Scenes from a 1974 Algernon Blackwood Based Student Film

This curious clip on Youtube is part of a silent film from 1974 loosely based on Algernon Blackwood's weird tales. According to its description, it was a student effort done at UCLA with Super 8 mm film. Based on its age and medium, one can't expect miracles from it, and only those deeply interested in Blackwood or weird cinema will find this scene more than a musty scrap of ephemera. It's loosely based on Blackwood's story "The Occupant of the Room." While the acting and film quality leaves a lot to be desired, it doesn't deserve to be thoroughly tossed on the rubbish heap. Blackwood readers watching this piece will feel a mysterious tingling in the deeper recesses of their minds suggesting that maybe--just maybe--the film has succeeded in capturing a shadow of the Blackwoodian essence.

The most effective thing about this movie is the soundtrack selected. Maybe it's just me, but the ominous music of dated movies has always held a strange charm. I've often thought that short adaptations of the weird are best accompanied by complete silence or haunting melodies like these. How could it be otherwise?



-Grim Blogger