Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
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The
Haunted Castle
[Schloß Vogelöd]
(1921)
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F.W. Murnau directed this mysterious tale of murder starring Arnold Korff, Lulu Kyser-Korff, Lothar Mehnert, Paul Hartmann, Paul Bildt and Olga Tschechowa.
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 Kino Classics
2019 Blu-ray Disc edition
The Haunted Castle (1921), color-tinted and color-toned black & white and black & white, 81 minutes, not rated, with The Finances of the Grand Duke (1924), color-tinted black & white, 77 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K23620, UPC 7-38329-23620-5.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; 8 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 12 February 2019.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 9 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.
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This restored Blu-ray Disc edition from the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung has been mastered from a 35mm nitrate negative held by Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv and a 35mm nitrate print held by Fundacao Cinemateca Brasileira and reconstructed in 2002.
The film is presented with a music score performed on piano by Neil Brand.
Highly recommended, as this is the best available home video edition of The Haunted Castle.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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 Masters of Cinema
2016 Blu-ray Disc edition
Early Murnau: Five Films, 1921-1925 (1921-1926), black & white, 433 minutes total, BBFC Certification PG, including The Haunted Castle (1921), black & white, ? minutes, BBFC Certification PG.
Eureka Entertainment,
EKA70222 (MoC 140-144), unknown UPC number.
Three single-sided, dual-layered, Region B Blu-ray Discs; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; chapter stops; 100-page insert book; standard three-disc BD keepcase [?] in cardboard cover wrap?; unknown suggested retail price.
Release date: 26 September 2016.
Country of origin: England
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This Region B Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from a 35mm restoration print administered by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung.
The film is presented with a music score performed on piano by Neil Brand.
Supplemental material includes sudio commentary by film historian David Kalat on The Grand Duke’s Finances; excerpts from The Language of Shadows by Luciano Berriatúa on the works of F.W. Murnau (31 minutes); featurette “The Making of The Last Laugh” by Luciano Berriatúa (41 minutes); featurette “Tartuffe: The Lost Film” by Berriatúa (37 minutes); a video essay by critic David Cairns; and a 100-page insert book including articles by Charles Jameux, Lotte Eisner, Janet Bergstrom and Tony Rayns.
Sight unseen, we recommend this home video edition for European collectors. North American collectors will need a region-free Blu-ray Disc player to view this edition.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region B Blu-ray Disc collection from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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 Kino International
2009 DVD edition
The Haunted Castle (1921), color-tinted black & white, color-toned black & white, color-tinted and color-toned black & white, and black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K624, UPC 7-38329-06242-2.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 7.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 18 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $24.95.
Release date: 17 March 2009.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 9 / audio: 8 / additional content: 0 / overall: 8.
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This restored DVD edition from the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung has been mastered from a 35mm nitrate negative held by Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv and a 35mm nitrate print held by Fundacao Cinemateca Brasileira and reconstructed in 2002.
The film is presented with a music score composed and performed on piano by Neil Brand.
Still highly recommended for collectors who prefer DVD home video.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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 Grapevine Video
2008 DVD edition
The Haunted Castle [Schloß Vogelöd] (1921), color-tinted black & white, and color-toned black & white, 73 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10344-5.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 7.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 384 Kbps audio bit rate; German and English language intertitles, no subtitles; 12 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $11.95 (raised to $12.95).
Release date: 2008.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 4 / additional content: 0 / overall: 4.
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from an older VHS videotape copy prepared from a good color-tinted and color-toned 16mm reduction print of OK visual quality, with some lost highlight detail and soft image details. Viewing the edition is still a passable experience, with the full-frame, natural-speed video transfer openly framed.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed on electric organ. From the low-fidelity of the recording and the VHS source of this edition, we can assume that both the video transfer and the music originates from the late 1980s.
Not at all recommended though as there are far better-looking editions noted above.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2008 DVD edition
The Haunted Castle (1921), black & white, 80 minutes, not rated, with Wolfblood (1925), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 5643D, UPC 0-89218-56439-9.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; German and English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 26 August 2008.
Country of origin: USA
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This budget DVD edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print.
The film may be accompanied by a modern music score.
Given the quality of other Alpha Video discs, even sight unseen, we do not recommend this edition.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is also available directly from . . .
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Other F.W. MURNAU films available on home video.
Other GERMAN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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F.W. Murnau filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
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