Stars: Paul Wegener, Ernst Deutsch, Albert Steinruck, Lyda Salmonova

Director: Paul Wegener

Summary: A silent German horror classic set in 16th Century Prague which revolves around a Rabbi who constructs a man of clay to defend his people against plunder and massacre.

With his third version of THE GOLEM, director, writer, and actor Paul Wegener is credited with creating the first horror movie series, and historians consider THE GOLEM AND THE DANCER (his 1917 follow-up to the 1914 original) to be the first sequel in cinema history. Based on a legend in Jewish mysticism, in 16th-century Prague community leader and astrologer Rabbi Loew (Albert Steinruck) foresees doom for the Jews. When the emperor decrees a pogrom of the Jewish ghetto, Loew molds a forbidding clay golem (Wegener) to save his people. Loew invokes a demon spirit to retrieve a magic word that he places in an amulet on the creature's chest. Once the word is positioned, the giant wedge-haired automaton lives. Danger ensues, however, when Loew's assistant, Famulus (Ernst Deutsch), uses the golem to settle a score with Florian (Lothar Muthel), a knight who has stolen his sweetheart, Miriam (Lyda Salmonova). THE GOLEM's influence on future horror films was significant, particularly James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN. Wegener's distorted sets and chiaroscuro lighting, complemented by Karl Freund's expert photography, make the film an excellent example of German Expressionism and an important contribution by German mega studio UFA to the golden age of Weimar cinema.

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A relic certainly, but a fascinating one, Der Golemis perhaps the screen's first great monster movie. Though it was actually the third time director-star Paul Wegener had played the eponymous creation, the earlier efforts (sadly lost) were rough drafts for this elaborate dramatisation of the Jewish legend. When the Emperor decrees that the Jews of mediaeval Prague should be evicted from the ghetto, a mystical rabbi creates a clay giant and summons the demon Astaroth who breathes out in smoky letters the magic word that will animate the golem. Intended as a protector and avenger, the golem is twisted by the machinations of a lovelorn assistant and, like many a monster to come, runs riot, terrorising guilty and innocent alike until a little girl innocently ends his rampage. Wegener's golem is an impressively solid figure, the Frankenstein monster with a slightly comical girly clay-wig. The wonderfully grotesque Prague sets and the alchemical atmosphere remain potent.

On the DVD: Der Golemon disc has an imaginative menu involving the rabbi opening a book of spells that leads to alternate versions of the film with German or English inter-titles. The print is cobbled from several sources and tinted to the original specifications, with an especially impressive crimson glow as the ghetto burns. The extras are an audio essay, illustrated with clips, on Der Golemand German Expressionist cinema in general, plus a gallery of stills and other illustrations. --Kim Newman

Region:	Region 0
Special Features:	Filmographies, Biographies
Year:	1920
Release Date:	October 1, 2001
Runtime:	64 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D V D 4508
Keywords:	General, Silent, Horror, Der, Occult, Golem, Sci, Fi
Genre:	Horror/Occult