31 Days Of Horror: Day #4 - "M"

"M", 1931, Directed by Fritz Lang 
Grade: A

Widely known for its reputation for being the first mainstream movie about a serial killer (and the best…until Seven came along 64 years later), director Fritz Lang (whose Metropolis would go on to be a major influence on Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop), creates the ultimate sense of dread and uneasiness in his first sound film.

I love this movie.  It’s so elegantly crafted.  And I don’t care what anybody says… THIS is a horror movie, and while not a full-blown instrument of feeding terror to the audience, (well, wait...perhaps it is) it gets a lot more done than anything involving whiny teens and PG-13 ratings. 

One of the greatest character actors ever, Peter Lorre, creates a child-like evil and dwarfing qualities that easily put his character at the top of some of the greatest villains is cinema history. Yes, the film is in German, yes, some of you may not like reading subtitles, but lest we forget....in the Golden Age days of cinema, film was a still an art-form MEDIUM, and not just a blatant marketing tool.  Whuuuut???  Dat be crazy!!!