Alraune, die Henkerstochter, genannt die rote Hanne (1918)
Mad scientist, doctor Ten Brinken artificially inseminates a prostitute with a dead man's semen. The resulting child grows up to be a beautiful, evil woman who turns against her creator.
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I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
The first German film to bear the title ALRAUNE, this movie is a rather conventional ghost story about a woman whose life bears an amazing similarity to that of her ancestor, who was burned as a witch. The ALRAUNE of the title comes from a reference to the mandrake root, which the heroine employs to save her dying child. Aside from that, there is nothing at all to connect this film with the famous Hanns Heinz Ewers novel, upon which historians have mistakenly claimed this film was based. The film was released in the U.S. under the title SACRIFICE, and a print can be found at George Eastman House. The novel was filmed more-or-less straight in 1928 (the classic version, with Paul Wegener and Brigitte Helm), in 1930 (a talky, slow-moving remake, again with Helm), and in 1952 (with Von Stroheim). The other 1918 version, shot in Hungary, is believed to be lost, and may or may not be closer to the Ewers novel than this German film.Jay Salsberg