rxfiend
05-13-2004, 02:06 AM
I didn't know this movie even existed until last week. After seeing a review on a website, i quickly searched the web to find a copy for sale. Fortunately CREEPY CLASSICS (http://www.creepyclassics.com) had one.
For those that do not know, this movie is the very first film of Frankenstein. It was released by Thomas Edison's company, believe it or not! The guy seemed to have his hand in everything! lol It's a short film, running about 13 minutes. It begins with Victor creating the monster. The creation of the monster is quite different than the Universal version and beyond. Here, the monster is created in a huge furnace. You see a skeleton and eventually it comes to life (looks like they had a dummy of the Monster, burned it and then played the footage backwards). A creation from scratch rather than an assembly of body parts. After the monster is created, you basically see it taunt and terrorize Victor and his wife. The ending is kind of odd, as the monster seems to disappear into a mirror (?!). An interesting film nevertheless and the monster looks rather unique; no flat head and electrodes here!
The DVD that this film is featured on is called MOVIES' FIRST MONSTERS. It was released by A.D. Ventures. Frankenstein 1910 was considered, for decades, as a lost film. It wasn't until Alois Dettlaff came publically with an original 35mm print, that we can now view this rather unique film! I believe A.D. Ventures is his own company, but not 100% sure. Since the film is only 13 minutes, it also features Nosferatu as well. This version of Nosferatu is ran at it's correct speed and is 82 minutes.
Video: Both films are presented full frame, with a border on all four sides. On a computer, the border looks rather large, but when viewed on a television, it's rather small. Frankenstein looks like it's been through hell, but it is quite watchable. Nosferatu looks pretty good, considering it's age. Not sure how it stands up to the Kino version as i've only seen bargain bin dvds of the film.
Audio: both films have music in LCM audio. I forget the composer's name off hand who did the music, but on frankenstein, it's alright. nothing great, but fits the movie. haven't watched all of nosferatu, so not sure how his music works with that film.
Extras: only extras are production notes on Frankenstein and Nosferatu. Nothing too extensive, but there is some interesting info in there.
Overall, i recommend this disc to silent film fans. Frankenstein isn't as good as other silent horror films, but it is historical as it presents the first time ever that Mary Shelly's story was brought to the movie screen. And of course, Nosferatu is by far the best vampire movie ever made! :D
For those that do not know, this movie is the very first film of Frankenstein. It was released by Thomas Edison's company, believe it or not! The guy seemed to have his hand in everything! lol It's a short film, running about 13 minutes. It begins with Victor creating the monster. The creation of the monster is quite different than the Universal version and beyond. Here, the monster is created in a huge furnace. You see a skeleton and eventually it comes to life (looks like they had a dummy of the Monster, burned it and then played the footage backwards). A creation from scratch rather than an assembly of body parts. After the monster is created, you basically see it taunt and terrorize Victor and his wife. The ending is kind of odd, as the monster seems to disappear into a mirror (?!). An interesting film nevertheless and the monster looks rather unique; no flat head and electrodes here!
The DVD that this film is featured on is called MOVIES' FIRST MONSTERS. It was released by A.D. Ventures. Frankenstein 1910 was considered, for decades, as a lost film. It wasn't until Alois Dettlaff came publically with an original 35mm print, that we can now view this rather unique film! I believe A.D. Ventures is his own company, but not 100% sure. Since the film is only 13 minutes, it also features Nosferatu as well. This version of Nosferatu is ran at it's correct speed and is 82 minutes.
Video: Both films are presented full frame, with a border on all four sides. On a computer, the border looks rather large, but when viewed on a television, it's rather small. Frankenstein looks like it's been through hell, but it is quite watchable. Nosferatu looks pretty good, considering it's age. Not sure how it stands up to the Kino version as i've only seen bargain bin dvds of the film.
Audio: both films have music in LCM audio. I forget the composer's name off hand who did the music, but on frankenstein, it's alright. nothing great, but fits the movie. haven't watched all of nosferatu, so not sure how his music works with that film.
Extras: only extras are production notes on Frankenstein and Nosferatu. Nothing too extensive, but there is some interesting info in there.
Overall, i recommend this disc to silent film fans. Frankenstein isn't as good as other silent horror films, but it is historical as it presents the first time ever that Mary Shelly's story was brought to the movie screen. And of course, Nosferatu is by far the best vampire movie ever made! :D