Icons of Horror - Boris Karloff (The Boogie Man Will Get You/The Black Room/The Man They Could Not Hang/Before I Hang) DVD
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Sony
EAN: 0043396162334
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Item Dimensions: 100
Label: Sony Pictures
Languages: EnglishOriginal LanguageDolby Digital 1.0FrenchSubtitled
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
MPN: D16233D
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 99
Release Date: October 17, 2006
Running Time: 262 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: July 15, 1935
Editorial Review:
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
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Before I Hang: 3 out of 10: Boris Karloff stars as Dr. Kevorkian in this expose of stem cell research gone wrong.
Okay maybe that is not completely accurate but one might certainly think along those lines as a doctor found guilty of a mercy killing is sentenced to hang despite his promising youth serum.
Karloff quickly finds himself in a prison experimenting with the blood of a recently hanged killer the clock ticking against his own execution. He injects himself with the ... Read More
Rating: -
This set is a winner from the moment you lay eyes on it! The designers of the package did a very good job; there's a very nice moody look to the slipcase, as well as the art on the individual disc cases. They have a nice "retro" feel to them that is great to behold.
The movies are basically arranged in order of quality; "The Black Room" is easily the best film in the set, while "The Boogeyman Will Get You" is far and away the weakest. "The Black Room" features one of Boris Karloff's most ... Read More
Rating:  -
Fantastic set of some of Karloff's Columbia films. Great prints and great films. Sony has been very negligent in getting out Columbia's older films of the 30's and 40's. They have some other Peter Lorre films and many mysteries that should be made available, especially in sets.
Rating:  -
I won't comment here about the fine picture and sound quality of these films, as other reviewers have done so and very well too, or about the quality of the films themselves. But, as a French buyer, I wanted to warn potential buyers that THERE ARE NO FRENCH SUBTITLES to the films on this set, contrarily to the product description on amazon. If non-english speaking Karloff fans are interested in this box set, they should know what the product is really like. Have a nice day.
Rating: -
An excellent collection of rarer Karloff fright films. The surprise is the comedy THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU which is a delight. A good set at a great price.
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