19th Century Film

Consider this a bonus entry for the week! I was just on AV Club and they had an article on the best films of the 1890s.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-10-best-films-of-the-1890s,87648/

In particular, I want to point you to The Haunted Castle. Filmed in 1896, this short film came out twenty six years before Nosferatu, the movie often credited as being the original horror movie. Like Nosferatu, it's not a talky; it's all silent. Unlike Nosferatu, The Haunted Castle doesn't feature any narration titles. It's all up to the view to interpret what's going on.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OPmKaz3Quzo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

What I find most interesting are the special effects. While the frame rate of the video is a bit choppy, the effects are smooth. They look far more natural and real than many of the horror movies from the 1950s. Part of that could be because of the limitations of the medium. Since it is grainy with a choppy frame rate, they were better able to hide the strings and cutaways.

On the other hand, that is a part of film making. One should understand their medium. In this era, things are expected to be photorealistic, so when lighting is off, or when textures/coloring are off, the audience loses the immersion.

As a horror buff (1950s B-horror in particular), this amused me. It's not literature, per se, but it gives a little insight into what was occurring in the latter part of the 19th century, so I thought I would share it with you guys.