special FX
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Victorian Parents Using Their Children for Pranks Collection #2
Among the huge amount of photographs we have received this month, we have been lucky enough to find another rare example of Victorian parents using their children for pranks. This time the subject was toddlers. Our expert in this particular area tells us that back in the early to mid-nineteenth century, families tended to be…
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Godbert Lawley and the Original Victorian B-movie Collection #4
We return to the fascinating universe of Godbert Lawley’s B-movies. This time we have included stills from what we believe to be the first zombie movie ever made. It’s called The Workhouse Dead and it played for 6 consecutive years every Halloween to an audience of around fifty viewers in a tent. These viewers would…
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Floating Heads Cabaret Collection #1
These beautiful photographs were taken in a small nocturnal cabaret club in the West End of London circa 1880. This little known style of theatre and dance spread across the European underground for approximately twenty years before disappearing with little trace. The 1880s was an interesting time to be alive. As we’ve noted before, society…
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Godbert Lawley and the Original Victorian B-movie Collection #3
We’re keeping things short and sweet today. Here are some more stills from the movies of Godbert Lawley. Our research suggests that many of the actors, sets, stories and props were recycled. However, they were reworked to such a degree that a casual viewer would never detect it. We believe that the images in this…
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Domingo’s Haunted Puppet Show Collection #3
This is going to be the last puppet collection for a short while. We are presently sitting on top of a pile of new collections which we are hoping to put out over the next couple of weeks so you might see a slight increase in our output. We would like to say thank you…
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Domingo’s Haunted Puppet Show Collection #2
Following on from the last collection, we have discovered a little more about Alfred Byrne and his puppet shows. From a young age, Alfred had an incredible flair for creating puppets, costumes and stage designs. However, owed to the harsh living conditions he experienced in a small town in the northeast of England, with two…
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Godbert Lawley and the Original Victorian B-movie Collection #2
An interesting fact about Godbert’s movies is that the overwhelming majority of the staff were not only alcoholics, but were largely drunk on set. According to one interview, he said that the reason for this is that alcoholics are not only cheaper (because they can be paid in alcohol), but they also make better stuntmen.…
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Godbert Lawley and the Original Victorian B-movie Collection #1
In a short period of time, Godbert made, or attempted to make, around 50 horror movies. These were funded by wealthy businessmen who predicted the silver screen boom. Each movie was around 3 minutes long and many of them were scrapped for reasons unknown. Fortunately some did survive and made their way to the underground…
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