Orlacs Hände

Hands of Orlac, The (1924)

*** (out of 4)

This German version of the famous story is certainly a lot better than the boring 1961 version with Christopher Lee and is also a step up from the more famous 1935 film Mad Love with Peter Lorre. As the story goes, a concert pianist (Conrad Veidt) has his hands damaged during a train wreck but doctor's do a transplant and accidentally give him the hands of a killer. Soon afterwards the hands take on a life of their own and start killing. Here's another German Expressionism horror film that really takes control of the viewer and takes them for a ride. The director, Robert Wiene, also made the masterpiece The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and this film serves as one of the more chilling silent horror films. The best aspect is the performance from Veidt who I found just as good here as he was in The Man Who Laughs. He's able to get sympathy out of the character and he also manages to be very menacing during the murder scenes. The film also has some very eerie and creepy moments including the first scene where the hands come to life. This is a rather rare film and various versions are out there. I was able to view the longest cut of the film (93 minutes) but the title cards were in German with Spanish subs. The music score was also quite horrid so I actually turned the sound off while watching this. With a proper screening I'd certainly raise the rating.