Homunculus

Homunculus is a six chapter German science fiction silent serial film directed by Otto Rippert and written by Robert Reinert. Other sources list Robert Neuss as a co-writer. Fritz Lang was one of Rippert's assistants during filming. It was originally produced by Deutsche Bioscop GmbH. Plot A scientist creates a living creature called a Homunculus (a Latin word which means little man) in a laboratory, and the creature strives to find love. When it discovers it is unable to feel emotions, it goes on a rampage and starts creating havoc in a nearby German village. Although it looks human, it is a soulless being. The scientist hunts down the creature in an attempt to destroy his creation. The Reinert's script is loosely based on epic poem Homunculus written by Robert Hamerling in 1888. The theme of an artificially created being turning against its creator is also similar to the Golem films of Paul Wegener and the silent film versions of Henrik Galeen's Alraune. The plot is very similar to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, wherein a living creature (called a homunculus) is created artificially in a laboratory and strives to develop emotions like a human being. (Frankenstein had previously been filmed by Thomas Edison in the United States in 1909.) Cast