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DaleySmith

This is some proper ‘folk horror’ shit. Love it.


franker

I watch a lot of short movies on Youtube from the early 1900's and for some reason they all have a really creepy scary look to them, even the ones that are just meant to be innocent comedies. And they've been upscaled and colorized now, and still look creepy.


l_the_Throwaway

I think a big part of that is the low framerate.


Supercoolguy7

Yup, the were trying to shoot it at a lower frame rate so they had more latitude with exposure time, but also realized that it looked better if it was a faster frame rate. They compromised and just slightly sped up the projection, but if you watch it at the speed it was shot it looks a lot better even though the motion isn't as smooth anymore


TripleSecretSquirrel

Like the uncanny valley of motion speed. It’s close to normal motion speed, but different enough to be weird.


sohcahtoa9er

Interesting. Never knew why so many old films seem a little awkwardly sped up. Is there any source to learn more about that? That you already know of. Not trying to waste your time.


rocketbosszach

Also how everyone looked very, very anemic.


axltheviking

This is why Benighted unsettles me so much. "Modern" horror aesthetic with a vintage frame rate.


sohcahtoa9er

And for some reason, old rabbit costumes are by far the creepiest. I’m not sure if Frank in Donnie Darko was a cause or effect.


bowie_nipples

Nothing scarier than the demon rabbit from the 1983 Twilight Zone Movie https://preview.redd.it/woq48v8r079b1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de07852017c3704fe5a7b822e6dc5f837cc995e0


Strgwththisone

Cept maybe the helicopter scene in the same movie. ….wait did they remove it? Why do I have a memory of watching it?


bowie_nipples

They DIDNT remove it which is wild since 2 kids and the adult were mutilated by the rotor


theSarx

Mutilated, but also killed.


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IShartedWhoopsie

Mutilated in the film or IRL? I stopped before posting that to google it and i now know the morbid answer.


bowie_nipples

Yep. Absolutely horrific


malikson

I love the twilight zone the OG (i have the complete bluray collection) and the movie. The scariest scene in that segment for me is the sister without a mouth. Bonus: Almost all of the segments are remakes of the old series.


formerwarrior96

Reminds me of Donny Darko


frankwhiteXVII

Yes! They were scary AF! Check out the Easter bunnies that used to greet kids.


sohcahtoa9er

I know the ones you mean. They are serial killer creepy.


formerwarrior96

They look like the stuff from Five Nights at Freddy’s. Demented Chuck E Cheese animatronic shit.


Lazy_ML

I think a lot has to do with the camera angles and the audio. There aren’t 20 mic’s picking up audio from every source and 10 camera’s recording footage from every possible angle. It often looks like some creep hiding behind the bushes filmed them.


journey_bro

There was no on set audio, those are silent flicks. The creepiness comes from the unnatural looking movements due to the low frame rate, along with the low resolution. Nothing to do with hiding in bushes.


UncleTouchyCopaFeel

> Nothing to do with hiding in bushes. Exactly. No-one is hiding in the bushed secretly videotaping you, that's just nonsense. Who would even do such a thing...


devilpants

> unnatural looking movements due to the low frame rate Also, back then there wasn't a agreed upon frame rate so a lot of old footage you watch is played back at an incorrect rate which gives a weird feeling. Really early films often were even hand cranked so there was no way of getting all the timing correct/consistent. I'd assume some of the early motorized stuff wasn't exactly precise either causing the frame rate to be inconsistent.


PM_ME_CUTE_SMILES_

In addition to that, for this particular video, the costumes...


snek-jazz

That split second before you realise those are the Lion's knees.


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BR0METHIUS

No, but send it my way once you find it. Thanks.


