The stature of Georges Melies, once the master of cinema, had diminished so badly by 1912 that he was little more than a throwback to an earlier, primitive art form. One in which the camera seemed to be anchored to the floor, when narrative was a novelty, and when audiences could be awed by simple camera tricks. The Knight of the Snow has little plot, but what there is is poorly conveyed - due mainly to Melies apparent refusal to use intertitles. The sets are impressive, but they still hark back to an earlier era, and the special effects are all recycled.