Tag Archives: silent film

The Hands of Orlac - Halloween Silent Film at Kilruddery

  By bngr | October 26, 2010 - 11:42 pm | The Culch
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The people behind the annual Kilruddery Silent Film Festival are back hosting a once off special screening for Halloween of Robert Weine’s 1924 the Hands of Orlac this Sunday 31 October at 8pm in Kilruddery House, just south of Bray. The film, which will be accompanied on the piano by Vyvienne Long, is a macabre thriller about a famed concert pianist who after having his hands amputated in a train accident, has them replaced with the hands of an executed murderer with sinister repercutions. If you liked Noseferatu and Metropolis then you’ll like this. Set in a candlelit Kilruddery, with Halloween themed drinks after the screening, the atmosphere should be great. Tickets cost €20 including complimentary drink. Booking essential, call William Kinsella on 087 4198674. For more information and details of how to get to and from Kilruddery see here.

The Vampires of Wartime Paris

  By Stan | March 23, 2010 - 10:40 am | Featured Post, Movies & TV
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In the early 20th century, crime and suspense serials were very popular with cinemagoers. They were like the 24 of the silent film era. One of the finest practitioners of the form was Louis Feuillade (1873–1925), a French writer and director of about 700 films. After the success of his Fantômas, Feuillade was encouraged to repeat the trick, so he set about making Les Vampires. It became a classic of its kind, considered by some modern critics as a masterpiece of silent film. Les Vampires comprises ten episodes with titles that suggest an 18-cert Fawlty Towers: The Severed Head, The Poisoner, The Escaping Dead Man… The action centres on a gang of dangerous criminals known as The Vampires. They aren’t vampires, but some of the film’s style borrowed from Stoker’s great myth (see image below), while a promotional poem made the connection even more explicit. Our hero, Philippe Guerande, is a brave … There’s more →

Fantomas, the silent killer

  By Stan | October 19, 2009 - 4:30 pm | Movies & TV, The Culch
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Instead of keeping up to date with the latest offerings from the world of cinema, I have been catching up on a crime serial from its early days. Fantômas is a criminal mastermind who originated in a flurry of 32 detective novels published monthly between 1911 and 1913; the first film adaptation, directed by Louis Feuillade, quickly followed. This is the series I have been watching, on a two-disc DVD set from Artificial Eye (borrowed from a friend — thanks Mr. K!). Altogether there are five episodes averaging an hour in length or thereabouts. One is called ‘The Murderous Corpse’ and contains a chapter titled ‘The Gloves of Human Skin’, but the grisly goings-on are less explicit than these names might suggest. Fantômas is sometimes known as the ‘Lord of Terror’ or the ‘Emperor of Crime’. Played by René Navarre, he is a thief, a killer, an elusive mystery man … There’s more →