The Serial Squadron Cinema Cliffhanger Archive

OCCULT AND HORROR SERIALS

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The Trail of the Octopus
✦✦✦+ (Hallmark, 15 Episodes)
Ben Wilson, Neva Gerber D: Ben Wilson
DVD Release Sponsored by Henry Miyamoto
Restoration by Eric Stedman
Musical Score by Kevin McLeod

Seven daggers, when inserted into a cliffside cave wall, will reveal the ancient magic talisman called The Devil’s Trademark. Detective Carter Holmes tries to prevent it from falling into the hands of Asian mastermind Wang Foo or the mysterious masked Monsieur X.

View Online Video: Carter Holmes Trapped
Episode 2: The Purple Dagger

Transfer Quality: Transferred from the original 35mm print, with full score and occasional color tints and audio effects
Contents: 14 Half-hour Episodes + 1 15-minute partially re-created Episode, about 7 hours

This serial is getting a major upgrade which will include the previously missing scene which reveals the identity of Monsieur X!

Watch the main page for the upgrade order link!


Released Oct. 1, 2012
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The Hope Diamond Mystery
✦✦✦ (Kleine/Kosmik, 15 Episodes)
Grace Darmond, Boris Karloff
D: Stuart Paton

Featuring Boris Karloff as / Dakar / High Priest of Sita
Grace Darmond as Mary Hilton / Bibi
George Chesebro as John Gregg / Jean-Baptiste Tavanier
Harry Carter as Sidney Atherton / Nang Fu / Ghung


The actors in this weird story of an ancient curse play dual roles and in 16th and 20th century characters based on real and historical figures battle to possess the jewel Boris Karloff’s character Dakar, the apparent reincarnation of the priest of the cult from which the jewel was stolen, tries to return it to its rightful home. Karloff's role here resembles his Im-ho-tep in
The Mummy and his presence, sometimes sinister and sometimes heroic, is the highlight of the serial. Introduced by the real former Lady Frances Hope, ex-wife of the diamond’s real-life owner. One of few silent serials to survive completely intact.

Slideshow
View Online Video: / Ep. 1 / Ep. 8/9 Combined

View EPISODES 1-5 On Demand Runtime: 1 hour, 30 minutes
View EPISODES 6-10 On Demand Runtime: 1 hour, 34 minutes
View EPISODES 11-15 On Demand Runtime: 1 hours, 37 minutes

Transfer Quality and Content: Excellent, from 35mm original reels (3 episodes), and B/W 16mm printdown from the 35mm original. Many splices and defects have been digitally eliminated. The entire serial has been stabilized and color tinted as was the original, with occasional special color effects added, mostly in scenes involving the diamond, as were said to have also appeared in the original.

Blu-Ray Contents: 15 Chapters, approximately 5 hours; Black and white with color tints & effects & new musical score

This title is being prepared for release on Blu-Ray shortly

Order Dual-Layer DVD
(Entire serial on 1 disk, full quality)







Order the Blu-Ray

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The Mysteries of Myra
✦✦✦ (Wharton, 15 Episodes)
Jean Sothern, Howard Estabrook
D: Theodore/Leo Wharton
Restored by Eric Stedman
Historical Consultant Terry Harbin
Music by Kevin McLeod
VISIT THE MYSTERIES OF MYRA WEBSITE


Dr. Payson Alden, expert on psychic phenomena, defends young Myra Maynard from supernatural menaces dispatched by the Master of the secret and powerful devil-cult known as the Black Order.
The Mysteries of Myra, the first "paranormal-investigation" series, was extremely influential and the first to portray occult and supernatural phenomena in an up-to-date and realistic fashion, and to feature a black-robed devil-cult and included one of the earliest appearances of a Frankenstein-like monster. DVD includes:

Episodes 1- 6 RECONSTRUCTED with footage from
Episode 5: THE FUMES OF FEAR
The Master puts a spell on Myra, who discovers a secret chamber in the basement of her house. Professor Haji and Dr. Alden search for the Black Order and infiltrate their lair and Myra allows herself to be hypnotized to release her astral body. 18:52

Episode 12: THE ELIXIR OF YOUTH The Master gives an aging couple a magic elixir in exchange for their promise to kill Myra and Dr. Alden. 13:57

Episode 15: THE THOUGHT MONSTER The Black Order creates a monster from their combined evil thoughts which Dr. Alden then hypnotizes and turns against them. 20:41

Squadron-produced Trailer

Transfer Quality: From 35mm HD. The transfer of the original footage is excellent in quality, sometimes exhibiting signs of decomposition.

DVD Contents: 1-DVD Set. English - 1:33:1 - Full Screen - Black and White with color tinting - 1916 - 3+ Episodes restored with video footage and animated stills

Order DVD
Originally released October 2015
Second Edition UPGRADED December 2018


Order
Hardcover Book or
Paperback Book from Lulu.com
Printed very high quality hardback or paperback book

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The Mystery Mind
A Squadron re-creation of a lost 1920 serial
In Post-Production / Featuring
Adrian Booth

A telepathic young heiress is marked for death by a murderous gang of weird killers, led by the disembodied voice known only as “The Mystery Mind.” Her hypnotist fiance must rescue her and stop them from finding the Treasure of Atlantis. More villains than any other serial has ever contained; this serial was an attempt to outdo THE MYSTERIES OF MYRA with its cast of bizarre characters and it gets over the top early on as Violet, the heroine escapes numerous murder attempts and just doesn’t stop going from there until the cast ends up in a remote jungle temple where an unspeakable ritual is about to be led by black magician Evil Eye, a creature up to this point conceived by Violet only in nightmares.

A fully dramatized re-creation of the lost 1922 serial, as created for and performed over 4 years at SerialFest events, and featuring
ADRIAN BOOTH as the villainess, Vera “the Snake” Collins in her final serial performance.

The original stars of the serial were real-life hypnotist J. Robert Pauline, Violet MacMillan (best known for her appearances in the Frank Baum Oz films) and veteran serial villain Paul Panzer of THE PERILS OF PAULINE and THE MASKED RIDER.

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"Lost" Feature:
Seven Footprints to Satan

✦✦✦+ (Feature Film)
Creighton Hale, Thelma Todd

Another long-thought-lost epic found again and restored by the Squadron! James Kirkham inherited a lot of money and wants a life of adventure, exploring in darkest Africa, but instead, after a robbery at an antiquities auction, finds himself and his fiance Eve kidnapped by parties unknown and taken to a macabre mansion of horrors such as the world has never known, inhabited by demonic-looking freaks, torturers, and killers. He and Eve will be granted freedom only if he agrees to the "ordeal of seven steps" presided over by the mansion's owner -- apparently Satan himself! Color tinted, in a new English translation, with new score and sound effects! This one is really not to be missed, and a hell of a lot better than LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT! 116 min.

Source Material: Low quality video transfer with Italian subtitles, so will not blow up well to large-screen TVs, and is therefore recommended for laptop PC, tablet, or other small-screen viewing. Stabilized. Titles entirely redone in new English transon. Color tints, sound effects (as appeared in the original) and new musical score.
DVD Contents: Complete feature

This title is being upgraded for quality to Blu-Ray