Underplayed Gems

The Head of Janus (1920)

The Head of Janus poster
Original title
Der Janus-Kopf
Directed by
F. W. Murnau
Genre
horror film, silent film
Country
Germany
Runtime
1h 47m
Rating
9.0 of 10 from 1 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like this

How it feels

This is a silent German film from 1920. It is an adaptation of the classic story about a man who creates a potion that unleashes his evil side. The film is now lost but was well received at the time.

lostsilentgothicsomberatmospherictwistedmenacingclassic-horror-tone

What happens

Der Januskopf (lit. 'The Head of Janus') is a lost 1920 German silent film directed by F. W. Murnau. The film was an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Little is known about the film's production: it was shot and previewed under the title Schrecken (lit. 'Terror'), with shooting starting in either February or March 1920. The film received great acclaim in Germany from trade publications and newspapers on its release, specifically noting the performance by Conrad Veidt. The film has been described by Bela Lugosi biographers Gary Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger as being "among the most sought-after lost films" due to its initial critical acclaim. Robert Louis Stevenson researcher Steve Joyce described it as having an "all-star" film team of cinematographer Karl Freund, director F. W. Murnau and actors Conrad Veidt and Bela Lugosi. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.