From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Nosferatu (1922)

Posted on October 2, 2026 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to a “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update that is truly going to be one epic and spooky one as we will be taking a look at the 1922 film Nosferatu and the adaptation of the film that is done by Tome Press. Covering one of the world’s most iconic silent horror films to kick off October 2026 is a great way to add a little more scares to this already spooky month. When choosing to cover Nosferatu, there were many different publishers that have done comics based on Count Orlok like Image Comics, Caliber Comics, Blood Scream Comics, Toonhound Studios, Viper Comics and Millennium Comics to name a very few, but to me Tome Press was one of the earliest publishers to do an adaptation so they should be the one to get this Rotten Ink treatment. So if you are ready, let’s get ourselves into the carriage as it’s heading through the deep dark woods, over the old wooden bridges and pass the field that the werewolf stalks to get to Castle Orlok as it’s time to be scared by classic horror!

Let’s start by taking a look at Count Orlok, a twisted vampire that has many ways of tormenting and killing his prey. First off, Count Orlok’s appearance is very ghastly as he is tall and skinny, has a bald head with pointy ears, big eyebrows, long nails and two very sharp front teeth, and this makes people feel very uneasy being around him and some downright scared. Count Orlok being a vampire that has lived for a very long time, can scare people with just the mention of his name as those who grew up near his castle have all heard the terrifying stories. Count Orlok has the power of making those who are around him feel weak and sick, with sometimes death coming to his prey that is often blamed on the rats and plague. He also has a very creepy slow walk but can move among the shadows making him a great stalker of his human prey, and it also allows him to creep up on them without them even knowing they are being targeted by a vampire. His main way of dealing death is with his fangs that he bites into human flash to drink of the blood and this leaves his victim dead. While Count Orlok is very powerful, he does have one weakness that will end his life and that is the sun as its rays turns him into dust. Not much else is known of his weaknesses and this makes Count Orlok a very deadly vampire and creature of the night.

So as you can see, Count Orlok is a very dangerous and deadly vampire who can deal death to so many people very easily, and truly is one of the oldest vampires only behind Count Dracula. And now that we have talked about him, I think we should take a look at the silent horror film he is from, Nosferatu! Like always, I will be taking the film’s plot from our friends at IMDB and then after that I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts. So if you are ready, let’s travel deeper into the castle and see what horrors awaits us.

Nosferatu (1922)

“Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter’s wife.”

Albin Grau and Enrico Dieckmann owned a film production company called Prana Film that was based out of Germany, and they were into making films and shorts centered around the macabre. And it is said that when Grau was in the war, he heard a farmer speak of his father being a vampire and this stuck with him causing him to also want to make a vampire film and along with the novel Dracula they started on creating their film. They hired Henrik Galeen to write the screenplay and based it off the Stoker novel. Galeen had already worked on many silent horror films that included The Golem (1915) and The Golem: How He Came Into The World (1920) showing he understood how to bring the frights in classic German silent horror cinema. The film would be directed by F.W. Murnau and would be filmed in Germany as well as parts of Slovakia including Orava Castle that was used as Count Orlok’s castle. F.W. Murnau was a wise choice to direct as he was already on his way to becoming one of Germany’s top film directors as he had already directed the horror films “Satanas (1919)”, “The Hand Of Janus (1920)”, “The Hunchback And The Dancer (1920)” and “The Haunted Castle (1921)” proving also that he knew how to frighten moviegoers. When casting the film such actors as Greta Schroder, Gustav Von Wangenheim, Alexander Granach, Ruth Landshoff and Georg H. Schenell were brought to fill out the main cast with Max Schreck being hired to play Count Orlok. Once done the films score was written by Hans Erdmann and was said to be a very wonderful soundtrack, as sadly over time most of the score music has been lost with only fragments remaining. The film was released to theaters on March 4, 1922 and was a big hit with both critics and fans as the spooky settings, creepy look of Count Orlok and over all horror of the shadows made it the talk of the town. But trouble was on the way when Florence Balcombe, the widow of Bram Stoker, sued Prana Film as they failed to get the rights to Dracula to make their film and she was mad and wanted this film company to pay. Prana Film claimed that they had made several changes from the novel for their film, but the judge did not accept this and ordered all prints of Nosferatu to be destroyed and this court order was put into effect with many of the prints being destroyed…but thank the Gods that several of the prints survived and made it so that horror fans could see this truly masterful film for themselves. The film over the decades has became one of the top silent horror films of all time and keeps finding new viewers thanks to home media as the film has been released on VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray. Nosferatu in 1922 was released alongside other horror films like Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages, The Headless Horseman, A Blind Bargain, The Ghost Breaker, One Exciting Night, Esmeralda and The Dungeon to name a few. I also want to say that Nosferatu has been remade twice: once in 1979 and again in 2024 and even had a horror drama film called “Shadow Of The Vampire” that was released in 2000 and acted as if Max Schreck was a real vampire…showing just how iconic this film really is.

