Criterion has done such an expert job with this lesser-known classic that one can only pray that a similarly top-notch release of the filmmaker’s Hour of the Wolf isn’t far behind.
JEREMY HOBBS Back Before Drac
THE UNHOLY THREE (1925) DVD Starring Lon Chaney, Mae Busch and Matt Moore
Directed by Tod Browning Written by Tod Robbins and Waldemar Young Warner Archive
Tod Browning may be best known for helping to
kick off the classic Universal horror cycle with Dracula and his oft-banned sideshow shocker Freaks, but The Unholy Three may just be his most accomplished film. Starring horror icon Lon Chaney, this macabre crime thriller made a big im- pression with audiences upon release, and the tense tale even bears some similarities to Brown- ing’s best-loved works. Chaney, largely without makeup here, stars as
Swede Release
THE MAGICIAN (1958) Blu-ray/DVD Starring Max von Sydow, Ingrid Thulin and Bengt Ekerot
Written and directed by Ingmar Bergman Criterion
Although Ingmar Bergman isn’t exactly a house-
hold name these days, the late Swedish director’s influence is firmly knitted into the tapestry of the modern horror genre, evident in everything from the work of David Lynch to Wes Craven’s veiled re- make of Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, The Last House on the Left. Austere and haunting, Bergman’s films take existential dread to new depths, asking provocative questions about human frailty and the nature of existence itself. Criterion’s
latest
Bergman release brings a special edition of the direc- tor’s creepy 1958 head- scratcher The Magician to DVD and Blu-ray. The plot concerns a travelling band of gypsy magicians who, after rumours of supernat- ural disturbances during their performances begin to disseminate, must consent to an examination by the officials of a small town bent on disproving
RM44 R E I S S U E S
their esoteric arts through science and reason. The story functions as a straightforward narrative, but look just beyond its Grand Guignol theatrics to find a rather probing examination of identity. The movie features a veritable smorgasbord of
Bergman alumni, including the perpetually bug- eyed Bengt Ekerot (Death in The Seventh Seal) and the legendary Max von Sydow (Hour of the Wolf) in a wild-eyed, near-silent performance as the Mes- mer-like title character. Shot in gorgeously Gothic monochrome, the
film’s action plays out in a dark chiaroscuro of flickering lanterns and thick pools of shadow, which create a subtly haunting atmosphere of dread and un- ease. There are eyeballs in inkwells, disembodied limbs that animate and a corpse that doesn’t seem to want to stay still. Bergman is careful to tread the line between the rational and the supernatural, provoking the viewer to constantly ques- tion what they’ve witnessed, as we proceed toward the climac- tic display of magic that raises more questions than it an- swers. This impressive edition fea-
tures striking cover art, a re- stored high-definition digital
transfer of the film, two interviews with Bergman himself and a visual essay whereupon film scholar Peter Cowie discusses many of the film’s themes.
ventriloquist Professor Echo, who convinces some of his sideshow freak cohorts to escape the unruly carnival crowds to join him on a break-and-enter spree. Posing as a family – Echo becomes “Granny” with a wig and dress, strongman Her- cules (Victor McLaglen) plays the father and cigar- chomping midget Tweedledee (Harry Earles) dons a baby bonnet – they rent a room at the back of a pet store. But when their first job results in the homeowner’s murder, Echo pins the heinous crime on the shop owner, Hector (Matt Moore). However Echo’s girl Rosie (Mae Busch) has become smitten with Hector, and tries to convince Echo to confess in the dramatic courtroom finale. The violence, including an unexpected final act
gorilla attack, comes in short blasts and often hap- pens off-screen, but there’s a distinctive nasty un- dercurrent to The Unholy Three – a depraved atmosphere remi- niscent of the moral decay that infuses Dracula. In one par- ticularly memorable scene, Hercules and Tweedledee laugh at the memory of their victim begging for mercy, disgusting even Echo. But just as effec-
tive are the sus- penseful scenes in which Browning toys with the audience in a distinctly Hitchcockian way. In one, a visiting police officer interrogates the dis- guised crooks, absent-mindedly playing with a toy elephant that hides a stolen necklace. Later, Echo slips an important note to Hector in court, who al- most nervously tears it to pieces before reading it. It’s Chaney who dominates the film, though. He’s
entirely convincing both as an old lady and as the criminally minded Echo, an unprincipled, scowling figure who nonetheless wins the audience’s sym- pathies by the final reel. Not to be outdone, Earles,
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