Saw L'Inferno, a special-effects extravaganza from 1911 based on the famous book by Dante. It's been updated/restored and a few recovered scenes are included, in all their disintegrating glory. It had also been re-scored by the band Tangerine Dream which is nice. Their score is full of dreary strings and a female vocalist who drones in a sorrowful way. She sometimes recites lines from The Inferno which do not rhyme and are arrhythmic, being translated into English. When she quotes the Italian, it's far superior and less distracting.
The special effects are of course quite lo-fi and most could be reproduced today fairly cheaply. There's a scene which calls for souls to be flying through the sky, being blown to their designated punishments. This is accomplished by having the actors lie on a black cloth and using stop motion to make them fly. Flipping the image and then compositing it with Virgil and Dante completes the effect. The souls are all loin-cloth-ed men (some of whom have very nice bodies, hem hem) who expansively gesticulate as is the wont of the silent era. The film bogs down slightly when Dante talks with a soul and is best when they are rushing from one spectacle to another, showing off the film's tricks.
The overall effect is appropriately morbid and slightly oppressive, like an un-scary horror film. Though no slouch in plot or story (though decidedly lacking in terms of acting, from a modern perspective,) I believe the film is most interesting from the point of view of special effects. Not a grueling film, but not slick enough to really hold my attention.
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