Review of The Phantom Carriage (1921) by Art S — 13 Sep 2014

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.