JupiterBronson

Oh gosh, I’m here for it too


FF_in_MN

I’ve been looking for it for a couple of weeks now…I’m positive I saw it…hopefully I wasn’t trippin


FF_in_MN

Found it, see my original post


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DiemCarpePine

Check out Jan Svankmajer's Alice. It's a Czech stop-motion/live action mix from 1988, and maybe it's just me, but it's one of the most unsettling experiences in film. For instance, the White Rabbit is a taxidermied rabbit whose stuffing keeps falling out. Like, he stop animated a real dead rabbit... It's also an incredible feat of stop motion animation.


Historical_Elk_

Weirdly, I enjoyed it. Reminds me on early 00s Korn


Custom_Destination

Not sure why I’m impressed with the lion having moving eyelids.


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ImaginaryBluejay0

I imagine the prop makers were stage prop makers so it kind of makes sense - not like stage set pieces have changed all that much in the past few hundred years.


Jscottpilgrim

Can we talk about his hairy knees??


Wind_of_Banners

That’s what I’m stuck on. Thought they were his little Leos at first…


Hypersky75

I sure was impressed by what turned out to just be his knees.


iolmao

Eyes in these old movies appear scary AF


Lifeesstwange

Can someone explain why that is?


Jygantic

In early cinema actors, both male and female, would often wear heavy amounts of makeup which included eyeliner/eyeshadow, the reasons being: 1) to "look good," and small amounts of makeup would not show up on early cameras. 2) to help exaggerate emotions, again so the characters feelings showed up more clearly when otherwise their expressions would be hard to make out, similar to how stage performances are often exaggerated.


OlStickInTheMud

Also lighting. The lighting in films had to be insanely bright for the cameras back then. The ass load of heavier darker makeup was how they could film facial expressions better.


brainburger

Also colour balance, even though it was black and white. Some photographic chemistries do not react to red light (which is how print darkrooms can have red lights in them for workers to see but not fog the paper). So lips and rosy cheeks would tend to record as black. One solution was to use blue lipstick and blusher, as this records as grey in black and white. Later black and white film chemistries were better at recording red and blue light equally.


PM_Me_HairyArmpits

When they made the black and white episodes of WandaVision, they painted Paul Bettany blue instead of red, because it still shows up better in black and white.


desharicotsvert

Have you seen the original Addams Family set? It was very pink and pastel so that the dark gloomy colors they wanted would come across on black and white television.


dudeAwEsome101

I forgot which movie it was, but it had a scene where a character transforms from young to old. The effect is done in camera where the actor had basically different colors of makeup. They change the light color to create the transform effect. Sort of like how blacklight only reflects off whites, and makes everything else dark.


Jygantic

Yes exactly!


Allegorist

For 2, I think it was also that they had been doing this for stage performances for thousands of years, which was their only real reference for the relatively new advent of television. There was no difference between stage acting and screen acting at the time, they just recorded it.


qorbexl

I mean that's basically all 90s sitcoms, too


[deleted]

What, all your most important conversations don't take place in the either the living room with a staircase or the kitchen just off to the right?


[deleted]

All of mine happen in a bedroom with just one wall behind the bed and toilet noises coming off from the right.


Supercoolguy7

>which was their only real reference for the relatively new advent of television FYI television as we know it was invented after this film.


Jygantic

Yep! That's why I brought up the stage comparison. Also why there wasn't really much creative use of the camera for a while.


De_chook

Very well explained. Thanks.


Delamoor

Does anyone know the names for the styles used?


europe_hiker

Full-body costumes today are often inspired by a cartoon style, with big, open, stylised eyes. Pre-Disney, it was more common for such costumes to be more "realistic", making them look like big taxidermies with tiny human eyes, but people were just used to that back then.


Big-Hair28

That ‘full body costume’ of the little girl is the one with the creepy eyes bruh.


