Chad

Undeadcow

This felt more like theatrical tragedy than horror to me - but the lurid request at the end is shocking.
The costume and set design were grand and admirable and it was fun to watch a silent film with the animated overacting and body language.
I looked up the production and it seems like producer/star Alla Nazimova was famously bisexual and may have advocated that more of the actors here be gay - which suggests 1920s culture must have been a lot more open to homosexuality.

numbercrunch

Russian filmed stage play based on an Oscar Wilde story. The evil Salome agrees to dance for the king in exchange for the head of John the Baptist. Not really my cup of tea, but interesting from a historical perspective. I also think its pushing the boundaries to classify this as horror.
6/10

jholmes

Yes, there was some interesting pre-code subtext. The male page was very jealous of the captain of the guard.
Salome was a little brat. lol
I thought this was refreshing after so much horror, though it is odd that it's categorized as such. It was interesting how the story differed from the biblical version. I never read Wilde's version, but I'm guessing he made those changes. That Salome was in lust with John the Baptist is a new twist and her dying at the end was not from the biblical story either.
The dance was a little underwhelming. I think there's a 40's or 50's Salome that has a great dance sequence.

Toddarino

I appreciated the set design and imagery as well as some of the costumes, but that’s about it.

Spiderbite

I like watching silent movies, but this was not one of them. I am not asking for Birth of A Nation or Ben-Hur every time but the sets in this were sparse, and the costumes were mostly uninteresting. Zero horror here and zero interesting story as well. I am sure the history of the production is much more interesting but this one is gonna be a hard pass from me. Salome came across more as a whiny toddler than a sexy, lusted for teen/woman. I kept waiting for at least the important dance to be amazing and it was anything but. The only positive I can give it is that it was mercifully short.

My rating: 1/2 a star out of *****

wishbone

The version I watched on YT had eerie and ominous music that accentuated the horror elements for me.

WillieMLF

I saw the Lobster version with the commentary. Lots of very interesting information contained therein. Nazimova was one of the highest paid actresses at the time and she put up her money for Salome. It was claimed that all the actors were gay. She was in a very long relationship with Natasha Rambova, who was Valentino's second wife. The production lost money, and she returned to Broadway to lick her wounds. It was a very experimental production at the time and it was suggested that it was too 'modern' for audiences, even though the trade papers at the time mostly lauded it.