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Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection (Doctor X / The Return of Doctor X / Mad Love / The Devil Doll / Mark of the Vampire / The Mask of Fu Manchu) Posters
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Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection (Doctor X / The Return of Doctor X / Mad Love / The Devil Doll / Mark of the Vampire / The Mask of Fu Manchu) DVD
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Rating:  -
The only film in this set whichI have not yet seen is Karloff's "The Mask of Fu Manchu," so I shall not comment on it as yet. The other films are at least enjoyable, some great, but my main interest in purchasing this set was Bogart's "The Return of Dr. X." Legend has it that this was Jack Warner's punishment for Bogie's protests against being typecast by the studio. I remember seeing it on TV, on a program called "Chiller Theater," and it impressed me from the very start, not merely because of Bogie's offbeat role as the murderous-medico-brought-back-to-life. It is in fact a taut, fast-moving and chilling tale, for the most part very well acted (superbly by John Litel as the well-meaning if obsessed hematologist who revives Dr. Xavier (Bogart), and stupendously by Bogart as the cruel, chilling child killer physician who ruthlessly murders people for his continued existence through blood transfusions). The only weakness is Wayne Morris' endlessly bumbling and wisecracking reporter, a concept that by 1939 has been done to death as an obnoxious stereotype. The musical score is outstanding, tense and atmospheric; I wish that the composer had been mentioned in the film credits. Anyway, this ia a film that has been neglected and underrated far too long; I am glad it is avaliable so that viewers can make their own judgments about its merit.
Rating: -
In the early 30's, Universal was the leading exponent of the horror genre on film with such classics as "Dracula", "Frankenstein" and "The Mummy". MGM and Warner Brothers also cashed in on the craze and the results are really good. Utilizing such iconic stars as Lionel Barrymore, Peter Lorre (in his first US film) and even Universal legends Karloff and Lugosi the companies made some fine entries into the genre. The weakest is DR. X. Using a gimmicky 2 strip color format, the print transfer is the worst of all the 6 films. The movie itself is dull and stagy despite the efforts of "scream queen" Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill. WB fared much better later with a follow up THE RETURN OF DR. X using a relatively unknown Humphrey Bogart in white face and skunk streaked hair.
Lugosi and Barrymore turn up in a clever MGM Vampire tale with a twist THE MARK OF THE VAMPIRE. Lugosi of course plays the vampire but the movie sports one of the greatest warped endings in movies.
Karloff is always great and breathes life into "FU MANCHU". I believe this was the first film incarnation and if not, it is certainly the best. All the predecessors pale under Karloff's brilliant understated performance. Watch for a young Myrna Loy as Fu Manchu's equally villianous daughter.
The best movie of the lot and the worst titled DEVIL DOLL, stars again, the great Lionel Barrymore in drag no less as a Devil's Island escapee who disguises himself to exact vengence on those who sent him up the river. This is one of his finest performances in a career built on great acting. A young Maureen O'Sullivan of TARZAN fame appears as he bitter daughter.
All the movies are two on one disc (3 total) and housed in a box. They are not dual layered, both movies play on the same side as none of them are much longer than an hour. The transers considering the age (with the exception of Dr. X) are great as is the sound quality. There is however little to no bonus material (some theahtrical trailers).
The movies were directed by several horror greats, Tod Browning, Karl Freund, et. al and for a nice price you have so many Hollywood legends in one package (Karloff, Lugosi, Barrymore, Atwill, Jean Hersholt, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Humphrey Bogart--well, you can't ask for more than that now can you!
Rating:  -
This collection from the vaults of Warner Brothers and MGM, studios more famous for other film genres, contains some great stuff but it could have been better with a few changes.
First, the good - the prints are generally excellent, the theatrical trailers are included and the commentary for "Fu Manchu" is outstanding, with "Mad Love" and "Doctor X" close behind. "Mad Love" benefits from stunning camera work, not surprising when the director is the famous cameraman Karl Freund.
