Review - Witchcraft

I bought this double feature from Amazon. It comes on two discs with the same art.

Devils of Darkness is in color. It reminds me a lot of The Satanic Rites of Dracula with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. It's kind of long on drama and short on the supernatural. I think it would be better if it was about 30 minutes shorter. I think I'll enjoy it a lot more on a second watching.

Witchcraft is in black and white and is a gem worth finding. It stars Lon Chaney Jr. with plenty of the supernatural throughout. If you like the movie House on Haunted Hill then you'll probably like this as well.

Review - Scrooge 1938

This is the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol starring Reginald Owen that I bought. As it turns out the version I grew up with is a 1951 version starring Alastair Sim. The 1938 version goes into the drama of the lives of the characters more, is more heart warming, and Scrooge is much more easily converted. It's a nice family friendly film. The 1951 version is scarier I think!

Review - Scrooge

For years you could always find Scrooge (1935) on TV late night on Christmas Eve. Then all of a sudden one year there was no Scrooge playing, I was shocked and aghast, no Scrooge! Well, I figured I'd remedy that cosmic injustice by just purchasing my own copy of Scrooge for my Christmas Eve viewing pleasure. I could only find it packaged with these other great holiday movies, but what the heck, it's only twelve bucks. Only one problem, I didn't get the 1935 version like I thought I was getting, this version is 1938! Oh well, variety is the spice of life. We'll see how spooky Jacob Marley is!

Review - Witchfinder General

Witchfinder General: it's about a guy in England who'll kill someone for you if you accuse them of being a witch and you pay the price - all officially sanctioned by the powers that be. Painfully real and somber with a docu-drama feel. Nice costumes and countryside. I enjoyed watching it one time through - not sure I want to see it again - I'm not sadistic. It was weird hearing this guy being called Matthew throughout the movie because my name is Matthew. I now feel like I have a serial killer name like Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers!

Review - The Mummy

Another double feature I bought from Amazon with great artwork. It comes on one printed disc.

In the original Mummy movie with Boris Karloff, the mummy is awakened, takes off his wrappings, and appears to be a normal person for the rest of the movie, talking and interacting with the rest of the characters. That's a lot different than these movies where the non-speaking mummy, as monster, replete with wrappings, spends the movie chasing around killing people. However, it's great Saturday-afternoon-in-the-sixties horror movie fanfare! 

Review - House of Frankenstein

I bought Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and House of Frankenstein from Amazon. It comes as a two movie disc with one side printed. Interesting points: Bela Lugosi plays the Monster in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Lon Chaney Jr. Plays Lawrence Talbot, the Wolf Man, in both movies, and House of Frankenstein picks up the story after the movie Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Additionally, I love John Carradine's Dracula in House of Frankenstein.

Review - Daughter/Son of Dracula

I bought this double feature from Amazon.. I love the art work on the cover which is also duplicated on the disc.

1) Dracula's Daughter: This is a good movie! It's about a lady vampire who wants to be cured (oddly enough.) It features a great old world castle scene in Tranylvania (over the Borgo pass no less!)

 2) Son of Dracula: Stars Lon Chaney Jr. as Dracula and features my favorite FX of all the vampire movies I've seen (if you like campy.) Sexy women, good twists, a must-see!

Review - The Bela Lugosi Collection

     I I bought this collection from Amazon called The Bela Lugosi Collection. There are 5 movies on one double-sided disc. The down-side of the double-sided discs is that they are not printed making it hard to see what movie it is in your CD/DVD carrier. The upside is that 5 movies on one disc is economical to store, and you don't have to fuss with changing discs when watching multiple movies. The artwork on this package is phenomenal, especially the back which shows a collage of scenes from the movies.

In Review:

1) Murders in the Rue Morgue: This is a 30's movie of the same cinematic timber as White Zombie. The mad scientist/ghoul character gives Bela Lugosi a chance to do what he does best, act sinister! The movie is good, if only for the historical value.

2) The Black Cat: A 30's movie that, like Frankenstein, was way ahead of it's time. Futuristic, pop-culturish, interesting, provocative, suspenseful, and really just down right weird! Boris Karloff stars in this one as well; both he and Bela Lugosi get to play sinister acting characters. A good mysterious movie. Probably shouldn't be missed by fans of the aforementioned actors.

3) The Raven: Features Bela Lugosi as a mad scientist with the hobby of constructing and collecting Edgar Allen Poe torture devices, you'll never guess what happens then! Kinda draggy, but ok.

4) The Invisible Ray: Freatures Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi as competing scientists. The story is varied and involves some science-fiction and murder. This is my favorite movie of the collection.

5) Black Friday: Features Boris Karloff as a mad scientist and Bela Lugosi as a gangster. The movie is decent entertainment.

Review - Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics

I bought Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics. There are four movies that come on two printed discs:

1) You'll Find Out: A dark comedy featuring a musical band, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Peter Lorre. It's really a good movie, probably great for family entertainment.

2) Zombies on Broadway: Another dark comedy that's something akin to Abbot & Costello. Boris Karloff is not in this one but Bela Lugosi plays his role as a mad scientist well. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the aforementioned, but It's very fun, again, great for family viewing.

3) Frankenstein 1970: Boris Karloff gives a great performance as the grandson of Frankenstein. The movie is very evenly paced and interesting all the way through. It's serious and campy at the same time. If you like cool castles and the movie House on Haunted Hill, then you'll probably love Frankenstein 1970, as I do!

4)  The Walking Dead: As serious and dramatic as a horror movie can be, starring Boris Karloff. It involves, gangsters, framing, as yes, bringing Karloff back from the dead. It's a revenge movie; the kind where when the revenge starts, you absolutely love it! Two Thumbs Up!

Review - Boris Karloff Collection

I bought The Boris Karloff Collection from Amazon. Three of the movies, The Black Castle, Tower of London, and The Strange Door, are old English adventures that I used to watch on TV when I was a kid, so I'm glad I get to revisit these. One of the movies, The Climax, is like a musical horror (if there is such a thing) and it's a good movie. The last is, Night Key (gangsters, kidnappings) it's also good!

Review - 50 Horror Classics

I recently purchased 50 Horror Classics from Target, it's also available on Amazon. I've watched all the movies and I'd like to make a list of the ones I feel are keepers. The movies come on 12 double-sided discs with 4 or 5 movies on each disc. As it turns out there seems to be at least one, if not more, keepers on each disc. Here we go:

Disc 1: Nightmare Castle

Disc 2: Black Dragons, Invisible Ghost, One Body Too Many, White Zombie

Disc 3: The Attack of the Giant Leeches, The Screaming Skull, The Terror

Disc 4: Dead Men Walk, The Mad Monster

Disc 5: The Vampire Bat

Disc 6: The Killer Shrews, King of the Zombies

Disc 7: The Corpse Vanishes

Disc 8: The Phantom of the Opera (silent), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (silent), Nosferatu (silent)

Disc 9: Tormented

Disc10: The Monster Walks

Disc 11: The Amazing Mr. X, The Bat

Disc 12: House on Haunted Hill, Dementia 13