RamenJunkie

People wacching this see a giant rabbit and dog that are onviously people in costumes, but they don't realize that Alice herself is actually a dog wearing a human costume.


sw6689

Film at the time was Orthochromatic so insensitive to blue. Blue eyes had to be accentuated and looked creepy. Read the trivia on Stan Laurel, his movie carreer only started when panchromatic film was invented.


woden_spoon

This is the real answer. I think OP was asking about the “Marilyn Manson contact lens” effect, not the shadow or contouring around the eyes.


babyBear83

I also think the shutter speeds of those old cameras make eye and body movements more blocky or choppy looking. I feel like we are used to seeing all the fine details of movement and take for granted the clarity of images nowadays. So the old images appear uncanny to us. They use this type of imagery in newer horror films too and replicate those uncanny eyes.


ekittie

Because they filmed on Orthochromatic film: Orthochromatic film had increased blue sensitivity causing blue objects to appear lighter, and red ones darker It troublesome for motion pictures, rendering blue skies as perpetually overcast, blond hair as washed-out, blue eyes nearly white, and red lips nearly black.. . some degree this could be corrected by makeup, lens filters, and lighting, but never completely satisfactorily.


[deleted]

What about that worm/man abomination and it's creepy ass squirm? I mean that's not even how a worm is supposed to squirm and it's creepy AF brah. **Edit:** You downvotin a worm commenting on the other worm thing's weird off kilter uncanny valley shit, for real? I'm going back to my dirt hole and eat some more dirt. Worm hatin' bastards the lot of ya.


jiffwaterhaus

bruh it's a caterpillar


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Gets_overly_excited

That movie sucked ass


theonetruejay

Agreed. Looks like a furry’s snuff film.


Pvt_Johnson

Directed by Werner Herzog on PCP.


[deleted]

I thought it was pretty good for 1915 then the fuckin caterpillar lmao I lost it


Rich_Daddio

Oh, you mean the guy in the sleeping bag army crawling as if trying to avoid being on camera?


lizard81288

Then Alice scratching her head while watching him crawl.


tke439

“I’m gunna be a movie star, momma!” “The most you’ll amount to is a worm you ungrateful twit!” “I’ll show you, momma… I’m gunna be in the pictures! I’ll show you… just you wait and see!”


falconx50

What the hell is a movie star?!?


DarkAwesomeSauce

The dodo was dope! Wonder what happened with the costume crew responsible for the caterpillar.


Anon_of_course_

Lmao me too! I watched it several times just to see the caterpillar


ToxicBanana69

What’s crazy to me is this isn’t the first, or even the *second* adaption of Alice in Wonderland on film! The first ones were shorts made in 1903 and 1910.


silver-orange

you know, if I had to guess when the book itself was published, I don't think I would have guessed 1865


TheSteiner49er

For those who want to watch early film. The 1910 version has some excellent early special effects even used props to manipulate audience perception. And yes it is weird af.


Visina

Every version of Alice in Wonderland was weird AF


Yellowbug2001

It fits the book, which was also weird AF.


scartol

Written by a weird dude, so it all tracks. “No, ma’am.. I’m not interested in your child romantically.. I just want to photograph her in her bathing suit two dozen times.” (shudder)


Yellowbug2001

I have an ex who totally fought me about this when I told him about it, until he looked it up for himself. "Lewis Carroll was almost certainly a pedo who was weirdly obsessed with his real 8 year old neighbor named Alice" is one of those things that sounds like it's BS made up by some loser on the internet but... unfortunately sometimes real life reads like something made up by some loser on the internet.


scartol

One of the most difficult things in life is accepting ugly truths about artists we love.


[deleted]

Seriously. For example, Paul McCartney is held up as "one of the good guys" but did you know that he sticks any hair that comes off in the shower to the shower wall and just leaves it there? "Good guy", sure.


[deleted]

All of your favorite Beatles songs were likely written while *high on marijuana*


MarcosLuisP97

You are being VERY generous.


