Directed by Robert Wiene [Other horror films: Furcht (1917), Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920), Genuine (1920)]
This silent Austrian classic, known as The Hands of Orlac, has been a film I’ve honestly been avoiding. It’s one of the few popular silent horror films I’ve not seen, but I got the feeling that I wouldn’t care for it, and believe it or not, I take no delight in writing negative reviews for films often considered classics.
Alas, we all have to face our demons, and so in that spirit, here I am writing a negative review.
Here’s the thing – if you want to see this same story, based off the French novel Les Mains d’Orlac written by Maurice Renard, then I’d highly recommend watching Mad Love, which is a fantastic film; not only does it have some legit creepy scenes, it also, of course, stars Peter Lorre.
Sure, the story is here too, no doubt. But at an hour and 52 minutes, this is far too slow-moving to really be that engaging. Things pick up okay at about an hour and 30 minutes in, but getting there is a challenge that I don’t want to compete in again.
Having seen a decent amount of silent horror films, overacting isn’t something that’s too uncommon. I’d argue that most of the time, though, I don’t even notice it. I did here, though – as much as I love Conrad Veidt (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, The Man Who Laughs, Das Wachsfigurenkabinett, and Unheimliche Geschichten), he just felt way too dramatic at times, and that goes double for Alexandra Sorina. It may have been intentional, but it just bothered me, For what it’s worth, Fritz Kortner (Schatten – Eine nächtliche Halluzination) did well in the end, but staying awake to see his performance may not be easy.
I can admit that perhaps I’m in the minority here. The movie feels so damn sluggish to me, but if most people see it as compelling, then so be it. I wish I felt the same, though, because as Mad Love later shows, this can be quite a decent story (especially during the blackmail sequence, which is okay here, but infinitely creepier in the 1935 classic).
All of this is to say that I avoided Orlacs Hände for a reason, and though I am happy to have seen it, if only to say that I’ve now watched most of the silent horror classics, this movie went about how I thought it would. It’s just way too slow and way too long, and that’s not a good combination.
4/10
Jiggy's Horror Corner 