Movie Review: The Phantom Carriage (1921)

The Phantom Carriage (1921) directed by Victor Sjostrom

I saw a review of this movie on Happy Catholic* which made me want to see it...

The titular carriage is a conveyance for the recently deceased. It is not driven by Death himself but by the last person to die on New Year's Eve. That person is condemned to a year of traveling about collecting the dead. This legend is told to David Holm (Victor Sjostrom) by his drinking mentor Georges (Tore Svennberg). At least, it was told to him a year before, on a New Year's Eve that saw Georges panicked about his death while Holm argued over cards with his other drinking buddies. Georges has become the carriage driver. His last duty after a year is to pick up Holm, who has died hanging out in a graveyard with those same drinking buddies. Holm is forced to confront the sins of his life. If the drinking wasn't enough, Holm has a wife and two children to whom he has been abusive, though occasionally neglectful. He's also been rude to a Salvation Army nurse (Astrid Holm) who has tried to set Holm on the right path more than once. 

The story is told with lots of flashbacks that fill in Holm's character and build up the drama and tragedy of the situation. His eyes are opened to his awfulness and his call to redemption is authentic and moving. The actors give great performances that ground the fantastic elements. The film is not shy about showing ugly moments in Holm's life which makes the ending all the more satisfying.  

The movie is a silent film and yet the special effects are convincingly rendered even watching a hundred years later. Holm's soul gets up from the same spot where his dead body is lying. The transparency of the ghosts looks great and they keep the eyelines with the living characters. The film is technically amazing. The orchestral score by Matti Bye underlines the wide range of emotional moments in the film well. 

Highly recommended--a technical and artistic achievement!

Seven Continents Book Challenge

Julie at Happy Catholic is how I read about this internet meme that I am actually interested in (especially with the British spellings)!


1. What is your favourite book set in Europe? Who is your favourite European author?

The Brothers Karamazov 

J.R.R. Tolkien

2. What is your favourite book set in North America? Who is your favourite North American author?

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

3. What is your favourite book set in South America? Who is your favourite South American author?

Starship Troopers starts in Brazil, right?

I really liked the Pablo Naruda character in the Italian film Il Postino He was a real author. He was a communist, which I have no sympathy for, but that doesn't make him a bad poet. His poetry is in a foreign language, so I probably won't ever read anything by him. So this answer probably doesn't count, but I can't think of any other authors from South America.

4. What is your favourite book set in Asia? Who is your favourite Asian author?

Set All Afire by Louis de Wohl is set in Asia mostly.

No authors that I know of.

5. What is your favourite book set in Australasia? Who is your favourite antipodean author?

Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Project starts there, doesn't it? He's also a New Zealander, so he does double duty! 

6. Have you ever read, or do you know of, any books written by authors in Antarctica/ the Arctic?

Who Goes There? by John Campbell is an awesome story set in the Arctic and was the basis for the two movie versions of The Thing, both of which are excellent films.

Brother Guy Consolmagno lived in the Antartica for a while and I've read a book by him that partially covers his time there, though I don't think he wrote it while he was there.

7. Who are your favourite African authors and books set in Africa?

King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard

St. Augustine was born in Africa, right?

This challenge makes me realize that I don't really pay attention to who wrote a book unless it is an outstanding book. Even then, I only try to remember the author's name, I don't read up on the person's history. Except for writing this post!

10 Books That Have Stayed With You Meme

Here's a meme I can get behind! I picked it up from Happy Catholic, who has her own breadcrumb trail back.

Rules: list 10 books that have stayed with you. Don't take more than a few minutes; don't think too hard. They don't have to be great works, just the ones that have touched you. Here's mine, in no particular order :

1. The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien
2. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
3. Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky
4. Jane Eyre by Bronte
5. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
6. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
7. Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now! by Dr. Seuss
8. The Sadness of Christ by Thomas More
9. Frankenstein by Shelly
10. The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle

I feel like I should offer some explanation for this odd-ball list....but I can't other than it's me.

Official Drink of the Blog?

I've always known a drink called a zombie existed but I've never tried one. Now that it's that time of year, perhaps I should. As if to further encourage me, Julie from Happy Catholic posted a recipe recently (on her food blog) with some interesting commentary of her family's experience with it. The story is here and I've taken the liberty to repost the recipe:

Zombie
1 tsp. Brown Sugar
1 oz. Lemon Juice
1 oz. Lime Juice
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Passion Fruit Syrup
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 oz. Gold Rum
1 oz. 151-proof Rum
1 oz. White Rum

Dissolve brown sugar in juices. Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, and pour into chilled Collins glass. Garnish with a mint sprig.

The only problem with this recipe is the abysmal state of my liquor cabinet. When we shipped our household goods here from America, we were not allowed to ship any liquids. I drank what I could before leaving and gave the rest away to friends. Of the nine ingredients listed above, we have three: brown sugar, lemon juice, and gold rum. I guess the can of pineapple tidbits is packed in pineapple juice, so we have a fourth in a pinch. Time to go shopping! With any luck, I will report later on our concoction and its results.

But I wanted a flaming rum punch! We don't have those ingredients, either.

Too Good Not To Share

From Happy Catholic:



Ten years ago we had

• Steve Jobs
• Bob Hope
• Johnny Cash

Now we have

• No Jobs
• No Hope
• No Cash

Don't let Kevin Bacon die!

Making the Most of the Inevitable Zombie Apocalypse

Cracked.com has some tips for the zombies during the zombie apocalypse: 8 Zombie Apocalypse Survival Strategies (For Zombies) Most likely you'll be one of the zombies, so why not prepare ahead of time? Some of the tips aren't appropriate for the kids but they are pretty hilarious. Just a warning!

h/t to Happy Catholic for the link.

Getting to Other Planets

My blog has achieved what I wish I could--it's on another planet!! Space travel for humans is a pretty limited affair, more so for zombies. Sure, there's the console game Dead Space and the movie Jason X, which is really Friday the 13th Part Ten. Someone must have killed Jason Vorhees at least once in the nine previous movies, so he's got to be a zombie, right? Anyway, regular joe zombies aren't traveling to the stars yet, until now.
My blog has somehow made it to PlanetCatholic.com. I'm not sure how it got there, but there it is. I was showing my wife how Happy Catholic comes up in most of the top spots when you google "Catholic Zombie Apocalypse" when I saw another web site with the opening line to my previous blog entry. My first thought was, "Someone's plagiarizing me? How flattering/annoying!" Clicking through brought the happy discovery that I am part of "Your window into the world of Catholicism". I am honored and humbled to be among the likes of Happy Catholic, Catholic and Enjoying It!, Just a Catholic Dad, Testosterhome, and the horde of other sites listed in the sidebar.

I hope your interstellar ambitious are as easily satisfied as mine!

Car for the Inevitable Zombie Apocalypse

Knight XV

According to Fox News, the new hotness in zombie survival automotives is the Knight XV from Conquest Vehicles. Like any proper knight, this car has a full suit of armor (and uses Roman numerals). Unlike any proper knight, it comes with a wet bar, flat screen TV, humidor, roof-mounted spotlight, and external surveillance equipment. It even runs on bio-fuel, so you can make your own fuel (if you figure out how) when supplies run out. Only 100 are being made, so this is sure to go quickly. Though not too quickly, since it cost $300,000.

In the words of Gollum, "I wants it. Preciousssss!"


Hat tip to Happy Catholic for posting about this and the CDC.

Makes a Hummer look like a compact car!