I was putting off watching this one for too long. Given all the great things I heard about it, I kept telling myself I would make room for it over the past couple Octobers, but I never watched it for some reason. Having finally seen it though, I can now confidently call it a new favorite. Like I expected, it's a memorable blend between horror and comedy, yet none of the characters blend into each other since they're all treated with different levels of levity. For instance, Aunt Abby and Aunt Martha make for a charming pair whose gleeful and lighthearted reactions to what they do act as a perfect comedic counterbalance to the horror elements to the film. Their explanation of how they've murdered a dozen people in an early scene, for instance, runs a fine line between ruining this portrayal of them, yet the punchline like way they go about revealing their true colors keeps humor firmly at the forefront of that sequence. Meanwhile, Teddy's lack of awareness over his role in the murders adds a subtle undercurrent of darkness to his lighthearted behavior which allows his character to blend both genres to a small degree. Jonathan, however, acts as the perfect counterbalance to the lighter elements of the film. Initially, I was unaware that a character like him would be thrown into the mix, but he came close to stealing the show. His creepy physical appearance/behavior, mixed with some great camerawork on his face, work in harmony to make him one of the most memorable horror film characters (or horror adjacent, depending on how you prefer to categorize this film) I can think of. Peter Lorre as Dr. Einstein didn't stick out quite as much by comparison, but his intimidation and sense of powerless over Jonathan caused him to leave a decent impact as well. This leaves Cary Grant who gives one of the best comedic performances I can think of. His exaggerated reaction to what goes on around him, shown in his eyes, facial expressions, and occasional shrieks, were priceless and got me in stiches more than a few times. Give the hype I heard about this film, I was worried it wouldn't be able to live up to my expectations, but it ended up surpassing them entirely.
Review of Arsenic and Old Lace
