." "That's all I ask," he answers. "I'm takin' that chance."
- DirectorJoseph W. SmileyStarsWilliam W. CohillPercy StandingGeorge De CarltonA young man gives life to a statue with disastrous results.
- DirectorClem EastonStarsEthyle CookeJustus D. BarnesBoyd MarshallA murder victim's spirit takes revenge on the man who killed him.
- DirectorCharles CalvertStarsDorothy BellewSydney VautierDouglas PayneThe ghost of an Egyptian princess curses the archaeologist who stole her mummified hand.
- DirectorJames W. HorneStarsMarin SaisWilliam H. WestPaul HurstThe strange cries which come from the Jardine house cause Worth, a neighbor, to notify the police. Lila is sent to investigate. Posing as a book agent, she enters the place. Dr. Jardine, however, sees through her ruse. He explains to the girl that he is conducting some important experiments in vivisection and that the noises heard by Worth are made by the animals he uses in the experiments. Dissatisfied, Lila departs. That night, a cordon of police is drawn about the house. The watchers see an auto drive up. Two attendants carry a man from the machine to the house. Quietly making her way to one of the windows, Lila peers into the room. She sees a patient struggling in the grasp of a burly attendant. The latter succeeds in subduing the victim, who is placed upon an operating table. Dr. Jardine discovers Lila's presence. He neatly brings about her capture and the girl is brought into the house. Lila then learns that Jardine intends to sever the right arm from the man who lies on the operating table and transpose it to the body of his brother, who had lost his arm in an accident. The operation is about to commence, when Lila draws her revolver and shoots out the light over the operating table. The shot is heard by the police outside and they hasten to the scene. Jardine and his assistants are captured. At the station house Jardine's victim proves to be Murphy, an escaped convict. The doctor had aided the man to escape with the sole idea of using him in his experiment. It was Murphy's shouts for help that had attracted Worth's attention. The convict is sent back to the penitentiary, while Jardine is taken to a cell to await trial.
- DirectorJoseph W. SmileyStarsJoseph W. SmileyLila LeslieJohn SmileyEllis, an English barrister, goes to a hotel, in answer to a note of appeal, to rescue a woman he had formerly loved from the influence of her husband, a crook, who mistreats her. He takes her safely away, but shoots and wounds Gray, her husband. They flee, followed by threats of vengeance from Gray. Parr, an adventurer, occupying the room adjoining, has, unseen, witnessed the shooting affray. Ellis flees with Gray's wife for America. On the first day out she dies in childbirth and pleads with him to adopt her babe. Ellis agrees. Parr, who happens to be on the same ship, knows of the death of the mother and the adoption of the child. Ellis is ignorant of Parr's identity. Years later Ellis, happy with his ward, Betty, is in a secluded old mansion in America. He has never learned for certain whether or not Gray died and he is continually haunted by the thought that Gray might return. Parr, now an unscrupulous land dealer, visits Ellis's estate in an effort to purchase acreage which he knows to be rich in ore. He is astounded to recognize in Ellis the man whom he had seen shoot Gray 18 years before. Ellis flatly refuses to sell. Parr, angered, leaves, ready to employ a scheme to make Ellis leave the estate or sell it. Soon after, Betty is plunged into a state of constant fear by the growing terror of her old guardian. Betty sees and hears of a mysterious, ghostlike figure at nights and becomes convinced that her guardian is the victim of a frightful apparition, or fiend in human flesh. Nervous to the point of hysterics, she writes her guardian's young attorney, Briggs, to come to the mansion at Lone Willows. Briggs arrives, hears the strange story of the secret of the mansion, and resolves to stay until he has exposed the mysterious agent. He is not only unsuccessful, but in time becomes a haunted wreck, in as pitiable a plight as Ellis. Both men barricade the doors of the mansion. Betty, unable to gain access into the locked rooms, hurries to the city, notifies the police and goes to the home of her school chum, Claire Parr, to spend the night. During the night she is astounded to see Claire's father leave the house with a crook, Hart, both with masks. Hurriedly she seeks aid from the police and follows the men. The police arrive at Lone Willows to find the mansion a mass of flames. Inside the house a desperate battle is in progress between Ellis and Briggs and Parr and Hart. The two haunted men, having discovered Hart and Parr entering the mansion through a secret passage, believe they at last have the opportunity to kill their mysterious enemies. The police force their way into the house. Ellis and Briggs are rescued but the two crooks perish in the fire. Later Ellis learns the truth, that Parr had employed Hart, a crook, to "haunt" the mansion so that Ellis would believe Gray was carrying out his threat to kill him and reveal himself as Betty's real father. In this way he hoped to force Ellis to vacate the estate. In reality Gray died after being shot by Ellis years before. The entire affair is kept secret from Betty, and Ellis, now free for the first time from his hallucination, prepares to celebrate the wedding of Briggs and Betty.
