Face the pain...

 We are not the same you or I.  We had forever changed on that fateful night 16 years ago on my sister’s birthday.  I would say at one point before then, I had even thought I loved you.   I cannot say the same for you, because I don’t think you were ever capable of love.  Then again considering the examples you had, it now comes as no surprise. 

For you, the course of the evening did little in the way of long-lasting effects.  For me however, it was after the violence you visited upon my person that I started have migraines and other health issues.  You seemed to go about your life as you always had.  Expecting things from everyone else and when you didn’t get your way, you made sure that everyone else knew it and was miserable.  There was a point in my life after you were gone that I pitied you.  I began to look at you as a sad monster.  For that is what you were to me.  A monster.  More than that.  Words cannot due justice to the hurt and betrayal that I felt that night.  To say that I am over it would be a fallacy.  It is not something someone can just get over.  As I sit on the other side of the 16 years that transpired since then I realize that on the surface, it affected me a good deal more than it did you.  But this is simply not true, for I realize that I will only be dealing with this painful experience for a short time.  (Even if it is the rest of my life.)  Whereas you will have to answer for it not only to the authorities in this world.  (Which you got off with a slap on the wrist due to my sympathetic weakness at the time.)  However, you will have to answer to the authority in the next life.  I suppose you will not get off so easy and the final judgement will be harsh.

I am not angry.  At one point I would have felt sorry for you, but the truth is I don’t feel anything in regards to you.  However, I do find myself thinking back to your crimes every October 27^th. In some ways I have progressed so much since then.  In others, I still look back and it seems like yesterday and I will mistakenly become that weak willed soul that allowed you to react with such violence and abuse.  Sometimes it will flood back into my consciousness in a deluge of memory and pain.  Other times I see it as a fleeting dream, questioning if it really did happen. 

 

The following is an excerpt from my book entitled “Stuff in my Attic”. 

 

It was October 27th, 2004.  I had been working 2 jobs to make ends meet while my ex-wife was pregnant with our first child.  It just so happened it was my sister’s birthday and I had the day off from both jobs. During the week when I was tired, and my ex would always make me sleep on the couch. 

Since I had the day off from both jobs, I thought it would be nice to call my sister since I had not talked to her in quite some time and it was her birthday after all. 

My ex-wife had planned to roast some pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin she turned into a Jack-O-lantern without me the day prior.  I told her that I wanted to call my family, and she grabbed the phone from my hand forcefully.  The way I saw it, I worked over 80 hours a week and only got 4 hours at most of sleep a night and on my day off she was going to tell me who I could and could not talk to?  No!  I was angry.  We started arguing and next thing I know I angrily flung the tray holding the roasted seeds across the kitchen.  That is when she made a decision that haunts me to this day, she beat me with a 4 foot long iron pipe that had a corrugated plastic sleeve.  I ran to the corner and huddled into a fetal position as she continued to beat me with her makeshift weapon.  After she paused, I ran past her, locked myself in the bathroom, got dressed and walked out.  She had said that if I leave don’t ever bother coming back.  As she proceeded to throw my things down the stairs at me.  I ended up walking a full 8 miles to the hospital and reported what had happened.  We reconciled for a short time, then just about a month later, I left.  I could not take it anymore.  I left my wedding ring on the table with my keys to the apartment.  No note or anything. We were separated for about 6 years. In early 2010, we moved back in together and there were many times that she was emotionally and financially abusive. 

She only got physically abusive a few more times in our relationship after we reconciled that year. Eventually she (thankfully) filed for divorce.  (But that is another story for another time.)

So there you have it there is more to the story as you may know.  However, I look back and realize, I have come a long way, but sadly (or not so sadly) she probably hasn’t.  She is probably still the angry, bitter selfish woman she always had been.  It was a pity that I did not see it until it was too late.

Sleepy Hollow (1999) 

Directed by Tim Burton, Sleepy Hollow is an atmospheric gothic thriller

which ranks up with 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula.  Perhaps it is unfair to compare directors such as Coppola and Burton, however both films drip with atmosphere and tension.  Each film cell is like a painting which the viewer is sure to find pleasant to the eye, yet eerie.

Featuring an all star cast of actors that most geeks would recognize from various other films.  In fact, there are several actors who also feature in both Harry Potter and Star Wars films.  Also, there are 2 classically trained actors who also appeared in Hammer Horror films.  But I'll let you figure out who those are when you watch the film again! 

