UNIVERSAL HORROR COLLECTION VOL. 3
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 285 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Full Frame (1.37:1)
Director: Rowland N. Lee, George Waggner, Albert S. Rogell,
Cast: Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Barbara O'Neil, Ian Hunter, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, Leo. G. Carroll, Lionel Atwill, Lon Chaney Jr., Anna Nagel, Frank Albertson, Samuel S. Hinds, Hugh Herbert, Broderick Crawford, Bela Lugosi, Gale Sodergaard, Anne Gwynne, Gladys Cooper, Cecelia Lotus, Alan Ladd, Dick Foran, Leo Carillo, Peggy Moran, Fuzzy Knight, John Eldredge
Synopsis: Volume 3 of the Universal Horror Collection includes four tales of terror from the archives of Universal Pictures, the true home of classic horror. This collection includes such horror stars as Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Vincent Price, Lon Chaney Jr. and Basil Rathbone. A ruthless king rises to power with the help of his mad and murderous executioner in Tower of London. A mad scientist transforms a carnival performer into a murderous monster in Man Made Monster. In The Black Cat, a group of greedy heirs find themselves stuck in a creepy mansion where, one by one, people turn up dead. What started out as a treasure-making scheme ends up deadly for a group of people stuck in a haunted castle with a killer known as “the Phantom” in Horror Island.
TOWER OF LONDON (1939) (92 min)
Cast: Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Barbara O'Neil, Ian Hunter, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, Leo. G. Carroll
Tower of London (1939), not to be confused with the 1962 Roger Corman film starring Vincent Price, stars Basil Rathbone (The Comedy of Terrors) as the unscrupulous Richard III, a hunchbacked corrupt power hungry would-be King who would see his entire family double-crossed and murdered so that he could ascend to throne, including the murder of young children in one shocking scene. The film is a medieval melodrama full of political intrigue and betrayal, with Richard being assisted by a cruel club-footed executioner named Mord, played by horror icon Boris Karloff (Black Sabbath), in a small most viciously memorable role. Set mainly in a 15th century castle the film has some good atmospheric castle charms, plus we get full use a torture dungeon, public beheading, and a dueling drinking game that end in the death of a young Vincent Price (Witchfinder General) who pops up only briefly, but memorably, in the film. There's not a lot of horrific happening in this one but it's a fun watch. Highlights for me were a little doll set that Richard III keeps of those in next in line for the throne, as he sets about murdering them he tosses their doll effigies in the fire and watches them burn. The deadly drinking game between Price and Rathbone is also pretty great, as scenes of the demented Henry VI who has been imprisoned in the Tower of London with a paper crown. This is way more a historical melodrama than a horror film but it does have a few intrinsically horrific moments, including scary crooked-legged sneaking into the rooms of the young children and measuring their length with his arms spread open, and the measuring an open grave shortly after the same way to ensure it's of the proper length for the children's bodies!
Special Features:
- NEW 2K scan of a fine grain print
- NEW Audio Commentary with author/film historian Steve Haberman
- Still Gallery
MAN-MADE MONSTER (1941) (60 min)
Cast: Lionel Atwill, Lon Chaney Jr., Anna Nagel, Frank Albertson, Samuel S. Hinds
Sci-fi horror schlocker Man-Made Monster (1941) stars Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolfman) as circus performer who is the sole survivor of an bus accident that claimed the other lives of all others on the vehicle. His attending physician Dr. John Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds, The Raven)) attributes his survival to a circus act the man performed using electricity, theorizing that he has been in effect electrically vaccinated due to his regular exposure to electrical currents. Dr. Lawrence invites Dan to take part in a scientific study so that he can discover the secret to his electrical immunity, but the doc's crooked assistant Dr. Paul Rigas (Lionel Atwill) has more diabolical plans, that of turning the unwitting Dan into a glowing electrical Frankenstein's Monster of sorts, a brainwashed minion to do his evil bidding, looking to create an army of glowing! Lon Chaney Jr. is a sympathetic average Joe sort of guy, and Lionel Atwill is deliciously deranged as the mad scientist out to rule the world.