- DirectorCecil M. HepworthStarsTom PowersAlma TaylorWilliam FeltonA mesmerist, obsessed with putting a beautiful woman under his power, hypnotizes her to try to force her to kill her fiance. His plans are altered with the appearance of a deadly serpent.
- 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.
- DirectorMaurice TourneurStarsHenry RousselEmile TramontHenri GougetOn a dare, a man vows to spend the night in a wax museum filled with ghoulish scenes of true crimes. At first, he scoffs, but soon the scenes that are depicted begin to affect his mind.
- A detective researches a mysterious murder case in Paris.
- DirectorMax MackStarsHanni WeisseAlwin NeußLotte NeumannAn honorable Lord who is developing a drug with which he transforms himself into another, that is, dissociated from all social constraints. One of the first cinematic adaptation of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde material.
- DirectorAlice GuyStarsFraunie FraunholzClaire WhitneyJoseph LeveringIn this story the hero is haunted by a beautiful young woman who tries to stab him to death with a knife. This fantasy recurs on each of his birthdays, becoming more and more real as the years go on. He leaves home to secure a place as groom, but arrives at his destination too late. Forced to retrace his steps, he seeks shelter in a little inn, forgetting that the hour of his birth is approaching. In the middle of the night he awakens, terrified with fright. Standing by his bed with a deadly knife in her hand is "The Dream Woman." She plunges the blade into the mattress as he squirms out of the way. Twice she attempts to reach him. He yells for help. The innkeeper and his family are aroused. Seeing nothing, they drive him away for disturbing them. As he is escaping the apparition appears once more. Fear lends speed to his quaking legs and he runs until he falls exhausted in his mother's arms. Francis Raven, the young man, is home from his hair-raising adventure. His mother is sick and he goes to the druggist for medicine. While there, Alicia Warlock, a very pretty girl, enters. It is easily discerned that she has been wayward; that she is tired of life. She asks the druggist to sell her laudanum. He refuses. As she goes out, she attracts Raven's attention. He is fascinated and follows. When he introduces Alicia to his mother, that good but very superstitious woman receives her with askance. But the son is infatuated and when the mother orders the girl away he goes with her and the two are married. They settle down in a home of their own, but when Raven is absent his wife associates with questionable companions. She drinks and is frequently under the influence of liquor. He finds her in this state and scolds her, but she is defiant. Not willing to give her up, he summons his mother, who promises to use her influence toward reforming the girl. But the mother sees her daughter-in-law cutting bread with the same knife that has always been a part of her son's dream and runs away. Not long afterward, Raven finds his wife stupefied with whiskey. He handles her roughly and finally strikes her. She falls to the floor completely sobered by the blow. In a second the husband regrets his hasty temper, but his wife, beside herself with rage, declares she will murder him with the very knife that has tortured him in his dreams. He gets the knife and vows to put it where his wife cannot find it, but while traveling a lonely road he is attacked, the knife is stolen from him and he is thrown into a well, from which he escapes. A few years elapse and Raven is engaged in the care of horses. Upon the anniversary of his birth two strangers, a man and his wife, employ him to drive them to their station. Having heard his cries they ask for an explanation and he tells his weird story. They pity and employ him as a second groom. To protect him over his birthday the first groom is instructed to watch him constantly during the night. But the first groom while in the village flirts with a woman who readily accepts an invitation to visit his lodgings. Just as she is about to partake of food and refreshments there are groans and cries of distress in an adjoining room. The first groom, not wishing to be disturbed, goes to the frightened man, ties him hand and foot, places a gag in his mouth and returns to the woman he picked up in the street. He does not have much time to revel in her society, however, because his mistress calls him. While he is gone, Alicia steals into the adjoining apartment, recognized the helpless occupant of the bed, draws a knife from the folds of her skirt and plunges it into his heart. The story ends in the fascinating atmosphere of the spirit world with the "Dream Woman" enveloped in soul stirring mystery.
