I felt like it would have worked better at maybe half the runtime. The plot would like to be quite dramatic, but most scenes were just drawn out too long for that. And why [spoiler]was Lyduschka even in it? She barely plays a role.[/spoiler]

While still quite theatrical, the acting isn't bad. Paul Wegener is very charismatic, and gives a nice and [spoiler]gloomy performance as the "evil twin"[/spoiler], although him and John Gottowt are also the most guilty of stage overacting. Some of the visual effects are a bit slack – [spoiler]double exposures are quite obvious, with people turning transparent when they move too close to the border, and background sets often don't match up before and after a jump cut[/spoiler]. But it's nice that it's all put in service of the storytelling. The set design and lighting also go a long way in supporting the murky mood.

There are some very nice elements to this movie. The [spoiler]chase scene[/spoiler] towards the end is visually quite visionary and presages German expressionist cinema, and it was refreshing to see some outdoor, on-location footage, which was still rare for fictional films at this time. But overall, I wouldn't consider it essential watching.