The Devil Worshippers

The Devil Worshippers (German: Die Teufelsanbeter) is a six-chapter 1920 silent German film written and directed by Marie Luise Droop,^[1] and featuring Carl de Vogt in the title-role of Kara Ben Nemsi.^[2] De Vogt's career as an actor stretched into the 1960s, where he appeared in a number of the then-popular German crimi films.^[1]

Later horror-star Béla Lugosi is also featured in one of his first supporting roles in a film, although his precise role in the film is unknown. The film was an adaptation of a book called Die Teufelsanbeter by German author Karl May (it was one of the first German films to be based on the works of Karl May, who was normally known for his novels set in the old American West^[1]).

This film was the first of a trilogy of the production company "Ustad-Film" with main actor Carl de Vogt, but was only released as the third in the cinemas. In several scenes, this black-and-white film has some coloring, e.g. blue for night scenes.

The film is said to have premiered on 2 January 1921 at "Vaters Lichtspiele" at Würzburg but the first showing is only documented for 14 January 1921 at Wilhelmsburg. The film is now considered to be lost.

Plot[]

The film is about a satanic cult of devil worshippers called the Jesidi whose village is destroyed by an army general under the pretext of religion. When the village leader Kara ben Nemsi sees the devastation and learns that his people have been taken into captivity, he vows revenge. The ben Nemsi character, and another named Hadschi Halef Omar, appeared later on in several other Karl May novels, all set in the Near East.^[1]

Cast[]

• Carl de Vogt as Kara Ben Nemsi
• Meinhart Maur as Hadschi Halef Omar
• Tronier Funder as Officer
• Béla Lugosi
• Fred Immler
• Ilja Dubrowski
• Gustav Kirchberg
• Erwin Baron

See also[]

• Karl May film adaptations
• Béla Lugosi filmography

References[]

External links[]

• The Devil Worshippers at IMDb