Unnatural: Fruit of Evil/Alraune/Mandragore - I have not seen 1918, nor the 1928 or the 1930 versions of this film, so I have nothing to compare this 1952 with.A scientist has taken the 'seed' of murderer and impregnated a prostitute by artificial insemination. The scientist thought the results would make for a more interesting study from bad people, because good people are so boring - as he explains.It seems that artificial insemination sparked fears and ideas in people of the early 1900s... but a fairly interesting film came from it. There are better sci-fi horror films of the 1950s but this one is still worth a one time watch.6.5/10

"Alraune" or "Mandrake" is a West German German-language movie from 1952, so it will have its 65th anniversary next year and this film was made less than 10 years after the end of World War II to put it in perspective. The director is Arthur Maria Rabenalt and it is possibly his most known movie now. Kurt Heuser, a pretty successful writer back then, was in charge of adapting the original novel by Hanns Heinz Ewers, the man who also came up with "Der Student von Prag", a pretty well-known silent movie. But back to this one here. It runs for almost 90 minutes and the title character is played by Hildegard Knef this time, Brigitte Helm in the past. You can compare Knef's turn with Helm's here and it is probably entirely subjective which one you will like more. it is the story of an artificially created woman and how she brings disaster and misery apparently to everybody around her (especially men) because she is not natural. There are certainly a couple connections to the classic "Metropolis" in here and you will recognize them when you see them. But sadly, all in all, it is far from being as good as this masterpiece. I found almost all the supporting characters, also the male ones, mostly uninteresting and Knef alone was not enough to let me appreciate the entire project. This is also because her character lost appeal for me in the second half of the film, or the last third maybe, as we see a plot development that just wasn't working for me at all, but it was needed maybe back then to please the masses. I will not go into detail any further to avoid spoilers. Anyway, this film is another example of how mediocre and forgettable the 1950s were in German cinema. I give it a thumbs-down and do not recommend the watch.

I had watched the best-regarded (if still rare) 1928 Silent version of this much-filmed German melodrama with Sci-Fi undertones during a previous Halloween challenge; while I recall precious little of that one at this juncture, having re-read my review of it, I know the remake features a different conclusion – as well as a different method of creation for the titular figure (the more realistic one of artificial insemination here instead of her emanating from the mandrake root, though the plant remains much in evidence throughout even now). Still, offhand, I would say that both films are equally effective – with the lead roles being especially well-filled: Erich von Stroheim and Hildegarde Knef (at her loveliest) in this adaptation replacing Paul Wegener and Brigitte Helm respectively in the earlier movie; leading the supporting cast, however, is Karl Boehm (who would excel in his later genre role in the British-made PEEPING TOM [1959]). As I said, events are not exactly fantastic – indeed, leaning more towards romance in the vein of two other much-filmed and horror-tinged classics, namely "The Picture Of Dorian Gray" and "Trilby" (often filmed as SVENGALI and whose 1954 British version, incidentally, also had Knef as its leading lady!) – but, then, Stroheim does keep a caged ape (which comes to no use other than as an added bizarre touch!) in his laboratory and, in any case, the result is no less stylish for that; all in all, this is ample proof that the Germans did not lose their touch for the Expressionistic with the advent of WWII! The premise, too, of a femme fatale turning the heads of several men, all of whom know one another and naturally fall out over her, is interesting for its distinct film noir trappings – in this case, extending to the rethought doom-laden climax that includes a murder and subsequent execution steeped in irony.

This version of Alraune is largely unremarkable but for another excellent performance by the always-radiant Hildegard Knef. Unambitious cinematography and a slow pace undermine any attempt to build real atmosphere. Most interesting is the film's theme of eugenics and the dangers of science just a few years after the fall of the Third Reich.In some ways, though, the Alraune fable is an inverse of Frankenstein: whereas, in Shelley's tale, science is shown to supersede alchemy, here it is the reverse. Alraune's creator has more in common with Rotwang in the sense that there is a blurring of alchemy and science. It is noteworthy that Brigitte Helm starred as the titular character in the early version of Alraune as well as her more famous role as Maria in Metropolis.This film is recommended to Knef fans and people interested in the Alraune myth. However, as a piece of cinema, it is workmanlike and nothing more.