The Haunted Castle (1921)

In the castle Vogeloed, a few aristocrats are awaiting baroness Safferstätt. But first count Oetsch invites himself.. Everyone thinks he murdered his brother, baroness Safferstat's first ... See full summary »

Director:

F.W. Murnau

Writers:

Rudolf Stratz (novel), Carl Mayer (adaptation)

Stars:

Arnold Korff, Lulu Kyser-Korff, Lothar Mehnert

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Arnold Korff	...	von Vogelschrey - Schlossherr auf Vogeloed
Lulu Kyser-Korff	...	Centa V. Vogelschrey - von Vogelschrey's Frau (as L. Kyser-Korff)
Lothar Mehnert	...	Graf Johann Oetsch (as Lotar Mehnert)
Paul Hartmann	...	Graf Peter Paul Oetsch
Paul Bildt	...	Baron Safferstätt
Olga Tschechowa	...	Baronin Safferstätt
Victor Bluetner	...	Der Pater Faramund (as Victor Blütner)
Hermann Vallentin	...	Der Landgerichtsrat a.D.
Julius Falkenstein	...	Der ängstliche Herr
Robert Leffler	...	Der Haushofmeister
Walter Kurt Kuhle	...	Ein Diener (as Walter Kurt-Kuhle)

Storyline

In the castle Vogeloed, a few aristocrats are awaiting baroness Safferstätt. But first count Oetsch invites himself.. Everyone thinks he murdered his brother, baroness Safferstat's first husband, three years ago. So he is rather undesirable. But Oetsch stays; arguing he is not the murderer and will find the real one...

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Plot Keywords:

castle | murder mystery | prophecy | gunfire | fratricide | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

7 April 1921 (Germany)

Also Known As:

The Haunted Castle

Filming Locations:

Bioscop-Atelier, Neubabelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Uco-Film GmbH, Decla-Bioscop AG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min 70 min 55 min (video) 81 min (DVD) 81 min (2002 restored)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was shot in 16 days and released before the serialized novel's last chapter had been printed in the "Berliner Illustrierten".

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Alternate Versions

The National Film Museum, Inc. had Hypercube, llc, New York City, digitally restore the movie and provide English with the German intertitles. It has a piano music score composed and performed by Douglas M. Protsik and runs 74 minutes.

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Connections

Version of Schloß Vogelöd (1936)

User Reviews

Haunted Castle

Haunted Castle, The (1921)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

An "old dark house" film from director F.W. Murnau about a group of people staying in an (what else?) old dark house. One night the house's owner turns up missing and later in the night his son, who was accused of killing his own brother, shows up. I read somewhere that this is the earliest surviving work from director Murnau but this here doesn't show any of his wonderful visual style that would kick into high gear the following year with Nosferatu. The film, running just under an hour, takes way too time introducing us to the characters and the actual mystery doesn't start until the very end of the movie. There really isn't any visual style either. There's one character that looks like the Karloff character in Whale's The Old Dark House, which makes you think Whale saw this film (especially since the character here leads to a good twist in the story). Another interesting aspect is a scene that uses the hands of Nosferatu to a similar effect that would be seen in the next year's Nosferatu. I had to view an overly dark, 16mm print without a music score.