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DVD Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of)
"It's alive! Alive!" shouts Colin Clive's triumphant Dr. Frankenstein as electricity buzzes over the hulking body of a revived corpse. "In the name of God now I know what it's like to be God!" For years unheard, this line has been restored, along with the legendary scene of the childlike monster tossing a little girl into a lake, in James Whale's Frankenstein, one of the most famous and influential horror movies ever made. Coming off the tremendous success of Dracula, Universal assigned sophomore director Whale to helm an adaptation of Mary Shelley's famous novel with Bela Lugosi as the monster. When Lugosi declined the role, Whale cast the largely unknown character actor Boris Karloff and together with makeup designer Jack Pierce they created the most memorable monster in movie history: a towering, lumbering creature with sunken eyes, a flat head, and a jagged scar running down his forehead. Whale and Karloff made this mute, misunderstood brute, who has the brain of a madman (the most obvious of the many liberties taken with Shelley's story), the most pitiable freak of nature to stumble across the screen. Clive's Dr. Frankenstein is intense and twitchy and Dwight Frye set the standard for mad-scientist sidekicks as the wild-eyed hunchback assistant. Whale's later films, notably the spooky spoof The Old Dark House and the deliriously stylized sequel The Bride of Frankenstein, display a surer cinematic hand than seen here and add a subversive twist of black comedy, but given the restraints of early sound films, Whale breaks the film free from static stillness and adorns it with striking design and expressionist flourishes. --Sean Axmaker
Review(s): DVD Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of)
LOUSY TECHNICAL QUALITY OF DVDS
I have had problems watching, or trying to watch, all of the DVDs in the entire Legacy Collection. This review applies only to the poor DVD technical quality (and not to the great classic movies, admirably collected). The discs skip and become unwatchable. It's not do to scratches, apparently, but something about cramming too much onto one disc to save money. I had to watch the DVDs on three or four different players, and there are still some of the movies that I've never been able to enjoy fully all the way through.
UNIVERSAL STUDIES: Please give us a quality product. There's too much cheap, junky merchandise. If you insist on making junk, then put a disclaimer on the Box in big letters: CAUTION. THESE DISCS MAY OR MAY NOT WORK IN YOUR DVD. ETC.
James Whale 's masterpiece!
There have been countless versions around this mythic fable with the underlying statement of man playing tobe God. I'd rather say Dr. Frankenstein is an irreverent enemy of the Status Quo. Obvioulsy he has crossed a forbidden barrier, and the violation that limit will entail him an intersting lessonof life.
The fundamental inside the dramatic structure is the great influence that wisely Whale took borrowed from the German Expressionism; those marvelous lights and shadows counterpoints and the impressive performance of Boris Karloff making of the creature, initially a clumsy monster who simply ignores all about the rules of the world.
On the other hand you must remind the obligated reference to The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari; here you have : both dramatic premises that eventually, will interweave to create the most expressive and by far best reading of this legend.
A cult movie for a long, long time.
"IT'S ALIVE!"
PLOT:
I. Frankenstein (1931): The film begins in a cemetary during a funeral procession. Two men are secretly watching from behind a gravestone; they are Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his hunchbacked assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye). As soon as everyone leaves, the two quickly dig up the coffin. "He's not dead, he's just resting, waiting for a new life to come," proclaims Henry. On the way back to their laboratory, the two see another body hanging from the gallows. Fritz cuts it down, but Henry examines it and proclaims that the neck is broken. This makes the brain useless. Fritz breaks into Henry's old university, the Ingolstadt Medical College, and steals a brain from one of the classrooms. He accidentally drops it, so he just takes the next one off of the shelf (not realizing that it is an abnormal brain.) Back at Henry's home, his fiance Elizabeth (Mae Clark) and friend Victor Moritz (John Boles) are beginning to worry about him. They haven't seen him for weeks, ever since he left to do his experiments. They decide to go to Ingolstadt and meet with his old professor Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan.) Waldman informs them that Henry left the university to conduct research on bringing the dead back to life. The two then ask Waldman to accompany them to Henry's lab and he agrees. That night, a terrible lightning storm breaks out. The three get to Henry's lab, where he reveals that he has made a man by stiching together corpses. With the electricity from he lightning, he will give him life. Once the smoke and light clears from the electricity, the man's hand suddenly begins to move. "It's alive! IT'S ALIVE!," cries Henry with excitement. What he doesn't realize is that he's created a monster.
