Customer Reviews
Finally, "The Return of Dr. X" Returns! 
2008-09-20
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.
MGM & WB vs. UNIVERSAL 2007-11-12
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!
A couple of gems, a couple of rarities and 2 duds 
2007-08-22
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.
Pre-Hays Code Wildness, Camp and Hilarity! 2007-06-27
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)
Good collection of horror films at a great price 2007-06-13
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.
My kind of Entertainment... 2007-02-05
Doctor X/The Return of Dr. X Mark of the Vampire/The Mask of Fu Manchu Mad Love/The Devil Doll
THE DREAM TEAM FOR NIGHTMARES 2006-12-07
This set has nice clean video, and of course you can't lose with the actors and titles. One of the most interesting to watch is MAD LOVE which was Peter Lorre's US film debut. The devotee of the old Universal Horror movies will see certain scene similarities to The Phantom of the Opera, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, and Dracula in Mad Love, and the commentary track picks up on some (not all) of this. Interesting when you consider this is an MGM work. The only downside to this set, and it is a minor point, is the commentary track for Mark of the Vampire, where two obnoxious brits talk over each other saying little of worth. (I've noticed that on DVD commentary tracks when you put brits together, they continually talk over eachother, and it's hard to understand what they're saying. Perhaps that's why we won the Revolutionary War).
Anyway, if you love old horror movies, if you remember Famous Monsters of Filmland, if you want to see the US film debut of the man who said "You deespize me Reek, don't you?" in Casablanca--buy this set.
Great set of horror from Hollywood's golden age 2006-11-29
The cover art to Warners' Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection features images of horror legends Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart. Humphrey Bogart ... what the heck? Yes, although Bogart was about as much a legend of horror as John Wayne was a musical comedy star, he did appear in one horror film ("The Return of Dr. X") included in this collection. Maybe it is a little erroneous and misleading to describe Bogie as a legend of horror but thankfully Warners' has included his one and only rarely shown thriller. The other films included in this collection feature Hollywood's true horror legends in an array of interesting roles.
"The Mask of Fu Manchu" (1932) may not be a real horror film but it does have the incomparable Boris Karloff in fine form as the demoniacal Fu Manchu. This engaging pre-code film features some delightfully racy scenes and insinuations. A young Myrna Loy as Fu Manchu's lascivious daughter is especially entertaining. Her very obvious goal of making the young male lead her own personal sex slave would surely have been censored from the script just a few years later.
MGM reunited Bela Lugosi and his "Dracula" director, Tod Browning, for 1935s "The Mark of the Vampire." This film was a remake of Browning's own silent classic "London after Midnight" which had starred Lon Chaney (and has been lost for 40 years). The image of the vampire had solidified in the public consciousness in the form of Lugosi's Dracula. MGM, obviously hoping to profit from the Dracula image, hired Lugosi to play the lead vampire character in a departure from the horrific and creepy, shark toothed vampire Chaney played in the original film. The final result is a well-mounted and moody horror offering with all the eerie trappings you'd expect from a 30s thriller including lots of fog, cobwebs, shadows and screams.
Maybe the best 30s horror flick included on this set is MGM's "Mad Love" from 1935. This film features a very young (and very creepy) Peter Lorre as a demented surgeon who torments a highly-strung concert pianist played by Colin Clive. Clive seems even more neurotic here than in his role as Henry Frankenstein in Universal's first two Frankenstein films. Lorre has been lusting after Colin's wife and uses a horrible accident as a means to destroy Clive's life and steal his bride. This is a first class horror film from MGM that rivals Universal's best horror classics.
The two Warner "Doctor X" films have no connection other than a similarity in title. The first film is a pretty slow-moving and dated 1932 thriller. "Doctor X" was filmed in an early two-strip Technicolor process, just like 1933's "The Mystery of the Wax Museum," and is presented here in a restored color version. Even if it is a bit creaky, "Doctor X" is an interesting Hollywood artifact and worth at least one viewing. 1939's "The Return of Doctor X" is the one with Bogie. It's more of a B-movie but very fun to watch with Bogart as the villain of the title.
Rounding out this collection is Tod Browning's 1936 "Devil Doll" from MGM. This one features Lionel Barrymore as a vengeful soul who miniaturizes humans to do his bidding. It's an interesting addition to the set but by no means the primary reason to purchase the collection.
As you would expect from Warners' all the films are high quality transfers from the best available material. There are some trailers and film commentaries (not for all films though) including one with the late film director Vincent Sherman. Overall this set is highly recommended to fans who wish to add to their film libraries of horror films from Hollywood's golden age.
Side note: Some other reviewers have commented on the absence of the Warners' Karloff film "The Walking Dead" (1936). I too was mystified until I realized that this may have been done deliberately. Perhaps Warners has the future intention of offering their own collection of Karloff films. Since both Universal and Columbia released Karloff sets this fall I would guess Warners would have held back. If they choose to release their own set they would only need to take "The Walking Dead" and add "West of Shanghai" (Warners 1937), "The Invisible Menace" (Warners 1938), "British Intelligence" (Warners 1940), "Devil's Island" (Warners 1940), and maybe even "You'll Find Out" (RKO 1940). Let's hope Warners does put out a nice salute to Boris.
