Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics
Starring: Boris Karloff, Ricardo Cortez, Edmund Gwenn, Kay Kyser, Peter LorreDirector: David Butler, Gordon Douglas, Howard W. Koch, Michael Curtiz
Studio: Warner Home Video
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: Black & White, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
Running Time: 327 minutes
DVD Release: October 6th 2009
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User Reviews
Finally! - Rating: 4/5
I agree with the other reviewers about "The Walking Dead," which is an excellent tale.
I have just about worn out my VHS copy, which was taped from a local TV station airing many years ago, so I'm very glad to see that it is finally being released on DVD. Let's hope that the DVD version has been transferred from a good 35mm print, and that some care has been taken in the transfer.
I've never seen the other three films and so can't comment on them. But I agree that the set will be worth the price just for "The Walking Dead" alone.
BTW, this film was partially remade in 1939 as "The Man They Could Not Hang," also starring Karloff, with the same basic plot (wrongfully convicted man is executed and returns to avenge his death). But "The Walking Dead" is spookier, less preachy and in my opinion, the better of the two.
Anything Karloff is welcome but... - Rating: 3/5
Although I am happy to see a new major studio release of some Boris Karloff titles I am a little surprised that Warner didn't just release a full Karloff box set. I was hoping that they would 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), "You'll Find Out" (RKO 1940) and maybe even "The Lost Patrol" to create a complete Karloff tribute set. I am guessing that they didn't want to mix horror and non-horror titles and dilute what is obviously a Halloween themed set.
The one true gem in this collection is 1936's "The Walking Dead." This Michael Curtiz directed film is a strange combination of Warner gangster picture and Universal horror film. These two genres mix together to create a strange but entertaining hybrid. Karloff, at the height of his fame, gives a wonderful performance. "The Walking Dead" is an example of a quality big studio horror picture created in an era when this kind of entertainment hadn't been relegated to B movies. This film alone is well worth the purchase price.
The other films in this set are another story. "You'll Find Out" and "Zombies on Broadway" dating from 1940 and 1945, respectively, are comedies in which Karloff and Lugosi lend their horror personas as mere props for the likes of big bandleader Kay Kyser and a second rate Abbott & Costello team to play off of. Sadly, both actors are hugely wasted in these films. The last film in the set is 1958s "Frankenstein 1970." This one is another B horror film entry that probably played many a drive-in during it's original release. Karloff, as always, still manages to give a dignified performance.
If you are a Karloff fan you will probably want to add this set to your collection if only for "The Walking Dead."
One classic and three you have to be in the mood to enjoy - Rating: 4/5
This two disc collection contains the long-awaited "Walking Dead" and three other rather minor horror films.
The following is the press release for this set:
The Walking Dead (1936)
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 directs.
Special Feature:
Commentary by historian Greg Mank
Frankenstein-1970 (1958)
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 film. It's not all bad, though, since he now has a supply of fresh body parts ready for harvesting.
Special Feature:
Commentary by historians Charlotte Austin and Tom Weaver
You'll Find Out (1940)
Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Peter Lorre poke fun at their horror-genre personas in this 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)
The emphasis is equally spread between horror and humor in this 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.
End of press release.
The Walking Dead is a true horror classic. I was surprised to discover it was a Warner product because it is made in the Universal horror style of the Laemmle era of that studio. The other three films are full of great memories from my childhood and Sunday matinees of horror films that ran on local TV. Most of the fun of the other three films consist of the combination of camp and horror. Plus it is good to see Warner finally getting some of those old RKO properties cleaned up and put out for general release.
