ALRAUNE (1929) Brigitte Helm, Albert Bassermann & Harald Paulsen | Sci-Fi | Retro Movie

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Alraune is a 1928 German silent science fiction horror film directed by Henrik Galeen and starring Brigitte Helm in which a prostitute is artificially inseminated with the semen of a hanged man. The story is based upon the legend of Alraune. In this version, the blasphemous sexual union causes the progeny (a daughter) to grow to adulthood quickly, behave in a sexually promiscuous fashion and cause the men who fall in love with her nothing but hardship, heartache and financial ruin, if not death.

Synopsis:

A genetics professor, obsessed with creating life through unnatural means, conducts a disturbing experiment: he impregnates a prostitute with a mandrake root, a plant tied to dark folklore, to produce a human child. The result is Alraune, a stunning but morally corrupted girl. Raised by the Professor as his daughter, she grows into a rebellious and manipulative woman.

Alraune escapes convent life, seduces men, and lives recklessly. Meanwhile, the Professor becomes increasingly obsessed with her, seeing her as both a scientific triumph and an object of desire. When Alraune learns the truth about her origin, she turns on the Professor. He spirals into madness, and in a final confrontation, tries to kill her.

She is saved by Franz, the Professor’s nephew and moral foil, who rescues her. The Professor is left broken and alone, a victim of his own ambition and the unnatural life he created.

Cast & Crew:

Brigitte Helm as Alraune ten Brinken
Paul Wegener as Prof. Jakob ten Brinken
Iván Petrovich as Franz Braun
Wolfgang Zilzer as Wölfchen
Louis Ralph as Der Zauberkünstler
Hans Trautner as Der Dompteur
John Loder as Der Vicomte
Mia Pankau as Die Dirne
Valeska Gert as Ein Mädchen von der Gasse
Georg John as Der Mörder
Alexander Sascha as Ein Herr im Coupé
Heinrich Schroth as Ein Herr in der Bar