Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases


The Magician (1926)

Director: Rex Ingram

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Adapted from the Somerset Maugham novel inspired by the life of Aleister Crowley, a bizarre melodrama which starts in Paris and moves to the Riviera: the sinister Dr Haddo (Wegener) uses hypnotism to kidnap a young woman (Terry) on the eve of her wedding, because he needs the blood from a virgin's heart to complete the formula for a homunculus. Ingram's strengths were mainly pictorial, and he here delivers plenty of high-flown images. Best of all is the sequence in which Haddo transports his victim into a Bosch-like vision and hands her over to a naked satyr for his nameless pleasures. Of great historical interest as the missing link between German expressionism and Hollywood fantasy. Michael Powell worked on it as assistant director.

Author: TR

Time Out Film Guide


What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields




Most popular on this site


Top Stories

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?

The 10 worst date movies

The 10 worst date movies

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas

10 unlikely badboy biopics

10 unlikely badboy biopics

Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing