The first of the great Lon Chaney’s starring roles, this socially attuned silent thriller is part proto-horror film and part gangster melodrama. Worsley’s direction is effective for its era, although largely static and not terribly creative. Regardless, the film ultimately belongs to Chaney, who strapped up his legs to play a psychologically maladjusted underworld tyrant seeking vengeance for unnecessarily being turned into a double amputee as a child. The sheer physicality of Chaney’s performance is impressive enough, but he also engages the villain on a human level, so when the script demands a last-minute reversal, it is very nearly believable.