One of the Danish film industry’s first actor-to-auteur-filmmaker pivots, Benjamin Christensen, is best known for his folk-horror proto-docudrama masterwork HÄXAN. Before helming such an earth-shattering project, Christensen sharpened his skills behind and in front of the camera through his partially owned production company, Dansk-Biograf Kompagnie. Following the scandalous success of HÄXAN, the Dutch director would take his talents overseas in a brief, sporadic but creative Hollywood stint.
We here at Spectacle, eternal devotees of our lord and savior HÄXAN, are ecstatic to screen two films, one from each period. Early Christensen will be represented by one of cinema’s primal examples of a psychological thriller —the 1916 dramatic photoplay BLIND JUSTICE. Meanwhile, for his Hollywood era, a wild early example of the “old dark house” horror subgenre– SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN.
Both features will have a live score accompaniment from regular Spectacle music collaborator and local music scene legend Jake Pepper.
BLIND JUSTICE
dir. Benjamin Christensen, 1916
Denmark, 100 min.
Silent with English intertitles
WEDNESDAY, October 28th 7:30PM – ONE NIGHT ONLY w/Live Score by Jake Pepper
A Dramatic Photoplay — A Powerful Drama of the Vengeance of Outraged Manhood Against the Society Whose Only God is the Law
Utilizing prose-heavy intertitles and stark gothic imagery, Benjamin Christensen would help develop the cinematic language for the abundant psychological thriller genre. Christensen helms the lead screen actor as our anti-hero Strong Henry, a convicted murder who’s journey in and out of prison forms the basis of our eerie tale.
This film has Russian hardcoded subtitles for its English intertitles
SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN
dir. Benjamin Christensen, 1929
United States, 75 min.
Silent with English Intertitles
SUNDAY, October 25th 7:30PM – ONE NIGHT ONLY w/Live Score by Jake Pepper
Hilarity in Hades! Oh Boy! What a Kick!
A must watch for all horror film historians, SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN follows the foibles of rich kid Jim Kirkham (Creighton Hale). His naive yearning for adventure and romantic interest for Eva (Thelma Todd) leads him into a spooky house situation that could very well be hosted by Satan himself!
–“wholly baffling from start to finish […] utterly moronic” – Variety
Jake Pepper currently plays guitar and provides vocals for Ace Bandage— the jam-heavy rock band based right here in Brooklyn. Their fondness for improvisation and vast knowledge of timbral music allows them to shift seamlessly through varied sonic palettes. Pepper also performed in Brooklyn synth punk outfit Future Punx.