All Recommendations

A Trip to the Moon
7.9

A Trip to the Moon

1902

Professor Barbenfouillis and five of his colleagues from the Academy of Astronomy travel to the Moon aboard a rocket propelled by a giant cannon. Once on the lunar surface, the bold explorers face the many perils hidden in the caves of the mysterious planet.

The Four Troublesome Heads
7.2

The Four Troublesome Heads

1898

One of the greatest of black art pictures. The conjurer appears before the audience, with his head in its proper place. He then removes his head, and throwing it in the air, it appears on the table opposite another head, and both detached heads sing in unison. The conjurer then removes it a third time. You then see all three of his heads, which are exact duplicates, upon the table at one time, while the conjurer again stands before the audience with his head perfectly intact, singing in unison with the three heads upon the table. He closes the picture by bowing himself from the stage.

The Man with the Rubber Head
7.2

The Man with the Rubber Head

1901

A chemist carries out a bizarre experiment with his own head.

Le manoir du diable
6.4

Le manoir du diable

1896

In a medieval castle, a dark magician thought to be Mephistopheles conjures up a series of bizarre creatures and events in order to torment a pair of interloping cavaliers.

Roundhay Garden Scene
6.3

Roundhay Garden Scene

1888

The earliest surviving celluloid film, and believed to be the second moving picture ever created, was shot by Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince using the LPCCP Type-1 MkII single-lens camera. It was taken in the garden of Oakwood Grange, the Whitley family house in Roundhay, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire (UK), possibly on 14 October 1888. The film shows Adolphe Le Prince (Le Prince's son), Mrs. Sarah Whitley (Le Prince's mother-in-law), Joseph Whitley, and Miss Harriet Hartley walking around in circles, laughing to themselves, and staying within the area framed by the camera. The Roundhay Garden Scene was recorded at 12 frames per second and runs for 2.11 seconds.

Cinderella
6.2

Cinderella

1899

A fairy godmother magically turns Cinderella's rags to a beautiful dress, and a pumpkin into a coach. Cinderella goes to the ball, where she meets the Prince - but will she remember to leave before the magic runs out? Méliès based the art direction on engravings by Gustave Doré. First known example of a fairy-tale adapted to film, and the first film to use dissolves to go from one scene to another.

A Nightmare
6.0

A Nightmare

1896

A man has a fantastical nightmare involving, among other things, a grinning malevolent moon.

The Black Imp
6.5

The Black Imp

1905

A traveler at an inn is harassed by a mischievous devil in his room.

The Bewitched House
6.5

The Bewitched House

1907

A group of travellers go into a house for protection. Little do they know, it is filled with ghosts who make unusual things happen to them.

The Kingdom of the Fairies
6.9

The Kingdom of the Fairies

1903

At the royal court, a prince is presenting the princess whom he is pledged to marry when a witch suddenly appears. Though driven off, the witch soon returns, summons some of her servants, and carries off the princess. A rescue party is quickly organized, but the unfortunate captive has been taken to a strange, forbidding realm, from where it will be impossible to rescue her without some special help.

A Terrible Night
5.1

A Terrible Night

1896

A man tries to get a good night's sleep, but is disturbed by a giant spider that leaps onto his bed, and a battle ensues in hilarious comic fashion.

The Devil in a Convent
6.3

The Devil in a Convent

1899

A priest is officiating at a convent, when suddenly he is transformed into the devil, who frightens away the nuns and turns the place into pandemonium.

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ
5.7

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ

1898

The Lumière catalog sold this title as 13 individual, one-scene films, allowing exhibitors to choose which films they wanted to purchase and how to arrange them in their programs. Lumière catalog no. 933 through 945.

White Dog
6.6

White Dog

1982

A trainer attempts to retrain a vicious dog that’s been raised to kill black people.

Somm
7.0

Somm

2013

Somm takes the viewer on a humorous, emotional and illuminating look into the mysterious world of the Court of Master Sommeliers and their massively intimidating Master Sommelier Exam.

The Cavalier's Dream
4.4

The Cavalier's Dream

1898

He sits asleep at a bare table; old witch enters, raps three times, then disappears; cavalier sees table spread for a sumptuous repast. Mephistopheles appears; then the old witch, who suddenly changes to a beautiful young girl. The changes and magical appearances are startling and instantaneous.

Matches: An Appeal
4.0

Matches: An Appeal

1914

A thirty-second long stop-motion animated piece intended to encourage the audience to send matches to British troops fighting the Boer War.

The Portrait
6.3

The Portrait

1915

A man is increasingly unnerved by a mysterious portrait. Based on a story by Nikolai Gogol, the film is thought to have run about 45 minutes long, but only an 8 minute fragment is known to have survived.

Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory
6.7

Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory

1895

Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.

Detour
7.2

Detour

1945

The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.