M (1931)

Set in Berlin, a pedophile serial killer (Peter Lorre) causes hysteria among the populace while the police seem unable to find the murderer. As the police target the criminal underworld with constant raids and harassment in an attempt to find the murderer, the crime bosses decide to take the matter into their own hands and find the child killer so that their own world can return to normal. Directed by Fritz Lang (METROPOLIS) in his first sound film, this is considered by many to be his masterpiece. The intensity level as the movie cuts back and forth between the criminal underworld, the police procedural and the serial killer remains a textbook example of editing and suspense. Wisely, Lang spares us any graphic images of the child killings thus leaving the horror of the act to our own imagination. As the murderer, Peter Lorre gives a stunning performance. Alas, in his Hollywood career, he never had a role as good as this or gave as good a performance. The film has social commentary but Lang is smart enough to know that lecturing the audience makes for a dull film and by making a first rate thriller, the social commentary is more effective. With Otto Wernicke, Gusaf Grundgens and Inge Landgut.