Legend of a Ghost

This is a 1908 silent horror short from a name famous... at least to me: 

For variety’s sake, last night I decided to check out a silent short. In the past during Spooky Season I’ve experienced shorts from both Georges Melies and his contemporary Segundo de Chomon; both created pictures full of camera/editing tricks along w/ plenty of phantasmagoria as there were wild sets, usually bizarre creatures, demons, ghosts, etc. I’ve seen less of Chomon so this was selected.

As for the plot of this 14 minute long short… no one can quite figure it out! I guess it wasn’t that important; ostensibly, a woman living by a graveyard is tasked with going on a quest to retrieve an item. What it’s all about seems irrelevant when we see Hell, various creatures on the 1908 version of parade floats, an underwater kingdom—as many though not all the footage is color-tinted and the version I saw on YouTube had an avant-garde score played live, the surreal factor only intensified.

Oh, and there were several people dressed as reptiles & amphibians, can’t forget that. In addition, at one point one of the costumed gentlemen slips and falls, but as I imagine it’d be a nightmare to cut it out or film that scene again, the unintended pratfall was left in.

Whatever the throughline of Legend of a Ghost is purported to be, the main reason to check this out is for The Vibes ™.