Rating: **
Review Date: 8/18/24
Cast: Salvatore Papa
For whatever reasons, the poet Virgil is instructed to give another poet named Dante a guided tour of Hell. They witness souls being punished for the seven deadly sins and listen to tales of what led people to their eternal damnation and suffering. They eventually encounter Lucifer, who is depicted as a large shaggy beast, and escape Inferno by climbing down his hairy back.
It is difficult to objectively review silent films that are over 100 years old, but this movie is particularly noteworthy for being one of the first feature-length films ever created, as well as the first feature-length film to be screened in America. Up until then, films were shown as short episodic reels, as it was thought that audiences wouldn't want to sit for more than an hour. The 2024 restored Terror Vision version that I saw came with three different music scores, but none of them are particularly good. An earlier restored version featured a score by Tangerine Dream, which might be worth looking into, but I feel that I've gleaned all that I can from the film.
Naturally, the film is a bit rough and can be hard to watch. It's essentially a bunch of vignettes spliced together with title cards, and some work better than others. The camera is locked down in each shot, and the scope resembles watching a play. Both location shooting and movie sets are used, and my main interest was in the depictions of Hell and the visual effects that were employed. Some of the effects are ingenious and work very well, whereas others are just simply weird. One especially strange scene involves a stop-motion alligator transforming a person into a beast. The Hell sets are memorable and delightfully realized, with fire, smoke, and menacingly jagged rocks. It's a fascinating piece of cinematic history, even though there's no discernible plot.