Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Sorry, this movie sucks

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

A poor student (Paul Wegener) rescues a beautiful countess (Grete Berger) and soon becomes obsessed with her. A sorcerer (John Gottowt) makes a deal with the young man to give him fabulous wealth and anything he wants, if he will sign his name to a contract.The film is loosely based on "William Wilson", a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, the poem "The December Night" by Alfred de Musset, and Faust. The Faust elements are obvious, the other two less so (though the Musset quotation might give it away). This is really a great early example of horror literature on screen.Cinematographer Guido Seeber utilized groundbreaking camera tricks to create the effect of the Doppelgänger (mirror double), producing a seamless double exposure. Hanns Heinz Ewers was a noted writer of horror and fantasy stories whose involvement with the screenplay lent a much needed air of respectability to the fledgling art form.

The film "Der Student von Prag", directed by Herr Stellan Rye in the silent year of 1913, is certainly a suitable film for the Schloss theatre. That's due to the many daring elements that the oeuvre provided this German count.The film has poor commoners, more precisely, a student commoner. He dreams of richness and of hobnobbing with top people. On the other side, there are idle aristocrats who spend their time riding and a rich heiress who is engaged to her cousin. However, he's a man who obviously she doesn't love, preferring her to be wooed by the student. That student is now a rich man thanks to a strange pact with a strange old man.Ah, what glorious clichés!!.But there is even more! In the film are beautiful outdoor sceneries ( the filming locations were obviously in Prague ) and elegant indoor aristocratic sceneries. But the most important thing in the picture ( besides the ones mentioned by this Herr Von ) is that the picture deals with the myth of the Doppelgänger, or the vision of the evil side of oneself!.Ah, what a wonderful sinister folklore!!.The film is starred by Herr Paul Wegener who certainly suffered a terrible experience with his Doppelgänger in the city of Prague. Prague is a beautiful but obscure Central-European city where from time to time another strange being walked up and down the streets. That would be the Golem a screen creature that years later would also use Herr Wegener for his evil deeds. But this is another and completely different story.And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count is waiting for Herr Doppelgänger and Herr Golem to take tea.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com

This early version of the tale 'The Student of Prague' was made in Germany in 1913, starring Paul Wegener (who was also in 'The Golem' a few years later). In this film he plays a dual role (technically impressive for a 95 year old film to see them in the same shot) after meeting a mysterious old man who makes a pact with him for gold - the gold he needs to woo a countess he's previously saved from drowning.Moving at a fast pace (the film runs just over an hour) and fairly well written and characterised, 'The Student of Prague' has echoes of the Faust legend as well as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, starting as it does with a pact with a mysterious figure of potential evil, and developing into good and evil sides of the same person.

Student of Prague, The (1913) ** 1/2 (out of 4)A poor college student (Paul Wegener) falls in love with a rich woman so he makes a deal with a sorcerer. The sorcerer pays him 100,000 gold pieces for anything in the student's room. The sorcerer decides to steal the student's soul. This is a pretty good horror film that manages to have a few very creepy scenes including the first scene where the soul is taken. The rest of the film is pretty weak working itself up towards the very good ending. This is still a very important film for horror fans to seek out.You can check my review of the remake here as well.