I am a massive fan of silent horror films, and one of the best and most iconic hands down is Nosferatu from 1922 as it has such a legacy as well as one of the world’s most creepy vampires to haunt the silver screen. The film has a very special way of creeping you out as you watch Count Orlok glide through the shadows stalking his prey and with the right score music playing, the lights turned off in your house and a thunderstorm raging outside can truly mark one hell of a spooky viewing. Growing up, I remember truly being terrified of Count Orlok as when I was in kindergarten, I would have several of the same nightmare about him coming up from my family’s basement to get me, all the while walking up the stairs and scratching his fingernails on the wall it would make this scrapping noise, the strangest part about this nightmare is that I had not even seen the film yet! I do also remember seeing clips of the film on episodes of the cartoon Muppet Babies as I used to love that show and when they would open a closet door, a clip from an old silent film would play. The first time I got to see the full film of Nosferatu was when I bought a copy of it on VHS from a Dollar Tree as that place use to have all types of silent horror films on VHS and is how I first built my collection up, and it lived up to the hype I had created in my head as well as all the praise I had read about it in the horror books and magazines I was reading at the time. I can remember that I watched the film the moment I got home as I made myself a baked potato for lunch and popped it into the family VCR and was drawn into the dark creepy world it was showing me and it was great to finally see the vampire of my nightmares in the film that spawned him. Nosferatu really is one of those special films as I feel that it still to this day is considered one of the world’s scariest movies and the mystic and mystery around the film is still very strong. If you have not seen this film and enjoy silent horror films as much as I do, make sure to do yourself a favor and give it a watch as I truly think that this film and the 1925 version of Phantom Of The Opera are two of the best films of this era.

So now that we have talked about Nosferatu and the film’s deadly vampire Count Orlok and we find that we have been chilled to the bones by his spooky nature, I think that it’s time we take a look and review the comic adaptation by Tome Press. I want to thank Lone Star Comics for having these comics in stock and making this update possible. I would like to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. When looking back at Tome Press, they were a very strange comic publisher as they really enjoyed making comics based on classic mythology, art books and Sherlock Holmes, but also did do a few horror themed ones like H.P Lovecraft and Jack The Ripper. But with that, let’s head into Castle Orlok and see what terrors await us on these comic pages.

Nosferatu # 1 **1/2
Released in 1991 Cover Price $2.95 Tome Press # 1 of 2

The year is 1838 and the newly married Johann and Ellen Hutter are enjoying their new life together, but his job and boss Knock has been a bit of a burden by keeping him late at work and is now sending him to Transylvania to meet a Count Orlok who wants to buy the Montague Home in Germany. Before Johann starts his journey, he sets it up that his wife Ellen will stay with her best friend Annie while he is away. Once near the castle of Count Orlok, he stops at an inn for a quick meal and drink, only to be spooked by the villagers who beg him to stay there the night as they claim the area he is headed is haunted at night, and he does just that. In the morning a carriage takes Johann close to the castle but refuse to go any further, leaving him at the side of the road next to a bridge. Johann sits at the side of the road wishing another carriage would come by…and when the sun is down one does and takes him to the castle where he meets Count Orlok who has been waiting for him. While Orlok looks over the deed to his soon to be new home, Johann has a quick bite to eat and by accident cuts himself and the sight of blood causes Orlok to act super weird and keeps talking to Johann late into the night, and even gets weirder when he sees a picture of Ellen and is taken by her beauty.

