Top-Tier Alternatives Exploring the Legacy of Der Vampyr: Cult Guide

Dir: Maurice Elvey

Sherlock Holmes comes to the aid of his friend Henry Baskerville, who is under a family curse and menaced by a demonic dog that prowls the bogs near his estate and murders people.

Dir: Rudolf Liebscher

A mad scientist, an Indian fakir and a Japanese conman walk into a lab - and try to resurrect a dead alchemist in order to discover the secret of creating gold.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Melchiad Koloman perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Jan S. Kolár

Richard Bor brings his neighbor, the landowner Drazicky, an old book. The latter tries in vain to persuade his wife Dagmar to leave. In the book Drazicky finds the story of the Mystery of the Black Tower and he falls asleep. He goes into the tower and finds an alchemist's laboratory and the body of a man holding instructions describing how he can be revived. Drazicky successfully carries out the experiment and finds out that the man is his ancestor Jesek Drazicky who lived during the time of Rudolf II. He had become the apprentice of the alchemist Borro who had entrusted him with the mystery of the elixir of life.

Dir: Eugenio Testa

The Italian adaptation of the famous novel about Dr. Frankenstein and his monstrous creation.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Arrival from the Darkness perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Benjamin Christensen

Fictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.

Dir: F.W. Murnau

In the castle Vogeloed, a few aristocrats are awaiting baroness Safferstätt. But first Count Oetsch invites himself.. Everyone thinks he murdered his brother, baroness Safferstat's first husband, three years ago. So he is rather undesirable. But Oetsch stays; arguing he is not the murderer and will find the real one...

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Monster of Frankenstein perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Fritz Lang

When a woman's fiancé disappears, Death gives her three chances to save him from his fate.

Dir: Victor Sjöström

On New Year's Eve, the driver of a ghostly carriage forces a drunken man to reflect on his selfish, wasted life.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Häxan perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Richard Smith

Harpo played the hero, a detective named Watson who "made his entrance in a high hat, sliding down a coal chute into the basement". Groucho played an "old movie" villain, who "sported a long mustache and was clad in black", while Chico was probably his "chuckling [Italian] henchman". Zeppo portrayed a playboy who was the owner of a nightclub in which most of the action took place, including "a cabaret, [which allowed] the inclusion of a dance number". The final shot showed Groucho "in ball and chain, trudging slowly off into the gloaming". Harpo, in a rare moment of romantic glory, gets the girl in the end.

Dir: Urban Gad

A loose and unofficial silent adaptation of H. G. Wells' The Island Of Dr. Moreau.