Paul Leni

The Cat and the Canary (1927)

The Cat and the Canary (1927)
Rating: ★★★★
Nov 9, 2002Old Dark House Thriller
This is the film that essentially defined the Old Dark House genre involving spooky thrills with people being stalked around a big old mansion. This benefits greatly from expatriate German director Paul Leni who brings an extraordinarily sophisticated arsenal of visual tricks to bear
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The Man Who Laughs (1928)

The Man Who Laughs (1928)
Rating: ★★★★
Sep 11, 2009Historical Horror/Man With a Frozen Grin
Adaptation of a Victor Hugo historical novel about a man with his face surgically altered into a grin – an image that later inspired Batman’s The Joker. This has clearly been intended to imitate Lon Chaney’s grotesque performances of this era and is exquisitely made by the great Paul Leni
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The Last Warning (1929)

The Last Warning (1929)
Rating: ★★★
Jan 9, 2019Killer Stalks a Broadway Theatre
Paul Leni is one of the great unrecognised directors to emerge from German silent cinema. In Hollywood, he made the hit Old Dark House film The Cat and the Canary. Here he was clearly given orders to replicate that. It remains in the other films shadow nevertheless Leni’s dynamic visuals still creates something exciting
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