The Student of Prague

Starring:Grete Berger, John Gottowt, Lothar KÃ¶rner, Alexander Moissi, Lyda Salmonova, Paul Wegener, Fritz Weidemann
Director: Paul Wegener
Studio: Alpha Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

One for the Horror/Supernatural fans!
Beautiful movie, crummy DVD
Poor quality transfer

Student of Prague:Silent Classic
Starring: Fritz Alberti , Agnes Esterhazy , Ferdinand von Alten , Conrad Veidt , and Elizza La Porta
Director: Henrik Galeen
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Student of Prague
Waxworks (1924) (Silent)
Destiny (1921) aka Der müde Tod
Warning Shadows - A Nocturnal Hallucination
The Golem

ASIN: B0002PYS9C
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Customer Reviews:

One for the Horror/Supernatural fans!.......2006-06-10

Alpha Video has released both versions of this interesting German silent film: the first one made in 1913 with Paul Wegener in the lead role, and this later 1926 remake starring Conrad Veidt. Obviously, filmmaking techniques developed rapidly in those 13 years, and silent films of the mid to late 1920s are much more in step with the modern day film format we are used to, making this 1926 version much more appealing to most viewers. The picture quality, while significantly better than the 1913 version, is still a little poor in general, and the modern synthesizer music, while appropriate to the eerie theme, is not always well suited. Nevertheless, the story itself might have enough value to outweigh these poor production aspects, especially for those fascinated by the horror/supernatural theme. Based on an old novel, "The Student of Prague" is an intriguing story about a young man, a university student, who is broke and desperate, and succumbs to the offer of a strange and sinister man who offers him a large amount of money. It turns out that he has, as it were, sold his soul to the devil by allowing the evil stranger to take the student's mirror reflection; his second self. After this event, the student no longer has a reflection in any mirror, which is a general theme that has re-occurred in horror/supernatural stories for a long time, and no doubt is rooted in ancient black magic rites involving mirrors. Having made a pact with the devil, the student's second self now appears as an apparition and it begins to ruin his life. German Expressionism techniques of dark shadows and strong contrasts add to the eerie atmosphere, and Conrad Veidt plays the role whole-souled - even when his soul steps out of the mirror and takes on a life of its own! After watching this 1926 version, I was able to go back and appreciate the 1913 version of "The Student of Prague" much more, even though it is only half the length of its later remake. Anyone keenly interested in this theme and German silent films who can overlook poor production quality on budget-priced labels might also like to compare both versions.

Beautiful movie, crummy DVD.......2005-10-24

Unfortunately, this is the only version of this film available on DVD, and like every other Alpha Video release it's a poor quality transfer from a video tape, complete with what look like VHS artifacts and no speed correction. The music is the same repetative synthesizer drivel used in Alpha's 1917 Student of Prague DVD, and except for a few chance moments it does not match the action on screen.

The film itself is WONDERFUL. One of my favorite silents, next to "The Man Who Laughs." Conrad Veidt's expressive performance carries the film with his depiction of both Balduin, a very complex young man struggling with his desires and limitations, and of his shadow self, given it's own life through a deal with the devil. Great cinematography and unusual camera work (for 1926) reminds me of Bunuel's "Fall of the House of Usher," another high quality horror film from the same period. There are some genuinely crepy scenes with the double and very emotional moments as Balduin realizes the full extent of what he's done.

In short, this DVD ranks five stars for content and zero stars for Alpha's lack of effort, but in my opinion is worth the low price to see such a fabulous film however flawed the presentation.

Poor quality transfer.......2004-12-14

This is an excellent film, which unfortunately has not been given a decent treatment by the distributor. I was very disapointed in the quality of the release- the picture quality is poor, inter-titles appear to be missing, and the score which has been added is just a repetition of long synth chords that don't match the action on-screen. It's a shame, because a film like this one deserves much better.

Average customer rating:

Historically interesting film marred by production problems
Terrible DVD
no masterpeice paul
Wegener before the Golem

The Student of Prague
Starring: Grete Berger , John Gottowt , Lothar Körner , Alexander Moissi , and Lyda Salmonova
Director: Paul Wegener
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Art House & International | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Horror | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

Student of Prague:Silent Classic
Destiny (1921) aka Der müde Tod
Waxworks (1924) (Silent)
The Golem
Avant Garde - Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 1930s

ASIN: B0001ZMX5E
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Customer Reviews:

Historically interesting film marred by production problems.......2004-12-02

This is the 1913--i.e., first silent--version of the film The Student of Prague and for that reason alone, is of great interest. Starring famed German silent actor Paul Wegener in the title role, it is a very short (40 minutes) rendition of a classic German tale of the supernatural, based on a short story by Hans Heinz Ewers, who wrote the great vampire novel Alraune.

In making this available, one would think that Alpha Video has done a great service. However, there are numerous problems with this release. Firstly, as previously pointed out in another review here, the video quality is only fair, marred by many of the typical scratches and visual blips common to non-remastered films from this period. Secondly, the title cards are so sketchy that there can be sizeable snatches of dialogue--i.e., we can see the actors' mouths moving--and only one title card is presented for the entire sequence. And thirdly, perhaps most importantly--this was also pointed out previously--the soundtrack music, apparently newly composed for this release, is organ music that has only two themes for the entire length of the film. Hence, the same series of notes is repeated almost endlessly. This, more than anything else, ruins the feeling, character, flavor, essence itself of the film.

While Alpha has made some great films available at low cost, and this is one of them, there is a huge difference between silent films and sound films. They should be very careful not to get rock bottom composers for their silent films who create slapdash soundtracks that either bore viewers to tears or make them want to throw things at the monitor.

The Alpha Video stable of sound films is a much better bet. This one, frankly, stinks. The two stars are for the availability of the film itself; that's it.

Terrible DVD.......2004-08-03

The film itself, although not a masterpice, is a very interesting one and genuinely eerie. However, the DVD is so poor that I could hardly appreciate this at all. I understand that the film is over 90 years old, but it had clearly been copied from what looks like a very poor quality videocassette. Kino's releases of the Lumiere brothers' films are of FAR better quality, and they were made nearly 20 years before 'The Student of Prague'! Avoid it, unless you really desperately want to see the film, and even then I wouldn't recommend it.

no masterpeice paul.......2004-07-19

THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE'is the first manifistation of german expressionist horror in cinema and is thus of more historical importance then artistic.Technically the film is typical of european movies of the pre world war one era before d.w griffith's editing patterns would introduce the montage principal to europe.ALPHA'S print seems to have been duped from an VHS copy and is murky and dark in places and is also missing the final shot of balduin's doppelganger sitting mournfully over his tomb;also the organ score is bloody monotonous;still at the price you cant reallly quibble.Lets hope that image or kino international release a decent copy in the future.

Wegener before the Golem.......2004-07-02

I really have to tip my hat to Alpha Video for releasing this beauty of early German cenema. They used a pretty good print and their copy is good.
The "Student of Prague" is a tale of a student/fencing master who sells his soul to the Devil and later must pay the price. The story has been filmed several times but this is the first attempt to capture the story of film and it is a very early effort. On one hand it has the primitive look of movies before about 1920. On the other hand there are great exterior shots and interesting trick photography. In all, keeping in mind that it is a very early film, Paul Wegener did a great job of telling a visually interesting story. I just hope that Alpha video will press on and give us the Conrad Veidt version of "Student of Prague."

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