Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Terror Island (1920)

Illusionist Harry Houdini stars in his second and last film for Adolph Zukor, made under the Realart Pictures banner.

This DVD edition presents Terror Island (1920) from an excellent but incomplete 35mm print (missing reels three and four) held by the Library of Congress. Missing footage is bridged by expository intertitles detailing the missing storyline.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed by Clark Wilson.

Also included in the collection is the serial The Master Mystery (1918-1919), an incomplete but reconstructed version from 35mm footage once held by Douris UK Ltd. (now held by the Cohen Media Group); the surviving 35mm footage from The Grim Game (1919) held by George Eastman Museum (5 minutes); the best available edition (of several) of The Man from Beyond (1922), having been mastered from the Library of Congress preservation version prepared from surviving 16mm print materials; and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923) from a very-good 35mm print held by Cinema Arts. The supplemental material includes documentary footage of Houdini escapes (circa 1907 through 1923), an audio recording of Houdini introducing his “Water Torture Cell” (1914), Slippery Jim (1910) a Houdini-inspired comedy, an examination of film scenes censored by the New York State Censor Board with correspondence, Houdini’s illusion “Metamorphosis” performed by Houdini’s brother Hardeen (4 minutes), image galleries, and film notes.

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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .