The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920)

Original title

Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam

Directed by

Carl Boese, Paul Wegener

Genre

fantasy film, horror film, silent film, monster film

Country

Weimar Republic, Germany

Runtime

1h 25m

Rated

M/12

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 242 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

In a medieval Jewish community, a rabbi creates a giant creature from clay using magic to protect his people. The golem comes to life and serves the rabbi but eventually becomes a threat when it defies control.

silentexpressionistgothicsombermythicstagedatmosphericsomber

What happens

The Golem: How He Came into the World (German: Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam, also referred to as Der Golem) is a 1920 German silent horror film and a leading example of early German Expressionism. Director Paul Wegener, who co-directed the film with Carl Boese and co-wrote the script with Henrik Galeen based on Gustav Meyrink's 1915 novel, stars as the titular creature, a being in Jewish folklore created from clay. Cinematographer Karl Freund went on to work on the 1930s Universal Pictures horror films years later in Hollywood. The Golem: How He Came into the World is the third of three films that Wegener made featuring the golem, the other two being The Golem (1915) and the short comedy The Golem and the Dancing Girl (1917), in which Wegener dons the golem make-up in order to frighten a young lady with whom he is infatuated. The Golem: How He Came into the World is a prequel to The Golem from 1915 and, as the only one of the three films that has not been lost, is the best known of the series. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• The Golem (1915)
• Rabín a jeho Golem (1995)
• Alraune and the Golem (1919)
• The Golem and the Dancing Girl (1917)
• Lilith und Ly (1919)
• Le Golem (1936)
• Albert als Golem (1916)
• M (1931)