Special Features:
- Still Gallery
THE BLACK CAT (1941) (71 min)
Cast: Basil Rathbone, Hugh Herbert, Broderick Crawford, Bela Lugosi, Gale Sodergaard, Anne Gwynne, Gladys Cooper, Cecelia Lotus, Alan Ladd
Not to be confused with the same-titled 1933 Universal film starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, The Black Cat (1941) is a sort of old dark house whodunit centered around the wealthy and elderly matriarch Henrietta Winslow (Cecilia Loftus), who is in failing health. Her family have gathered at her mansion to await her inevitable death while trying to curry favor with her and secure a favorable spot in the matriarch's will. Apparently she's not dying fast enough and some greedy relative is trying to speed-up the process, after a failed poisoning attempt on her life the funny old crone is murdered, but certain stipulations in her will prevent interested parties from inheriting what they feel they're owed. This is a sort of pedestrian murder mystery that's played for laughs with some fun comedy coming by way of antique dealers Hubert Smith (Broderick Crawford) and Mr. Penny (Hugh Herbert), a pair who definitely have an Abbot & Costello sort of comedy routine happening here. It's all fairly rote and cliched to be honest but I love this sort of whodunit comedy, having it all wrapped up in an eerie mansion with secret passageways and a family of backbiting connivers is all good fun for me.
Special Features:
- NEW Audio Commentary with author/film historian Gary D. Rhodes
- Theatrical Trailer
- Still Gallery
HORROR ISLAND (1941) (61 min)
Director: George Waggner
Cast: Dick Foran, Leo Carillo, Peggy Moran, Fuzzy Knight, John Eldredge
In the treasure-seeking comedy Horror Island (1941) Ivy League tax-evader Bill Martin (Dick Foran) is given a treasure map by a peg-legged sailor named Clump, claiming that there is 20-million dollars worth of pirate gold hidden away on an island, one that Martin just happens to already own. With the help of his trusty sidekick named Stuff Martin gathers a group of people that he's suckered into paying for the opportunity to travel by boat to the island to embark on a gas-lit treasure hunt inside a mansion on the property. This is one of those everything-and-the-kitchen-sink b-pictures that has elements of the old dark house cliches, a whodunit murder mystery, a sprinkling of potential supernatural elements, plus a caped murderer called "the phantom" who is offing the treasure seekers on the island. I didn't find this comedy offering as pleasing as The Black Cat (1941) but it had it's moments, including the wealthy young dame played by very cute Peggy Moran, and d-list leading man Dick Foran is charming in a kind-hearted schemer sort of way.
Special Features:
- NEW Audio Commentary by filmmaker/film historian Ted Newsom
- Theatrical Trailer
- Still Gallery
Audio/Video: All four of these vintage Universal films arrive on a 4-disc Blu-ray set from Scream Factory framed in 1080p HD fullframe (1.37:1). Only Tower of London (1939) is advertised as being a new 2K scan from a fine grain print, and sure enough it's the best-looking of the bunch, with Horror Island (1941) coming in a close second. The films definitely look their vintage, but have been decently preserved and presented on this Blu-ray set.
Audio on all four films comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA Mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue sounds good considering the age, there's a tiny bit of hiss and it can sound thin throughout but nothing that distracted me to the point of annoyance.
As with the previous sets I appreciate that each film is presented on it's own Blu-ray disc, though I must say that this set is anemic in the extras department compared to the previous sets. What we do get are audio commentaries from noted authors/film historians Steve Haberman (Tower of London), Gary D. Rhodes (The Black Cat), and Tom Weaver and Constantine Nasr (Man Made Monster, Horror Island) - all offering insightful and in-depth analysis of the not just the films, but contextual bits of info about the production and the cast and crew. The only other extras on the set are still galleries for all four film and a trailer for only Horror Island (1941).
The four-disc set arrives in an oversized Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of artwork featuring the original movie posters for each of the films. Inside there's a 12-page booklet with cast and credit information, plus stills and movie posters for all four films, but there's no synopsis or writing on the films. We also get a slipcover with the same artwork and as the wrap that has some nice shelf appeal when sitting aside the previous two volumes of the series.
The third volume in Scream Factory's Universal Horror Collection continues to explore Universal's early vintage films outside of the traditional Universal monsters franchises, but I think you have to be a serious appreciator of vintage b-movie films from Universal's catalog to deem this worth the nearly fifty-dollar price tag, considering that these are fairly silly b-movies at best, not that I think that's a bad thing, I dig it, but it's not gonna have wide appeal for the average horror fan. I still give Scream Factory kudos for preserving these on Blu-ray, I just wish we had a few more extras on this particular set that would tip the scales a bit for those maybe on the fence about needing to purchase this set.
