One morning, a young man is told to appear in court to defend himself against the charges brought against him. Trouble is, no one will tell him precisely what they are.

I’m sure that by including a review of this work along side such films as ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘Don’t Look in the Basement’ might piss some folks off. (In a hypothetical universe, that is, where someone actually visits this website.) Some will believe that art with a capital “A” should never be lumped together with the crude genre of horror. Others may feel that any film made before 1980, and which doesn’t feature power tools and gratuitous tit-shots could never be worth watching. Well good. I’d be glad to upset people with such puny little minds. Maybe they’ll learn something.

Kafka in particular is a horrifying author, and this film is a worthy adaptation. It well conveys the growing sense of unease and dread found in his nightmarish world of illogical logic and oppressive, confining tyranny.

I doubt that anyone could have directed this film half as well as Orson Wells. The set design is brilliant. Utilizing stark photography and odd acute angles, It’s rather reminiscent of early German expressionist films, although not quite as affected.

Acting is well enough, but Anthony Perkins is a bit broad when he sets down to speechifying.

While a big chunk of the film is as disturbing as those nude pictures of Dr. Laura (almost) the overall effect is a little flat. Because Kafka is such an important writer, Wells no doubt felt the need to rigidly stick the novel’s original structure. Unfortunately, what works in great literature does not always translate well to the screen. Ironically, by sticking so close to the original work the film winds up short-changing ol’ Franz. A condensed version would better convey Kafka’s panicky loss of humanity theme. As it is, the length of the work tends to diffuse its impact. And I’m still scratching my head about the unfaithful and silly conclusion involving dynamite. Oh well, at least the film ends with the proper note of abruptness. (Kafka died before he could finish it proper.)

This film certainly isn’t for all horror fans, and I’ll make no apologies for that. A black and white art film about the dehumanizing effect of socialist style bureaucracy ain’t gonna appeal to those who though that the recent ‘House of Wax’ remake was the bee’s-knees. But for the rest of you, I do recommend this charming little vision of a soul-crushing dystopia. Have fun!