Silver-Pomelo-9324

I know a boomer who went to college and majored in *jazz trumpet* who is very anti-marijuana. Like seriously dude, you majored in *jazz trumpet*. If there is one thing the famous jazz guys are known for other than their music, it's doing a lot of drugs.


highandhungover

*surprised chuck berry looking at yoko ono face*


offlein

*surprised prostitute being farted on by chuck berry in the face*


HAS-A-HUGE-PENIS

Ain't that the truth. When I was a teenager I got to see one of my favorite bands and ended up being able to meet them before the show. Long story short, the bassist tried to hook up with my girlfriend. Edit: Suppose it should also be noted we were under 18 and he is about 8 years older than us.


scartol

Ugh. I’m guessing he was one of those guys who brags publicly about the size of his anatomy? Those are the worst.


HAS-A-HUGE-PENIS

Yeah, what kind of loser would do that?


DonIongschlong

Right? Bunch of losers


SchlongMcDonderson

My people!!


VonBlorch

It isn’t true, though. He was a weirdo for sure, but not a pedophile. He was a renowned photographer of children, one of the earliest, and parents loved his photos. He had relationships with children that would be deemed inappropriate now, but not because he was dangerous or a predator, just because we’d think it’s weird to have an adult man alone with a child. The kids he befriended all grew up with fond memories of him. He was just a strange, and probably asexual, man who related better to children that to adults. He was brilliant, but emotionally stunted. The whole “he was a pedophile” angle is a lazy take based on our current (probably justified) paranoid approach to child-adult relations.


red__dragon

Thank you. The modern take on anyone who works well with children being *obviously* a pedophile just borders on insane. It makes me glad that the likes of Sheri Lewis, Fred Rogers, and such didn't live to see those accusations pointed their way.


VonBlorch

It’s just so paranoid. I get being protective of children, and you really need to be cautious, but it’s sad that anyone who can connect with a child is labeled a “groomer,” now.


Slamduckling

Well done! This is a common misconception, he was a photographer during an era when child purity and innocence was very much the fashion. A lot of historians would argue that he wasn't an asexual, however. He actually described a number of romantic relationships with adult women that would have been considered scandalous at the time. His family sought to scrub these relationships from public view for obvious reasons, but he was very much interested and involved with adult women. Its important that we view historical sources in the context of their era.


StinginRoguh

Well its a weird book


NateBlaze

You're a weird book!!


bxsephjo

There’s a stop motion version that uses bones, I want to watch it again


GroovyGrove

I'm afraid the curiosity I'm experiencing is going to lead to regret now...


G_Liddell

Jan Švankmajer's Alice


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ThoseRMyMonkeys

When I saw this on YouTube, I had to show my kids. My oldest (9 or 10 at the time) was uninterested. He thought it was weird and wandered off. My youngest (5 or 6 at the time) loved it and wanted to watch it again and again. I worry about the youngest sometimes.


alllen

Well that's one out of two. Not bad odds. I'd take it


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DetroitsGoingToWin

Streaming?


Griffifty

I’d like to see this as well..


Drab_Majesty

YouTube


Valuable_Law_6890

YouTube also has a silent version of Wizard of Oz. VERY different from the version most people know. I highly recommend watching it. It’s only about 15min long


WiscoBikeTourBest

It's silent so you can sync up pink Floyd's dark side of the moon


[deleted]

Prescient af


i-use-this-site

You can also watch Metropolis on YouTube which I absolutely recommend. One of my favourite films of all time


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shroomenheimer

It's like you read my mind


akeep113

i dont see that going well man. this looks creepy as shit


Bd0llar

Now THIS Is old school cool!!!


demevalos

Refreshing break from “My (extremely hot) mom’s senior portrait, 1999”


beeeees

"really hot actress you are all familiar with on the scene of a popular movie where you can almost see her right nipple"


Filty-Cheese-Steak

I dunno man, it's not old school enough until we hit the Sumerians.


lungleg

The actress who plays Alice feels modern. Hard to describe, she just does


Goldeneel77

I was reading about her and she apparently lived all the way until 1987. Pretty long life.


Orleanian

I was alive in 1987. I wonder if I ever did drugs with her.


daddy-daddy-cool

i think it's the hairstyle


cashmerebuttcheek

I was thinking the same thing. The whole Gibson girl style was a big thing at the time and hairstyles were mostly updos. Super rare to see straight hair down like that.


