''Unheimliche Geschichten'' (Uncanny Stories) is a 1932 German horror/comedy film directed by the prolific Austrian film director

Richard Oswald Richard Oswald (5 November 1880 – 11 September 1963) was an Austrian film director, producer, screenwriter, and father of German-American film director Gerd Oswald. Early career Richard Oswald, born in Vienna as Richard W. Ornstein, began h ...

, starring

Paul Wegener Paul Wegener (11 December 1874 – 13 September 1948) was a German actor, writer, and film director known for his pioneering role in German expressionist cinema. Acting career At the age of 20, Wegener decided to end his law studies and conce ...

, and produced by

Gabriel Pascal Gabriel Pascal (born Gábor Lehel; 4 June 1894 – 6 July 1954) was a Hungarian film producer and director whose best-known films were made in the United Kingdom. Pascal was the first film producer to successfully bring the plays of Georg ...

. The story is a merging of three separate short stories,

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's '' The Black Cat'', ''

The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" is a dark comedy short story by the American author Edgar Allan Poe. First published in ''Graham's Magazine'' in November 1845, the story centers on a naïve and unnamed narrator's visit to a menta ...

'' and

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

's '' The Suicide Club'', set within a story frame of a reporter's hunt for a crazy scientist. It is a black comedy revisiting many of the classic themes of the horror genre. It was Paul Wegener's first talking movie.

Plot

A crazed scientist, Morder (Paul Wegener), driven even crazier by his nagging wife, murders her and walls her up in a basement, a la Poe's ''The Black Cat''. He then flees as the police and a reporter, Frank Briggs (

Harald Paulsen Harald Paulsen (26 August 1895 – 4 August 1954) was a German stage and film actor and director. He appeared in 125 films between 1920 and 1954. Career Paulsen first appeared on stage at age sixteen. He then studied under from Leopold Jessner, ...

), set out to track him down. Morder eventually escapes, by pretending to be insane, into an asylum. Though here the patients has managed to free themselves, lock up the guards, and take charge (inspired by Poe's ''The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether''). After Morder's final escape, he turns up as president of a secret Suicide Club (based on the short story by Stevenson).

Cast

Release

''Unheimliche Geschichten'' was released in Germany on 7 September 1932.

Reception

In contemporary reviews, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' declared in 1932 that Oswald had "succeeded in creating an effectively gruesome picture", specifically praising the sound, acting and photography as "excellent". In 1940,

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

reviewed the film under the title ''The Living Dead'' for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', declaring it "a nightmare reminder of the old pre-Nazi macabre school of German films, which did all right by such things as '' M'', but apparently had its bad moments, too."

Footnotes

References

External links

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''Unheimliche Geschichten'' Trailer
{{The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether 1932 films 1932 horror films 1930s German-language films Films of the Weimar Republic German black-and-white films Films based on horror novels Films based on The Black Cat Films based on works by Edgar Allan Poe Films based on works by Robert Louis Stevenson German black comedy films Films directed by Richard Oswald Films produced by Gabriel Pascal Films based on multiple works Films about animals Films about cats German comedy horror films Uxoricide in fiction 1930s comedy horror films 1932 comedy films 1930s German films