The Red Sword (1929) is surprisingly mean and worth a look

Should you watch The Red Sword tonight? Only if you aren't already feeling down, because this thing is bleak for a movie made in 1929.

If you usually go for light stuff like Duck Inn or maybe Playin' Hookey, you are going to hate this. It is basically a punch in the stomach that takes its time to land.

The whole plot starts with Colonel Lotovski, who is played by Alan Roscoe with this permanent sneer that makes you want to throw a shoe at the screen. He’s just a bad guy through and through, no layers, just pure nastiness.

He attacks the innkeeper's wife and then blinds the husband, which is a really tough scene to watch even with the grainy film quality. The way the camera lingers on the husband's face afterward is... it's a lot.

I noticed the makeup on the blinded eyes looks a bit like thick greasepaint, but it still works. It makes the guy look hollowed out in a way that’s hard to shake off.

Then the movie jumps six years into the future. I love how in these old movies, a six-year gap just means everyone wears slightly heavier coats and maybe the leading lady looks a bit more tired.

Barbara Bozoky plays the wife and she does that very specific silent movie acting where she clutches her throat to show she is worried. It is bit much sometimes, but you get the point.

The sets are actually pretty cool, especially the tavern. It feels cramped and dusty, like you can almost smell the old beer and the woodsmoke coming off the screen.

There is this one shot of a snowy mountain path that looks like a painting. I’m pretty sure it was a painting, actually, because the clouds didn't move for three whole minutes.

William Collier Jr. shows up later and he has these very intense eyes. He’s much better here than in some of those lighter roles you might see in The Iron Mule or whatever.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Red Sword (1929) through its definitive frames.

The pacing gets a little bit weird in the middle when they start talking about military stuff. I found myself looking at the background extras instead of the main actors.

One guy in the back of the tavern scene is just aggressively eating a piece of bread for like three shots. I wonder if he was actually hungry or if the director told him to eat like a beast.

The movie is called The Red Sword, but obviously, it’s a black and white film. You have to use your imagination for the 'red' part, which actually makes it feel more violent than it probably is.

It reminds me a bit of the heavy drama in The Price of Innocence, but with more swords and less crying in bedrooms. There is a lot of standing around in the snow looking miserable.

The ending is where things finally pick up speed again. The revenge feels earned, even if the logic of how they all find each other in the woods is a bit of a stretch.

I think the director, Robert G. Vignola, really liked shadows. Half the faces are always covered in black, which adds to that creepy, unsettled feeling.

It’s definitely not as polished as something like The Barker. It feels a bit more raw and unfinished, like they were rushing to get the shots before the sun went down.

There’s a moment where a horse looks directly at the camera and it kind of breaks the tension. I laughed, but I don't think I was supposed to.

The title cards are a bit wordy too. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a short book instead of watching a movie, but that’s just how 1929 was sometimes.

If you like seeing a villain get what’s coming to him in the most dramatic way possible, give it a shot. Just don't expect to feel happy when the credits roll. 🎬

It’s a weird little piece of history. Not a masterpiece, but it has teeth.