The spooky 1922 film comes to the pages of a 1991 comic book and for the most part is really well done. The plot this far is newly married Johann Hutter is sent to Transylvania by his creepy boss Knock in order to have a Count sign a deed on a old rundown home in Germany, but things get strange for Johann on his journey as the town people are afraid of the land near the Count’s home and this spooks him. Plus once he is around The Count, he finds him to be very creepy as he is very much into the sight of blood as well as the sight of Ellen his new bride. Johann Hutter is man trying to move up in the real estate company he works for and even takes a very strange and far away job in order to lock a sale and get a nice commission that he can use to better the life of his new wife and himself. While Johann is brave and smart, he also seems to be a little spooked by the tales he is hearing from the locals about the area near his new client’s home. Ellen seems like a good wife who is waiting for her husband to return, she also seems to like to read books about vampires while she waits. Knock is the owner of the business Johann works for he is very untrustworthy and is clearly setting up his young worker by sending him to lock this sale, as he is very mean spirited and seems to almost get joy out of bullying his employee. Count Orlok is a very strange man and while we know that he is a vampire his real estate agent Jonathan does not. The Count is very much getting information out of Johann who has made the mistake of showing him a picture of his wife as it’s clear the vampire is now in love and really likes what he sees. So far the comic is doing it’s best to stay true to the film but is making some very odd choices as for one they are misspelling Count Orlok’s name as they have it Orloc and at the start they are oddly talking about Johann using the toilet twice during his journey to Orlok’s castle. While so far the comic is pretty bloodless, the horror is coming from the atmosphere as well as just the strange look of Count Orlok himself. The cover for this comic is pretty cool and eye catching if you’re a fan of the film as it showcases Count Orlok, and the interior art is done by Ken Holewczynski. While it is not a style I like at all, it some how fits for this adaptation. So to sum it up a solid spooky read that is making me look forward to reading the second issue.

Nosferatu # 2 **1/2
Released in 1991 Cover Price $2.95 Tome Press # 2 of 2

Johann Hutter is stuck at Castle Orlok and is feeling very weak and watches as this monster is loading up coffins into carriages for his voyage to his new home, as Johann himself caught Orlok asleep in one of them and he now knows that his host is a vampire and once Orlok leaves to set sail for his new place Jonathan escapes the castle to try and get home to warn Ellen of this monster. While back in Germany Ellen herself has fallen ill and was being taken care of by Doctor Van Helsing while his old boss Knock has lost his mind and is locked up in an asylum as he is eating flies and spiders and now has a craving for blood. Johann pushes himself hard and gets back home and warns Ellen of Count Orlok, and both share that they have been having terrible nightmares. But also now in Germany is Count Orlok who has moved into the old Montague Home, and this also gets Knock all worked up who is now calling Orlok his master and he escapes the asylum and causes panic in the town as they think that a plague is around when the ship that Orlok was on is found with all the crew onboard dead. Meanwhile Johann is trying to bounce back from his journey home as Ellen thinks she is the only one who can stop Count Orlok as that is what the vampire book she is reading says. Johann meets with Van Helsing and after a long talk the Doctor believes the tales of a vampire and they make plans the next morning to enter the Montague Home and find were Orlok sleeps. Later that night Ellen has fallen ill and Johann rushes to get Doctor Van Helsing for help…but it was a trick as Ellen lures Count Orlok to her and keeps him busy until the morning sun comes up and the rays burn him up into dust. Poor Johann and Doctor Van Helsing don’t make it in time and find the dust that was once Count Orlok as well as the body of Ellen who gave her life to save her city.

