M (1931)

Directed by Fritz Lang
→ Influenced 12 films ← Inspired by 1 films

In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.

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Films that influenced M

← Inspired By (1)

Films inspired by M

→ M influenced these (12)

Sources

Influenced By

  1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
    "Lang's M carries forward Caligari's Expressionist shadow-and-light vocabulary into the sound era; the murderer's psychology rendered visually descends directly from Caligari." source

Influenced

  1. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
    "BFI: M's POV shots — camera taking on the killer's perspective — directly anticipate the techniques Demme uses 60 years later in Silence of the Lambs." source
  2. Se7en (1995)
    "Fincher's serial killer thriller is a direct M descendant — methodical investigation of an ideologically-motivated killer, dread-saturated urban setting, moral ambiguity of the hunt." source
  3. Psycho (1960)
    "Hitchcock's psychological-killer film traces directly to M's innovation — the killer as sympathetic-pathological subject rather than mere monster." source
  4. Zodiac (2007)
    "Fincher's procedural inherits M's structural template — society and law enforcement obsessed with hunting an unknowable killer who eludes them." source
  5. Memories of Murder (2003)
    "Bong Joon-ho's procedural about Korean detectives hunting a real-life serial killer descends from M's investigation-without-resolution framework." source
  6. Citizen X (1995)
    "Chris Gerolmo's biographical serial-killer film explicitly continues M's lineage — the Soviet investigation of Andrei Chikatilo presented in Lang's procedural mode." source
  7. The Vanishing (1988)
    "Sluizer's Dutch thriller carries M's psychological-portrait-of-the-killer framework into a kidnapping mystery." source
  8. Peeping Tom (1960)
    "Powell's voyeurism film inherits M's innovation of placing the killer at the psychological center of the narrative — sympathetic, pitiable, monstrous." source
  9. Manhunter (1986)
    "Mann's Hannibal Lecter origin film inherits M's procedural-meets-psychological-portrait template." source
  10. Thief (1981)
    "Another of Fritz Lang's films, "M," was cited as a major aesthetic influence on "Thief II." The development team regularly watched films pertinent to Garrett's character and the game's visual design, with "M" being one of the significant inspirations." Thief II Wikipedia
  11. Citizen Kane (1941)
    "Sound design template: narration, intercut dialogue across times/locations, and the "lightning-mix" montage technique." source
  12. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
    "Also directed by Fritz Lang, *M* delves into the psyche of a murderer, paralleling the exploration of violence in *A Clockwork Orange*." Sparknotes source

M (1931), directed by Fritz Lang, was inspired by 1 earlier film — including The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari — and has been cited as an influence on 12 later works, such as The Silence of the Lambs, Se7en, and Psycho. Check out the citations below.