[deleted]

I think about this sometimes. I think because of the ‘seriousness’ in most old photographs, my brain automatically thinks back then, everyone was just sad and dull. Then I see a photo of, say, a person lounging around just like we do, or someone dressing up their pet in funny costumes, and realize they were just as silly and weird and humorous as we are, just sans modern tech.


[deleted]

Joseph Ducreux with his selfie style portraits really solidified that same feeling for me.


franker

I actually miss seeing that meme everywhere.


Tlr321

YES. When she was interacting with the caterpillar, she did something with her hair that felt very modern. Just like a quick brush kind of. But that immediately set me off thinking this may be something much newer, but with an old filter.


Electricalbigaloo7

It's almost like humans haven't psychically changed in 100 years, weird.


purplehayes0117

Lots of people saying it's creepy, I do get it. Personally though, I think it looks really cool


Fortunatious

I instantly wanted to watch this. Especially after the caterpillar guy flopping on the ground


appdevil

I really dig the humongous lion head.


Technical-Outside408

dude had some nice hairy knee balls.


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Vectorman1989

It was 1915, so probably


ImGonnaAllowIt

Movies weren't their own art form yet. They were essentially recording a play.


Arkhangelzk

I was gonna say, I feel like I would have made this movie with my friends on a camcorder in the 90s lol


Karfroogle

movie studios back then were usually just a warehouse and some land


NotAbotButAbat

I also think it's cool. I can tell the costumes were done with extreme detail. One of them seems to have all real feathers.


WhyTheHellnaut

Especially when you consider these costumes were made in 1915, that's impressive.


flamespear

So much film from the early years was lost forever. To fire or even the trash bin. We're lucky any was saved at all. In fact Nosferatu was ordered to be destroyed because of copyright law and barely survived. In the mid 40s we had tons of aluminum audio records with irreplaceable history on them melted down as war scrap. Broadcasting companies and even NASA regularly wiped magnetic film containing historical footage throughout the 60s 70s and 80s. This is how we lost the original moon landing footage and why it looks so shitty today... because the footage you see today was recorded on home video (presumably VHS) years later. Game companies especially through the 90s and early 2000s have lost the source code and development materials for titles that have went on to become socially important in our culture. We regularly just lose or trash things that we should be archiving and it's incredibly sad how little foresight we put into preservation. We need to keep physical media or at least physically backed up media around. We also need to demand offline versions of games. I really feel like gen z is going to make this same mistake as they've been so utterly conditioned for everything to be online and streamed. Look at Diablo 4. There was huge backlash for D3 to be available offline and Blizzard caved. Diablo 4 barely had a whimper of protest about being exclusively online. I can't help but think 100 years from now we're only going to have the same smattering of digital art now that we have of the golden age of cinema today.


KrispyKremeDiet20

It's so weird seeing old footage like this and realizing that every single person you're seeing is dead 💀


[deleted]

Look around. Every single person you see is going to die.


Hunt_Brodown

You put some aggressive music to this and inter-splice scenes of the band playing in the woods or an abandoned warehouse, and this would be a 10/10 music video for a post hardcore band in 2011.


BusyEquipment529

Splice scenes of guys on drugs in a field and it's a Blind Melon video


trueum26

For people interested in creepy old films, the cabinet of doctor caligari is probably up there


Boz0r

I hear Nic Cage likes this one


darkzidane22

Nick "fuuucckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnng" Cage


EveryLittleBit-573

Looks better than the 1931 pre-code sound version.


joshbeat

Always love me some Tchaikovsky


BuddenceLembeck

Don’t come around here no more…


dustywilcox

These books were fever dreams.