Near classics of early horror 2006-11-25
The 1930s had its share of classic horror movies. Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Mummy and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde may be tame by today's standards, but they are still good, eerie movies. Beyond the classics were other movies that may not be quite as immortal but still have their good points. Legend of Horror is a boxed set that contains six such movies.
Disc One has Mark of the Vampire and The Mask of Fu Manchu. Mark of the Vampire reunites Bela Lugosi and director Tod Browning from Dracula. Lugosi is the vampire who is apparently killing off local townspeople and Lionel Barrymore plays the Van Helsing-like role. Unfortunately, while this movie has a nice eerie feel, the plot is hopelessly muddled, due especially to a plot twist that doesn't really work. On the other hand, The Mask of Fu Manchu is a delight, with Boris Karloff playing the title villain with joyful glee and Myrna Loy as his daughter who gets aroused by torture. Yes, there are a lot of racial stereotypes (as in the source books), but they are so over-the-top that they aren't quite as nasty as in other films of the era; in addition, despite the stereotyping, you somehow want to root for Fu Manchu and his daughter, who are much more interesting than the "good" guys.
Disc Two has Doctor X and The Return of Doctor X, two movies that have almost nothing to do with each other. Doctor X (directed by Michael Curtiz) has its horror elements, but seems to be more of a mystery-comedy in the vein of The Cat and the Canary or The Old Dark House. The "science" of the story is outlandish, but it does have its moments and it features a pre-King Kong Fay Wray (yes, she screams); it is also the only color movie in the set, albeit a rather washed-out looking two-strip Technicolor. The Return of Doctor X is most notable for being Humphrey Bogart's one excursion into horror. Bogie plays a killer brought back to life, but who now needs human blood to survive.
Disc Three as Mad Love, directed by The Mummy's Karl Freund, features Peter Lorre (in his first American role) and Colin Clive (from Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein). Clive is a pianist who loses his hands in a train accident. Lorre is the doctor who gives him new hands from a knife-throwing killer. Clive starts taking on the killer's traits, and Lorre, obsessed with Clive's wife, tries to goad his patient into self-destruction. As usual, Lorre's eccentric villainy helps make the movie a good one. The final movie is The Devil Doll (another Tod Browning movie), featuring Lionel Barrymore as a framed man who has escaped from prison and seeks revenge. His fellow escapee is a mad scientist who has developed a method for shrinking people and animals. Unfortunately, these living dolls lose their intelligence and must be mentally controlled by a full-grown person; Barrymore, however, has his ways to make this work to his advantage.
In quality, Mark of the Vampire is probably a high two stars, Doctor X and Return of Doctor X around three, the Devil Doll a high three stars, Mad Love four, and The Mask of Fu Manchu a high four. With commentaries for all the movies except Devil Doll and some trailers as extras, the set overall rates four stars. It's not a perfect set, but it is overall a pleasure to watch, especially if you're a fan of classic horror.
The horror gems of Warners and MGM in the 1930's 2006-11-22
HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS OF HORROR COLLECTION, from Warner Home Video, restores the pleasure of Halloween horror to children of all ages. These six gems are from a 1930's era when horror movies were downright fun and not slasher films.
We have six movies on three slim volumes. DOCTOR X (1932, Warners) is a two-color Technicolor delight about moon killings at a lab inside the estate of Lionel Atwill on Long Island. Lee Tracy is the wise-cracking reporter, and Fay Wray is Atwill's daughter. Preston Foster is also in the cast. The password is "synthetic flesh." On the same disk is RETURN OF DOCTOR X (1939, Warner), a 62 minute programmer most notable for Humphrey Bogart's performance as a zombie. Both of these movies come with audio commentaries by film scholars.
Volume two has Karloff as a Chinese warlord sadist and Myrna Loy as his Oriental play thing in the wonderfully campy and outrageously politically incorrect MASK OF FU MANCHU (1932, MGM). Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, and Bela Lugosi star in MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935, MGM). Tod Browning directed this sound remake of his own "lost" silent LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT (1927). It is a lot of fun, with a twist ending. Both movies come with film scholar audio commentaries.
Volume three may be the best, with the macabre and eerie MAD LOVE (1935, MGM). Concert pianist Colin Clive loses his hands in a train accident at the same time that killer Edward Brophy dies by guillotine. Psychopath Peter Lorre grafts Brophy's hands onto Clive's, with bizarre results. Karl Freund (THE MUMMY) directed with great visual flair. And Tod Browning's THE DEVIL-DOLL (1936, MGM) is an outright lulu. Lionel Barrymore, falsely convicted of a crime and sent to Devil's Island, escapes after several years, with a plan to miniaturize toys for psycho revenge. He wants confessions from the true killers. Wait until you see Lionel dressed up as a sweet old lady committing homicide. The climax is dazzling and the ending, with Maureen O'Sullivan and Frank Lawton as lovers, is unexpectedly romantic. Both movies have theatrical trailers, and MAD LOVE has an audio commentary.
The three disks all have beautiful color poster art covers, plus a very colorful box. Play the set over three nights and realize how subtle and eerie horror films can be. Make them to antidote to the FRIDAY THE 13TH and SAW slasher films. Return to an era when horror movies were downright fun.
