|
Rating:  -
what annoys me is a review giving this little known classic horror movie one star due to bad dvd quality. people are going to see a bad customer rating for this movie, and believe based on the lack of stars that this is a terrible movie, which is just not true. please, for god sakes, review the MOVIE, not the quality of the release. how stupid some people are! that's like giving a book a bad review because you didn't like the cover art. grow up.
now for the movie. this is a wonderful thriller starring bela lugosi. much of the story is set in a shelter for the blind, and this creates an air of confusion. lugosi's henchman, a deformed blind giant named jake, is brilliant. i recall one scene that is a classic moment in horror movie history where bela lugosi, in order to punish one of his minions, deafens a man who is already blind and dumb. then he binds his arms and legs and throws him in a tub of water. brilliant.
Rating:  -
My DVD suffers from bad sound, but I hope I`ll get hold of another edition. Norwegian Greta Gynt is NOT the cowardly heroine one sees in Dracula 1930 and so forth(Quote from a US critic), but Greta`s Diana Stewart stand up to Dr Orlock a`la a modern Scarlett O`Hara. The film is also brutal and the World seems indeed a not safe place 2 be in this account... All good people are NOT as they are supposed 2 be.....
The film is good, but as I said - my edition isn`t on par of what I`ve been told of other editions of this film. We all know of Bela Lugosi, but u better catch GRETA GYNT(1916-2000) in the films DEAR MURDERER 1947-as the neurotic Vivien - married 2 a man called Lee(humoursely - Vivien Leigh - VIVIAN MARY HARTLEY - got her professional name from HER husband, Leigh Holman) and the Ronald Neame-Hithcock-thriller TAKE MY LIFE 1947 as an operasinger, trying 2 catch a real killer when her own husband is suspcted of foul behaviour.
But this is DARK EYES OF LONDON - the film that MADE her :-)
Rating: -
I saw this movie late one night on TV about 35 years ago as a child, and some of the images haunt me still! Lugosi is really quite good here, and the whole thing is set in an eerie, impoverished home for the blind...this creates a dark, disorienting, atmosphere of helplessness. Watch for the trap door that drops victims into the Thames River mud flats! Lugosi's creepy man/beast henchman is the stuff of children's nightmares....
OK, now to address the Alpha DVD quality. No, it's not great. It could be better. But let's face it: as kids we watched these things on grainy black & white TV sets with bent rabbit ear antennas! You could hold your breath for the "Collector's Edition", (at a price 4x more) but you're simply not going to see this film anywhere else. The DVD is ridiculously cheap. If you hate it, then donate it to your local library for a tax write-off.
Rating:  -
... and a good ending cannot overcome it.
There is no supernatural foe to drag us through the tepid parts, and a somewhat interesting yet slow mystery is not enough to make us sit without fidgeting. Especially not when the quality of the print is poor.
The Human Monster is smarter than most of this type of fare, as it is based on an Edgar Wallace novel. But like most of this type of fare, nothing of any real note happens until the last fifteen minutes. Then it gets quite good, with chases and plot twists and the expected, if satisfying, retribution. Yet by that point the damage is done.
As a movie, the Human Monster makes a very good poster.
See also: "The Monogram Nine," as they are known to Lugosi's most ardent.
Rating:  -
"The Human Monster," a British horror film from 1939 starring Bela Lugosi, is a recent DVD release from Alpha Video. Its packaging is attractive, featuring artwork from the original release of the film, and its price is essentially pocket change, but sadly the positive qualities of this product stop there.
While I feel inclined to commend the producers of this DVD for trying to market this Lugosi semi-classic, a sixty-plus year old film with limited sales potential, after viewing the DVD I can't help but to regret my purchase and recommend that you don't make my same mistake...even if the cost of the product is minimal.
Technically speaking, even if a film is old there's still little justification for it to look bad or sound bad...and certainly not as bad as this film looks and sounds on this DVD. The images appear flat and grainy; cinematic shadows "pulse" frequently; scratches in the film abound; and one must make a conscious effort to hear the soundtrack in many parts.
Perhaps Alpha Video would argue that this particular movie would never sell enough units to justify the cost of a proper restoration--though this viewpoint would be in conflict with The Roan Group's superbly restored release of "White Zombie" and any number of Universal DVD releases featuring Lugosi--but, as it is, this particular DVD release of "The Human Monster" fails to satisfy the viewer due to a gross lack of image and audio quality.
The ultimate tragedy here is that, unlike some of Bela's poverty row pictures, most fans of Lugosi and this genre would agree that this is a respectable picture that offers the typecast actor a rare dramatic opportunity...and one he does well with! It's a shame that such a poor quality print of the movie is used.
Poor Bela fans.
Television Show
Collectibles
Movie Searches
|
|
|
Search for posters,
art prints, photos, collectables, merchandise, toys, t-shirts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Join the Nielsen//NetRatings Research Panel and you could win a new car, a dream vacation, a dream home makeover or $50,000 Cash!
TV Guide
Program listings, celebrity profiles, industry
gossip, movie reviews, puzzle.
More
Entertainment
& TV Magazines
This site is
Hosted
by Bluehost
Read
my Bluehost Review
Original Superhero & other designs for t-shirts, bumper
stickers, prints, mugs, and other cool merchandise. |
|
