#35: THE GOLEM

Not only was the 1915 film DER GOLEM one of the first monster movies ever made, but it's based on a 16th century Jewish legend about a giant clay statue who was brought to life to protect the city against danger.

X-E fan Imp Mayhem wrote, "Way back in the days of silent film and motor cars that couldn't outrace an epileptic midget, a film called THE GOLEM was made.  It's based on an old, old, Jewish fokltale about a Rabbi who creates an artificial man out of clay, then brings it to life to help protect the other Jews in the neighborhood. 

In the movie, the Rabbi's an evil weirdo and creates the Golem to stand around and freak people out in the carnival circuit.   Anyway, the Golem sees a gorgeous woman, falls in love, and starts going ballistic (as all movie monsters do).  In the end, the Rabbi tries to turn off theh giant killer gumby doll by wiping some sacred words off its forehead, getting himself killed in the process. 

Granted, it seems like the standard monster-movie plot, but you have to realize that it was one of the first 0 if not THE first monster movies ever made.  In a way, it set the standard for all clunky completely stupid monster movies that would follow."

WEBSITES

A TON OF GOLEM LINKS

Bizarro Shopping Zone

I highly recommend this great paperback collection of Bizarro stories from Amazon, at $3 off the cover price for $11.95 .  I bought it a year ago and have read it several times already, it's great laugh out loud comedy that hasn't been in comic books for decades.  And the Jaime "Love and Rockets" Hernandez cover is an added treat!