The art direction gives us a glimpse into the fevered mind of Burton yet it does not overpower the story or the acting. Since its Burton, the director of ‘Beetlejuice’ (1988), some scenes (especially those with the Headless Horseman) are over the top 
and very entertaining yet over the top to watch. 

This may be slightly unfortunate if one expects a serious horror thriller but such scenes do intend to discharge the tension, while again showing off Burton’s talent for mixing inventive fantasies with dark, Gothic designs. The sets alone are nearly worth the price of admission, featuring the abstract expressionism that fits so well within the typical Burton fare.  

The film could also have had more structure to it, instead of jumping back and forth in time now and then, as well as make an effort to be more believable. However, nevertheless, what the production manages to achieve with brilliance is to create this creepy and eerie atmosphere to the movie: from the dialogue and the costumes to the dreary lightning and the music (by the great Danny Elfman), ‘Sleepy Hollow’ is a very Gothic spin on an already familiar story. 

By way of trivia, the production constructed the set of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ in a record-time, i.e., three months, and the film was actually awarded an Academy Award in the category of the Best Art Direction-Set Decoration.  One actor was quoted as  saying that walking around the small village was akin to walking around inside the mind of Tim Burton.

                                            

When asked about Depp's acting skill while filming, Burton said that Depp is,
"One of the best fainters in the business."  Depp faints a total of 5 times 
(vs. Ricci's twice) with each instance bringing a sense of  quirky humor 
to an otherwise dreary murder thriller mystery. 

All in all, this film is one of my favorite horror movies to watch, the beheadings and special effects are like a modern take on Hammer Classic Movies.  (Which was the feeling the Burton was working to evoke.)  It helps that it was shot primarly in UK at Leavesden Studios. Also, this film takes horror to the next level by not sparing younger victims from the Horseman's blade.  One victim, an unborn baby, another a young boy who the viewer thinks will survive, is pulled up by the hair after witnessing his parents murdered by the Horseman. 

                                

Speaking of the Horseman and his grisly murders, I would be remiss if I did not at least mention the stunt work by Ray Park.  Instantly recognizable in his unique style, Mr. Park gives the Horseman a sort of threatening fluidity and movement that is all business yet eerily calm in it's demeanor.  The bridge scene in particular is fascinating.  

If for some reason you have been trapped under a rock or have not yet had the opportunity to watch this film that features an all star cast, I encourage you strongly to do so!

Working on my new book...

Here is a small section from my new book I'm currently writing.

So my first exposure to the medium of comic books was from my mother buying a miscellaneous pack of them from the hotel gift shop in Canada while we vacationed there as a family in the winter of 1984. We were packing up to leave and we got all packed up and dad took the luggage to the car while my mother sister and I finished getting dressed and ready to go. Well being the stubborn butt I am, I snuck behind the easy chair in the room and read my favorite Supergoof comic (issue 71 pictured below) on the floor as I had not yet finished it.

Well my mother motivated me by threatening that dad would be upset. I got dressed leaving the comic there to come back to later. Well on our way out with the commotion I forgot all about it. My mother amd sister and I got stuck on the elevator when the hotel lost power. We were in there for what seemed like hours. My dad was looking for us, we were screaming for help. A lady with a thick accent told us that they were working on getting us out. When the doors opened, we were in the basement. My mom pushed the lobby button and I was mad because I didn't want to get stuck again. In those days there was no emergency lightning either. So we find dad and get on the road. About an hour away from the hotel, I remembered the comic book! I cried and cried. My mom said we would get more comics soon. We did, but I was never able to find that issue of Supergoof again...until now. Thanks to the digital age I was able to find it online. Now I can enjoy it once again. My 8 year old self is estatic!

"Masking" my Nostalgia - Part 2

This time we continue our look into the M.A.S.K. line of toys from Kenner from the 1980's.  This article is somewhat short however the subject is special to me. Read on to find out why.

As a young lad in 1985, I was keen to "keep up with the Jones'" and collect as much as I would be allowed from the major toy lines that really appealed to me.  M.A.S.K. was no exception.  I had told my parents about them and my mother bought me Condor. (Which we looked at last time.)  So when Christmas rolls around that year, imagine my surprise when I received Thunderhawk with the leader of M.A.S.K. Matt Trakker!  (I also received Switchblade with Miles Mayhem but we will look at that one in part 3.)

