Lorre's a creepy guy, as usual, but the greatness of Lorre is that he still seems vulnerable. Whether he's buying a wax figure of his obsession, attending an execution just because he likes to watch, or even going on a murderous rampage, you still feel kinda bad for the guy. He's a criminal mastermind, sure, but he's also misunderstood. Right?
The plot thickens as the pianist is in a train wreck, injuring both of his hands beyond repair, potentially ruining his career. Lorre's called in as a favor -- the actress knows he loves her and will do anything for her, so she uses him for his genius in a desperate attempt to save her husband. Luckily for Lorre, a knife-throwing murderer has just been executed nearby, and he's able to transplant the freshly dead hands to the pianist. Yes, this is that kind of movie.
You'd think the plot convolutions would end there, but you'd be wrong. Man, there's stuff in this movie that you don't even realize is planted to pay off that ends up paying off in the last few minutes. Spoiler alert: once the pianist husband has the transplanted murderer's hands, they seem to have minds of their own, and he can't help but attack people. Uh oh.
Karl Freund directed this great horror flick, and it's clearly steeped in his usual German expressionist style. He's the guy who shot DRACULA and directed THE MUMMY. It's a pity MAD LOVE was his last film.
It's nice to see Colin Clive in something other than FRANKENSTEIN, where he played the title character for the first two films. He can do manic and desperate unlike anyone, and although he's not much of a presence in the first half of the film, in the second half he lets loose and really chews the scenery. It's great -- Peter Lorre vs. Colin Clive. How had I not seen this movie already?
No comments:
Post a Comment