- DirectorJan Arnold PalousStarsAlois CharvátRuzena SlemrováRichard MensíkThe name day of Mr. Fiala: The husband catches his wife with his friend. In the ensuing argument the husband is insulted and attacked. The lovers believe him to be dead and carry him from the house out into the street. Drunkards find him there and they think they have have killed him. They stand him against a wall with his face in the window of a miser who has just been counting his money. The miser punches the man in the head and takes the "corpse" to river and throws it in.
- DirectorFrank NewmanStarsIldeton NewmanIn India, a girl's British lover, changed into a gorilla by her father, is captured by a circus.
- 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.
- StarsRobert BroderickIrene BoyleWilliam R. DunnDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.
- 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 ApfelStarsEdward P. SullivanIrving CummingsGertrude RobinsonA murderer is haunted by the spirit of his victim.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónIn an uninhabited house, a burglar has to deal with objects that are set against him.
- In India, an explorer shoots the vampire woman who killed his friend. She becomes a snake and kills him.
- DirectorVan Dyke BrookeMaurice CostelloStarsMaurice CostelloRose TapleyMary MauriceAgainst her brother's better judgment, Eleanor is convinced by her lover, Eric to elope with him to New York. Some time later Eric abandons her and, falling on hard times, Eleanor is forced to take shelter in a chamber of horrors. Eric, acting on a bet made with his unsavory friends, enters the same chamber of horrors and their unexpected meeting produces grisly results.
- DirectorAbel GanceStarsÉdouard de MaxCharles de RochefortFlorelleA mad sculptor, searching for the perfect realization of "the mask of horror", places himself in front of a mirror after smearing blood over himself with the glass of an oil lamp. He then swallows a virulent poison to observe the effects of pain.
- A stolen mummy's ring brings death to all who acquire it until it is returned to its owner.
- DirectorCurt A. StarkStarsHenny PortenCurt A. StarkLizzy KruegerIn the form of a shadow, Death emerges from the sea and convinces an unhappy woman to commit suicide by returning to the sea with him.
- StarsWilliam WestAlice WashburnMarion BrooksAn injection that can freeze cattle solid for later thawing is prepared by a woman's husband and nephew to be used on her. At her son-in-law's warning, she replaces the fluid with tap water and accepts the injection, faking the freezing, then tormenting them as a "ghost."
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsFernande AlbanyAboard the futuristic flying machine of his own invention, Professor Mabouloff and his team of intercultural explorers set off on yet another impossible expedition to North Pole's vast landscapes. What wonders await the bold adventurers?
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishDorothy GishElmer BoothA brother and his two younger sisters inherit a modest amount from their father. When the brother is away, their shady housekeeper decides to take it for herself.