In this final issue of this adaptation of Nosferatu the plot becomes a race for time as Count Orlok is making his was to Germany and is spreading death and sickness while Johann himself has escaped the vampires castle and is racing back to Germany in order to warn his wife about the vampire that has just moved in next door! All the while its Ellen who finds that she must give her life in order to stop the creatures path of destruction and she does just that to end all the madness. Poor Johann he goes from getting high hopes of making enough money to help he and his new wife to live comfortably, to being stuck in a vampires castle plagued with terrible nightmares and rushing back home worn out in order to try and warn his village of the horrors that re coming. But in the end he looses it all as his true love is gone forever. Ellen Hutter is a woman who loves her husband deeply as well as the village she lives in and when she finds out that she must die to stop the evil, she makes the ultimate sacrifice and saves everyone from a slow and painful death. Doctor Van Helsing is around and is helpful trying to do medical stuff but is pretty useless when it comes to stopping the vampire. Knock is around and breaks free from the asylum for a moment to torment the villagers, only to be locked back up and never be spoken about again. While Count Orlok is wondering around Germany spreading death and fear, but he falls for a pretty ladies trick and ends up dying by the rising sun. This is a pretty good adaptation of a classic film, but some changes and even mood has been changed in order to fit the story into only two issues. And I do feel that Knock is really downplayed, the boat scenes is cut down to hardly nothing as is some of the dread that Ellen Hutter feels about her husband’s trip. The mini series is bloodless and really only shows two deaths in panels with that being of Ellen and Count Orlok, and like I said before it’s the atmosphere and dark brooding mood of the comic were the horror comes from…and yes of course the vampire Count Orlok. The cover for this issue showcases Count Orlok again this time its close on his twisted face, and the interior art once more is done by Ken Holewczynski and as I stated this is not my style of art as at times to me it seemed more like sketches and not finished panels. Over all if you love the story of Nosferatu, then make sure to check out this comic series by Tome Press as it really does make for a great read late at night and both issues would have gotten three stars if not for the art as I really was not a fan. Check out the art below to see the style of Ken Holewczynski used in this adaptation series.

Nosferatu is one of those very special films that has scared viewers for over 100 years and truly showed that in the silent film era they knew how to bring the frights without the use of blood, guts, gore and jump scares. And for me it was great to work alongside artist Damien Brunk as we at Blood Scream Comics released a comic based on this iconic film and have became a very small part of its legacy. I would also like to dedicate this update to the memory of F.W. Murnau, Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Greta Schroder, Gustav von Wangenheim and the rest of the cast and crew that made Nosferatu. For our next update we of course will be staying in the world of horror and will be taking a look at Warlock the film from 1989 that starred the late great Julian Sands as the title character. So until next time read a horror comic or three, watch a horror movie or two and as always support your local horror host. See you next update for a spooky great time.

Forgotten Reels: The 3rd Alarm (1922)

Posted on July 25, 2023 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. As you can see, we are back at the Rotten Ink Theater for another Forgotten Reels update, celebrating the Silent Film era of cinema. As I am sure you all know Horror is my favorite genre of films as they have always captured my imagination and delivered chills, thrills and even blood spills. We will get to the Silent Age of Horror on Forgotten Reels, but before we do, I would like to take a look at other genres from the Silent era and that is why for today’s update I chose a film from 1922 that is a drama about an old firefighter. The film is called The 3^rd Alarm, and this will be a first time watch for me! So let’s grab some soda and popcorn and find our seats as it’s time to chat about some Silent Cinema!