Second, the mediocre - the print of "Doctor X", an early example of 2 strip technicolour, is probably as good as it gets but that still does not make it clearly visible. "The Return of Doctor X" is a B film and the plot is dumb in a typical B way. It does not really justify a commentary except that the director was still alive so we get a few first hand comments from the geriatric Vincent Sherman.
Third, the bad - "The Mark of the Vampire" was butchered before release and the film is arrant nonsense, a remake of a lost Lon Chaney film. The theatrical trailer promises much more than the film delivers. The commentary attached to the film is appalling so at least the commentators have matched the film.
As for the films themselves, "Mad Love", "Devil Dolls" and "Doctor X" are ripping yarns with excellent casts and good scripts. "Fu Manchu" is an outrageous pre-code gem and best, of all, the DVD has been cut from the original print with all the censored bits restored.
The Set is good value but I would have flicked "Mark of the Vampire" and included Michael Curtiz's "The Walking Dead", a far superior film. Also, a good commentary about "Devil Dolls" would have rounded out the set nicely.
Rating: -
These films are such gems, each of them, and the restored prints are so beautiful, that this collection should not be missed whether you are a seasoned archivist or just discovering the Universal Horror Canon. The bonus features are sparse, comprising mostly commentary tracks from film historians and critics (although one,The Return of Dr. X, which stars a very creepy Humphrey Bogart, has commentary that includes the 100-year-old director!) and sometimes the theatrical trailer. But The Mask of Fu Manchu alone is worth thet price of the set for the chance to see, uncut, its pre-code craziness, high camp and very overt erotic and sadomasochistic overtones!
Barrymore, Atwill, Karloff, Lugosi, Lorre, Myrna Loy, Fay Wray... the list goes on. Whatever they're asking for this delightful box set, it's a pittance. It doesn't get much better than this.The Boris Karloff Collection (Tower of London / The Black Castle / The Climax / The Strange Door / Night Key)The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)
Rating: -
Rather than just focusing on a few horror franchises and milking them for all they were worth with five or six B quality sequels apiece as Universal did with Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, and the Invisible Man, in the 30's and 40's Warner and MGM would usually take just one good idea and make just one good horror movie. This is a collection of six of Warner and MGM's better excursions into the horror genre during that era.
Everyone else has gone into the plots of these movies in detail, so I will not do the same. Let me point out, though, that "Return of Doctor X" is not really a sequel to "Doctor X" at all. The two stand alone. The only thing they have in common is the theme of a wise-cracking reporter on the trail of what turns out to be a mad doctor. As far as transfer quality, "Mad Love" has noticeable artifacts in the video, at least through the first half of the movie. It's nothing too distracting, though. With "Doctor X" you have to get used to the peculiarities of two-strip technicolor which includes occasional green skies and also green skin tones when people are shown in the dark. The rest of the films look quite good, and the audio quality is very good on all of the films. The extras that come with the films are as follows:
Special Features for Mark of the Vampire:
Commentary by genre historians Kim Newman and Steve Jones
Theatrical trailer
Special Features for The Mask of Fu Manchu:
Commentary by Greg Mank, author of Karloff and Lugosi: A Story of a Haunting Collaboration
Special Features for Doctor X:
Commentary by horror scholar Tom Weaver
Theatrical trailer
Special Features for The Return of Doctor X:
Commentary by director Vincent Sherman and Chronicles of Terror author Steve Haberman
Theatrical trailer
Special Features for Mad Love:
Commentary by Steve Haberman, author of Chronicles of Terror
Theatrical trailer
Special Features for The Devil Doll:
Theatrical trailer
Although not really a complaint, the packaging of this set somewhat surprised me. In particular, each DVD comes in a slim case rather than the thicker and sturdier keep case in which most of the DVDs in Warner DVD sets are packaged. At any rate, the set is a great deal for the money and I highly recommend it.
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