Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) is still the best version and it's not even close

You should watch this movie tonight if you want to see a horror masterpiece that actually feels dangerous.

If you prefer your classics to be polite and boring, you will probably hate this. It is loud and messy in the best way possible.

It starts with this incredible point-of-view shot. We are looking through Dr. Jekyll's eyes as he plays the organ.

You see his hands on the keys and then his butler brings him a coat. It feels like you are wearing a VR headset but it's 1931.

I honestly forgot how much movement there is in this film. The camera is constantly zooming around or sliding across the floor.

It is not stiff like Disraeli at all. It has that same weird, frantic energy you find in The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks.

Fredric March plays Jekyll as this sort of handsome, over-eager nerd. He is so desperate to be "pure" that he ends up becoming a monster.

The first time he drinks the potion is a trip. The room starts spinning and these blurry images of people's faces float by.

Then we see Hyde. He looks like a monkey.

His teeth are huge and his hair is all matted. It’s actually pretty scary how much March changes his body language.

Hyde doesn't just walk; he hops over furniture like a gymnast. 🐒

There is this one scene where he is out in the rain and he just looks up and lets the water hit his face. He looks so happy to be evil.

The makeup is legendary for a reason. They used colored filters to make the makeup appear instantly on the black and white film.

It’s a trick that still looks better than some CGI I saw last week.

Miriam Hopkins plays Ivy, the girl Jekyll "saves" and then Hyde ruins. She is the best part of the movie, honestly.

The scene where she is in bed and Hyde is just looming over her is hard to watch. It feels way more modern and gritty than other movies from this time.

She has this one line where she says she's "scared of the dark" and you can see her whole body shaking.

It’s not the fake, theatrical shaking you usually see in old movies. It feels real.

Hyde is a total creep. He’s not just a monster; he’s a psychological bully.

He whistles this little tune while he's terrorizing her. It’s a bit like a proto-version of Landru, der Blaubart von Paris in terms of that cold-blooded killer vibe.

The movie gets a little slow when we have to hang out with Jekyll’s fiancée, Muriel. She’s played by Rose Hobart and she is perfectly fine.

But her scenes feel like they belong in a much more boring movie. Whenever she’s on screen, I just wanted to go back to the foggy streets of London.

The fog in this movie is like a character. It's thick and looks like it smells like coal and wet dogs.

There is a moment near the end where Jekyll is in a park and he just starts turning without the potion.

He’s watching a bird kill a butterfly. It’s a bit on the nose, I guess.

But then his hand starts to grow hair and his fingernails get long. He looks at his hand with this look of absolute horror.

I noticed a small mistake in the background during one of the lab scenes. There’s a beaker that seems to move between shots without anyone touching it.

It doesn't matter though. The vibe is so strong you barely care.

The sound design is also weirdly quiet. There isn't a lot of music.

You just hear the sound of Hyde's heavy breathing and his boots on the cobblestones. It makes the whole thing feel more claustrophobic.

I think the reason this version is so much better than the 1941 one with Spencer Tracy is because this one isn't afraid to be ugly.

Hyde is genuinely gross. He’s sweaty and he makes these weird grunting noises.

The ending is a bit of a rush. The police show up and it’s a big shootout in the lab.

Jekyll is jumping around and breaking stuff. It’s chaotic.

When he finally dies and turns back into Jekyll, it’s actually a relief. He looks so tired.

It's a tragic ending because you realize he really did think he was doing something good for science.

Anyway, go watch it for Fredric March. He won an Oscar for this and he earned every bit of it.

Just don't expect a happy ending or a clean resolution. It’s a movie about a man literally tearing himself apart.

Oh, and look out for the scene with the garter. It’s very Pre-Code and probably made people gasp in 1931.

Even today, it feels a little scandalous. 🥂

Random Notes:

• The transformation scenes still look like magic.
• Hyde’s top hat looks way too small for his head.
• The organ music at the start is a banger.
• Jekyll's friends are all super judgmental and annoying.

It is definitely worth your time. Just keep the lights on.