Hidden Genre Gems for Fans of Waxworks: Cult Guide

Dir: Charles Raymond

A magician helps outwit a Chinaman's gang.

Dir: Cecil M. Hepworth

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Alf's Button perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A soldier's tunic button, made from Aladdin's lamp, grants his wishes.

Dir: Edward F. Cline

A bank clerk ends up in a seemingly haunted house that is actually a thieves' hideout.

Dir: Jacques Feyder

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

Two men, lost in the desert, meet Queen Antinea, ruler of Atlantis.

Dir: Edward F. Cline

After waking up from his wacky dream, a theater stage hand inadvertently causes havoc everywhere he works.

Dir: Jan S. Kolár

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

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: Fred Stranz

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Joe May

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

The unfaithful wife of a cruel Indian prince attempts to escape from his domination.

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.

Dir: Károly Lajthay

A girl has frightening visions after visiting an insane asylum where one of the inmates claims to be Drakula and she can not be sure whether they were a nightmare or real.