The 3rd Alarm is a 1922 Drama film that was released by Film Booking Offices Of America and was the brainchild of the films director Emory Johnson who was with his mom at a Los Angeles street corner watching the Elk’s parade and see the LAPD’s fire horses in their final public appearance as they were being replaced by vehicles, and this trigged a story of how everything old has a passing down or a changing of the guard. And with this idea he had his mother Emilie Johnson write up the script as she had a history of working on Silent Films for Hollywood. Emory then went out and hired Ralph Lewis to play the lead character Dan McDowell, Lewis was an actor who had been working in Silent Films sense 1912 and was in such films as “The Birth Of A Nation (1915)”, “Macbeth (1916)”, “Dante’s Inferno (1924)” and “The Block Signal (1926)”. Also brought into the cast was Johnnie Walker, Ella Hall, Virginia True, Frankie Lee and Josephine Adair. Emory also bought a rundown five-story apartment building in Los Angeles in order to set it ablaze for the shots of fire in the film, and he even lived with the LA Firemen for a week just to see their life styles and get their actions down. And the film was originally going to be called “The Discard” before being called The 3^rd Alarm and released in movie houses. And once out the film got great promotion with Firemen help spreading the word and once in theaters it was meet with positive reviews from both critics and audience. The film was considered one of the best 40 films of 1922 and over the years it has been restored and released on DVD as well as on Digital Platforms, as the film has fallen into the Public Domain.

With The 3^rd Alarm being about firefighters and with fire being burning hot I decided that I needed a hot chip to cover with this review so I selected the “Ruffles Flamin’ Hot BBQ Potato Chips.” I have to say that growing up Ruffles was by favorite chips and I am looking forward to trying this flavor! And that’s the thing about choosing Potato Chips to go along with these Silent Films, the flavors to choose are many as are the brands. Check out the picture below to see what the chips look like in the freshly opened bag.

This will be a first time watch for me and one I am looking forward to watching and reviewing here for you friends and readers. And I will be grading both the film and the chips on a classic 1-4 star scale. I also want to say on my film ratings I am basing it on a scale that is for silent films of all budgets and eras. So sit back in your theater seat, grab some chips and a soda and let’s travel to the fire with Alpha Video.

The 3^rd Alarm
Starring: Ralph Lewis and Ella Hall Directed: Emory Johnson
Not Rated 1922 58min Alpha Video DVD Full Frame

A fire has broken out and a firebox is used to call in the firefighters who slide down the pole and get the horses hooked to the fire cart and are on their way as fast as the horses can run. Dan McDowell is the driver for engine seven and has been a firefighter for 20 years and has a bond with the horses, and even the neighborhood kids like to show up at the station to see the horses that pull the fire engines including his own daughter Alice and her friend Jimmy who is a newsboy for the city as today is his birthday and they let him ride Bullet the stations main horse. And the kids all have fun with the horses minus one little boy that’s candy apple was eaten by Bullet.

Mother McDowell is the wife of Dan and is at their home near the station making a birthday cake for Dan as it’s his birthday as well and the young girl comes home and watches as her mother ices the cake, as Dan takes the kids around the station all while they are ridding Bullet. Alice decides that she wants to make something for the cake. Meanwhile Johnny McDowell is Dan’s son who is away studying to become a doctor and it’s were he also meet his sweetheart June Rutherford as they are hanging around the lake and he shows her a horse charm that he bought as a birthday gift for his father, but she was hoping it was a engagement ring. And the happy couple head to the McDowell house for the celebration.

Back at the station the Fire Chief shows up in his motor car and is happy to tell them all that Engine Seven will be motorized soon and the horses will be retired, the firefighter are all happy and as Dan hitches Bullet on the post and says goodbye to the kids he enters the station and gets the news, his heart breaks as he knows that means the horses will be going away and he has a bond with them all. The rest of the department tries to cheer him up, as this is a good thing as the department is becoming modernized. June Rutherford returns home and her dad Dr. Rutherford and teases about leaving school forever, as back at the McDowell home Alice has made a cake topper of a horse that has Bullets names on it. Back at the Rutherford home her father is talking about no one being good enough to try and marry his daughter but promises that he will be nice to Johnny when he comes to dinner that night.

