The Head of Janus (1920)

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

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)

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