Sweden's greatest silent director Victor Sjöström utilized an ingenious layering of flashbacks and dream imagery to create a film that, in its day, was internationally known for its horrific qualities, and that today still holds up as a work of uncanny beauty. Considered by many to be Sjöström's masterpice, The Phantom Chariot is in any case his best known film. French film historian Georges Sadoul notes:
“Its realistic depiction of life in the slums is as brilliant as the fantasy sequences in which the cameraman, Jaenzon, makes superb use of double exposures. His shots of the phantom chariot driving through the fog and by the sea are the most memorable in the film. These scenes, together with Sjöström's powerful and controlled performance as David Holm, made the film a success at the time, and are still impressive.” In an introduction to the current series, The Walker Art Center notes Sjöström's use of nature--“a powerful, brooding force"--as “an active participant, often engaged directly in the moral struggles of the characters....”