II. The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935): Following the windmill fire from the previous film, Henry (Colin Clive) is brought back to his mansion. Upon getting there he is examined and it turns out that he has survived the fall. The Monster (Boris Karloff), however, also survived the fire. He didn't burn, he fell into a cave below the windmill. A few days later, Henry (now Baron Frankenstein) is visited by an old professor of his named Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger.) Pretorius brings Henry back to his lab and shows him that he too has created life. He has been able to "grow" miniaturized people. Unfortunately he can't make them life-sized. He suggests that he and Henry should combine their methods to make another being. Henry doesn't want to make another man since his Monster caused so much trouble. Pretorius reveals that he wants to make a woman. "That would be really interesting, " he proclaims.
III. Son Of Frankenstein (1939): Decades after the previous film, Henry's son Dr. Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) is returning to he town he grew up in. The old town has been renamed Frankenstein. He arrives with his wife and son, but the local villagers aren't too happy to see them. They are still bitter about his father's experiments and the monster he created. Wolf soon discovers that a hunchbacked shepherd named Ygor (Bela Lugosi) is living in the ruins of his father's old laboratory. Ygor has been taking care of the monster (Boris Karloff), who has been in a coma for years. Wolf decides to make the Monster well again and by doing so he could heal the wounds of the town and make his father be remembered as a maker of men rather than a maker of monsters. What he doesn't realize is that Ygor already has plans of his own.
IV. The Ghost Of Frankenstein (1942): Not too long after the last film, the villagers (afraid of the Monster ever returning again) decide to blow up the remains of the old Frankenstein laboratory. Ygor (Bela Lugosi) still lives in the old ruins. An explosion caused by the villagers' dynamite frees the Monster (now played by Lon Chaney Jr.) from the sulfur pit and Ygor pulls him out. The Monster is very sick and isn't what he used to be, so Ygor decides to bring him to Henry Frankenstein's other son, Dr. Ludwig von Frankenstein (Sir Cedric Hardwicke). Ludwig is a brilliant brain surgeon. Upon entering the town, the monster causes a bit of trouble and ends up killing two villagers. He also kills Ludwig's assistant Dr. Kettering (Barton Yarborough). At first Ludwig wishes to dissect the Monster and rid the world of him forever. Then he is visited by a vision of his father. His father tells him that the monster is evil because his assistant accidentally put an abnormal brain in his skull. Putting a good brain in his skull would solve the problem and clear up the Frankenstein name. Ludwig decides to put Kettering's brain in the Monster, but what he doesn't realize is that Ygor secretly plans to put his own brain in the Monster.
V. House Of Frankenstein (1944): The film begins at a prison for the criminally insane. Two of the inmates there are Dr. Gustav Niemann (Boris Karloff) and a hunchback named Daniel (J. Carrol Naish). Niemann is a dedicated follower of Frankenstein's research. A bolt of lightning hits the prison wall and the two are able to escape. They hitch a ride on a coach owned by Professor Bruno Lampini (George Zucco). Lampini owns a traveling Chamber of Horrors which includes the real skeleton of Count Dracula. Niemann decides to kill Lampini and pose as him for cover. Niemann and Daniel continue to tour the Chamber of Horrors, just so no one gets suspicious. Niemann frees the stake from the skeleton's heart and it transforms back into a living Count Dracula (John Carradine.) He forces Dracula to be his servant, otherwise he will put the stake back in his heart. Niemann's next plans are to go to the town of Frankenstein and find the Monster (now played by Glenn Strange), who is frozen in ice with the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) They have been there ever since their battle in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man." Afterwards, Niemann plans to revive the Monster and continue where Frankenstein left off.
