Rent The Phantom Carriage (1921)

A Ride To The End Of The Line. - The Phantom Carriage review by NC

David Holm's dissolute life has ruined not only himself, but also practically everyone who goes too near him. Even a Salvation Army officer lies dying after too close a contact. His past catches up with him on the stroke of midnight, New Year's Eve, as he sprawls in a graveyard after a drunken brawl, and the carriage of death ghosts around the corner.

It is a life told in flashbacks, but all of the (by today's standards) hard-to-take aspects of silent films are wonderfully absent: there is very little exaggerated melodrama, very little over-the-top histrionics. Instead we get to see a man grown bitter and cynical, who flings compassion back in the face of the giver because he is unable to respond in kind, who is given a second chance but drinks it away.

Performances are superb, but special mention must go to Victor Sjostrom (the director himself) as David Holm. Apparently he lived for a time in the slums of Stockholm in order to gain knowledge and bring authenticity to the role. There is no mugging, no wild gesticulations, just a naturalism so far ahead of its time that if there wasn't evidence that this was made in 1921 I would not have believed it. It's perhaps the finest piece of acting I've seen in a silent film.

'The Phantom Carriage' almost falls victim to its own excellence. The special effects with the horse and cart, and the driver reaping souls, are so extraordinary, that fingers tremble on the verge of drumming if other scenes last a shade too long. And the film doesn't deserve the cop-out ending, very much of its age.

Buy a ticket for this carriage. It's a journey you may remember till your dying day.

Sriking curiosity - The Phantom Carriage review by MR

Strange story about superstition, alcoholism and the persistence of one member of the Salvation Army in Sweden! Rather strongly acted by the male and female leads I thought, lots of interesting tricksy double exposures to create the impression of ghosts and the ghostly carriage, I thought it held interest throughout and was worth the experience. Hard to read the English subtitles when the Swedish ones were so much more prominent though.

Driving Death’s Carriage on New Year’s Eve - The Phantom Carriage review by griggs

New Year’s Eve in a graveyard is a strong opener, and The Phantom Carriage leans right into it. The rule is simple and grim: if you’re the last to die before midnight, you’re stuck driving Death’s carriage and collecting souls for the next year. Cheers.

What caught me is how modern it feels. Victor Sjöström (directing and starring) uses flashbacks that keep shifting your view of this swaggering drunk. The bravado slowly reads as rot. The famous double-exposure ghosts still look fantastic, but the real horror is human: drink, pride, and small cruelties that snowball into disaster.

It’s stern without being smug, spooky without being silly, and the ending lands hard. You come for the spectral imagery; you leave feeling like you’ve been quietly told off — and, annoyingly, you know you probably deserved it.