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DVD : Icons of Horror - Boris Karloff (The Boogie Man Will Get You/The Black Room/The Man They Could Not Hang/Before I Hang) Digital Life Average Rating:
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Brand: Sony EAN: 0043396162334 Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC Label: Sony Pictures Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Number Of Items: 2 Publisher: Sony Pictures Region Code: 99 Release Date: October 17, 2006 Running Time: 262 minutes Sales Rank: 14533 Studio: Sony Pictures Theatrical Release Date: July 15, 1935
Product Description: Boris Karloff was to the Horror Movie what Fred Astaire was to the Musical: the epitome of class and style. No matter how grisly the circumstances he d rise above them with talent poise and even charm. And here for the first time on DVD are four of his finest chillers from his peak years in the 1930s and 1940s all demonstrating his amazing range. In The Black Room he plays twin brothers one good one evil naturally in a small country where beautiful women seem to turn up missing. The Man They Could Not Hang and Before I Hang present him in his classic Mad Doctor persona as forward-thinking scientists who run afoul of the law and become crazed killers. And in The Boogie Man Will Get You he sends up that image in a delightful farce that also stars Peter Lorre (M) and Larry Parks (The Jolson Story). It s a collection all fervent classic-horror fans have been eagerly waiting for!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: NR UPC: 043396162334 Manufacturer No: 16233
Amazon.com: Boris Karloff made his fame during the great horror cycle at Universal Pictures in the 1930s, but he also flaunted his iconic status at other studios. At Columbia, Karloff etched a handful of good mad doctor roles (notably The Devil Commands, available on a separate DVD) and other oddities. Four of these mostly low-budget pictures are gathered in this two-disc set--which, if not a collection of classics, is nevertheless a real boon for Karloffians.
Although it is called the Icons of Horror Collection, the 'horror' is more macabre mood than monster mash. The best (and best-looking) film in the set, 1935's The Black Room, is a wonderfully lurid costume romp with Karloff in a dual role: twin brothers who inherit a baronage but live under a family curse. One is good, one bad, and happily enough, the bad brother has the upper hand. Karloff is in terrific form, and the film features a secret chamber (complete with torture pit) that provides just the right Gothic oomph. Director Roy William Neill later did Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.
The Man They Could Not Hang, from 1939, is a solid mad-scientist picture. Karloff's Dr. Savaard has perfected a re-animation process, but the police arrest him before he can revive a student--and so the doctor is sentenced to death for murder. The hanging isn't a problem, not when the doctor's assistant has the process down pat, and now Karloff can take elaborate revenge. Before I Hang (1940) opens a similar vein, with Karloff once again sentenced to death and this time conducting experiments in prison (aided by Edward Van Sloan, filmdom's original Van Helsing). However, using a murderer's blood in the secret serum proves a fatal mistake.... These cheaply-made films are solid enough programmers of the era, and surprisingly literate--although it would be a stretch to call them scary.
The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942) goes the comedy route, spoofing Karloff's image as a white-haired gentleman who should not be allowed to run experiments in the basement. An Arsenic and Old Lace vibe prevails (Karloff had been starring in the stage production), and the labored comedy has Karloff and Peter Lorre using boarders at an early-American hotel as subjects for experiments. Larry Parks and 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom co-star. Lorre, who's in his slim Maltese Falcon period, is as sly and peculiar as ever; of course, he and Karloff would team up again for more horror-comedy in the 1960s: The Raven and Comedy of Terrors. --Robert Horton
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Rating: - Avoid it
-- There is'nt so much horror in this so called horror collection. Apart from the first film, The Black Room, a romance with a slight gothic tone, the rest is slow and dull.
The Boogie Man Will Get You, is perhaps the worst Karloff movie. A comedy with nothing amusing whatsoever (and less horror).
-- If you're looking for Boris Karloff in his horror movies, you'd better buy The Boris Karloff Collection (Tower of London / The Black Castle / The Climax / The Strange Door / Night Key) from Universal.
-- As usual, these Columbia/Sony DVD have good image and sound quality.
Rating: - Compliments for Amazon
My compliments and thanks to Amazon to provide your DVD assortment with such a lot of Karloff titles. I don't understand that in Europe only a handful of Karloff titles are available. Also this Karloff DVD box set is again a rich addition to my Karloff collection. Boris Karloff is the biggest horror icon of the 20st century and as far as I'm concerned, even for the 21st century. I enjoy every film that was made with him and I regret that in Europe there is hardly any attention for the works of this great talented, most respectable and versatile actor.
Rating: - very bad quality. Not to get! 3 stars for all films together alone.
The 3 stars I have given this Icons of Horror - Boris Karloff (The Boogie Man Will Get You/The Black Room/The Man They Could Not Hang/Before I Hang)are only for the films, which I must say, despite having Karloff as the lead and supporting role, are not the best of his work. I would give half a star to The boogie man will get you, 1 star to the black room, half a star to the man they could not hang, and a formidable one star to the so called classic Before I hang. 3 stars in total for all the movies put together. And if quality were thrown in, I would bring it down to 1 and a half stars. Boogie man constantly goes black and pauses. Black Room is exactly as it says, the entire picture is full of specks and lines, and is so dark it could almost be seen as a black screen. Man they could not hang is the man I could not hear, literally no sound except hissing of the actual film and short mumbling when people are yelling. ... Read More
Rating: - Karloff The Uncanny
Sets like "Icons of Horror Collection - Boris Karloff" are greatly appreciated for fans of underappreciated actors like Boris Karloff; however, certain films like "The Black Room" (1935) deserve its own release with extras, some extras, anything. This barren release is so meager in its extras that there are no trailers, no separate screens for chapters and the menus do not even have images (analogous to the "Yellowbeard" (1983) release). Thank goodness the films look good.
The Black Room (1935: ***½/****): When Boris Karloff was given an acting challenge, even in the confines of his stereotypical genre of horror, he could deliver quite well. In "The Black Room" he gets to display his talents in performing the role of two twins, one good (Anton the younger who is partially a cripple) and one evil (Gregor the older twin). As part of a prophecy, the younger brother was destined to kill the older brother ... Read More
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- Avoid it
- Compliments for Amazon
- very bad quality. Not to get! 3 stars for all films together alone.
