Rotten Tomatoes
Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Phantom Chariot

Play trailer Phantom Chariot 1920 Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 2 Reviews 90% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings

Critics Reviews

View More
Fernando F. Croce CinePassion 03/15/2010
A stupefying achievement Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 06/07/2009
A-
Still is impressive technically. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
06/06/2012 tohle je potreba hodnotit z historickeho hlediska, nelinearni narace v te dobe rozhodne nebyla zvykem a extenzivni pouzivani dvojexpozic to je jak dneska jit na transformers See more Chris D @RT90770331 07/04/2010 The film was actually released originally in Sweden, 1921. January 1, 1921, which has to be the first time a film's release date had some symbolism with the story in the movie. This is a very good film, the ghost effects being the first of its kind, and the original story within a story, which was fortunately easy to follow. I enjoyed the acting as well, the director Victor Sjöström as the character David Holm. The story weaves together really nicely, as it starts near the end and works its way back, you slowly get the full picture. I had seen this technique used to a much lesser extent in "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", but looking back this film uses it far better, and its a structure that would be repeated even today. It might be sadistic to say that I was hoping the ending wouldn't be so "good", it's much more conventional than the narrative structure would have lead on. Nevertheless, the film works very well and it holds up even today. I've been much more impressed with silent foreign films than their American counterparts, the stories seem to be stronger more often. See more 10/11/2009 Ingmar Bergman says that this movie is one of his biggest inspirations and That Victor Sjostrom is one of his favorite directors. This film shows just that, this is one of the greatest silents that i have ever watched. It is amazingly complete with little to be left to the imagination. They really show all that they can in this, with amazing special effects. Art, a huge part of this film, is in abundance here. The film shows death reaping from a ghost carriage, picking up souls all around town. The way that they show this, mixed with the soundtrack provided is one of the eeriest images that i have ever seen. We see it all here too, a guy commits suicide and gets carried off by death. We even get some really good shots of Death pulling a soul from a body underwater. What do I think? Well I would have to say that so far aside from Der Golem, this movie has to be one of the coolest Silents that i have watched. It has a very creepy vibe to it, much more than Caligari and Genuine. This is a really great film with all of the elements. Some say its the Pinnacle of Swedish cinema, i would have to agree so far. In my opinion i will have to give this film a 9/10 on the scare-o-meter. It is friggin scary! I dont care who you are this film is one of the scariest silents i have ever seen. Enjoy kiddos Sid See more 07/20/2007 [center][font=Times New Roman][size=4][color=white][img]http://www.cryptflicksvideo.com/images/phantom%20chariot.jpg[/img][/color][/size][/font][/center] [font=Times New Roman][size=4][color=white]Summary (from IMDB): It's New Year's Eve. Three drunkards evoke a legend. The legend tells that the last person to die in a year, if he is a great sinner, will have to drive during the whole year the Phantom Chariot, the one that picks up the souls of the dead... David Holm, one of the three drunkards, dies at the last stroke of midnight.[/color][/size][/font] [center][img]http://www.scifilm.org/museimages/phantomchariot.jpg[/img][/center] [font=Times New Roman][size=4][color=white]This film was very close to being great. The theme, visuals, and overall direction were fantastic. However, it lost steam during the middle portion, giving the film much less effect. I saw this movie because it was listed in the great Andrei Tarkovsky's list of top 10 films. While I agree in part with Tarkovsky, most of me disagrees, as it just has too many flaws to be considered that good. I do like the redemption aspect of it, but past that and the above average visuals, there's not much here for someone not well versed in silent film. Overall, I do recommend it though, if you are a silent film fan.[/color][/size][/font] See more Read all reviews
Phantom Chariot

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Movie Info

Director
Victor Vinter