Cast: Victor Sjöström, Hilda Borgström, Tore Svennberg
Welcome to another Silent Sunday at The Psycho Ward! This week I'll be reviewing a Swedish horror silent (what is with these Swedes and horror movies?), The Phantom Carriage (in Swedish, Körkarlen).
THE PLOT: Oh, you know, this is just another one of those stories about a bad person who dies when his buddies beat him up, and then a messenger of Death comes along and shows him his past and all the people that mean a lot to him, and then he repents and says that he'll change his ways, and then the Grim Reaper puts him back in his body and takes him at his word.
On New Year's Eve, David Holm (Victor Sjöström) is an alcoholic who is spending the holiday with some buddies in a graveyard (who does this, even in the 20s and considering the plot line?). He tells a story about his old friend Georges (Tore Svennberg) who, on the previous New Year's Eve, told a story about Death's carriage and why he doesn't want to die on New Year's Eve, because a person that dies on New Year's Eve becomes Death's messenger for the next year, showing tortured souls how to redeem him/herself. Apparently not many people in Sweden in 1920 died on New Year's Eve, because only one person gets chosen specifically.
Well, back to David and his story. He says that Georges supposedly died last New Year's Eve....dun da dun dun. Bringing back memories of ghost stories around the campfire?
David and his buddies get into a fight and the buddies attack him when a messenger says that the dying Sister Edit (Astrid Holm) is calling for him and David says he won't go. The boys crack a beer bottle over his head and they run away once they realize that David has died at the stroke of midnight.
Speaking of midnight, guess who the lucky guy is that got the job of Death Messenger? Yup, it's Georges! He shows up in a horse and carriage in true Grim Reaper fashion and shows David how wonderful his life used to be with his wife, Anna (Hilda Borgström) before he met Georges and the other alcoholics. It is revealed how Anna left him after he was jailed for intoxication. He also reminds him how David exactly one year ago was taken care of by Edit, and while treating her badly, he gave her his promise to find her the following year so she would find out whether her prayers for him had worked or not.
Georges informs David that the promise has to be fulfilled and brings him in the carriage to Edit’s house. In another flashback it is shown how Edit once found David in a bar with his friend Gustafsson (Tor Weijden). Edit persuaded them to go to a Salvation Army meeting. At the meeting, Gustafsson submitted himself to God, but David stayed cynical. Present at the meeting was also David's wife. Edit tried to bring the couple together again. At first they were optimistic, but soon David's drinking drove them into despair. One night David became aggressive when Anna tried to protect their children from being infected by David's tuberculosis. He was locked in the kitchen, but broke through the door with an axe.
When the driver arrives in Edit's room, she begs him to let her live until she sees David again. She thinks she is the one to blame for his guilt, as she brought the couple together again. When David hears this he is moved. He kisses her hands, and when Edit sees his regret she can die in peace. Georges then takes David to Anna, who is planning to kill herself and their children. David begs Georges and God to let him interfere. Georges allows him to return to life. David and Anna embrace each other and cry. Sinner, redeemed.
MY REVIEW: Good spin on an old folk tale, and it wasn't nearly as scary as a certain Swedish film made in 1922 that we won't mention here. I think I'd give it a 4 out of 5. Well done, and lesson learned.
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