One of the most enduring horror tropes is the mad scientist. For the best bad movie about mad scientists, check Bride of the Monster (1955) by the "so bad it's good" movie master Ed Wood. Report Save. Considered by chemists to merely be their primitive precursor, the true alchemists of the Middle Ages were actually, it appears, pursuing a spiritual development technique in which spirit, symbol and physical manifestations were yoked together. Here follows a list of films with mad scientists in 'em. To be fair to the movies, the mad scientist stereotype far predates not just cinema but the term “scientist,” as the latter is a 19th-century invention while the original archetypal mad scientist, Doctor Faustus, dates back to the 16th-century. A compilation of some of the greatest mad scientists in cinematic history. https://www.fromthegrapevine.com/arts/best-movie-mad-scientists-all-time Tweet Share … Discover, rate and watchlist the newest, best and worst movies including Frankenstein, Overload and The Invisible Man. And sure, everything might work out okay in the end, but given Doc’s total lack of anything resembling either self-preservation instinct or caution, this is entirely a matter of sheer dumb luck. This list may not reflect recent changes (learn more). Through the use of “synthetic flesh,” Wells has been constructing an artificial limb and horrific flesh-mask to commit his crimes—as the film reveals in a genuinely disturbing transformation scene in which he slathers himself with the substance, which looks like either mousse or perhaps canned tuna, while muttering “synthetic flesh” repeatedly. Looking like a cross between Dr. Frankenstein and his monster, Finkelstein terrorizes his creation, Sally (Catherine O’Hara), in a manner equal parts overbearing father and controlling husband, which of course makes the whole thing even creepier. Discover, rate and watchlist the newest, best and worst movies including Frankenstein, Overload and The Invisible Man. Find every mad scientist horror movie on All Horror below. Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "mad-scientist" Refine See titles to watch instantly, titles you haven't rated, etc Movies or TV Looking over the carnage, West comments, “yes, parts, I’ve never done parts,” and proceeds to inject his reagent into Hill’s severed head. He uses the serum to paralyze his enemies, so that he can bury them alive. This problem helps explain why we have so many mad scientists in movies, but so few mad cooks. Rukh, concluding mother does know best, proceeds to jump out the nearest window, spontaneously combusting mid-fall—just in case the viewer had any doubts about dead he is. They were later collected into two volumes, The Mad Scientists' Club and The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club, originally published by … Tags:Big ListDavid CronenbergScienceScience Fiction. Mad Scientist Movies. Basically, on a weekend trip to Dr. X’s Long Island estate for some R&R—that is, research and (more) research—the scientists will all participate in an experiment in which they are all hooked up to heart rate monitors and made to watch re-enactments of the murderer’s crimes, which is somehow supposed to force the culprit into confessing. Mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is described as "mad" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly ambitious, taboo or hubristic nature of their experiments. Mad Scientist Horror Movies. Played by Rudolf Klein-Rogge in Metropolis (1927) Movie Science. Instead of destroying or threatening to destroy the world, she saves it by finding an answer to the energy crisis via the discovery of “cold fusion,” which she promptly submits to the public domain so that all may benefit and none may hoard the profits. Others seek to destroy humanity for one reason or another. From lovable weirdoes to murderous madmen, the following 50 characters embody a representative survey of one of the most enduring movie archetypes: the mad scientist. Igor September 19, 2008. Warren Springer, an eccentric laboratory research, invention, etc.). Most concerning of all, upon being approached by a stalkerish “Thomas More”—Val Kilmer in ill-fitted leather pants with Fabio hair—Russell’s immediate response is “sexy” instead of “beware, creepy stalker.” The film tries to posit this as Dr. Russell being a diehard “romantic,” but… no. Here’s the thing about movie scientists: most of them are crazy. 