Essential Cult Cinema Mirroring the Impact of Midstream: Cult Guide

Dir: James Flood

Mark O'Rell is sent to New York by his wife's Aunt Cordelia to recover a valuable quilt. In the city he finds the quilt, discovers that it conceals stolen jewels, and in consequence is pursued by both police and thieves. Police catch the thieves, Mark gets the quilt, and he returns home safely.

Dir: Maxwell Karger

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

Horace Parker is a wealthy young man who is exceedingly selfish and self-centered. He is engaged to Minnie Talbotr who has discovered his selfishness and she is on the brink of calling off the engagement. On Christmas Eve, a messenger from Mars comes to Earth to show Parker the error of his ways.

Dir: John G. Blystone

In 1940, a man becomes a hermit after rejection. By 1950, a plague kills all post-pubescent males except him. Now desired by millions of women, he still yearns for his initial love interest, making him a treasured last man.

Dir: Rudolf Liebscher

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Last Man on Earth perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

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.

Dir: Harry A. Pollard

A scientist discovers a death ray and locks it in a box, giving the key to his daughter, who soon finds herself hunted by criminals looking to steal the deadly mineral.

Dir: Urban Gad

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

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

Dir: André Deed

The story begins with a scientist creating a device shaped like a man that can be remote-controlled by a machine.

Dir: Jan S. Kolár

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

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: James Flood

Episode 1: The Bad Samaritan. Tom Levitt, half-breed son of a Chinese and a white woman, is the victim of brutality during his boyhood and becomes a criminal. A friend, released from jail, tells Tom he is going straight and asks for money to leave town; Tom takes a stolen wallet from another boy. After hearing a preacher tell the story of the Good Samaritan, he goes to aid a man who has been assaulted; facing a ten-year sentence for robbery, he reflects on the irony of his downfall. Episode 2: The Man Who Heard Everything. Ed Johnson, who barely makes a living from barbering, is deaf, but he is happy in the belief that the world is good and that he is loved by his wife. Coming into possession of an instrument that restores his hearing, he learns that the persons he has idolized are not to be trusted and that his wife is unfaithful; in despair, he destroys the instrument. Episode 3: Hop. As a boy in China, Chin Gow learns that girl infants are undesirable. When a man, he becomes proprietor of several San Francisco opium dens and weds Toy Sing, who bears him a baby girl. Chin Gow beats his wife and vows to slay the child. His wife's friend brings in a crucifix sent by the priest, and as he nails it to the wall, the spike penetrates the skull of Chin Gow lying in a bunk on the other side of the wall and kills him. Episode 4: The Intrigue. On a yachting tour of the world, Reginald Vandebrook, reaching a foreign country, falls in love with a girl he has never seen before; he hears her called Princess and follows her into a building. There he is surrounded by East Indians who are about to murder him. He awakens to find himself in a dentist's chair having a tooth extracted.

Dir: Harry Piel

Harry has to rescue the beautiful daughter of an inventor from the clutches of a madman and makes unpleasant encounters with sparking robots and mysterious submarines.