A film that has entered popular culture and has been adapted and referenced many times in film and television. Max Schreck stars as the diabolical vampire Count Olaf in this early German Expressionist horror film. The film is genuinely scary and I think this is because it's the first time anything like this was shown on film. Being the source material for the myriad of jokes and cliches surrounding Dracula, the film takes its source material seriously and the full horror of a vampire crouching in the shadows of your bedroom with murderous intent is fully realised. The only adaptation of Nosferatu I really like is the film of the same name directed by Herzog, who adapts this silent classic almost scene for scene with Klaus Kinski in the eponymous role.
Haxan (1923) Benjamin Christensen
This is an odd silent film 'documentary' by a Danish filmmaker which explores the nature and history of witchcraft. It has the wonderful dramatic re-enactments all good documentaries should have, but it truly has some frightening images reminiscent of a classic horror film. Christensen based a lot of the film's material on his reading of the Malleus Maleficarum and also explores how mental illness or deformity was often mistaken for Witchcraft. Part documentary, part horror film whose scenes of nudity, sexual desire and satanic rituals got it banned in many countries. Like Nosferatu, it has some genuinely scary scenes, and the special effects have stood the test of time.
Sherlock Jnr (1924) Joseph M Schenck
This is the one of the best Buster Keaton films. It's so wonderfully ahead of its time and extremely funny. Keaton's dream sequence features him jumping into a film screen where he is transformed into the dapper Sherlock Junior - trying to prove his innocence regarding the theft of a string of pearls belonging to his paramour.
Both most known for shocking scenes: erotic toe sucking, which got got the latter banned and the 'slicing up eyeballs' of the first. Salvadore Dali co-directed Un Chien Andalou, and it really is just a stream of images and scenes with no real connecting plot. It's the more surreal of the two films, and I enjoyed 'L'age d'or (The Golden Age) more.
You can watch the film full of 'L'age d'or here.
'M' (1931) Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang's 'M' is one of the best suspense thrillers I've ever seen. Peter Lorre is brilliant in the role of Hans Becker. The film features many interesting camera angles and strange shots of exposed beams and dark corners. This all adds to a claustrophobia and a sense of impending doom. The speech at the end by Peter Lorre is truly amazing.
Duck Soup (1933) Leo McCary
My favourite Marx Bros film. Features the hilarious three hat routine and the mirror sequence. An interesting fact is the Mussolini banned the film in Italy as he took Groucho's character Rufus T Firefly as a personal attack. This pleased Groucho!
The 39 Steps (1935) Alfred Hitchcock
I love these 'wronged man' Hitchcock films. In fact, this was his first film of this type. Robert Donat is terrific and the plot is tight and suspenseful. It's got all the hallmarks of a great Hitchcock film with the mystery unravelling piece by piece with perfect timing. You are there with the character as he runs from the law across Europe and discover with him what the mysterious 39 Steps are as he desperately tries to prove his innocence in relation to a grisly murder.
Pépé le Moko (1937) Julien DuvivierJean Gabin! He's so great in this film. It's about a French outlaw living in the Casbah who dreams of going home to Paris. He meets a beautiful French tourist who then embodies all that he loves about France. The best part of this film is the wonderful alleyways and maze like nature of the Casbah which mirrors his feeling of entrapment and despair.
Rebecca (1940) Alfred Hitchcock
A truly brilliant film based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier. Ah, who doesn't love Laurence Olivier in a mysterious role like Maxim De Winter? Not to mention the wonderful nameless woman (Joan Fontaine) having to compete with the immortal presence of Rebecca in the gothic mansion by the sea! Judith Andersen plays the creepy housekeeper, Mrs Danvers who likes to fondle a dead lady's underwear and lurk in the shadows threateningly. The prolepsis is perfect as is the coupling of Fontaine and Olivier in this Hitchcock classic.
