The Haunted Castle

Two silent rarities....given VERY shabby treatment
I was initially very excited about the release of these two rare silent classics,and quickly made an order of this DVD.
Alpha DVD is a budget line,and i've always respected them for there releasing of rare,seldom seen classics like The Student of Prague(1926).
Quality is often mixed on there DVDs but.....geez.
It's pretty bad here,folks.
The Haunted Castle(1921) suffers from a horrible digital alteration that makes the print virtually unwatchable.
It's not helped by mediocre scoring,and the fact that it's a slow drama.
Horror fans reading the title and seeing Murnau's name attached will find interest,but this is NOT a genre title.
There is some nice atmosphere,which could have been made more by appropiate tinting(i've seen scenes of this on Kino DVDs and it's a shame...there what made me want to SEE this film).
One scene that stands out,and certainly predates Murnau's Nosferatu(1922) is a nightmare scene involving a large clawed hand reaching...

Worth it for "Wolf Blood"
"Wolf Blood" was certainly an eye-opener. There are echoes of the plot in Universal's 1941 "Wolfman"; Curt Siodmak must have seen this movie as a kid. I would imagine that this is the only version that will ever make it to home video, so grab it - the price is certainly a bargain. It's a well-done film.

Both films, however, are from VHS-quality video tape dubs, so they don't look all that great. On a small screen like a laptop, they're watchable. With my projector and a 6" wide screen, it's unbearable. Still, it's nice to have "Wolf Blood" in my collection.

I would imagine that "The Haunted Castle" by F.W. Murnau will be released in the future by Kino looking as good as the day it was released, along with tons of extras. In the meantime, resist the temptation to watch this print of it.

(P.S. this review should not be construed as a complaint about budget video companies. I love these kinds of discs. The price is right, and at least you can say you've...

3 Star Film, 5 Star Print = 4 Star Review
It is extremely rare to be able to see a silent film that looks as good as this one does much less one of this vintage (1921). The movie looks as if it were shot yesterday and that's without a ton of restoration work. Only David Shepard's 1999 release of Rudolph Valentino's COBRA (1925) looks this good under those conditions. It shows us what all silent films would have looked like if we could see them in first generation prints that have been speed corrected.

As far as the movies of Murnau are concerned, this is definitely a minor offering but that has to do with the material not the director. Murnau is honing his skills here which would burst forth in his next film, the legendary NOSFERATU (1922). The sets are elaborate with just a touch of Expressionism. The performances though are very Expressionistic and might be too much for someone unfamiliar with German silent film technique. The plot loosely reminds me of Jean Renoir's RULES OF THE GAME though not as refined...

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