The Phantom Carriage

1921 [SWEDISH]

Action / Drama / Fantasy / Horror

27
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 89% · 16 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 89% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 8.0/10 10 15566 15.6K

new year's eve based on novel or book fight poison cemetery phantom

Plot summary

An alcoholic, abusive ne'er-do-well is shown the error of his ways through a legend that dooms the last person to die on New Year's Eve before the clock strikes twelve to take the reins of Death's chariot and work tirelessly collecting fresh souls for the next year.

Director

Victor Sjöström Photo
Victor Sjöström

Top cast

Helga Brofeldt Photo
Helga Brofeldt as Waitress
John Ekman Photo
John Ekman as Police Constable
Edvin Adolphson Photo
Edvin Adolphson as Man at the Inn
Hilda Borgström Photo
Hilda Borgström as Mrs. Holm
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
989.27 MB
988*720
Swedish 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 47 min
Seeds 3
1.99 GB
1472*1072
Swedish 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 47 min
Seeds 24

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Boba_Fett1138 9 / 10

Death comes to town.

Not as well known as the English, American, German and French cinema, though cinema from Sweden from the '20's was also quite good, interesting and revolutionary.This is a movie that is made great by its story. The story is told in 'A Christmas Carol' kind of way, in which the death himself confronts the deceased with his past, present and what could have been. It's of course a story that concentrates on morals and it does this very well. The message comes across as very powerful and effective. This is of course also definitely due to the effective directing from the father of Swedish cinema; Victor Sjöström.The story is based on the novel by other Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf. The story is adapted by Victor Sjöström himself, who perhaps should had taken out a few more elements, to let the story and movie flow better. It perhaps takes a bit too long before the movie starts to take form and the story gets clear but when the movie does take form and pace it becomes a really wonderful one.The movie does not only have a great story, it also is a good looking one. The movie uses some early and effective effects and uses some different color filters to create the right mood and to indicate what it past, present and 'future'.Sjöström did not only wrote and directed this movie, he also plays the main character. Of course the acting in the movie is over-the-top at times, by todays standards but not as bad as in for instance early German movies was the case. And after all, this movie is more about its story and morals than it is about the acting, so it really doesn't matter much, or distracts.A really great and effective underrated silent-movie classic from Sweden.9/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
Reviewed by ackstasis 9 / 10

"A sinner whose lips are stained with wickedness, asks, beseeches -- Oh, break me, crush me, only save these three innocent ones!"

On a dark, gloomy New Year's Eve night, an ill nurse, her life slowly ebbing away, demands that David Holm be presented to her at once. We don't yet know who David Holm is, or why this nurse wishes to see him, but her only dying wish is to speak with him just one more time. On the other side of the town, nestled comfortably amongst the gravestones of the local cemetery, Holm (Victor Sjöström, who also directed) and two of his drunken associates merrily await the coming of the New Year. "Here we can tell just when to drink the New Year in," exclaims Holm, casting a finger towards the large clock tower that looms through the darkness. Little does he know, however, that he will not be alive to greet it.To pass the time, Holm cheerfully recites a ghost story. He'd once had a friend name George, "a merry fellow" who was "smarter than the rest of us." On one New Year's Eve several years ago, George has broken up a potentially disastrous brawl, fearing that the final man to draw his last breath before midnight would be condemned to drive the phantom chariot for the next year, doing Death's bidding and collecting the souls of the deceased. "And, gentlemen, George died last New Year's Eve!" concludes Holm happily, not bothering to contain his mocking skepticism of the man's beliefs.As fate has it, of course, an unexpected violent encounter results in Holm's death, just on the stroke of midnight. As the man's transparent spirit rises gingerly from his earthly body, he witnesses, to his horror, the distant approach of a phantom carriage. The driver, a frail cloaked figure - a sickle clasped tightly in his hand - steps down from the carriage and approaches. We are astonished to discover that the driver is none other than a decrepit George, preparing to pass on his ghastly duty to this year's successor.Considering the era in which 'Körkarlen' is made, the special effects in this film are absolutely superb. Cinematographer Julius Jaenzon used double-exposure photography to create the eerie, ghostly silhouette of the carriage and its damned driver. Even today, the end result is highly effective. A particularly impressive scene involves the phantom chariot travelling to the ocean floor to retrieve the soul of a drowned man. Another scene, eerily reminiscent of Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) in Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining,' involves Holm breaking down the kitchen door with an axe in order to reach his fleeing wife and children.Genuinely ominous and unsettling in its execution, Victor Sjöström's 'Körkarlen' is a fine work of cinema, successfully portraying Holm's steady alcoholic decline, his inevitable day of judgment, and a final hopeful possibility of redemption.
Read more IMDb reviews

5 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment