Karloff and Lugosi Horror Classics Collection

[Cash Flagg]

From Classic Flix:

Warner has announced an October 6th release date for Karloff and Lugosi - Horror Classics Collection. Today's announcement should allay fears of some who believe Warner will be abandoning their standard pressed DVD releases altogether. The two-disc set will retail for $26.98.

DISC 1:

The Walking Dead (1936, 66 min.)
The Walking Dead is a unique blend of cinematic horror and the classic Warner Bros. gangster stylings. This long-admired cult favorite stars Boris Karloff, who gives an outstanding performance as John Ellman, an ex-con framed for murder who’s sentenced to the electric chair. When Ellman is brought back to life through the miracles of science, his only task is to seek revenge against those responsible for his death. Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) directs this eerie tale.

Frankenstein-1970 (1958, 83 min.)
Nearly twenty years after his final appearance as the Frankenstein monster in Son of Frankenstein, Boris Karloff returned to the screen in a new film derived from the Mary Shelley story that first catapulted him to stardom. In this 1958 horror classic, Karloff appears in the role of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a descendent of the original doctor, whose depleted fortune forces him to grant a film crew access to the family castle to shoot a horror flick. It’s not all bad, though, since he now has a supply of fresh body parts ready for harvesting.

BONUS FEATURES:
- Commentary by historian Greg Mank (The Walking Dead)
- Commentary by historians Charlotte Austin and Tom Weaver (Frankenstein-1970)

DISC 2:

You’ll Find Out (1940, 97 min.)
Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Peter Lorre poke fun at their horror-genre personas in this wacky 1940 RKO mix of music, murder and mirth. The plot finds the trio of horror legends leaving a trail of terror and laughs along the way, as they plan a murder in order to nab a young heiress’ inheritance in a spooky, spoofy haunted house tale. The film was one of several hits of the era featuring the music and merriment of the then popular Kay Kyser and his band. The film’s original song, “I’d Know You Anywhere” was Oscar nominated.

Zombies on Broadway (1945, 69 min.)
The emphasis is equally spread between horror and hi-jinx in this wacky RKO production that has endeared itself to generations of die-hard Lugosi fans. Here, Bela Lugosi stars as mad scientist Dr. Paul Renault who ends up with more than he bargained for when he encounters
two inept Broadway press agents (Alan Carney and Wally Brown) looking for a real-life zombie to use for a publicity stunt in promoting a new nightclub.

[Mr Sausage]

I'm ecstatic they're still releasing stuff like this. And while I'll take any movie starring Karloff, Lorre, and Lugosi as pairs or all together, the movies sound pretty bargain basement. The Walking Dead recalls Karloff's later Columbia film The Man They Could not Hang, except without the fiendish and improbably constructed traps. The rest are of dubious quality, but I'll no doubt enjoy them all anyway.

[dr. calamari]

With this release, the bottom of the barrel has officially been reached.

[ByMarkClark.com]

THE WALKING DEAD is one of Karloff's finest works and worth the price of admission by itself. Hardly bottom of the barrel. Although I'll grant the other 3 entries function on an entirely different, and significantly lower, level.

[HerrSchreck]

Indeed, The Walking Dead is utterly fabulous, and absolutely is one of Karloff's finest performances-- the movie has a soul and a mood running thru it that's absolutely hypnotic. I can't believe it took WB this long to get such a no brainer out on disc. Sausage you'll really love the film-- but it's quite different in mood and feel from the Columbia "Mad Doctor" cycle (another film from that cycle btw by Nick Grinde which should have been in that SOny/Columbia set is The Man With Nine Lives which is excellent... I can't understand why they threw The Boogie Man Will Get You in there instead).

The rest of the set-- ptheh.

[HarryLong]

Not a great set, no but WALKING DEAD is one of the unsung horror classics of the 1930s.
And YOU'LL FIND OUT has the adorable Ish Kabibble.

[HerrSchreck]

Ah-- and I just caught that Greg Mank did the commentary for Wakling Dead. Mank is always a selling point for me.

[ByMarkClark.com]

I can't believe it took WB this long to get such a no brainer out on disc.

Apparently there were problems with the source elements. Supposedly they have been restored.

I was going to post the entry I wrote on THE WALKING DEAD from my first book, but I no longer have soft copies of those files on my hard drive and I'm too lazy to drag out the disc and copy it. So, short version: It rocks.

[HerrSchreck]

Hm.. I have a copy of it from a couple yrs ago and it seems in fine shape.