A precursor to cinematic expressionism and the horror film’s mixture of religious superstition and Freudianism, as well as an early example of the Teutonic obsession with the doppelgänger, this variation on the Faust legend features the great Paul Wegener as both the poor student of the title and the ghostly double that haunts him after he sells his mirror image. Although primitive in many ways, the film features impressive double-exposure effects and some intriguing cinematography, not that you can fully appreciate either one in the atrocious straight-from-the-VHS transfer on Alpha Video’s typically pathetic DVD (the only one available in Region 1). (DVD)