UK Roku Channels

Welcome back, Boils & Ghouls...

... to 'Day Four' of "A Cinematic History of Horror for Hallowe'en On Roku" in which I shall bring to you my next batch of fright flicks from the enormous back-catalogue of macabre movies that have been thrilling cinema-goers for more than a century and can now be streamed to your television sets via the magic of Roku player - so, let's once more dim the lights... and prepare for a few more frights! :-O


If you read my special hallowe'en blogathon preview - FOUND HERE - which I published last Friday, you'll know that I plan to post one Hallowe'en / Horror related article every day, throughout the month of October, featuring one horror movie per year from cinematic history, starting in 1895 and ending in 2016. This should average out at about four films per day, so you'll have plenty of choice for your macabre movie viewing as we count down the days to Hallowe'en on October 31st! ;-)


On Saturday, to get things started, we went all the way back to the end of the 19th century for some of the earliest horror cinema footage ever recorded. The four movies in that inaugural post were from 1895 - 1898 (inclusive) and featured beheadings, vampires, skeletons and nightmarish dreams. For my second article in this month-long series of blog posts, I shared four more films (again, one for each year) from 1899 - 1902 (inclusive) and those featured ghostly apparitions, aliens and selenites, plus a visit from the devil to a convent. In my third post, I shared four films (again, one for each year) from 1903 - 1906 (inclusive) and those featured impish devils, demons and ghost brides, plus a man who practices entomology being pinned to a cork like an insect. For today's post, I have four more films (again, one for each year) from 1907 - 1910 (inclusive) and these feature evil spectres, haunted houses, plus the first filmed version of the story of Frankenstein's monster! As with the films shared previously in this series of posts, bearing in mind the time period during which they were made, they are all short films that fall into the silent movie category plus some have visible signs of wear and tear but, despite this, they are all none the less watchable as further examples of early films whose influence can still be seen in far more modern movies from the horror genre...


First up today... is a 1907 short film from France, directed by Segundo De Chomón with Ferdinand Zecca as co-director, which was originally released under the title of "Le Spectre Rouge"... but it doesn't require an expert in linguistics to deduce that the name translated to, "The Red Spectre", for the UK release. As with "La Peine Du Talion" [aka Tit-for-Tat] (1906) by Gaston Velle, which I shared yesterday, this is another example of the early colour stencil films from Pathé but, once again, it's more of a dark fantasy than a true horror short. That said, it was clearly an inspiration to great director James Whale and master technician John P. Fulton for the "homunculus" sequence in "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) and, for that reason alone, clearly warrants inclusion in this cinematic history of horror. The story is about a demonic magician who, while performing his act, is confronted by a good spirit that opposes him. The film begins in a grotto, deep in the bowels of the earth... a coffin uprights itself, opens, and out steps the titular character - a demonic magician with a skeletal face, horns, and a cape. He levitates two women and causes them to burst into flames and disappear but, as he gathers their ashes in a pitcher, a kind spirit appears and the battle of good versus evil begins!









As with a lot of these early films, we are fortunate to have copies of them in the public domain... which, for Roku users, means they are widely available on YouTube as well as other free resources for streaming online video. Feel free to watch this movie online, or use the link to cast from YouTube (via Roku player) and watch it on the big screen for maximum shock value! Either way, here it is...



YOUTUBE LINK:- Le Spectre Rouge [aka The Red Spectre] (1907) [IMDB Rating: 6.6]



Our next film today is another short movie from France, again directed by Segundo De Chomón, and which was first released in 1908 under the original title of "La Maison Ensorcelée" but, as you might expect, this was later changed to "The House of Ghosts" for the U.S. release and could (perhaps) be best translated as "The Haunted House" for the benefit of British audiences. As with a lot of these early "horror" films, it's really more of a dark comic fantasy... but it gains it's credentials, as well as it's place in this cinematic history of horror, on account of it having been referenced in Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead" (1981) starring Bruce Campbell. The story is about a group of travellers who go into a house for protection, unaware that it's filled with ghosts, and find unusual things happen to them!









As with "Le Spectre Rouge" [aka The Red Spectre], this film by Segundo De Chomón is in the public domain and, therefore, widely available online as well as free-to-stream on Roku devices. For the sake of simplicity, I'm sticking with YouTube as my means of sharing this film with you. Again, please feel free to watch this movie online, or use the link to cast from YouTube (via Roku player) and watch it on the big screen, as previously suggested. Either way, here's a link for you to watch it...



YOUTUBE LINK:- La Maison Ensorcelée [aka The Haunted House] (1908) [IMDB Rating: 6.8]



Our third short film today is "The Sealed Room", from director D.W. Griffith, and was produced for the Biograph Company in New York. Released in 1909, it had it's origins in one of Edgar Allan Poe's works, entitled "A Cask of Amontillado", and tells the story of a king who exacts vengeance upon his faithless mistress and her lover. The film begins with the king constructing a cozy, love-nest for himself and his concubine. However... she is not faithful to the sovereign, and consorts with the court troubadour, using the king's new play chamber for their own love-craft. When the king discovers this he sends for his masons and, with the faithless duo still inside, they use stone and mortar to quietly seal the only door to the vault... hence, the alternative title of "The Sealed Door" in some regions!