(1921)
Dir - F.W. Murnau
Overall: MEH
This pre-Nosferatu outing from F.W. Murnau was based off a novel by German writer Rudolph Stratz and unfortunately, it is rather forgettable if still adequately made. The American title The Haunted Castle is altogether misleading and there is only the faintest traces of anything that could be classified as horror, even by a stretch. One of the inconsequential characters has a nightmare where a large, creepy hand reaches towards him and that is about it. A chamber drama in five acts, it is a murder mystery with very little tension and pretty straightforward direction from Murnau, though the sets look nice and the cinematography is pretty decent, with some solid, central framing here or there. It is pretty slow going though and you are not likely to get very invested in what is going on, especially if you were duped into excepted a ghost or two to show up.
(1923)
Dir - Arthur Robison
Overall: GOOD
Lesser known German director Arthur Robison's Warning Shadows, (Schatten – Eine nächtliche Halluzination), is an interesting outing in German Expressionism. Sans an introduction to all of the players at the beginning, the film features no intertitles and it is impressive how easy the story is to follow, at least for the most part. The story is full of excessive jealously and false pretenses on the part of the filmmakers and it is staged rather creatively, making splendid use of the "shadows" in the title. The Expressionism angle comes heavily into play in this regard, where we are constantly shown silhouetted distortions against the walls that ultimately get the better of the characters. The movie has a borderline supernatural element that is more implied than readily apparent and this mostly comes down to the style which Robison and Nosferatu cinematographer Fritz Arno Wagner help convey. As a bonus, a few of the cast members where also in Nosferatu as well.
(1926)
Dir - Henrik Galeen
Overall: GOOD
The superior silent version of The Student of Prague was the 1926 remake by Henrick Galeen to Stellan Rye and Paul Wegener's adaptation from thirteen years prior. Coincidentally, Galeen's first film was 1916's The Golem which he collaborated with Wegener on as well. Whereas the first Prague was hampered considerably by a lack of intertitles which made the story far too difficult to keep up with, there is no such detriment present here and the added element of Conrad Veidt providing one of his best performances in the dual lead certainly helps it triumph. Though only mildly Expressionistic, (there is a brief scene near a cemetery whose tombstones are crudely abstracted enough to qualify), the story of Veidt's doomed student Balduin is sufficiently told. As his own evil doppelgänger, Veidt is eerily still as he silently haunts his "real" half, coming off all the more menacing in the process. Veidt's decent into madness at the hands of his double is excellent and Galeen keeps things moving uncommonly brisk for a silent movie in general.
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