Doctor X Review

Review of Doctor X (1932) by screenqueeen: 👍 4/5

hooptober 12 minutes to midnight: 45 clock shot tally: 1

exists on two wavelengths that complement each other pretty nicely:

*pulp comic book level villainry with some of the most over the top plotting and "hiding in plain sight" for the film's bad guys

*a comedic anchor in our protagonist thrust into the worst of physical comedy but his other half-job is to be funny through dialogue, this ends up creating a superimposed combination of the two in some choice humorous minimalist moments

this is surprisingly not about just one thing plot-wise as a lot of early horror tends to be. the movie is letting you have fun with it, and when the comedic bits start to cue you in on how funny the movie thinks it is, it almost becomes funnier because of how invested it is in Lee Tracy's character. Bad guys commiserate about the moon* and it all becomes about cannibalism expertise in a way with one of the most out there on-camera makeup applications i've seen in a while.

because this is a pre-code horror film from the early 30s, many involved sequences following a characters actions focus on them with a notable absence of any musical scoring (in fact, none of the film is scored, and all uses of music are incidental except for the opening credits). So we'll get a scene that could either go comedic or tense as we watch Lee Tracy climb a drain pipe to get a glimpse into the medical building where an investigation is taking place, the sounds of wind whipping and atmospheric foley of the immediate urban area accompanying an amusingly tonally confused presentation of events. Actually the editing in this movie has given it most of its humor, intentional or not, it's made its mark on me.

honestly this is one of those "this is so corny it's already become a favorite to me" movies. The gag where Lee Tracy is sneaking around, sees a skeleton peek out of a doorway at an odd angle, then a doctor walking out carrying said skeleton is probably one of the best things i've seen in this. later in a room with other skeletons and body part paraphernalia, Tracy hides out and becomes so bored that he notices one skeleton that's suspended start to bounce on its harness and starts slapping his knee, just as he starts to sing to the ridiculous situation he's found himself in the film cuts to the next scene. If you like shit like this, you may be in for a treat.

• > "I have an interest in the light qualities of the moon. If you might suffer sunstroke, might you not suffer some similar evil - from the rays of the moon?" "Moonstruck, you mean?" "Exactly, what we call lunacy, from the word luna, meaning the moon. Latin, you know. However, the luna rays will never affect you or me, sir; because, we are normal people."