23rd April 2018, 07:00 PM
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 | Cultist on the Rampage | | Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Dundee, Scotland | |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs  Mad Love (1935)
An old school Hollywood adaptation of Renard's The Hands of Orlac.
It's the classic tale of how the hands of a murderer, recently guillotined, are grafted onto the wrists of a brilliant pianist whose own hands have been crushed following an accident. Peter Lorre is brilliant as the maniacal surgeon in love with the pianists wife (Frances Drake), giving a performance of both compassion and madness, the longer the film goes on the madder he gets yet he also comes across as somewhat pathetic. Former Frankenstein Colin Clive plays the pianist in a subtle performance also bordering on madness as he realises he's become a knife wielding maniac.
The direction by Karl Freund is excellent and i think ahead of it's time due to it's camera angles which give it a quite beautiful atmosphere. There are even scenes of pure body horror as we witness Lorre in all his frightening glory pretending to be the once dead killer with mechanical hands and his head seemingly reattached to his body. It's a scene as creepy and scary as anything Frankenstein had to offer.
This was the first time i'd watched Mad Love. It won't be the last.
Highly recommended. | I NEED to see this!
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