The film is said to have established the genre of crime thriller, creating cinematic thriller techniques used later by Alfred Hitchcock and Fritz Lang. The use of gadgetry such as canons and bombs was also adopted by Lang in films such as "Dr. Mabuse the Gambler" and "The Spiders". It is also said to have inspired experimental filmmakers such as Luis Buñuel and French New Wave directors such as Alain Resnais and Georges Franju. Some have called it an early example of a gangster film.