The Arrival from the Darkness / The Poisoned Light DVD

The fantasy horror The Arrival from the Darkness and the action drama The Poisoned Light are two of the most extraordinary works of Czech silent cinema. These films stand out for their distinctive adaptation of stylistic procedures from contemporary European and Hollywood pro- duction. This special two-disc collection presents these works in the context of the early cre- ative output of director Jan S. Kolár and like-minded filmmakers, who contributed significantly to the professionalisation of cinematic craft in the Czech lands. Both films are also accompa- nied by modern film scores. The music for The Arrival from the Darkness was composed by the Neuvěřitelno trio, and the score for The Poisoned Light was made by electronic musician TMA.

The Arrival from the Darkness

Written and Directed by: Jan S. Kolár
Czechoslovakia 1921
Length: 62 minut

Cast: Theodor Pištěk, Anny Ondráková, Josef Šváb-Malostran- ský, Karel Lamač, Luigi Hofman, Vladimír Majer and others

Archival materials and commentaries :

The Arrival from the Darkness – unused shots
How We Used to Make Movies (1954)
Arsenal: The Arrival from the Darkness (2016)

Cinema of Potentialities (2018)

The Poisoned Light

Written and Directed by: Jan S. Kolár, Karel Lamač
Czechoslovakia 1921
Length: 62 minut

Cast: Karel Fiala, Anny Ondráková, Karel Lamač, Jindřich Lhoták, Emil Artur Longen, Jan S. Kolár and others

Early films of Jan S. Kolár:

Polykarp’s Winter Adventure (1917) 

The Oriental Lan- guages’ Teacher (1918)

The Lady with the Small Foot (1919) 

The Cross at the Stream (1921)

The Torn Photograph (1921)