I do love silent films and while this isn't a horror film, though I believe Lon Chaney is probably known best today(if at all) by younger viewers for his horror film work, it still a creeper. Lon plays Mr. Blizzard, a crime kingpin who had his legs amputated at the knee when he was a child. They were mistakenly amputated by a young doctor who later made a great name for himself in the field of medicine and all the while, Blizzard, in his crippled, broken body planned a very great revenge against not only the doctor who disfigured him, but against the entire town of San Francisco. His view was that cripples like him were shunned by society, so the best place for him to be was in the criminal underworld. He rose to a place of distinction(though one wonders how since even though he is intimidating, most street hoods wouldn't have been scared of him) and his villainous tendrils stretched out into many pockets and back alley shenanigans. I enjoyed the dialogue and Chaney's facial expressions are a true marvel. No one can look like him anymore. And, more to the point, he truly suffered for this role. To be realistic, and without the aid of the all too taken-for-granted CGI, Lon rigged up a special harness to bind his legs so he could walk on his knees with his lower legs tucked up behind him, under his coat. Not only does it look like a painful device, Chaney himself commented on its torturous design. There was a single dreamlike sequence towards the end of the film where you see him with his "new" legs, but that scene was eventually cut, and I feel rightly so. As a side, I loved the second doorknob that was placed at kid-level just for him. My only complaint about the film was the occasional use of an inappropriate score, though at times spot-on, other times it was very ineffective and even distracting. Obviously, this is a modern score and not the original music.
Highly recommended for Chaney fans or just silent film buffs in general.
Highly recommended for Chaney fans or just silent film buffs in general.