"This first Frankenstein film was produced by Thomas Alva Edison at the Edison Studios in Orange, New Jersey as a liberal adaptation of the famous 1818 novel by Mary Shelley. Edison's "Frankenstein" is the forefather of thousands of horror and monster films.

Film institutes and Museum Archives believed this classic was lost forever. For years this elusive "creature" has been hunted. Now an original 35mm theatrical print has been found & restored. This is the last known surviving print of Thomas Edison's 1910 Frankenstein!

This landmark 1910 film, considered to be the first horror movie, is also the first incarnation of the Frankenstein Monster on film. This 14 minute reel was all but forgotten until 1963 when a film historian discovered a photo of Edison’s Monster in the Edison archives in West Orange, New Jersey. But no print of the full movie could be found, and in 1980, The American Film Institute had declared Edison’s Frankenstein to be one of the top ten most "culturally and historically significant lost films."

But unbeknownst to the AFI and most historians, one print of this historic film had survived in the private collection of Mr. Alois Dettlaff of Wisconsin. When Mr. Dettlaff learned of the AFI list, he let it be known that Edison’s Frankenstein had indeed been preserved. But because of copyright concerns, Dettlaf has turned down requests to screen the movie from museums and film distributors the world over, and has only allowed it to be screened theatrically at two small gatherings in his hometown.

This first Frankenstein film is being released on DVD with its original music score for authenticity and with what is known as the first Dracula film, the 1922 version of Nosferatu by Murnau."

Taken from LoewsJersey.Org

38 seconds of the film online for the Real Player

Harry of AICN claims to "have a film called EL SPECTRO ROJO from the late 1890's that is definitely a horror film of similar length." If that’s true, Edison’s film is not the first horror-movie, ok? So, go and scan El Spectro Rojo, man! The Missing Link is a great source for early horror-movies. Good articles, reviews, links, videos to order etc, real player-files