Danse Macabre (1922 film)

Danse Macabre is a 1922 German silent horror film directed by Wilhelm Dieterle (later known as William Dieterle). The film is considered lost, with no known copies surviving.

Information about the plot of Danse Macabre is scant and often derived from contemporary reviews and advertising materials. It is generally understood to be a macabre tale involving themes of death, seduction, and potentially supernatural elements. The title itself, Danse Macabre (French for "Dance of Death"), refers to an artistic genre depicting death as a personified figure leading people from all walks of life to the grave.

Wilhelm Dieterle both directed and starred in the film. The cast included other notable German actors of the era, though their specific roles are largely unknown due to the film's lost status.

Because Danse Macabre is a lost film, critical reception is limited to contemporary accounts. These accounts suggest the film was visually striking and attempted to capture the essence of the medieval artistic tradition of the Danse Macabre. However, without the film itself, any comprehensive analysis remains impossible. The film is part of a larger trend in German Expressionist cinema of the 1920s, which often explored themes of darkness, madness, and the grotesque.