The Old Baron Of Rautakylä is hailed as the first Finnish horror film ever made.
It was a lost film for a while, but has since been reconstructed from various sources...though, unfortunately, without it's intertitles.
An attempt has been made to restore them to their original form.
However, when watching the film...you can clearly tell that some of the ones, pertaining to dialogue between the characters, are still missing.
Director Carl Fager adapted the film from the book of the same name; and a play called "Fifty Years Later".
Both of which were written by author and historian Zachris Topelius.
The film tells the story of a childless and aging baron named Magnus Drakenhjelm, who agrees to marry his housekeeper Lisette, and pass the baronship to her son, so that his family line does not die out.
He believes he has no living relatives, as Lisette tells him the only surviving member of his family, became part of his lineage by way of a sham marriage.
Thus, her suggestion they get married is all part of a plot to become his wife, so that she and her son can inherit his wealth and status.
However, she must call on the vicar to come and validate their union.
So, when a widow and her daughter show up on their doorstep, seeking shelter- after becoming lost and stranded in a storm- she fears they might intervene to stop them.
Leaving her with no choice but to plot to get rid of them before he arrives.
Not realizing the two women are actually the baron's true heirs (as one is the wife of his deceased brother, who was originally meant to be the baron; while the other is his grand-niece).
When the baron realizes this...Lisette gaslights him into thinking he's delusional.
With hopes she can secure her, and her sons, position...before the old woman swoops in to take back what is rightfully hers.
The only problem being that the only living witness of her marriage to the baron's brother...is Lisette, herself.
The majority of the first half of the film consists of flashbacks pertaining to the story relating to how the current situation came to be.
With the second half consisting of the action, as we watch Lisette's plot start to unravel.
I wouldn't call this a horror film in the traditional, modern, sense by any means.
Rather, only in a way similar to how Macbeth is considered to be a horror story.
So...it's relatively mild on the horror front.
But it's an interesting tidbit of film history.
With the use of out of focus shots to portray the loss of mental capacity upon the approach of death, being somewhat notable.
As a product of it's time...it's not a terrible little film.
Beyond that, however, it's not really groundbreaking in any way.
4 out of 10.
