'The Golem' review by MartialHorror

Source: http://freewebs.com/mhgolem

THE GOLEM: HOW HE CAME INTO THE WORLD(1920)
(Directed by Carl Boese and Paul Wegener)

"Man, silent films bore me."-Signed by MartialHorror

Plot: A Rabbi predicts doom for the Jews, so summons a Golem to protect them. But the Golem begins to grow a mind of its own............ Also known as “Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam”

Review:

When I reviewed (the much superior) “Nosferatu”, I warned the readers that: “Good or bad, silent films from this time had a completely different style. You might think that you can take the lack of recorded dialogue, but it goes beyond that. The absence of dialogue seems to effect every little aspect of the film. So watching "Nosferatu" is like stepping into a completely different world of cinema,”. The same can be said about “The Golem”, the third and most common entry in what is reputed to be the first horror franchise. Frankly, these movies are outdated. You might be offended at this, but I don’t mind the grainy footage, the absense of dialogue, and even the campy acting. It’s the fact characters in these movies tend to be completely unrelatable. Okay, not all are like that. Charlie Chaplin’s “The Kid” always gets to me. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize that most silent films aren’t “The Golem: How It Came Into The World”, a film that represents all that I hate about silent movies. It has its purpose, and even a few things of interest, but it just fell flat on its face when I watched it.

The film opens with a Jewish astronomer(In Prague, 16th century) finding a prophecy in the stars, that a disaster is coming to the Jews. So he goes to Rabbi Loew(Steinruck), the leader of the Jews. Loew lives with his daughter, Miriam(Salmonova) and some guy named Famulus(Deutsch). I thought that Famulus was his son at first, but later on he’s Miriam’s husband/fiancé/boyfriend/stalker with unrequited love based on his sudden jealously of a knight, Florian(Muthel). But hell, my main problem with this movie is that the relationships are lucky to even be superficial. Otherwise, we’re lucky to even know who they are to eachother. Florian has been sent to deliver a messenger from the King that the Jews are to be expelled. I laughed at how one of the accusations is them practicing in black magic and *gasp* one of the next scenes show a rabbi studying in black magic. That Rabbi is Loew, who creates a Golem out of clay. The design of the Golem is pretty silly looking, but Paul Wegeners performance as the creature is marvelous. He is both scary and even somewhat sympathetic.

Then, Florian and Miriam give each other ‘the look’. Ugh, Florian is creepy with his pasty looks and is intense stare at Miriam makes it even creepier. But she instantly returns his affections. Wait a minute…..Pasty looking guys who stare intently at girls all creepy like and actually manages to get them!? OH MY GOD, IT’S “Twilight”. Does this mean that “Twilight” was actually a satire of 20’s romances? EEEK! But I’ll stop here with the plot because I’d be spoiling too much. I will say the James Whale’s “Frankenstein” probably borrowed a lot.

But when all was said and done, at least I could praise the production designs. The Jewish ghettos look old and crusty, while the Christian sections look all nice and decorated. The expressionistic settings were pretty impressive and I have to admit that some of the action scenes were awe inspiring, especially considering the time. But overall, I didn’t like anyone in this movie. I didn’t make any real connection to the story, and to be frank, I didn’t care.

Violence: Some death.

Nudity: Implied sex scene……with their cloths on.

Overall: I believe film has improved since the 1920's, so I’m always reluctant to tackle these super old movies. But I suppose fans of silent horror will appreciate it more than I did.

2/4 STARS　


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