EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

He_who_lurks This Hepworth film does go on for a bit too long, and for a one-gag film it is stretched out a bit, but considering its time I'll still give it a 7-star rating. The story is simple but the effects and camera work which come on later look good even today.An uncle and his nephew are having dinner when the uncle starts thinking it would be funny to get his nephew to sneeze. So he throws some pepper at him and it works! The boy is so mad he lets the uncle have it bad. He puts pepper in his uncle's clothes in his bedroom and then the fun starts. The guy goes around town sneezing, and it soon becomes pretty harmful--he knocks a lamp post over, blows a woman's hair off her head, etc. And his last sneeze *is* fatal--it makes him explode!The film is silly and works very well even by today's standards. Yeah, the joke isn't very funny and seems outdated--but the way it is used makes this film very unique. There is also some ground-breaking camerawork used when the uncle causes an earthquake with his sneezes, and the camera rocks back and forth. This is something I've never seen before in early cinema and it works well.

JoeytheBrit This early Hepworth film is fairly humorous but it carries on for far too long and drags in the middle because of the repetitious nature of its scenes. An old man plays a trick on a youngster with pepper causing the boy to sneeze uncontrollably. The boy, who, it has to be said, appears ever so slightly effeminate (and might have been played by a girl), gets his own back by peppering the old man's hairbrush, handkerchief, hat, etc while he sleeps. In the morning the old man's sneezes are so powerful that things in their path collapse and fall apart or fall off walls, etc. The sneezes keep on building until they create an earthquake and then cause the old boy to explode.The last minute or so of the film is probably the most effective. Where a filmmaker today would use a shaking motion of the camera to transmit an earthquake, the cameraman here rocks the camera back and forth, eventually slowing down to signify the passing of the quake while the old boy hangs on to a lamppost. It's still quite an effective little trick. Overall though, the film went on far too long for what is essentially a one-shot joke.

Snow Leopard This is an interesting combination of some very good camera effects and a very silly story. Overall, it's still worth seeing, even as long ago as it was filmed. The premise is no flimsier than those used for a lot of full-length features in more recent times, and the camera work holds up quite well.The simple story starts with an older man and a youth (apparently relatives of some kind) playing practical jokes on each other with pepper, and soon things get out of hand, with some outlandish results. It's thoroughly goofy, but because the camera effects are done well, it works well enough to be entertaining much of the time. It does go on a bit too long, and would probably have been better if they had not drawn it out quite so long before wrapping things up.

reptilicus Early special effects film that borrows a lot from Georges Melies and uses gags that comedians like the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy were still finding worthwhile 30 years later. At dinner an elderly man laces the food of a young boy with pepper, unleashing a barrage of sneezes which the old fellow finds quite funny. That night the boy enters the old man's room and puts a large supply of pepper on his handkerchief, in his hat, and other places and just waits for morning. (I sure hope this pair is just uncle and nephew. I would hate to think father and son played such pranks on each other. Then again maybe I should repeat to myself "It's just a show, you should really just relax.") The next day the man discovers he is plagued with uncontrollable sneezes which turn out to be very destructive! One good "ah-choo" destroys a storefront, another blows a woman's hair off, another causes a mild earthquake (accomplished by rocking the camera back and forth) and so on. It is not long before an angry crowd of merchants and passers-by are chasing the man. Meanwhile the boy follows closely waving the pepper shaker and having the time of his life. How does it end? Take the title literally! If you want to see other comics milking sneeze gags just watch the Marx Brothers in AT THE CIRCUS (1939) when Harpo's sneeze demolishes the inside of a caravan. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy explored the dangers of uncontrolled sneezes in some of their 2-reelers as well. This is a great example of early special effects and comedy and almost a century later it is still hilarious.