I remember opening the wrapping and I can remember I sat in my pajamas with a large gaping mouth in shock at how I was one lucky boy to receive such a prestigious gift.  (I also seem to recall that I also had received so many GI Joe figures that year that my parents couldn't even wrap them all but that is a story for another time/place.)   The box art was great showing Thunderhawk in action on the front.  Accented in the classic M.A.S.K. red and white.  It was a sight to behold.

In addition to being a what could only be described as a classic red sports car (Z Type 85 Camaro) with gull-wing doors, it was the leader of M.A.S.K.'s signature vehicle.  It featured heavily in the cartoon and perhaps featured the easiest vehicle transformation of any toy of the line.  With a push of the button, and a pull on the running boards, the sports car soon would be in "jet" mode.  The rear spoiler would pop up at the same time as the doors, exposing the turbo thrusters.  By pushing on these thrusters, one could release the bombs that would be found on the under carriage. Undoubtedly, these are the easiest parts to lose, and if you happen to find a complete Thunderhawk for purchase, it can increase the price greatly to have these small bombs included.

The graphics on the car scream 1980's hip.  A purple high tech looking graph with a lightning bolt that represented speed, the car/jet was the epitome of cool.

Looking at the leader of M.A.S.K. himself, Matt Trakker with Spectrum Mask.  Just like the rest of the toys in this line, he would have different helmet versions. (Shown below.)  However, it does surprise me that this particular toy line varied from the other toys of the time because you would only see one maybe two iterations of the "leader" character. (Optimus Prime, General Hawk for example)  M.A.S.K. however gave us 7-8 variations!  (Action packs included...more on those later.)  The Spectrum mask allowed Matt to hover/fly, read various heat signatures, analyze various materials (such as how much of a particular metal was in a rock wall) among other things as the writers saw fit.  Truly a weapon fit for a leader. 

I would like to give a shout out to Michael Mercy and his videos which inspired me to take another look at the toys of my youth.  His video on Thunderhawk (embedded below) does the toy way more justice than what I am capable of.  Thank you Michael, and "Nermast'e!"

                 

Many years later, I found my Thunderhawk (mostly complete) and was shocked to find the real rubber tires were still intact and stickers in good condition. (A rarity as many would dry rot away if not properly stored.)  I found Matt Trakker and his mask Spectrum and proudly told my 8 year old son of the great times I had with that toy as I presented it to him.  He played with it for a while, and I am sure that when my ex and I divorced, she left it in the house she abandoned to be disposed of.  It is now probably sitting in a landfill somewhere.  Sigh....oh well.  At least my son got to share in my childhood if only for a brief time.

Next time we will take a look at some of the bad guys from V.E.N.O.M. featuring the main man himself, Miles Mayhem and his vehicle Switchblade!

"Masking" my Nostalgia - Part 1

I am unashamedly a child of the 80's.

After speaking to a good friend and he told me that I should start writing weekly articles featuring different 80's toys/ cartoons, etc. So, with his encouragement and that of my wife, I set out to write this series.

To get things started lets go where illusion is the ultimate weapon. Mobile Armored Strike Kommand. Otherwise known as M.A.S.K. Seriously? Kommand...with a "K". I guess it makes the anagram complete, however there are plenty of other "k" words that I think could have been used. Knights (too British sounding for a US 80's kids cartoon, sorry UK) Um..Killers? (Definitely would not be approved by the censor board.) Kittens? OK, perhaps Kommand is not so bad. M.A.S.K. holds a special place in my heart. I even included it in a chapter of my book entitled "Stuff in My Attic", in the coming weeks, I will share various insights and stories behind the beloved toy line.

For those not familiar with M.A.S.K. it is an cartoon and toyline produced by Kenner in 1985. An amalgam of GI Joe and Transformers, about a covert specialized military team that operates vehicles that convert into other vehicles. Each operative wears a helmet (mask) that performs a variety of technical wizardry. Of course no 80's action cartoon would be complete without the inclusion of the forces of the "bad" guy. GI Joe had Cobra, M.A.S.K. had V.E.N.O.M. (Again with the anagrams...oh Kenner, you sneaky devils!) It stands for Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem. Mayhem here being Miles Mayhem the leader of the baddies.