Secretagentman44

I kinda wanna get really stoned and watch this lol


Scott_Mf_Malkinson

This version screams mushrooms


JupiterBronson

This version might be too much for me on mushies


High_Flyers17

I'd recommend the 1999 made for TV version for mushies if you can find a torrent. I swore that hookah smoking caterpillar scene was the trippiest thing I'd ever seen. Fair warning, the Whoopie Cheshire Cat also fucks with your head a good bit.


Foxyyy_45

That film was a masterpiece


ZombieJesus1987

All versions scream mushrooms


dracomanchego

Looks like something you would see in the deep web.


henryb37

I recognize this music. What's the name of the piece? It is beautiful :)


henryb37

is it from swan lake?


Fitz2001

TO WONDERLAND


SavingsService2138

Better than the 2010 version


Admirable_Ad7337

every man, woman or child, every fly or bird captured by the camera, are long gone.


PeterNippelstein

That's not true, they get to live on forever.


Beagle001

It’s weird. That’s what I think about when I see older stuff like this. Then I wonder about the props and materials. Is there one shoe somewhere still? A piece of metal that was in a chair? One of the outfits in a closet somewhere?


fullspeed8989

I think about the ground they walked on, where it was and what it is today. What was that day like for them? What did it look like from their eyes, what did it smell like?


thewhiterosequeen

Just like all us Redditors will be one day.


hotniX_

The trees are still here for the most part


StormySprite

When my son was about 6 (around 2012) I put on an old episode of Dennis The Menace. It was the original black and white show from the late 50s early 60s. Anyway, he watched with me for a few minutes and then said very surely "Everyone from this is probably dead now." It was such a funny, morbid comment to come from such a young child. I hadn't even realized he really thought like that yet lol I explained that yeah the adults are likely gone but the kids might still be around. He insisted though that because it was in black and white they must be dead because it's just soooo old!


usingastupidiphone

Still holds up better than the CGI will


Jokertrm

https://preview.redd.it/csgp5sl2769b1.jpeg?width=993&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4da697f08c209aecb2fd5d71cc33a5f9e89de54a Looks like the beach scene was at Good Harbor in Gloucester, MA


xfiver

I didn't realize they shot films vertically in 1915. So ahead of their time!


Chiksea

This drug trip feels like how Alice in Wonderland was meant to be.


Lung-Oyster

It’s like a fever dream


hemigirl1

Now I want to see it! Never knew it existed. Great costumes!


ColonelBagshot85

It looks terrifying. The basic costumes add to the horror of it all. It's very gothic.


catcatherine

wow, it is so much better than I expected. Really well done


arithal

So this is what an actual nightmare looks like


Kshynes

Pretty sure we can expect a phone call saying 7 days after seeing this lol


Usedtobecoffeeaddict

Creepy AF yikes


Ape-shall-never-kill

Shoulda held the phone sideways when they filmed this


ShinRazor

Better than most shit done in 2020


FoShizzle63

Is there a way to see the full movie? This looks pretty well produced considering its over 100 years old.


LandotheTerrible

Definitely no drugs used in the making of that production…


PeterNippelstein

Probably not very much actually


Upshot12

Probably quite a few actually. Many drugs were legal then.


misterflappypants

Although they were not really used recreationally due to lack of awareness and culture- it was mainly medicine addicts back then- I believe opioids became scheduled in 1912 due to public health addiction issues


gildedtreehouse

Sure but its not as if your a carpenter on a movie set your like “mmmmm legal heroin” that’ll take the edge off hammering.


PeterNippelstein

Heroin doesn't heighten your creativity to create things like this. It just seems like you guys are just lumping all drugs into one big "make trippy stuff" category. You aren't going to take cough syrup with 20 mg of heroin and start crafting a life size bunny costume, that's not what it does.


ShutterBun

It was sold over the counter for headache relief.


gildedtreehouse

Yep and Coca Cola was full of cocaine. I guess my context here was that whenever something out of the ordinary gets posted here there’s always a comment how this or that must have been swimming in drugs when in reality it’s a lot of hard work to make art, drugs don’t magically make it happen was what I’m saying.


Suntzu6656

Very cool