Truly, Madly, Creepily

This surgeon is out of his mind
It's urgent the guy is confined
Though a pest she dismisses,
He's obsessed with this Mrs.
With a love that's more psycho than blind.

Peter Lorre puts the squeeze on Frances Drake in Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).

Grasping at Flaws

Two hands on your arms they attach 
Now the back of your neck you can scratch
But they're mitts from a killer 
And this flick is a thriller
So your foes you will start to dispatch.

Stephen Orlac (Colin Clive) receives two new hands courtesy of mad surgeon Gogol (Peter Lorre): Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).

Losing His Grip

The thought of her lovely physique
Left hubby unhappy and weak.
Since parts were replaced
Each evening he faced
Another man's hand on her cheek.

Donald B. Benson

Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935): Colin Clive and Frances Drake are Stephen and Yvonne Orlac. He's a concert pianist who undergoes a double hand transplant.

The Countdown to Halloween

'Til the end of the month here we're counting
The tension--or something--is mounting
One day at a time
We're playing in rhyme...
My brother-in-law's in accounting.

He really is an accountant. Okay...where were we? Ah, yes...LimerWrecks is just one of the many, many blogs and sites taking part in the annual internet event called the Countdown to Halloween. Many more than you can shake a severed limb at.

Hand-Me-Downs

Rejection's just too hard to swallow,
So in lust unrequited he'll wallow
But her husband he'll fix 
With some custom-made tricks,
Like sleight-of-hand transplants from Rollo.



Dr. Gogol (Peter Lorre) covets Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake), and performs a murderous transplant on her husband, giving him the hands of killer Rollo (Edward Brophy): Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935). Title by handsy David Cairns.

The Lockless Monster

To show her he really did care
He offered a lock of his hair.
The gift was rejected
Because she suspected
What hair he could spare came from ... there.

Donald B. Benson

Frances Drake and Peter Lorre in Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935), based on the novel Les Mains D'Orlac by Maurice Renard.

Surgical Frown

In cutting edge hand operations,
This doctor has made innovations
But transplanting parts
Like hands that throw darts
Could lead to a few complications.

Peter Lorre plays Dr. Gogol, who transplants the hands of a knife thrower onto a concert pianist: Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).

Finger Manic

This Halloween night doorbell ringer
Won't passively loiter or linger.
So give him a treat
That's suitably sweet
Or get -- ten times over! -- the finger.

Donald B. Benson

Stephen Orlac (Colin Clive) displays his new Frankenstein hands, as reporter Reagan (comedian Ted Healy) looks on: Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).

The gangrene gang here at LimerWrecks is taking part in the Countdown to Halloween, an October-long blogathon leading up to every monster fan's favorite holiday.

October Disguise

 

When Halloween costumes are planned out,
The madman from "Mad Love's" a standout.
Because trick-or-treating
And candy-corn eating
Suggests Lorre giving a hand ... out.

Donald B. Benson

Peter Lorre stars in Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935). He plays a surgeon who gives a concert pianist a hand transplant.

Finger Exorcises

These knife-thrower's hands are possessed!
Though once lifeless, unmanned, and at rest
But their new owner lives
And he threw a few shivs
So his wife's understandably stressed.

David Cairns

In Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935), Colin Clive and Frances Drake are Stephen and Yvonne Orlac. He's a concert pianist who undergoes a double hand transplant.

Finger Feud

When Orlac's poor hands are both crushed
Things look black, his piano is hushed
The ingenious cure
Of a scenery chewer
Drives him wacko, all manic and flushed.

David Cairns

In Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935), Colin Clive plays Stephen Orlac, a concert pianist who undergoes a double hand-transplant.

The Spinal Countdown

Her posture was wrecking her back,
So she opted to stretch on the rack
Her delicate spine
Will soon be just fine,
But first she will get a good crack!



Frances Drake performs in the Grand Guignol theatre of horrors in the Peter Lorre thriller Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).

Medium Ghoul

You sit in your chair and get cozy
The ball says your future looks rosy
But of course there's a catch,
That remorseless old wretch
Is "mystical" Bela Lugosi.

Bela Lugosi plays psychic advisor Tarneverro in the Charlie Chan mystery Black Camel (Hamilton MacFadden; 1931).

This is our first post in the Countdown to Halloween, the annual October-long blogathon.