Johnny shows up at his father’s house and is greeted by Alice at the door, while at the station Dan is sitting outside feeling old and outdated as Bullet comes walking over to comfort his friend. Alice shows up at the station and tells her father its time to come home, and Dan fallows his daughter home and they run into Jimmy who gives Dan a free paper for his birthday, and Dan invites the youngster in to have some cake but he can not due to him having to sell papers. Johnny shows his mother the horse charm he bought his father and they hide it on his plate for him to find. Dan ends up buying all the papers so that Jimmy can come and celebrate his birthday along with his. Once inside Alice decides that she is going to help Jimmy wash his hair and causes a massive mess as water sprays all over the kitchen. Once they clean up the head into the dinning room and Dan’s eyes are covered and once he opens them he sees the room decorated and before he can see the cake the fire alarm goes off and Dan if off to do his job, and his family and Jimmy are upset that this special time was interrupted.

Nighttime falls and the McDowell family is standing at the window as off in the distance they can see something is on fire and the night sky is lit up by it. While Dan McDowell and his fellow firefighters have hoses in hand and are trying to get the blaze under control. And this lasts all night and his birthday was ruined and his family was left waiting for their father.

Time passes and the new motorcar engine is at the station and is there to retire the horses on Engine Seven, as the firefighters and neighborhood kids are all looking the vehicle over Dan is cleaning the horse straps and bits. And once the Engine fires up the animals around hate the sound and even a stray cat runs away in terror as the fireman laugh at the scaredy cat. And then someone comes to take the horses away, and Dan is heartbroken as he looks at his friends that he has taken care of for so long now and gives them hugs and stands in the street as he watches the horses be taken away, Jimmy joins him for their final farewell. The fellow firefighters notice how sad Dan is so they go to him and try and cheer him up. And they get him to get into the drivers seat of the Engine Seven and they cheer for him.

The following days Dan McDowell is not feeling the motorcar and is being forced to learn how to drive it, and he is not doing well with driving as he is hitting curbs and is awkward behind the wheel, and Dan realizes that he just can not drive the car. Dan comes home a defeated man and he has to tell his wife that he has been places into forced retirement due to not being able to drive the car, his time has passed and he fills down and out. He feels that he has failed his son Johnny who he is putting through medical school, his wife tries to lift his spirit by telling him there are other jobs he can do and that the Fire Department was not everything. As she leaves the room Dan starts crying as she does in the kitchen when Johnny comes over for a visit, and his mother informs him of his fathers discharge. Johnny enters the room to cheer up his father and tells him that not to worry as his girlfriends father is one of the top surgeons and that he only has one more year of school and he will be a full doctor himself! Dan then alerts his son that they have taken everything from him his horses, his job and now they have taken his son!

We then show a flashback to the McDowell home and a doctor informs Dan that his infant son is very sick and that the youngster’s only hope is Dr. Rutherford! And Dan rushes to get to Rutherford’s office and once inside a nurse tell him that the Doctor can not see him, but in the hallway the Doctor passes and Dan begs him for help to save his son. But Dr. Rutherford refuses to leave his office as in another room a patient is indeed of surgery to save their life, and he claims he cannot trade one life for another. And Dr. Rutherford leaves Dan in the hallway and closes the door to help save another life.

Johnny is shocked at what he has heard and asks if his father can look past this as he is in love with June, and Dan says he will never forget and forgive this action and that Johnny must do what he thinks is right. Johnny is now heartbroken and torn between the love of his life and his fathers anger. While at the Rutherford home June is talking to her father and showing him pictures of her and Johnny together. While back at the McDowell Home Johnny is in his room in distress and his haunted by his fathers disapproval of his girlfriend June, and almost writes her a breakup letter but crumples it up and hangs his head in sadness and thought.

The next morning Dan McDowell is checking the paper for job listings as its clear the fire fighters as well as the stations pet dog are missing him. Across the town the old retired fire horse Bullet is sold to a man for only $150.00, and back at the station the fire alarm rings and Dan even hears it and starts to leap from his chair, but the remembers that he sadly no longer is a fire fighter. And he watches as Engine Seven rushes off to the site of the fire. As Dan is sitting sad in his chair the fire house dog gets into the McDowell Home and comes to Dan’s side and even brings him his old fire hat. And Dan goes deep into thought and wants to figure out what to do for a job.

