Holy Shit! Now I know where Scooby Doo stole all of its endings from. That is enlightening. Pacing here is probably needed a little work, but back then this must have been like their Gone With the Wind, it’s so long (relatively). But I watched the KINO 2008 “restored” version with some extra archival footage thrown in (you can tell, some of the rescued footage is...pretty rough), and it does play out the whole narrative a bit slloowly. Well, more than a bit. I’m not sayin I was drunk and caught myself nodding off, but I may have had to rewind a scene or two, and go out for some Sleazy P. Martini Cracktacular Pickmeups to soldier through. It’s...a little sluggish. But it is a solid entry in the “Killer Transplant Drives the Recipient to MOIDAH!” genre, I’m guessin.
Paul Orlac, Pianist extraordinaire. Unfortunately he’s in a horrific train wreck while traveling back to see his wife. He’s pretty okay, only a fractured skull. But...his hands? No!! For the love of hands, not...HIS HANDS!!! But thanks to modern 1920s science that didn’t actually exist yet, with a dash of Re-Animator and some spliced-on hands, Orlac is back to his wife. But the dreams. The torments. And the bills. So many bills. Hand-splicin ain’t cheap folks, especially without missing-hand insurance! Plus there is the whole psychological horror thing of literal...hands of a KILLER! So dramatics!
For a film from over a 100 years ago? It seems kinda representative of the times, I guess? At least in exploring some early sci-fi and horror themes. So much facial expressionings. Hence, known as a German Expressionist film. Actually that’s probably not quite what German Expressionism really is but I’m sticking with it. There are subtitles, of course, in a way. Technically title cards, as yeah, this is a silent film. Didn’t quite have that synchronized visual AND audio thing down quite yet. Not too much reading though, it’s all about the crazy theatrics and physical emotings. So much physical emotings. And expressionings. But it is kinda surreal as it plays out, and one of the naughtiest cheek-rubbing scenes ever to be caught on film! How it got past the censorship apparatus, I have no idea!