COMMENTS: What can I say? This has got to be one of the most influential horror films of all time. James Whale's Frankenstein is a terrible adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic 1818 novel, and yet it is probably the greatest film version ever made. Boris Karloff's makeup and portrayal of the Monster will be burned into your mind forever. Originally Bela Lugosi (Dracula himself) was slated to play the Monster, but after a makeup test, he decided that he was too handsome to play such a horrific creature. He also didn't like the idea of playing a silent character (ironically he later played the Monster in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man"). Thankfully, director James Whale spotted Boris Karloff in a Universal Studios cafeteria and thought that he had the most amazing features. Karloff had no problem with playing a silent part. He had been in over 70 silent films before "talkies" came out. Talkies made him nervous because he had a lisp that everyone could now hear on film. The makeup was designed by both James Whale and Universal's chief makeup artist Jack Pierce. Pierce researched cadavers and such for months before he executed the job. The makeup ultimately became the most famous character makeup in cinematic history. Karloff was forever typecast as the Monster, but he didn't care. He felt that being typecast meant that you were successful. He always looked to the Monster as his very best friend. Karloff and James Whale returned for the sequel "The Bride Of Frankenstein". Some people feel that the sequel surpasses the original. Karloff played the monster for the last time in "Son Of Frankenstein." Afterwards he felt that the studio was making the films too commercial and that they were ruining the character. He donned the makeup only two more times: at a New York Mets game in 1939 and on an episode of the show "Route 66" in 1962. Every single Universal Pictures' Frankenstein film is on this set, with the exception of "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man" (1943) (included on the Wolf Man legacy collection), "House Of Dracula" (1945) (included on the Dracula legacy collection), and "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) (included on The Best of Abbott & Costello Volume 3). This collection is a must have for any horror fan, and the first film is a must see for anyone. The collection also contains documentaries on the making of the films, theatrical trailers, commentary by film historians Rudy Behlmer and Scott MacQueen, poster and photo galleries, and a discussion by "Van Helsing" (2004) director Stephen Sommers on the influence of the Frankenstein Monster in today's cinema.
Related DVD's Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of)
Why would Universal previously distribute a superior DVD and then repackage the same film but decrease the quality???
The Legacy Collection of the original Dracula movie from 1930 is a lesser quality DVD than it's predecessor from the Classic Monsters Collection set. The image quality is blurry and fuzzy - I'll take film grain and hairs over blurred out images anyday. The audio is also muted and soft as compared to the earlier released DVD.
I've compared both DVDs side by side, and the previous "Classic Monsters Collection" DVD won out in DVD quality.
My suggestion to all customers is to avoid these lesser quality (but newer) releases of Dracula and buy the earlier release instead. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Bela Lugosi - Helen Chandler - David Manners Director(s): Tod Browning DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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What famous horror classic, panned by reviewers upon its initial release in December of 1941, looks better and better every year? THE WOLF MAN, starring Claude Rains, Ralph Bellamy, Evelyn Ankers, and Lon Chaney Jr. as the hapless Larry Talbot.
The story is a familiar one: Larry, the son of esteemed Sir John (Rains) returns home to Wales after many years in America, is bitten by a werewolf (well played by Bela Lugosi), and becomes a werewolf himself. What's extraordinary is the fact that the film can be so effective today.
The biggest reason for this is the acting. Some classic films, pre-Actor's Studio, look pretty pathetic when it comes to realistic characterization. Not so THE WOLF MAN. Curt Siodmak's excellent screenplay (likened to a Greek Tragedy) provides... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Claude Rains - Warren William Director(s): George Waggner DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Eagarly with anticipation I waited for Halloween night to watch "The Mummy"! To my horror, I must have purchased the one defective copy of the Legacy Collection The Mummy, for it was not on disc one or disc two. It's just non-existant!
After spending $23 for this DVD, I'm sorely disappointed with the set. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Christy Cabanne DVD Release Date: Released the 19 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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For being a film from 1933, The Invisible Man is a very good film. This DVD collection contains four other movies and a documentary.
The Invisible Man itself is not quite as good as its successors, however, it is well written and at times surprisingly original. The drawbacks are the Innkeeper's wife, who was (according to the documentary) hired for the entire reason I did not like her: she overreacts to everything. She's superstitious, overly suspicious of anyone, and screams an annoying scream that drives even the other prople in the inn batty. There is some mild humor and a bit of drama in The Invisible Man and Claude Rains does a passable job, with that voice that just creeps under your skin...
As one of the six "Legacy" collections featuring the popular Universal monsters, the Creature set has some distinctly unique features. In one way, it's the sparsest collection, with only three movies, but it also is the only one with commentaries on all the films. Perhaps more importantly is the nature of the Creature himself. While the other monsters are either purely supernatural (Dracula, the Wolf Man), purely man-made (Frankenstein's monster, the Invisible Man) or a combination of the two (the Mummy), only the Creature is a natural creature.
What also stands out in the Creature movies is that humanity in general comes off as the bad guys and the Creature is the most sympathetic figure. Acting in a generally defensive manner, the Creature is subjected to greater and... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Richard Carlson - Julie Adams Director(s): Jack Arnold DVD Release Date: Released the 19 October 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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