We know this isn’t the first time we’ve preached the wonders of silent films, but there are so many amazing films from that era, that as horror historians that we all are, it’s always great to look back to when it all first started. While the ’30s is what fans usually go back to as “the beginning” because of Universal Studios, while they might not have been called horror films, they were there.

In this episode, we’re going to dig a little into the 1910s and 1920s to not only see what films were coming out at that time, but what was going on in the world that could have affected and even changed what we were seeing in the world of cinema. Even if silent films might not be your particular favorites, maybe by hearing some horror history, maybe you’ll want to try that road out again. Who knows, maybe this time around you’ll see something different. Or at the least, maybe you will learn a little about this genre that we all love.

Movies Mentioned in this Episode:

Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Cat and the Canary (1927), Un chien andalou (1929), Dante’s Inferno (1911), Dracula (1931), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1908), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), Frankenstein (1931), The Golem (1920), Häxan (1922), House of the Devil (1896), The Hunchback of the Morgue (1973), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Frankenstein (1910), King Kong (1933), Life Without a Soul (1915), London After Midnight (1927), The Man Who Laughs (1928), The Mummy (1932), Nosferatu (1922), The Penalty (1920), The Phantom Carriage (1921), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), The Student of Prague (1926), A Trip to the Moon (1902), The Unholy Three (1925 & 1930), The Unknown (1927), West of Zanzibar (1928)