"Fee! Fye! Foe! Fum!"1920's "The Golem" was probably one of cinema's very first live-action superhero stories.In this despairing and overwrought tale of Jewish woe - It sure looked to me like "Wreck-It-Ralph" (aka. the Golem) was definitely having himself a very serious "bad-hair" day.Set in 16th century Prague (where religion and sorcery were joined together, hand-in-hand) - I found (much to my disappointment) that "Wreck-It-Ralph" only turned out to be just a mere errand-boy.And, as a result - "The Golem" (as a motion picture) did not even come close to delivering as satisfactory entertainment.

I originally wanted to watch all the Golem films but after some research it turned out that the first two Golem movies are lost, which is a shame, I guess this is some kind of prequel to the other films, which would explain many things.The Golem (1920) makes use of its amazing sets and great special effects (for the time of course) and delivers a compelling story with its visuals. Silent films have a surreal feeling to them, most of these people are dead and the filmmaking its obviously quite different from what we see today, but they still share the same goal of telling a story. Of course many people can find silent films to be boring, but I believe that film is a visual medium and that filmmakers should show not tell.The myth of the Golem was unknown to me by the time I watched it, at least for the most part, so there's something I got out of it.I find the story to be quite interesting and of course the monster is captivating, every scene with him its just a delight to watch.This was quite an enjoyable film, I wouldn't put it above something like The Cabinet of Dr Caligari or The Phantom of the Opera, but I still think this is worth a watch.

While Paul Wegener's The Golem may not rank with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari or Nosferatu with its significance, artistic splendour, and innovative highlights, it does nonetheless serve as one of the shining spotlights of silent films and in particular "horror" silent films. Oozing German expressionistic techniques throughout, director Wegener offers us a story of a Jewish ghetto in Prague being condemned for exile by a new decree from the emperor. This comes shortly after Rabbi Loew has received from the stars a message that doom will come to his people. Loew immediately starts creating a golem - a figure of a giant man made from clay that legend says can be brought to life to protect Loew's people. The story moves from the incredibly fascinating ritual used to create and imbue the creature with life to a storyline of a Jewish girl Miriam in the temple falling in lust with Florian the emperor's messenger to the golem walking around doing everyday activities and becoming the servant of Rabbi Loew to the golem "terrorizing." The golem - Paul Wegener playing the part - is unique and imposing. Watch his eyes. They act out loads of emotions whilst the body and facial muscles barely move. The film has wonderful scenes throughout from the secret word being given to Loew to the film in film of what happened to Rabbi Loew's people and the fall of the palace to the flowery ending. The expressionistic acting is all very solid and Wegener's genius is obvious when you see what hats he wears in the film: actor and director. Camera work is done by Karl Freund who would go on to direct himself and come up with incredible innovations with camera-work. There is no doubt in my mind what role this film had in James Whale's collective conscience when he decided what his vision of Frankenstein would be. The Golem is a blueprint right down to the scene with the little girl and the flower. As to the whole Jewish question I see so many viewers engage in about whether the film is pro or con, there is no doubt the Jews are portrayed sympathetically in the film from their plight from Egypt in the memorable film in film scene to the sense of hollowness and dejection the actors give off. The German officials are portrayed as buffoons for the most part. There is also a negative result though that the black arts are connected with Jews. It is a Rabbi that is able to conjure the spirit of an ancient sorcerer. He controls an inanimate object used to destroy. These are somewhat contradictory and though I believe Wegener's efforts to be ultimately filled with good intent, I could see where a film like this could also fuel the most emboldened anti-Semites because it reinforces a terrible stereotype. I don't want to get too bogged down with the historical implications of the film as I do not know nearly enough about its impact to say anything with any real meaning with regard to that subject. What I will say is this: The Golem is one of the most influential films in the catalogue of silent films and its impact in direction and in the genre are obvious and cannot be overstated really. Every time you see a depiction of Frankenstein's Monster you see its impact.

Imagine shooting a feature-length horror movie with the camera built into your mobile phone. Now imagine disabling sound and colour on your phonecam, only being able to shoot a few seconds at a time, each minute costing a small fortune in recording material, imagine that phonecam being large and unwieldy and kind of knackered so that the already low-resolution image is flickery and erratically exposed, and it plays back too fast so that people look like wound-up dolls. It also exposes blueish light more than reddish light, so each shoot is unpredictable, but of course you'll only know that the next day when the film has been processed.Welcome to movie-making in the year 1920 AD.Now go shoot a masterpiece that will still be watched, talked about and revered in a hundred years.I watched this out of historic interest and expected to be colossally bored. But far from it, this is actually a gripping horror flick, and one with a deep side to it to boot. The Golem himself is an immensely scary horror figure en par with Freddy Kruger or the Alien, kind of a proto-Frankenstein's monster -- and he's actually played by director Paul Wegener himself!. I'd like to know how they made his eyes so scary.Anyway, what can I say, a stupendous film. Watch it from the edge of your seat.