All Critics (28)
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Top Critics (3)
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Fresh (27)
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DVD (4)
Camera trick of changing a central figure from the handsome Fredric March into the bestial, ape-like monster Hyde, carries a terrific punch, but in each successive use of the device -- and it is repeated four times -- it weakens in hair-raising effort.
A remarkable achievement that deserves to be much better known.
Fredric March is the stellar performer in this blood-curdling shadow venture.
There has never been a more inventive nor engaging retelling of this classic story.
'Dr Jekyll' combines gothic horror, aristocratic romance and madcap Freudian psychodrama into a dizzying, exhilirating brew.
While some of the dialogue and acting may now seem arch, this remains a standout take on the classic novel, visually inventive and often surprisingly strong given the era in which it was made.
It's a lurid potboiler which is notable for some superb camera work (a long POV tracking shot at the beginning of the film for example), some innovative early special effects and some of the most deranged overacting you are ever likely to see.
Mamoulian's vision of Dr Jekyll's hidden life in the foggy Victorian underworld is fascinating.
Powerful performances from March and Hopkins and richly atmospheric cinematography help make for a memorable journey down Stevenson's "strange and terrible road."
The 1931 version of the Robert Louis Stevenson novella, directed by the great Rouben Mamoulian, is still the best version there is, far more frightening than the glossy MGM version Victor Fleming made a decade or so later.
It's taken from a novel Stevenson feverishly wrote over a period of six-days while snorting cocaine, and is well-served in this film by Mamoulian's excesses.
A stylish, sophisticated and influential horror film that hinges on a performance by March which subsequent leads have struggled to match.
Easily the best of the many versions of the Stevenson horror classic.
Great effects for its time and some incredible performances makes this a true cinema classic.
Still the best version of Stevenson's novella.
Transformations still amaze; best version to date.
It is an engaging, old-fashioned movie, using the right blend of thoughtful artistry and matinee thrills, with a touch of eroticism to spice things up.
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