Tag Archives: films

Next Event: Silent Horror Shorts III

Wednesday, 26 October 2016, 7:30 pm


Commissioned by Abertoir, this collection of silent horror shorts celebrates the inventive and imaginative in early cinema with a selection of rarely seen films on the lighter side of horror and, forming the programme’s centrepiece, one of the truly dark but little known masterpieces of the avant-garde in silent cinema.

All the films will be introduced and accompanied on the piano by Paul Shallcross, presenting his own brand new scores.

Those Awful Hats

1909, USA, 3 minutes, (NR)
Director – D.W. Griffith


Possibly the earliest example of a public announcement film and from none other than the director later famous for Birth of a Nation, a film which features some very unexpected happenings in a cinema audience.

LINKS:
IMDb – Those Awful Hats

The Invisible Thief (Le voleur invisible)

1909, France, 5 minutes, (NR)
Director – Segundo de Chomón


The darker undertones of H. G. Wells’ story are transformed into a delightful skit on crime with Chomón’s camera techniques exploring every possibility of stop-motion and double exposure photography. This is the earliest recorded film to make use of the renowned author as source material.

LINKS:
IMDb – The Invisible Thief (Le voleur invisible)

An Over-Incubated Baby

1901, UK, 1 minutes, (NR)
Director – Robert W. Paul


Robert W. Paul was a pioneering engineer of movie cameras and a filmmaker with a keen eye for the fantastic and the bizarre. His films, such as this one and Undressing Extraordinary, are often cited as being some of the earliest manifestations of horror in film. A cautionary tale of what happens if you leave a baby cooking for too long…..

LINKS:
IMDb – An Over-Incubated Baby

The Man with a Rubber Head

1901, France, 3 minutes, (NR)
Director – Georges Méliès


The inventor of inventive cinema applies his teeming imagination to his own remarkably distensible skull.

LINKS:
IMDb – The Man with a Rubber Head

The Fall of the House of Usher

1928, USA, 13 minutes, (NR)
Director – James Sibley Watson & Melville Webber


This is unusual in being the work of a group of amateur filmakers with both financial and artistic clout. The use of prism photography suffuses the whole film with an eeriness and claustrophobia which lead inexorably to the truly horrific catharsis. In many ways the definitive cinematic version of the Edgar Allan Poe short story.

LINKS:
IMDb – The Fall of the House of Usher

There It Is

1928, USA, 22 minutes, (Unrated)
Director – Charley Bowers


One of the now almost forgotten comedians of the silent era Charley Bowers is both actor, animator and inventor in this film. A thinly veiled ghost-house story is the vehicle for some extraordinarily surreal humour, for elaborate sequences of stunning camera effects rarely if ever seen in silent comedy, and for an eye-boggling array of Heath-Robinson-like contraptions which continually thwart the efforts of the two detectives (Charley and his midget assistant) to apprehend the malevolent spirit in the Daffydil Sanatorium.

LINKS:
IMDb – There It Is

AUDIENCE SCORE:  95.71%

And the comments as follows

  • Magical.  Perfect piano.  Timeless and delightful.  I felt delighted, amused and entertained
  • Another wonderful selection of silent era films
  • Loved the piano accompaniment
  • Fabulous
  • A rare treat excellently delivered.  Will be back next year.  Paul’s enthusiasm makes the evening
  • A real treat to see the films and to hear Paul play along in just magic
  • Very enjoyable.  Never knew that there were such interesting early films.  Excellently presented
  • Brilliant as usual
  • As always very entertaining, and also informative.  Music is inspired.  Paul is obviously very passionate about what he does
  • Charming, quirky and uniquely entertaining
  • The music suited the films very well.  Very entertaining
  • An atmospheric session of cinematic treats.  Live piano music extremely effective.
  • Entertaining Shallcross’s music great and his selection of knowledge of the films is rare
  • Erudite, informative and entertaining introductions.  Please let us have more of the genius that is Paul Shallcross
  • I really enjoyed the evening.  Info, films and music were fantastic.  I’m going home to read some Poe
  • Quirky as ever and very entertaining
  • Wonderfully entertaining and well presented
  • Very informative and some hilarious moments
  • Wonderful glimpse at history, and the music and talk were fantastic.  As a film novice and first timer at film club I was very impressed and will definitely be returning
  • Both educational and entertaining.  A most enjoyable evening
  • Really enjoyed The Fall of the House of Usher.  Inspirationally shot
  • Fabulous.  Great music, entertaining presentation, educational and interesting and fun.

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Sometimes simply clicking on this link from the web browser on your phone or tablet will be all you need to do!

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Audience Reaction: A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

The audience gave the film ‘A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence‘ a score of 24%.

Here are the comments:

  • Poor choice made film night not a good choice.
  • Started promisingly with very black humour, but after a while the joke wore off and it just became frustrating. Some excellent composition and some stand out moments à la Bunuel, Beckett and even The League of Gentlemen. But overlong and perhaps too alienating.
  • I think I can say that was the strangest film I have ever seen at PFC. I will remember it though. Lottas sko i Göteborg (1943) – you had to be there…
  • A surreal slant on humanity.
  • Loved it!
  • Not quite sure what I’ve just watched?
  • How on earth did this film win the Golden Lion?
  • Not much on the TV.
  • ???
  • What was that all about then eh?
  • Bizzare! + Beige very Swedish.
  • Lost 2 hrs of my life.
  • A series of surreal pastiches portraying humanity in a mostly sad and sorry state with whiffs of Python-style humour. You probably won’t come out feeling happy!

Audience Reaction – Whiplash

The audience gave last night’s film ‘Whiplash’ an amazing score of 89.06%

Here are the comments:

  • Drumming is not that interesting but I was transfixed. I loved it.
  • An extraordinary film that realistically depicts the relationship between the talented but cruel tutor and his student.
  • Fascinating. Loved the music. Interesting where boundry lies between pushing to achieve and being a bully.
  • Riveting from start to finish. Superb!
  • Very enjoyable
  • I wasn’t expecting much more than drumming, but the back story caught me up.
  • Another brilliant film. Questions raised, remained unanswered.
  • Music sublime.
  • Better than I had expected.
  • Dangerous obsession – loved the jazz.
  • There was I thinking music was to be enjoyed _ to be fun. I didn’t realise it had to be beaten into you by a maniac with a proverbial big stick.

MEETING NOTES – Adding value to events

We had a very successful meeting on the 14th of January to discuss and decide on adding value to our forthcoming events. Eight members were in attendance. Here are my brief notes from the meeting, when the minutes are circulated I will update this post.

Carry on reading to see the full notes from the meeting.

Continue reading MEETING NOTES – Adding value to events

NEW SEASON OF FILM

These are the film club films we are showing in our first season of films in 2015.

Life is Beautiful Le Quattro Volte Leviathan