Today, we are going to look at the first M.A.S.K. toy I was able to own. "Condor" piloted by Brad "Chopper" Turner, part-time rock star, and agent of M.A.S.K. Brad's vehicle was a green racing motorcycle that converts into an open-top attack helicopter. First show appearance was in episode 1. His Hocus Pocus mask projects realistic sometimes "hard light" holograms. In preparation for writing this series, I watched a few episodes of the old cartoon. Wow. It kinda holds up. Sure, it has a campy 80's vibe to it, but that is half the fun.

This particular toy paved the way for my love of the cartoon and toy line. My parents soon bought me other M.A.S.K. and V.E.N.O.M. toys.

The first releases of the toys had slightly smaller masks that were often one solid piece. (No holes) When an executive made the assumption that the masks could easily be made a choking hazard, they enlarged them and included holes into the design. I had the first series smaller helmets on mosts of my figures. Speaking of figures, you may notice (hard to tell on some pics) that the figures don't have the articulation of their GI Joe cousins, or the level of detail that you would think by today's standards. This is due to the smaller nature of the figures. Instead of the standard 3 3/4 inch figures that most toylines used. Kenner opted to go smaller to make the vehicles more portable and affordable. Good thing too, as financially savvy parents were able to stock up on this fantastic toy line.

I remember playing with Brad "Chopper" Turner for hours, showing my grandparents (and anyone else who would listen) that my motorcycle could change into a helicopter!

In my 40's I appreciate these toys all the more. (Now if I can afford to get some!) The box art was/ is phenomenal, the concept, the camp factor, it all adds up to a ton of enjoyment.

Next time, we'll look at the signature vehicle...Thunderhawk!

See you then!

Classic Era Horror - The Fate of Expressionism!

This week we focus on an influential masterpiece of German Expressionism, Robert Weine's 1920 horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari). Like many of the great silent films of the era, Caligari is in the public domain, and available to watch for free (in versions of varying quality) on YouTube, Netflix, archive.org, and other sources.


I'm not a film scholar, the only qualification I have when it comes to writing these reviews is that I am a film enthusiast. I'm not going to pretend for a moment that I have a comprehensive grasp of German Expressionism. (Really, I don't.) That being said however, I do feel the need to expound on German Expressionism. (Especially so since this article is a review for what is considered by many to be the quintessential film demonstrating the period.)


Expressionism emerged at the turn of the 20th century, a time of great societal change and a perfect storm of challenges—in philosophy, psychology, politics, socio-economics, linguistics, and in the arts—to the individual's understanding of reality and his place within it. Expressionism had its roots in the 19th century—in philosophers like Nietzsche and Marx, and in artists like Van Gogh and Munch—and flourished in the early 20th century.


And then, of course, the movement was strongly influenced by the unimaginable horrors of the First World War (1914-1919), which saw kingdoms and empires broken, effectively reshaping Europe both physically and socially. World War I turned the dehumanizing tools of the Industrial Revolution into an efficient way to kill some 16 million people. In the years after the war, Expressionism took on a more political air, becoming a means of exploring both personal alienation and the need for political and cultural revolution.

“Man screams from the depths of his soul; the whole era becomes a single, piercing shriek. Art also screams, into the deep darkness, screams for help, screams for the spirit. This is Expressionism.” 
― Hermann Bahr


The Expressionists moved away from strict realism and external representation to prioritize the experiences of the artist. Where the Impressionists had tried to translate the external world through the artist's perceptions, the Expressionists sought to make the inner turmoil of the artist external: they prioritized emotion over intellect, subjective reality over objective, and symbolism over literalism.


What we call "German Expressionism" flourished in the era of the Weimar Republic, the government in place in Germany between the end of the First World War in 1919 and the rise of the Third Reich in 1933. I've even less of a German historian than I am a film historian, but it was, from all reports, not a happy time: the revolutionary left and the radical right were at war with each other, and both were at war with the government, while the entire country—attempting to recover in every way from the horrors of the War to End All Wars—was suffering from skyrocketing inflation and widespread unemployment.


