in Danish director Stellan Rye's and Paul Wegener's early German silent horror film Der Student von Prag (1913, Ger.) (aka The Student of Prague/A Bargain With Satan), based loosely upon the Faust legend, a poor student made a pact with the devil in return for wealth and a beautiful woman. [The student was portrayed by actor/producer/director Paul Wegener in his film debut.] It was the first artistically important German production - and was later remade in 1926 and directed by Henrik Galeen. Wegener directed the first of his influential adaptations of the Golem legend by Gustav Meyrinck - Der Golem (1914, Ger.) (aka The Monster of Fate), and then remade it a few years later as Der Golem Und Die Tanzerin (1917, Ger.) (aka The Golem and the Dancer) - notably the first horror film sequel. He remade the film a third time, with Karl Freund as cinematographer, again titling it Der Golem (1920, Ger.) (aka The Golem: or How He Came Into the World). The expressionistic film was based upon Central European myths and influenced later 'Frankenstein' monster films in the early 1930s with themes of a creator losing control of his creation. The Golem, played by Wegener, was an ancient clay figure from Hebrew mythology that was brought to life by Rabbi Loew's magic amulet to defend and save the Jews from a pogrom in the 16th century threatened by Rudolf II of Habsburg. The man-made, clay creature roamed through the Jewish ghetto of medieval Prague to protect it from persecution.

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any early films in this genre featured similar fanciful special effects and thrilled early audiences. The pioneering science fiction film, a 14-minute ground-breaking masterpiece with 30 separate tableaus (scenes), Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip to the Moon) (1902), was made by imaginative, turn-of-the-century French filmmaker/magician Georges Melies, approximating the contents of the novels by Jules Verne (From the Earth to the Moon) and H.G. Wells (First Men in the Moon). With innovative, illusionary cinematic techniques (trick photography with superimposed images, dissolves and cuts), he depicted many memorable, whimsical old-fashioned images

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Soon-to-be-famous actors and prominent real-life heroes were also featured in serials. Bela Lugosi starred as the supernatural-powered mystic/magician Chandu in the 12-chapter The Return of Chandu (1934) and Chandu on the Magic Island (1934) (the feature version of The Return of Chandu, based on chapters 5-12 of the serial). And Lugosi appeared as evil Dr. Zorka in the 12-episode serial The Phantom Creeps (1939).

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Detective-Mystery Films are usually considered a sub-type of crime/gangster films (or film noir), or suspense or thriller films that focus on the unsolved crime (usually the murder or disappearance of one or more of the characters, or a theft), and on the central character - the hard-boiled detective-hero, as he/she meets various adventures and challenges in the cold and methodical pursuit of the criminal or the solution to the crime. The plot often centers on the deductive ability, prowess, confidence, or diligence of the detective as he/she attempts to unravel the crime or situation by piecing together clues and circumstances, seeking evidence, interrogating witnesses, and tracking down a criminal. See also AFI's 10 Top 10 - The Top 10 Mystery Films and Filmsite's related Greatest Plot Twists, Spoilers, and Surprise Endings.

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The adventures of 16 year-old, quick-witted sleuth Nancy Drew, adapted from the series of mass-produced books from Edward Stratemeyer and his daughter Harriet S. Adams (with nom de plume Carolyn Keene), became the subject of four Warner Bros. films in the late 1930s, starring teenaged actress Bonita Granville:

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One of the earliest 'thrillers' was Harold Lloyd's comic Safety Last (1923), with the all-American boy performing a daredevil stunt on the side of a skyscraper. The haunting and chilling German film M (1931) directed by the great Fritz Lang, starred Peter Lorre (in his first film role) as a criminal deviant - a child killer. The film's story was based on the life of serial killer Peter Kurten (known as the 'Vampire of Dusseldorf'). Edward Sutherland's crime/horror thriller Murders in the Zoo (1933) from Paramount starred Lionel Atwill as a murderous and jealous zoologist. And various horror films of the period, The Cat and the Canary (1927), director Rouben Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) with Fredric March, and The Bat Whispers (1930), provided some thrills.

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Cast
Jennifer Aniston as Kassie Larson
Jason Bateman as Wally Mars
Thomas Robinson as Sebastian Larson
Patrick Wilson as Roland
Juliette Lewis as Debbie
Jeff Goldblum as Leonard
Caroline Dhavernas as Pauline
Scott Elrod as Declan
Bryce Robinson as older Sebastian Larson
Diane Sawyer as herself


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Cast:

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Christine Baranski, Joshua Jackson

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Post-Harry Potter plans continued for the cast and crew of the Warner Bros. franchise phenomenon.

The latest development plans involved the female component of the Heroic Trio, Hermione, or actress Emma Watson.

First Showing reported that producer Denise Di Novi confirmed plans for a new take on the Beauty and the Beast myth with Guillermo del Toro in talks to direct and Watson to play the Beauty.

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Prep work continued on David O. Russell’s adaptation of Matthew Quick’s novel The Silver Linings Playbook with Winter’s Bone and X-Men: First Class actress Jennifer Lawrence in talks for the role of an eccentric neighbor who befriends a former high school teacher trying to restart his life after being institutionalized for depression.

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