Fritz Lang is considered to be one of the greatest horror filmmakers of all time. Known as the �Master of Darkness,� he is widely credited with heavily influencing film noir. Despite his nickname, his films never included anything resembling batman halloween costumes.

Lang was born in Vienna in on December 5, 1890, to architect Anton Lang and his wife, Pauline. He had one older brother, Adolf. Growing up in Vienna, his parents were practicing Catholics although his mother had been raised Jewish.

After he graduated high school, Lang enrolled in the Technical University of Vienna and studied civil engineering. However, he eventually switched to art, as that was where his passion was. He left Vienna in 1910 and traveled the world studying different types of art. In 1913, he studied painting in Paris, France. He returned home to Vienna, where he was drafted into the Austrian Army so he could fight in the First World War. He was wounded a total of three times during his tours of Russia and Romania.

It was while he was recovering from his wounds in 1916 that he started drafting film ideas. By 1918, he had been discharged from the army and he ended up acting for awhile. Eventually, he was hired at a Berlin-based production company known as Decla, but that didn�t last long; he soon began directing films instead. In between 1921 and 1933, he wrote many films with his future wife, Thea von Harbou. Among them were the three he was most famous for: Die Nibelungen in 1924; his masterpiece, Metropolis , in 1927; and M , his first �talking� picture, in 1931.

However, one of his films, Dr. Mabuse , released in 1932, was so anti-Nazi that Lang was forced to flee to America for his life. Once he reached America, his films took on a slightly different slant: instead of outright horror, it began to resemble what we now know as the film genre film noir. The genre involves paranoia, psychological conflict, moral ambiguity, and faith, although there are no monsters like you�d find in a costume store. His films were much more popular in America than they were in Germany, and he was able to get them produced more easily. Among the most famous of these was his last film, The Thousand Eyes of Doctor Mabuse , released in 1960. Lang�s failing eyesight forced him to stop producing films. He died on August 2, 1967. However, two of his most famous films are often discussed today:

• Metropolis : There are actually several versions of Metropolis. The complete version was only screened once, on its release date in Germany; then it was believed that a fourth of the footage was lost forever. In August of 2008, a complete version was discovered in Argentina. The plot revolves around Maria and Freder. Freder is the son of a leader in the �Upper City� while Maria is a worker in the �Lower City.� The two meet and fall in love, with Maria predicting that Freder will be a mediator between the two cities. But Freder�s father creates a false version of Maria and replaces the real one; the fake incites a rebellion in the �Lower City� and it looks like the world will end. However, Freder finds the real Maria and the pair manage to save the city, bringing about cooperation between the Upper and Lower Cities and bringing peace to the world.

• M : M is based on a true story. It depicts the case of a child killer named Peter Kurten. The film has three distinct �sections.� The first introduces Peter and the child he kills, a little girl named Elsie Beckmann. The second features both the police, desperate to catch the killer, and the criminals who are being forced deeper underground because of increased police presence. The film allowed Lang to explore the fine line between what makes someone a criminal and what makes them a cop. In fact, he made it a point to reflect that in some cases, there are no differences between them. The film�s final sequence depicts Kurten�s trial.

Most filmmakers today credit Lang with establishing film noir as a real film genre and his films are some of the most famous in the world.