- StarsNormand McDonaldJoseph Allen Sr.Frank DaytonColonel de Valpeau lives alone with his negro servant, Zeno. Being pressed for funds, the Colonel is refused a loan on the hereditary estate, and is threatened with eviction. Zeno now decides upon a plan whereby his master may remain in the great house without his presence being discovered, and shows the Colonel a sliding panel in the dining room wall that leads to a small garret inside. The Dixons, wealthy social climbers, now purchase the place, but firmly believe the place is haunted when they find the table has been used for mysterious company during the night and catch sight of the sliding panel shutting behind old Zeno as he goes to his master. Therefore, they leave in fright and refuse to purchase the place, which is now bought by Dr. Trueman. One evening, as the doctor and his friends are chatting, they catch Zeno coming through the panel and force him to disclose the secret. Upon learning of the colonel's identity the doctor writes him a note saying the old estate is his as long as he lives and that his presence is desired that evening. Finding the old-fashioned costume of one of his French ancestors in a trunk, the colonel dons it and is presented to the gentlemen in the great dining room. However, the strain of proposing a toast to his king is too much for the aged man, and he dies.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyJules-Eugène LegrisGeorges MélièsWith the help of a magic cauldron, Mephistopheles conjures up a variety of supernatural characters.
- 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.
- 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."
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithPhotographer tries to take a picture of a ghost, but it won't keep still and then vanishes.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsA man digging inside an Egyptian tomb chops up a mummy, then resurrects the woman inside it.
- 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.
- 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."
- DirectorWalter R. BoothA miser dies of shock when the ghost of a poor woman appears.
- 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.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA magician presents a wreath which in turn transforms into other things.
- 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.In colour!!
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsA devil conjures up a dancing woman from a mystical flame.One of the zillion movies made in those days to show a serpentine dance. But this one is led by the Devil!
And this one too is in colour!! - DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsMuch to our amazement, an elegant and masterful illusionist detaches his own head effortlessly from his shoulders for a once-in-a-lifetime performance.When I was four, I got an extremely nasty nightmare, after watching 'Way Out West" - A Laurel and Hardy film - because of a scene where Stanley almost pulled Oliver's head off, because it was stuck in a cellar door. I bet there must have been people who experienced likewise when they watched Méliès juggling with his own severed head.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsAn astronomer falls asleep and has a strange dream involving a fairy queen and the Moon.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsIn a traditional "magician" attire, the wizard of illusion and jump cuts, Georges Méliès, says the magic words and conjures up wonders from a plain wooden box.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsJehanne d'AlcyGeorges MélièsIn this fantastic scene, a man who is eager to retire has a difficult time finding peace, as his nocturnal illusions come to life out of thin air.Although this movie actually is about a guy having a nightmare, the most 'disturbing' fact is that at the end of the film he has some unintended embarrassing trouble with the fly of his pajama's. I tried to find information about it (I really did) but apparently nobody seems to have noticed it or thought it was worth mentioning.
- DirectorGeorge Albert SmithA King (played by Georges Méliès) shows up at his new castle where he is haunted.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsA young woman stumbles across a cave that is populated by the spirits and skeletons of people who died there under mysterious circumstances.
