☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
The
Phantom Carriage (1921) – V. Sjostrom
The horror in this film comes not from
its supernatural elements but rather from the darkness of the human heart
itself. Sjostrom (the director and later
star of Bergman’s Wild Strawberries) plays David Holm, a once happily married
and a supportive father, who succumbs to demon drink and becomes a hateful
consumptive lout. He purposefully
breathes the TB germs into people’s faces, for example. During one drinking bout, he and his mates
discuss the old wives tale that a person who dies at the stroke of midnight on
New Year’s Eve will need to drive the phantom carriage to pick up the souls of
the dead for the subsequent 12 months.
Of course, it _is_ New Year’s Eve and the night ends with a punch-up
leaving Holm dead – at the stroke of 12.
Death arrives and proceeds to review Holm’s life and also to show him
the consequences of his actions for a young Salvation Army worker and his
estranged wife and children. These
scenes contains some of the best super-imposition work I’ve seen, especially as
Holm’s spirit leaves his body and is brought to the Phantom Carriage itself
(tinted in spooky blue). Things get very
dark indeed but of course there is a chance to repent – this is a morality tale
after all.
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