While Olga makes for a slinky goth chick, the rest of the film is plodding and rather predictable. What little creeps and crawls in this film really has nothing to do with the plot. And while the premise is decent enough there's not enough here to really get it going.

Pretty hokey melodrama. Mehnert was quite scary indeed, but Tschechowa was filled with silent-movie histrionics (as though appearing to have an upset stomach=acting). Reminds me of the Elton John line: "Between forcing smiles...with the knives in their eyes..." And how in the heck did the dreams of Kitchen Boy work their way into the mix? I have no idea.

An interesting premise that ends up being pretty insignificant due to some bland execution. There are far too many intertitles breaking up the action, which is unfortunate for someone as skilled in visual language as Murnau. Here, though, there is nothing special apart from a few interesting compositions. Oetsch is the only interesting characterization, and the acting is pretty spotty. It finishes on a predictable note that comes about through a somewhat ridiculous twist.