Bluebeard

Film: Secret Beyond the Door
Format: Internet video on laptop

(Note: I'm trying something new here. I want to see what this looks like if I start inserting jumps into my reviews.)

So let’s talk about Fritz Lang for a second. I like Lang’s work in general. He’s a director I have a great deal of respect for, and have since the first time I saw Metropolis as a teen. Yeah, I actually bought a copy of Metropolis when I was in high school. Even then, my tastes were wildly divergent from my own generation. Anyway, I’ve liked Lang for years, so I never shy away from watching his films. When the opportunity arose to see Secret Beyond the Door, I jumped at it. After all, any Lang is good Lang.

This film has many of the elements that make film noir what it is, and while this is how I classify this film, it only fits in the genre because it doesn’t fit well anywhere else. There is a sinister edge to this film, one that perfades it from almost the start to the very end. This, more than anything, gives Secret Beyond the Door that particular noir taste. There is a real sense of murder, of secrecy, and of palpable danger, yet the film doesn’t fully cross over into noir territory.