Made in 1920, The Phantom Carriage is a resolutely moral tale based on the legend that the last person to die on New Year’s Eve will be forced to ride The Phantom Carriage to gather the souls of the recently deceased. When David Holm is killed in a fight just before the stroke of midnight, he’s forced to reflect on his actions.
A silent movie that was technically astounding at the time and particularly inspirational to Bergman, The Phantom Carriage is an intriguing piece of cinema history with a dark twist on the classic Scrooge story. The new score created by KTL (featuring Stephen O’Malley of renowned experimental doom band Sunn0)))) certainly evokes the right mood; an ominous rumbling bass that creates a feeling of claustrophobia and impending misfortune. It’s a shame, then, that they forgot that a sense of dynamics usually helps. Also available is a double-disc format that features the original alongside Bergman’s The Image Makers tribute.