Weimar Germany was, however, a ripe environment for artistic expression, due to a fertile combination of communal trauma, passion for change, and creative liberty. The Weimar government had removed many of the previous administration's censorship laws and restrictions, and so a period of social, sexual, and artistic freedom emerged. The new art form of cinema was under more severe restrictions than other media—films were still produced under the banner of a state-run film studio, Ufa—but this system produced incredible, innovative early works from directors like F. W. Murnau (Nosferatu), Fritz Lang (Metropolis), and even Billy Wilder (who collaborated on Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer's People on a Sunday).


None of this, of course, is essential knowledge for appreciating Robert Weine's The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari—written by Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz—one of the earliest and most successful of the Ufa films. In fact, I think you can note many of the goals and obsessions of German Expressionism just from watching the film, and experiencing its jagged, threatening aesthetic, its violent and psychologically tortured story, its uncertain and uncomfortable relationships to authority and reality. (Or you can just enjoy it as an early, creepy, creative, darkly visionary movie.)






The film opens with a framing sequence: a young man and an older man are sitting in a garden, sharing stories. "There are spirits everywhere, they are all around us," the old man—who looks rather mad—says. "They have driven me from hearth and home—from wife and child." We receive—and will receive—no explanation for this extraordinary claim, because they are interrupted by the arrival of someone who seems to be one of those spirits: an ethereal figure in white who wanders trancelike from the furthest depths of the shot, nearer and nearer, until she moves to the foreground and out of sight. "That is my fiancée," the young man says, and launches into his own story, propelling the audience deeper into the nightmare fevered landscape of a dream like world that touches a nerve in the human psyche, causing one to question the sanity of the films creators.


One of the things that amazed me on first viewing of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is its relatively sophisticated narrative structure, unusual for films of the time: it was one of the first films, for example, to employ flashback, and narratives within narratives. One of Weine's favorite transitions is an iris effect—blackness closing in until the screen is reduced to a tiny circle of focus, and then opening again on another scene—and he employs it brilliantly here: he closes in on the storyteller's face, and then out to show the brighter landscape where the story will take place, and then back in to the storyteller. It is a way to make clear to his viewers that we are now shifting into the world of the young man's story—and for all I know, they had never before been asked to process such a visual narrative leap—but it's also wonderfully evocative: it's as though we are drifting in and out of sleep, in and out of the worlds of reality and nightmare, and we're not quite sure which world is which.


You will have to view the movie yourself for and make your own conclusions. I will not post the synopsis here. (Spoilers)


The story ends happily.


Except it doesn't. This is perhaps the earliest use of the twist ending that went on to inspire modern directors like Eli Roth, and M. Night Shyamalan, we emerge back in the framing sequence, with Francis telling his story to the old man. (And no, the original framing sequence is NOT the twist ending; that is still coming.)


Go watch the film now if you have not yet seen it…spoilers posted below! Go on, I’ll wait here…


Welcome back!

The framing sequence, which upends the main narrative, was forced on the filmmakers by the studio, which feared that the original story of the murders would prove too dark and disturbing for audiences at the time. Ufa asked director Fritz Lang to come up with an idea to soften Weine's film, and Lang suggested this ending, in which there were no murders, just the delusions of a sick young man.

Apart from this evidence that studio interference is as old as cinema itself, I find the framing sequence fascinating, and I'm not sure it subtracts from the film as much as many critics seem to think. On the one hand, yes, it distorts the intention of the film: instead of a story in which the old establishment figure—the character of the Director—is proven to be corrupt and evil, it becomes a story in which the young (presumably liberal) student is shown to be delusional.

Instead of a story in which authority is overthrown, and the old order is questioned, we now have a story in which authority is reinforced, and order is restored.

And yet the studio-imposed framing sequence adds an additional layer of narrative uncertainty that, to me, makes The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari far more interesting than it might otherwise be, and—in a way—far more subversive. One of the things that fascinates me about this is that Ufa believed this ending somehow made the film more palatable: as though audiences would be comforted to learn that our heroes—our romantic leads—were both completely insane, and that everything we had believed to be true was a lie. Perhaps German audiences at the time did find the restoration of order and authority at the end of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to be comforting: I find it far more nihilistic and unnerving than the original ending might have been. After all, though the Director says he can now cure Francis, no such promise is made about Jane, so the happy ending—the Romantic ending, the promise of peace and joy that Jane represented—has been destroyed. And where is Alan? The story we have watched becomes even darker if we interpret it through this new ending: Caligari (the evil figure of authority) and Cesare (the monstrous expression of subconscious will) both become creatures of Francis's tormented psyche, who (at least in Francis's mind) murdered his best friend and rival for Jane's affections.

