
Return
Of Doctor X
(1939*)/A
Simple Plan 4K
(1998/Paramount/MVD/Arrow 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/The
Walking Dead
(1936/*both Warner Archive Blu-rays)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B+/X/B Sound: B+/B/B
Extras: C+/C+/B Films: B/C+/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
Return Of Doctor X
and Walking
Dead
(1936) Blu-rays are now only available from Warner Bros. through
their Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Humphrey
Bogart's only horror film, The
Return of Doctor X
(1939), has been remastered in 1080p and is now on Blu-ray from
Warner Archive. Whilst on the surface it seems like a sequel to
Doctor
X
(1932), which was also a Warner Bros. production, the two storylines
are unrelated.
A
film noir of sorts, a newspaper reporter (Wayne Morris) goes to an
actress' apartment to conduct an interview only to find that she has
been murdered. (She also has a pet monkey which is a sly if not
bizarre touch). When the reporter brings in the police to check out
the scene they find that the body is missing with no trace of blood
anywhere. After writing about the incident and it making front page
news, the next day she comes in alive and well. With his job in
jeopardy, the reporter launches his own private investigation into
bizarre scientific experiments that are bringing the dead back to
life linking back to an undead ex convict (played by Bogart).
The
film also stars Rosemary Lane, Dennis Morgan, Wayne Morris, Huntz
Hall, and John Ridgely.
Special
Features:
Archival
Commentary by Director Vincent Sherman and Author/Film Historian Dr.
Steve Haberman
Classic
Cartoons: Doggone Modern and Porky's
Hotel
and
an Original Theatrical Trailet.
The
Return of Doctor X
is a fun and fast paced thriller that is well shot and works as a
nice companion piece to Karloff's The
Walking Dead,
reviewed below. Both deal with bringing the dead back to life whilst
not straying too far into Frankenstein territory.
Sam
Raimi's A
Simple Plan 4K
(1998) is the horror filmmakers' attempt to do an outright thriller,
with a solid cast, but getting mixed results. A married couple with
a baby on the way (Bill Paxton and Bridget Fonda) have high hopes for
the future at some pint, but are stuck in a small town with little
opportunity. He also has his naive brother (Billy Bob Thornton)
around and one day, when the trio and their friend Lou (Brent
Briscoe) go walking in the nearby woods, not only to they find a
wrecked airplane none of them ever hear or heard crash, but it has $4
Million in cash in it!
Like
The
Quick & The Dead
(1995) delved into westerns (and spaghetti westerns in particular)
and also had a solid cast and some good moments, this film is
somewhat success, yet never breaks through to go all the way and
finish what it starts and sets out to do. Or it just stops short of
being more than it actually could have been and disappoints. It is
still very competent and professional, but just more limited than I
would have liked and though I did not expect Raimi to go 'B-movie' in
either case, but it lacks excitement, is not groundbreaking or
innovative and that is why I was disappointed.
It
did get some Oscar nominations, though, but Raimi fared better with
bigger budgets on his first two Spider-Man
films. Now you can see for yourself and I still cannot believe
Paxton is gone. Gary Cole also stars.
Extras
are many and (per the press release) include:
On-set
interviews with Paxton, Thornton, Fonda, Raimi, and producer Jim
Jacks
The
Walking Dead
(1936!) No, this is not the Walking
Dead
TV series or comic book adaptation, but the first claimer of the
title, the Michael Curtiz film, The
Walking Dead,
starring Boris Karloff from 1936, finally on Blu-ray disc from Warner
Archive.
While
made a few years after his breakthrough role in Frankenstein
(1931), there are few similarities to that landmark picture and this
one. Karloff is brought back from the dead by a mad scientist first
and foremost, and also his one eye has a heavy lid just like that of
the iconic Universal Monster. Whilst totally different films on the
whole, the similarity in raising the dead can't be ignored in this
thrilling and interesting piece that is beautifully photographed and
has really held up well.
The
Walking Dead
also stars Marguerite Churchill, Edmund Gwenn, Ricardo Cortez, Warren
Hull, and Joe King.
When
John Elman (Karloff) is framed, condemned, and given the electric
chair, doctors find a way to bring him back to life. When John comes
to initially, he seems a bit empty until he sees a piano, and
miraculously plays it without a missing a beat. After that his
memories start to come back however he soon encounters the corrupt
men who framed him for murder, seeking revenge with a menacing stare
and look of determination and evil in his eyes...
Special
Features: 2 Feature Length Audio Commentary Tracks with Film
Historians Greg Mank and Alan K. Rode
Documentary
Michael
Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of
Classic
Cartoons: The
Cat Comes Back
and Let
it Be Me
and
an Original Theatrical Trailer.
The
Walking Dead
is Boris Karloff in top form and this Warner Archive release is
fantastic and should not be missed.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on Plan
4K is
just narrowly the nest performer here visually with some good color,
detail and depth, though Raimi and company make it a little dark to
fit the themes and genre. The
film comes with two sound mixes: DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and
slightly lesser 2.0 Stereo lossless sound and the 5.1 is a bit
better, but the 2.0 is not awful. I can still see why there was not
further upgrade to DTS: X or Dolby Atmos, but it is fine enough and
as good as the film will ever sound and probably ever look.
The
Return of Doctor X
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC codec, a full frame aspect ratio of 1.37:1 and an audio mix in
lossless English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
restored from the original optical monophonic soundmaster. The black
and white film transfer has been sourced from a new 4K transfer from
the original camera negative and runs a smooth presentation
throughout and certainly an improvement over previous releases.
The
Walking Dead
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4
AVC codec, a full frame aspect ratio of 1.37:1 and an audio mix in
lossless, English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
sound. The black and white film has been sourced from a new 4K
transfer from the original camera negative and looks and sounds
pretty solid throughout, however there are a few moments where the
edits skip over a line or two which tells me that there was some
missing material from the master that was sourced. No major plot
elements are missed, however, and the presentation is as good as
expected for a film of its age and obscurity.
To
order The
Return Of Doctor X
and/or Walking
Dead
(1936)
Warner
Archive Blu-rays, go to this link for them and many more great
web-exclusive
releases at:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20
-
Nicholas Sheffo (4K) and James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/