Dan the next morning applies for a driving job and all looks good, but he soon finds that its not for wagon driving its for a motor car and does not get the job. As he leaves the job interview feeling defeated he sees a sign for labor work and looks at his hands. We then join Johnny who is walking June to her car and she tells him that her father would like to see him tonight about maybe hiring him at his clinic. We then go back to Dan who has gotten the labor job and he and other men are digging holes, and the boss of the dig site shows up and Bullet is the horse pulling his wagon and when Bullet sees Dan he walks over to his old friend. The Boss gets mad and walks over and starts getting rough with Bullet, and Dan tries to stop him and take up for his old animal friend and ends up punching the man in the face! Dan and then man then get into a full fist fight and just in time Johnny is walking by and as Dan is knocked down Johnny and the man get into a fight! And Johnny drops the man with a good hit and then goes to check on his dad, and Johnny tells the man he will get Bullet away from him if it’s the last thing he ever does! Johnny then stops his father from going back to digging and Dan quiets the job.

That night the man who owns Bullet puts him into a stale and is still being mean to him, but as fire engines drive by Bullet hears the sounds of the fire bells and goes into action and breaks free from the stale and heads toward the fire. Johnny meanwhile goes and visits the office of Chief Andrews who is in control of the cities Police and Fire Departments and informs him that he has quit medical school and would like a job and he is given one. While back at the McDowell home the police have shown up with the Horse abusing man and they are questioning Dan and his wife about Bullet missing and they think Johnny might have stolen him. And as Dan walks them around his property Dan is shocked as Bullet is in his garage. And as the man takes Bullet back the police let Dan know that they want his son for the theft, but Dan tells them that he is the one who stole Bullet and he is put under arrest. Dan thinks he is protecting his son, but really no one is to blame as Bullet just escaped and went to the home that he knew he was loved at. Johnny shows up a very short time later dressed in his new uniform and sees his mom and sister crying on the porch and finds out why and rushes off to the police station.

At the police station Dan is being booked in for horse theft, and Johnny comes in and is told that the police cannot help him with the situation. While back at the Rutherford’s apartment home June gets a call from her father that he will be late home tonight and for dinner. But as June is talking to her father the housemaid comes in and alerts her that the home is on fire! June gets the servants to safety and then goes back to get her little dog and is now stuck inside a building that is on fire, and she is in panic as there is no way out of the inferno and she passes out from the smoke and heat. The fire department are on their way and from his jail cell window Dan can see the blaze at the Rutherford apartments.

At the Rutherford Apartments people are rushing out of the burning building as the fire department has shown up and start hooking up their hoses in order to fight the fire. While at the street corner selling his papers young Jimmy sees the story of Dan being arrested over Bullet and heads to the station and talks to Chief Andrews and tells him that he is the one who found Bullet wondering the streets and placed him in the old McDowell woodshed so the horse would not get lost, Chief Andrews tells Jimmy that they are going to get Dan out of jail. While back at the fire they are doing their best to put out the fire that is now out of control and they call in Engine Seven for help and on this engine is Johnny McDowell who is heading to his girlfriends house. While back at the fire June wakes up and gets the window and is spotted by the fire fighters bellow. And they send the ladder up and Johnny rushes up it to save his love from a burning death. As Johnny is up their trying to save June the building starts to collapse and the order goes out for Johnny to come down with our without June! But Johnny is able to get to June who he has climb on his back and together they climb down, just then Dr. Rutherford gets home and is scared as part of the building crumbles at the spot of June and Johnny! Dan McDowell is now out of jail and has rushed to the fire and has suited up to help get the blaze under control and to save lives. But the water pressure drops and the fighters are not able to combat the fire without water, but they find June and Johnny who are alive but cannot be saved just yet as a massive safe is on the rubble they are trapped in and the men are pulling but are not able to move it!

