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I’m sure most of you have guessed
by now that I’m completely into this
wave of entertainment that the invention
of DVDs has made available. Video tapes
were nice, but the overall quality was often
questionable, not to mention the fact that
they don’t last forever (well, I guess
I DID just mention it….). Thanks to
this wonderful little disc (which I’m
sure will be replaced by crystals sometime
around 2084), viewers can generally see
anything their little hearts desire. TV
shows are coming out at an increasing rate,
movies are available within weeks of their
Theatrical release, and older movies are
being beautifully restored.
I couldn’t say which if these features
I love more, but I’m starting to lean
towards the availability of older films.
Recently, Universal has begun to release
its ‘Legacy Series’, which has
seen the likes of “The Deer Hunter”
and “The Sting.” They’ve
also released some awesome sets for the
Universal Monsters collection.
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These include multiple films for “Dracula”,
“Frankenstein”, “The Mummy”,
“The Wolfman”, “Creature from
the Black Lagoon” and “The Invisible
Man.” These are must-own sets, one and all.
Most recently a single-disc set found its way
onto my desk that touted itself to be “The
Bela Lugosi Collection”, with five full-length
features by the man better known as “Dracula.”
It includes “Murders in the Rue Morgue”,
“The Black Cat”, “The Raven”,
“The Invisible Ray” and “Black
Friday.” All of the films were from Lugosi’s
heyday, and feature him at his best. What I found
interesting about this collection, however were
the choices in films and how they related to his
career. As most aficionados are familiar with,
Lugosi had a longtime feud with Boris Karloff.
Lugosi made some bad choices and turned down some
roles that went to Karloff, which turned him into
the reigning horror film star of the time. Of
the five films that are included in this set,
four of them co-star Karloff.
While as much as I’m sure Lugosi would have
rather a collection of his films included those
not starring Karloff, fans of the great actor
will surely love this set. T o the best of my
knowledge, none of the films have been available
on DVD before. All of the films are terrific examples
of horror films from the 30’s, the best
of the bunch being “The Black Cat”.
Both Lugosi and his long time rival deliver richly
drawn out characters, and in my opinion…
some of the best of their respective careers.
If I were to have any complaints about this release,
they would be more along the lines of my distaste
for putting too much material on a single disc.
While the disc is double-sided, putting all five
movies on it doesn’t leave much room for
a good transfer. All of the movies are quite watchable,
but I couldn’t quite help but feel they
could have looked better. Plus the sound, at times,
was much lower than I would have liked.
Still, aside from these nitpicks I’m happy
to just have these movies available on DVD.
Extras: None
Specifications: Full Screen, B&W
Studio: Universal
Release Date: 9/6/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
We'll give The Bela Lugosi Collection a C+.
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