"Although Leni Riefenstahl's sole authorship of this remarkable film has now been disputed, with scenarist Béla Balázs being claimed as a virtual equal partner in its creation, it remains one of the most unique of all the German mountain films-perhaps not living up to all the symbolism claimed for it by Siegfried Kracauer and probably all the better for not doing so. Although totally different in content, it shows a definite influence from Tod Browning's Dracula in its opening sequences-while Riefenstahl's very physical performance as the mystic mountain girl likewise clearly influenced Paulette Goddard's work in Modern Times. Incidentally, all surviving prints seem to be from an Italian rather than a German negative, and are missing the framing introduction; we have re-inserted part of this (from an old silent print) into our print as an indication of how it originally started." -William K. Everson