So, in conclusion, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a must. A sophisticated, deep, dark, psychological thriller/mystery.

Film: *****

Effects: *** (Nothing of real note besides iris in/out and some set and directing tricks new for the time)

Soundtrack: *** (I found the film on Archive.org and the soundtrack was not bad/distracting from the story - as is the case sometimes in older films.)

Story: ***** (Wow. Complex story telling on par with modern films? Count me in!)


Overall: 4 stars! Great film to enjoy any time of year not just at Halloween!

The classics rise again! - 2 more reviews!

Frankenstein (1910)

When I watched this film for the first time, two main thoughts went through my head: “This is filmed pretty much like your standard silent film” and “Wow!  The effects are way beyond the standard silent era film!”

Yes, there’s the typical “stagey” acting and settings and the motionless camera, but there’s some innovations too. One is the “creation” sequence, a very unsettling standout.  It nearly churned my stomach and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  (Something modern horror typically doesn’t do for me.)  There’s also an almost magical element to the monster’s creation, as we see it slowly fuse together from nothing into a solid human shape (we’ll discuss how these effects were brought to life on the screen momentarily). And the magical element is even stronger in the last scenes of the film, where the monster confronts itself in the mirror and disappears, leaving behind just its reflection for Frankenstein to see before even that fades away entirely. Evil in the scientist’s mind created the monster, but love proved so much stronger that the monster could no longer exist–apparently.

 Its secret is a little obvious if you watch closely: they made a dummy of the monster figure (with a skeleton inside!), set it on fire, filmed it burning away and then reversed the footage to make it seem like the creature was slowly generating via unholy means.

The monster is created not just through botched science, but it springs forth from the darkness within Frankenstein himself.

Surviving prints of Frankenstein are pretty blurry, that being said, we unfortunately cannot see all its creepy detail, however it still was able to give me “the heebee jeebees”. Even with the haze of corroded nitrate, this ingenious scene is unique enough to deserve the status of “classic.”

Film: *****

Effects: ****

Soundtrack: *** (The link above had the best score!  It significantly was able to enhance the picture without overpowering the imagery.)

Story: **** (The story is classic for a reason, the “god-complex” and the realization that the true monster is the creator and not the creature, is nothing short of legendary.)

Overall score: 4 stars!  (Highest score yet!)  It is a must view at least once in one’s lifetime!

The Golem (1920)

This is actually a second Golem film - subtitled “How He Came Into The World”. (Which you can view the entire 101 minute version here!)  The first one being made into a short film in 1914.

This second film returned to the original story of Rabbi Loew, who creates the Golem to save the ghetto from disaster. The Rabbi is unable to control his creature, who resembles an incarnation of some juggernaut-like natural force. The Golem breaks through the ghetto gate into the world outside, where a pretty little Aryan girl (significantly) offers him an apple and then plucks the Star Of David from his chest, and he once again becomes no more than a dead clay statue. Young German maidens dance and play on the body, which is then ceremoniously carried back into the ghetto by the Jewish leaders.

The Golem is a richly symbolic narrative drawn from Jewish mythology, but the question remains after the Golem’s ultimate fate is decided in a startling instant at the end of the film: Is this a sympathetic portrait of the oppression Jews faced throughout Europe, in crowded ghettos of twisted lanes and dark hovels? Or is The Golem more so-called ‘proof’ of Jewish necromancy, another in a long line of paranoid fantasies about Jews putting spells on Gentiles (Shylock, Fagin, Svengali, etc.)? For Paul Wegener, the story of The Golem proved so fascinating that he retold it again and again, rewriting it, directing it, and playing the creature himself, in a remarkable artistic quest to understand the tyrannical power of religious myth. The essence of the story was coincidentally to be repeated in James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931), but, we will cover that at another article. 

This film incorporates sets and imagery that evoke the typical German expressionism that one sees still inspiring modern film makers today.  (Hitchcock is an example of a golden age contemporary that utilized some expressionist techniques.  More on that in a later article.)  

Film: ***

Effects: ***

Soundtrack: *** (Nothing spectacular, but not distracting.)

Story: **

Overall score: 2.75 

Not a great film, but not a bad one either.  Surely, a must see for any silent era horror movie aficionado, it contains some great visuals.