10 Most Crazed Mad Scientists in Horror Movies. Nothing in The Devil Bat is even vaguely convincing. Mad Scientist Horror Movies. He uses the serum to paralyze his enemies, so that he can bury them alive. Human being who writes about movies and other things. Mad, as mentioned, does not always equal evil, and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) is a prime example. However, he obstinately refuses to sell the rights to his invention. Poor Barbara has her father brought back from the dead as a … However, exposure to Radium X has not only left him with a fluorescent glow but also liable to kill anything he touches, as discovers upon attempting to pet a dog. Find every mad scientist horror movie on All Horror below. The Ultimate List of Movie Mad Scientists A stroll through movie history with fifty of the maddest scientists to ever hit the big screen. Sometimes I try to be funny on Twitter. Our invisible scientist uses his newfound power to stalk and terrorize his ex-girlfriend (Elizabeth Moss). The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.… that the cannibalism expert is the cannibal after all. While The Nightmare Before Christmas is largely about subverting expectations, with a friendly skeleton hero and other such lovable creepy characters, as is Tim Burton’s usual shtick, it plays the evil mad scientist trope straight with Dr. Finklestein (William Hickey). (They are also predominantly white.). No Small Parts " takes a look at his rise to fame. In the movies, the mad scientist can often be visually identified by his unkempt or generally bad hair, worse manners, white lab-coat, which is either of the open-front or shoulder-buttoned variety (though a leather smock might substitute on occasion), non-existent social life, glasses, and sex, which is, generally speaking, male. This is the faction to which Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) belongs—the faction of giving zero fucks about anything besides research. But boy, is it fun while it lasts. An unfortunate oversight, but one that pales in comparison to Griffin testing this invisibility serum on himself without having even the slightest idea of how he might be able to make himself visible again. Then make your own custom favorites list and share them with friends! Find every mad scientist horror movie on All Horror below. Ciara Wardlow; December 5, 2018; The Ultimate List of Movie Mad Scientists A stroll through movie history with fifty of the maddest scientists to ever hit the big screen. But moving on. Max Heinrich von Altermann (John Carradine), is a mad scientist working to create a race of living dead warriors. Daniel Kaluuya, known for his roles in " Black Mirror " and Get Out, stars in Judas and the Black Messiah. " The grouchy wheelchair-bound Dr. Duke (Harry Beresford)? And the geeks shall inherit the Earth. Ah, the mad scientist. A demonstration of his telescope inspires fellow scientists Dr. Felix Benet (Béla Lugosi) and Sir Francis Stevens (Walter Kingsford) to fund an expedition to hunt down this mysterious element known as Radium “X”. Remembering the Animation of Blue Sky Studios, HBO’s Swedish Import ‘Beartown’ Skates on Thin Ice, ‘Silk Road’ is a Road Better Left Untaken, ‘Blithe Spirit’ Resurrects Noel Coward’s Play But It Never Comes to Life, A Hero and A Villain Rise in ‘WandaVision’ Episode 7, The Brief and Scandalous History of the X Rating. The Ultimate List of Movie Mad Scientists A stroll through movie history with fifty of the maddest scientists to ever hit the big screen. The very next day he’s back to the drawing board, reading through his notes before rushing off, presumably to a laboratory, with a delighted “I see!”. That said, not only is she absent-minded to a degree rarely seen outside of a flat-out satire, but she also keeps her cold fusion reaction formula in her bra on tiny squares of paper that she spends a great deal of time staring at and rearranging as if discovering and balancing a chemical reaction works like a jigsaw puzzle. Somehow, “unorthodox” astronomer Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) invents a telescope with the power to peer into deep space, which someone also reproduces “vibrations from the past” and leads him to suspect the existence of a previously undiscovered element hiding somewhere in Africa, brought to Earth by an ancient meteor. Re-Animator boasts one of the greatest mad scientists in cult movie history - Herbert West, her boyfriend's new roommate, played to creepy maniacal perfection by Jeffrey Combs. I laughed so hard I cried. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Mad_scientist_films&oldid=951403057, Experimental medical treatments in fiction, Template Category TOC via CatAutoTOC on category with 201–300 pages, CatAutoTOC generates standard Category TOC, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 17 April 2020, at 00:11. 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