- DirectorVan Dyke BrookeStarsFrank KeenanCursed with the deformity of a crooked spine and made the butt of the village jesters, the hunchback seeks at least temporary forgetfulness of his lot in the bottle. Earning a meager pittance as sexton of the church, his wages all go for drink, and he staggers about his duties sodden and filthy, a fair mark for his tormentors. His soul knows no peace, for his fellows allow him none, and his mind is more terribly deformed than his body by hatred and the wretched life he leads. He is seen first in the belfry of the church, where, after performing his duties, he drains the bottle and hurls it from him with terrible imprecations. He staggers down the rickety stairway and stumbles along to the common, where he throws himself into a seat before the inn and calls for more drink. He falls into a drunken stupor and a rural clown amuses himself and his fellows by tickling the hunchback with a straw. All roar with laughter when the sleeper seeks to dislodge the troublesome insect, but their laughter grows too boisterous and rouses the man from his slumber. With brute fury he charges his tormentors and strikes one of them to earth, for which he is arrested, and, in default of a fine, placed in the stocks, where the others have full liberty to continue their torments without fear of retaliation. Lady Gertrude, the Lady Bountiful of the village, comes upon him in the course of a charitable visit, and. paying his fine, obtains his release. She takes him into her own employ as a gardener, and a wonderful change comes over the erstwhile drunkard. With sobriety, his face loses its brutish cast, and the innate nobility of the man's real self shines out through untroubled eyes and is displayed in the fine markings of the well-cut features, no longer crusted with the dirt that, in his debauches, he took no trouble to remove. He worships Lady Gertrude with passionate adoration, and. when she encounters a gay young rake in the park of her estate and he seeks to steal a kiss the hunchback comes to her rescue and is restrained from wreaking vengeance upon her insulter only through her appeal. Later the libertine sends a lying appeal for her aid in his sickness, and, despite her misgivings, she consents to visit him. Arrived at the shooting box where he is supposed to have been stricken, she is locked in the room with her pursuer. The hunchback, searching for his lady, finds the decoy letter and arrives just ill time to strike down her assailant and his confederate. He receives his death thrust, but staggers home with Lady Gertrude, and not until she is safe does his great heart give way as he falls at her feet, faithful unto death.
- A hunchback saves his beloved from a Baron, and dies.
- DirectorAlbert CapellaniStarsHenry KraussStacia NapierkowskaRené Alexandre1911 adaption of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in which three men around the Notre Dame Cathedral are romantically interested in Esmeralda, a Romani girl: Commander Phöebus, Quasimodo the bell ringer and archdeacon Claude Frollo.
- DirectorAlfred ClarkStarsRobert ThomaeMrs. Robert L. ThomasThis short film, one of the first to use camera tricks, depicts the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA traveler at an inn is harassed by a mischievous devil in his room.
- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsArthur V. JohnsonMarion LeonardHenry B. WalthallA king exacts vengeance upon his faithless mistress and her lover.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsA man tries to get a good night's sleep, but is disturbed by a giant spider that leaps onto his bed, and a battle ensues in hilarious comic fashion.
- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsAt a solitary cheap inn, a distant traveller overcome with fatigue has a close encounter with the supernatural.
- 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.
- Patients behave like apes after being given monkey-gland injections.
- 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.
- DirectorTheodore MarstonStarsRobert EdesonDonald HallEdward ElkasSurgeon Crisp announces to his student doctors and friends that he has solved the problem of limb-grafting, and shows proofs. Among those deeply interested is Mortmain, a friend of Dr. Crisp's. Mortmain is a gentleman of leisure and collector of rare art subjects and is heavily in debt to his friend, Cordon Russell. He is warned of that debt by Russell's lawyer, a friend of Mortmain's. While Russell at first has no desire to call in the loans, when the two men become rivals for the affections of Russel's ward, Bella Forsythe, things change. Knowing the weakness of her brother, Tom, Russell gives the latter a chance to fall into trouble, hoping to turn that fall into his own advantage. Tom falls into the trap and Russell uses this fall against Bella, who has become engaged to Mortmain. Meanwhile, Mortmain is told he is completely ruined by Flynt, Russell's lawyer. He curses Russell and his declaration that he would like to kill the man is overheard by Flaggs, the clerk of Flynt. Mortmain is informed of the murder of Russell, also that the police are after Tom Forsythe. Mortmain faints and in falling injures his hand terribly. Dr. Crisp informs him he must lose his hand and suggests he get another man's hand to graft upon the stump. He consents and Crisp finds a man who will give his hand, it is Tom Forsythe. During the operation Tom dies. Dr. Crisp has recognized Tom and keeps the news from Bella. Mortmain regaining consciousness after the operation, sees an uncanny vision of Flaggs and learns that Tom Forsythe, who gave him his hand died in the operation. He finally awakens from his terrible dream to learn that Tom is alive and well, and that the real murderer was Flaggs' while Mortmain's hand is his own.