So, right after Halloween, my son sent the following video to me because he found it fascinating how most of the media “hulking out” (his words) incarnations aren’t that close to the book story:
After watching the video, I told him that I’d always thought the 1941 movie with Spencer Tracy, of all people, in the title role has always creeped me out the most because the transformation Dr. Jekyll goes through was way more psychological than other versions I’ve seen. I’m not even certain they did all that much in terms of makeup changes when he transformed. It seems to be mostly acting.
I know it’s not considered the best version critically but it still creeped me out more. And isn’t that what monster movies are supposed to do? Well, horror monsters anyway.
And to prove my point, here’s the cover where that movie is paired with the 1931 movie starring Fredric March:
Very different camera approaches.