Monday, 14 April 2014

No laughs or scares

The Man Who Laughs (1928)

Directed by Paul Leni this film based on the novel of the same name stars Conrad Veidt, Mary Philbin, Brandon Hurst and Olga Vladimirovna Baklanonva. In England in 1690 the son of a nobleman killed by the king is scared to look like he is always smiling.

Variously this film is described as either a horror film or an expressionist film and I would say that it is really neither but more of a standard melodrama with a hint of swashbuckler about it. I was really hoping for something darker from this film but in the end it is a fairly average story of romantic and political manoeuvring. Generally the film is well made but the film has some really bizarre character names given the period and setting of the film.


3/5

No comments:

Post a Comment