More fire engines with more firefighters are on the way, and Bullet once more hears the bells ringing and rushes off to the fire! While back at the fire Dr. Rutherford begs Dan McDowell to save his daughter and he tells him she is all he has in life, and Dan remembers back to the day he begged the Dr. to save his son. Meanwhile Bullet is now on the scene of the fire, and he and Dan work together and with Bullet they are able to move the safe and save the lives of June and Johnny! The other fire trucks are now on the scene and they have more water and are able to clear a path for all the heroes stuck to get out of the inferno safe. Dan McDowell learns to forgive Dr. Rutherford who in turn is very grateful for the rescue of his daughter. In the end The McDowell Family along with the Rutherford Family, Jimmy and even Chief Andrews are at a ranch and they have a surprise for Dan, and it’s all the old Fire Horses are now at this farm that Dr. Rutherford bought in order for Dan to be able to care and look after all his old friends. We also see that Johnny is now a Doctor and has cured Jimmy who no longer needs a crutch! And all ends well for everyone.

Review: The 3^rd Alarm was a silent film that really surprised me as this was a first time watch for me and at the start I was not fully sure what to expect as it was clearly a drama film and it started off a little show, but by the less then half way mark I was hooked and found myself drawn into this world and felt a bond with Dan McDowell and his family and extended family. As Dan was a hard working man who was working a tough job and was saving peoples lives as well as their homes all the while bonding with the horses that worked hard to pull the fire wagons to get them to the sites to fight the fires, and with technology coming in Dan and his horses were discarded as things of the past. The movie really brings to light how the work force views employees that have been loyal to them for decades but are getting older and are forced to retire or are fired as they think the newer and younger is better. But I do need to stress that Dan was loved by the fire department but could not get down how to drive the new motorcar and that’s why he was given his pink slip. And you have to give this film major credit as they really did set a massive apartment building ablaze and they told a great story of change, respect and the importance of family. And that’s the thing you as a viewer get to see is not only the change of times with more modern technology coming in to make things easier, but you also see a change of a man who had a grudge and learns to let it go and by doing so he changes as a person. I also like that the horse Bullet has a personality of his own and feels like he really is apart of the McDowell family, and when he escaped his abusive owner I cheered for him to get away and was glad that he and his fellow retired Fire Station Horses have a nice ranch to retire at. The love between Johnny and June is also a great layer as Johnny loves her very much but is also torn over his fathers hatred for her father, and in the end the true love between the two bring them together. I really enjoyed this drama film as I found all the characters interesting and likable and this one really did surprise me on how well I liked it.

Now let’s talk briefly about the chips and I have to say that it I was really surprised as I found myself liking these chips as well! The BBQ flavor was good and strong and had a bold flavor, and the Flamin’ Hot aspect brought some heat, but it was not as over baring like the taste can be such on the Cheetos. The burn of the chip sticks around a little after eating them, but it’s not too bad and does not feel like its coating your mouth like many of the Flamin’ Hot snacks do. And besides Ruffles just making a good basic chip the BBQ flavor is really what pushes this chip into the very tasty realm and made me buy more bags after eating them for this review.

Movie: ***
Chips: ***

The 3^rd Alarm is a great silent film and it nearly almost got three and a half stars from me as even days after watching it I found myself thinking about moments in the film and the characters themselves. I like the idea that Dan, his wife and young daughter lived on this ranch and took care of the horses while Johnny and June would end up married and have kids making Dan a grandpa and they lived out their lives as a very happy family…or at least that is what I think happened after the events of the film. But grab your bag of Ruffles as the Rotten Ink Theater has turned up the house lights letting us know that the film is over and that our time looking at Silent Films is over for now. So while we head out, let’s take a moment and chat about what our next update will be about as I am happy to say that we will be walking across the street to the Rotten Ink Stadium as I will be ranking Ohio’s Best Collegiate, Softball and Minor League Baseball Team Mascots! So until then, watch a Silent Movie or Three, read a comic or two and as always support your local Cinema. See you next update for some good old Baseball talk!