Phantom Carriage

This double DVD pairing of Sjostrom's early horror classic 'the Phantom Carriage' and Ingmar Bergman's theatre piece 'The Image Makers' is well worth a look.

First up, the Phantom Carriage is a film packed with eerie scenes and images, and ingenious special effects, all of which add up to what seems to be a genuine lost classic of cinema, more than deserving of mention in the aame breath as Nosferatu, for example. The print looks good, having clearly been heavily restored, and the film rushes by at considerable pace, never losing your attention. the Phantom carriage is worth the investment here on its own.

The Image Makers is basically a filmed chamber-theatre piece from very late in Bergman's career, made for television. It's set during the making of The Phantom Carriage so, I suppose, makes a good double bill, as Victor Sjostrom is the central character - however in itself, the film is a real disappointment. It is filmed on one single set throughout, and the characters (all four of them) seem inert and lifeless. the film is overlong, and lacks any real interest for anyone other than hardcore Bergman completists. I am a great admirer of Bergman's work throughout his career, and he succeeded in making brilliant films with small casts and limited sets at the height of his career, but sadly this film was a real disappointment.

Wonderful, if dark, film.Similar to Dickens' A Christmas Carol is some respects - an awful individual shown the error of his ways and forced to confront his demons.Full of rich and sinister imagery, The Phantom Carriage is a compulsive watch, as the lead characters life is unravelled.The soundtrack by KTL deserves a special mention as it contemplates the film superbly with haunting authority.It'd be nice if the soundtrack was available separately.To top things off KTL's Stephen O'Malley has designed a rather excellent DVD sleeve.I cannot recommend this KTL edition enough.One complaint however, the subtitiles in the last 15 mins only flash up on the screen breifly, blink and you miss them.

A forgotten classic - Victor Sjostrom has suffered a sad case of cultural amnesia, call it "Geographical Displacement Syndrome" if you will. Had the man been churning out motion pictures of this ilk and quality in Hollywood in the '20s, he'd be up there with Murnau and Lang. Sadly, it was not to be, and apart from being cherished by the chief Scandinavian art polymath himself - Ingmar Bergman - Sjostrom vanished from sight as an auteur. Nowadays people chiefly remember him from his role in Bergman's "Wild Strawberries", a curiosity. Now, thanks to the efforts of that paragon of the hard-to-find movie (Tartan, ahem), you can view his labours yourself.

On New Years Eve, three drunkards evoke a tale steeped in the arcane; whomever dies last on New Years Eve is forced to drive the Phantom Carriage - An ancient collector of Dead Souls (which reminds one of Charon and the river Styx) for an entire year, until so relieved by the next to die at that fateful time. David Holm (convieniently one of the drunks) is the man to die in such a way - ironically relieving a friend of the same duty, whilst a dying Salvation Army girl calls for a last wish, the relevance which becomes clear later. All melded together like a metaphysical Robert Altman fable, it's no wonder that the movie has had such influence since. The special effects are not to be sniffed at either - No doubt the scence involving Holm's spirit rising from his body held all who viewed it in thrall.

Turning to the DVD release itself - The transfer is what can be expected in a film produced in 1922, resplendant in scratches and pops, but not bad. Once more, Tartan have included no extras whatsover (see recent releases such as "Edmond" if you don't believe me), which can grate for some who expect such a vaunted film to come inclusive with them. I suppose one could view Bergman's "The Image Makers" as a semi-extra, as it is but a "TV Play" which dramatises the filming of Sjostrom's film and can be considered one of Bergman's lesser offerings. Still, it's far better than the entire career of Brett Ratner.

A word of warning - Tartan does not make it explicitly clear that this and the "KTL Version" have different soundtracks. The KTL Version has an electro-goth soundtrack composed by drone metal band Sunn O))) and Peter Rehberg that is perfect for Fields of the Nephilim fans, whilst this version has the more traditional (not sure if it's the ORIGINAL soundtrack mind) orchestral version and suits the film far better. Another word of warning - The discs are labelled incorrectly, i.e. swapped around. The state of craftmanship nowadays....