Continuing our monthlong celebration of Halloween with various scary movie and TV-related lists. Check out our online movie database at staytunedmag.com to see if any of these or other scary titles are on this month.
BACK OFF, MAN — I’M A SCIENTIST:
TOP 5 MADDEST MOVIE DOCTORS
The doctor is out — way out. They all laughed at them back at the university, and with good reason! These demented docs may have started their research with good intentions (though not always), but in the end they learned the hard way that being God ain’t all it’s cracked up to be: (Note: Videos may contain disturbing images and language)
5. Dr. Henry Jekyll, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Frederic March won an Oscar for his great performance as both Jekyll and his sinister inner demon, Edward Hyde, in one of the best adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson’s touchstone “mad scientist” novel. Jekyll’s efforts to keep down his bestial Hyde self make him more of a tragic figure in this genre, while Hyde’s wanton freedom is truly horrifying:
Maddest quote:
“I have no soul. I’m beyond the pale. I’m one of the living dead!”
4. Dr. Herbert West, Re-Animator (1985)
One of the grossest of gross-out films you’ll ever see, Stuart Gordon’s adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft story has plenty of humor working for it, too. West contrives of a way to re-animate dead tissue. And if you think you’re cranky when someone rouses you out of a good sleep, just try waking the dead.
Maddest quote:
Co-worker: “So, West, what kind of medicine are you involved in?”
West: “Death.”
3. Dr. Alexander Thorkel, Dr. Cyclops (1940)
When Thorkel encounters fellow scientists who take issue with his research, he doesn’t blow things out of proportion. He, in fact, shrinks them — the scientists, that is:
Maddest quote:
Rival Doctor: “But what you are doing is mad! It is diabolic! You are tampering with powers reserved to God.”
Thorkel: “That is good. That is very good. That is just what I am doing.”
2. Dr. Henry Frankenstein, Frankenstein (1931)
The granddaddy of all mad doctors, personified best by Colin Clive here in this classic scene:
Maddest quote:
“Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God!”
1. Dr. Jack Griffin, The Invisible Man (1933)
Dr. Griffin’s formula seems to have more side effects than you’d find in a Viagra ad. Not only does it render him invisible, but it drives him absolutely mad.
Maddest quote:
“An invisible man can rule the world. No one will see him come, no one will see him go. He can rob, and rape, and kill!”