Blu-ray Movie Reviews

DVD REVIEWS: Horror Movie Compilations

Anonymous (not verified)  |  Nov 6, 2005

0511_dvds_vlewton
The Hammer Horror Series Universal, 2 double-sided discs Movie •••½ Picture/Sound •••• Extras None The Val Lewton Horror Collection Warner, 5 discs Movie •••• Picture/Sound ••• Extras ••••
Films New to DVD: Brides of Dracula (1960), Curse of the Werewolf (1961), Phantom of the Opera (1962), Night Creatures (1962), Paranoiac (1963), Nightmare (1964), and Evil of Frankenstein (1964). Reissued: Kiss of the Vampire (1963). New to DVD: Cat People (1942), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), The Leopard Man (1943), The Seventh Victim (1943), The Ghost Ship (1943), The Curse of the Cat People (1944), The Body Snatcher (1945), Isle of the Dead (1945), and Bedlam (1946).
Notable Directors Freddie Francis (Paranoiac, Nightmare, Frankenstein). Terence Fisher (Dracula, Werewolf, Phantom). Don Sharp (Vampire). Mark Robson (Victim, Ghost, Dead, Bedlam). Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, Zombie, Leopard). Robert Wise (Curse, Snatcher).
The Fear That Eats The Soul The beast within: sex, violence, homicidal insanity, and destructive obsessiveness. The fascination and attraction of death: it can prey on the mind, dominate life, and become the best solution.
The Style of Scare The color of heightened emotions: objects scream their presence, music exclaims and heartily agrees with the action, actors Hammer it home, sets and costumes immerse you in sumptousness. Say it with shadowing: understatement that leaves plenty to the imagination, suggestions of unspoken places we shouldn't go, and ordinary drama that creeps under your skin and invades your subconscious.
Scariest Scenes The approach of a dead woman across a crowded room in Nightmare, the sudden appearance of a clown-masked choirboy armed with a scythe in Paranoiac. Bus doors opening and swimming-pool echoes in Cat People, the darkest-ever corridor in Victim, and a pan up from two illuminated feet to...Zombie.
DVD Quality Picture: crisp and highly detailed deep-focus 2.35:1 widescreen phototography, with insanely rich colors. Deep blacks, bright whites, and a wide range of grays, particularly striking in the gorgeous B&W films Paranoiac and Nightmare. Sound: clear and full mono. Picture: high-contrast lighting with large areas of disturbing darkness and shadow that intentionally have little or no detail - just blackness. Some scratches and flecking. Sound: clean throughout the long, atmospheric silences. Startling effects.
Extras None. Commentaries: all films except Ghost and Dead. Documentary: feature-length on Lewton, the producer.

X