A dead man's seed creates cinema's most unhinged femme fatale. 1918 was WILD.
Mad scientist, doctor Ten Brinken artificially inseminates a prostitute with a dead man's semen. The resulting child grows up to be a beautiful, evil woman who turns against her creator.
Acting
Hilde Wolter's wordless menace — all eyes and doom.
Cinematography
Expressionist shadows doing heavy lifting, 1918 style.
Director
Joseph Klein
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This is the SECOND Alraune adaptation — the 1911 novel by Hanns Heinz Ewers was so scandalous it got banned in some countries. 1918 Germany said 'let's film it anyway.'
The mandrake root myth (Alraune = German for mandrake) — grows from hanged men's semen, screams when pulled. The film keeps the reproductive horror but skips the screaming plant.
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