Universal
Classic Monsters Complete 30 Film Collection
(1931 - 1956/21-Disc DVD Box Set/Universal Home Video)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: B Films: A
Frankenstein.
Bride of Frankenstein. The Wolfman. Dracula. Creature From The
Black Lagoon. The Mummy. Phantom of the Opera. The Invisible Man.
These are the Universal Monsters that will continue to haunt and
inspire audiences from all shakes of life for generations to come.
These films in some fashion have inspired every makeup artist or
filmmaker in Hollywood working today in the horror industry and
beyond.
One
of this year's best releases (and just in time for the Halloween
season) is surprisingly not available on Blu-ray and that is this
collection which assembles some of the greatest films ever produced
in film history together with previously unreleased (or rare) titles
that is a must own for collectors and fans everywhere. This marks
the third version of most of these films that I own in my collection
- I own all the core 8 films in last year's Blu-ray edition (which I
will touch upon soon and highly recommend) and the previous Legacy
Collection DVD releases that were available upon the release of
Universal's Van
Helsing
(2004).
Exclusive
to this release is the Technicolor remake of The
Phantom of the Opera
(1943) that
isn't available separately anywhere, but is in this edition and is
the only DVD in the box set that doesn't have accompanying films.
What slightly upsets me about that is not including the original Lon
Chaney Sr. silent classic or his incredible silent Hunchback
of Notre Dame!
(Both of which are mentioned in the booklet AND are widely
considered as Universal Monsters). However, if you want to add a
recent disc presentation of 1925 The
Phantom of The Opera,
I suggest you investigate purchasing the Blu-ray release by Blackhawk
Films/Image Entertainment which offers three different versions of
the film, or the Milestone
Collection Ultimate Edition DVD
which offers two versions. Both Blu-rays are reviewed elsewhere on
this site, though.
Aside
from these two films not being included, this set definitely made me
happy for its collection of the Abbot
and Costello
Meet...
the various monsters films and
the rare Dracula's
Daughter
(which doesn't feature Lugosi) that also wasn't included in previous
Dracula
releases.
Here's
the full list of all thirty films available in the set...
Dracula
(1931)
Dracula's
Daughter (1936)
Son
of Dracula (1943)
House
of Dracula (1945)
Frankenstein
(1931)
The
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Son
of Frankenstein (1939)
The
Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
House
of Frankenstein (1944)
The
Mummy (1932)
The
Mummy's Hand (1940)
The
Mummy's Ghost (1942)
The
Mummy's Tomb (1942)
The
Mummy's Curse (1944)
The
Invisible Man (1933)
The
Invisible Man Returns (1940)
The
Invisible Woman (1940)
Invisible
Agent (1942)
The
Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
Werewolf
of London (1935)
The
Wolf Man (1941)
Frankenstein
Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
She-Wolf
of London (1946)
Phantom
of the Opera (1943)
Abbott
and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Abbott
and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
Abbott
and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
Creature
from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Revenge
of the Creature (1955)
The
Creature Walks Among Us (1956)
Actually,
there are 31 films included in this box set --- why they relegate the
Spanish version of Dracula
to a bonus feature is beyond me since it's a complete feature film in
its own right and Universal released it as such in 1931 to
Spanish-speaking markets and audiences. Whether you consider it the
31st film or a bonus feature, make sure you give it a viewing if
you've never seen it before: it makes a very interesting companion
piece and comparison with Lugosi's 1931 masterpiece, and presumably
the featurettes on the film will relate their simultaneous production
at the studio, using the same sets and script but produced with
different casts and directors.
The
transfers on the discs are great for the format but don't compare to
the sharp restoration that the core classics had on last year's
Blu-ray release especially with the beautiful Technicolor restoration
for The
Phantom of The Opera
or the 3D version of Creature
From The Black Lagoon
(which by the way is my favorite film of all time). Captured in
standard definition, the films are presented in full frame 4:3 aspect
ratio as they were originally filmed. The sound quality on the discs
aren't half bad either which are captured and presented in lossy
Dolby Digital 5.1.
There
are plenty of great extras on these discs including:
48-Page
collectible Book
Behind
the Scenes Documentaries
1931
Spanish Version of Dracula
Featurettes
of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. and visionary makeup
artist Jack Pierce
13
Expert Feature Commentaries
Archival
Footage
Production
Photographs
Monster
Specific Featurettes
Theatrical
Trailers and more surprises
These
films go in and out of print often so this set is a true treasure to
have if you don't own all (or any) of these films so don't overlook
it The new box art for the discs are nice and the collectible
booklet The
Original House of Horror: Universal And A Monster Legacy
that this set comes with is a great assemblage of cool pictures,
classic posters, and bios on some of the key players and filmmakers
that were part of these timeless productions. (However, the book is
the same as last year's Blu-ray release only slightly smaller in
size.) This release is also a nice compliment to the upcoming
Dracula:
Untold
film that will be released in the coming weeks - which I am also
pretty excited about. The discs themselves are a little boring with
solid black art with boring white text and no real inserts in the
disc collections themselves but I can live.
These
are all some of my favorite films of all time so I am obviously in
love with this box set. I would have liked to have seen the
inclusion of the Blu-ray releases of at least the eight core films in
the set like last year with some of the lesser popular films on DVD
in the set but I'm sure that's coming next time. Owning both, I am
very content as a fan with this release and would highly recommend
searching out either the individual collections available in stores
or this meaty box set to put on your shelf!
-
James Harland Lockhart V
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv
