01
The Unknown
Why this pick
Like The Penalty, this silent macabre melodrama centers on an intensely physical performance, bodily extremity, obsessive revenge, and a lurid criminal underworld.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1920 1h 30m USA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
The Penalty
CrimeDramaHorror
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved The Penalty, try these.
01
02
The Man Who Laughs
Why this pick
Its expressionist shadows, grotesque hero, and tragic intensity echo The Penalty's blend of physical suffering, heightened villainy, and Gothic silent-film spectacle.
03
The Phantom of the Opera
Why this pick
A lavish silent Gothic nightmare driven by Lon Chaney's transformative performance, architectural menace, and a tortured outcast who turns grievance into terror.
04
The Cat and the Canary
Why this pick
Paul Leni brings similarly stylized shadows and elaborate silent-era design, though in a lighter, suspenseful old-dark-house mystery rather than a revenge tragedy.
05
The Hands of Orlac
Why this pick
This German Expressionist chiller shares The Penalty's fascination with mutilation, guilt, criminal influence, and a protagonist trapped in a nightmare of the body.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
A deformed criminal mastermind plans to loot the city of San Francisco in order to exact revenge on the doctor who mistakenly amputated his legs.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Lon Chaney
Blizzard
Claire Adams
Barbara Ferris