50 HORROR FILM CLASSICS DVD BOX SET

[Paul Westbrook]

I was at Zeller's Plaza yesterday, and I came across a new box set of dvds entitled 50 Horror Classics on DVD. It has some of the top and not so top horror films of the last 50 to 70 years. I'd like to know some of your opinions of this set.

[Scott]

Give us a complete list of all the films. Is it a Brentwood product? How much?



Post Edited (12-27-04 18:44)

[Mr_Vindictive]

Not brentwood.  It's made by "Treeline Films".  My parents bought it for me this christmas.

Here are the films:

• Atom Age Vampire (Alberto Lupo)     â€¢ Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (John Barrymore)
• Creature from the Haunted Sea (Robert Town)    â€¢ Blue Beard (John Carradine)
• Nightmare Castle (Barbara Steele)    â€¢ The Corpse Vanishes (Bela Lugosi)
• Black Dragons (Bela Lugosi)    â€¢ Doomed to Die (Boris Karloff)
• Invisible Ghosts (Bela Lugosi)    â€¢ The Phantom of the Opera (Lon Chaney Sr.)
• One Body Too Many (Bela Lugosi)    â€¢ The Indestructible Man (Lon Chaney Jr.)
• White Zombie (Bela Lugosi)    â€¢ The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Lon Chaney Sr.)
• Attack of the Giant Leeches (Ken Clark)    â€¢ Swamp Women (Mike Connors)
• The Screaming Skull (John Hudson)    â€¢ The World Gone Mad (Pat O'Brien)
• Beast of the Yucca Flats (Tor Johnson)    â€¢ The Little Shop of Horrors (Jack Nicholson)
• The Terror (Boris Karloff)    â€¢ Tormented (Richard Carlson)
• Revolt of the Zombies (Dean Jagger)    â€¢ The Monster Walks (Rex Lease)
• The Giant Gila Monster (Don Sullivan)    â€¢ Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (Tamro Kawaji)
• The Fatal Hour (Boris Karloff)    â€¢ The Gorilla (The Ritz Brothers)
• Dead Man Walk (George Zucco)    â€¢ A Shriek in the Night (Ginger Rogers)
• The Mad Monster (George Zucco)    â€¢ Bloodlust (Robert Reed)
• Maniac (Bill Woods)    â€¢ The Amazing Mr. X (Turhan Bay)
• The Vampire Bat (Fay Wray)    â€¢ Last Woman on Earth (Robert Towne)
• The Ape (Boris Karloff)    â€¢ The Bat (Vincent Price)
• The Monster Maker (J. Carol Naish)    â€¢ The Last Man on Earth (Vincent Price)
• The Killer Shrews (Louis Hayward)    â€¢ Dementia 13 (William Campbell)
• The Brain That Wouldn't Die (Jason Evers)    â€¢ Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (Kent Taylor)
• King of the Zombies (Joan Woodbury)


I watched "Beast Of Yucca Flats" and "Last Man On Earth" today.  You can't rewind the dvds (atleast on my dvd player).  If you try it sends you back to the main menu.  It's a great deal for apx. 25.00 though.

[Scott]

BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS and LAST MAN ON EARTH are two films that I like. Of course LAST MAN ON EARTH is a much better film with Vincent Price in a film idea that later became NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

• Atom Age Vampire -  Didn't like this one. Kinda boring. Vampire running around streets and beach at night.
• Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde - Not sure if I saw this version.
• Creature from the Haunted Sea - Roger Corman monster film with ping pong eyes. Fun film.
• Nightmare Castle - Ok Italian film starring Barbara Steele. Worth a look.
• Invisible Ghosts - Ok film with Bela Lugosi. Kinda of a comedy.
• The Phantom of the Opera - Lon Chaney Classic
• Hunchback of Notre Dame - Classic
• The Indestructible Man - Not a very good film, but you do have Lon Chaney Jr.
• White Zombie - Good Lugosi classic.
• Attack of the Giant Leeches - I liked this one. You have to see the leeches.
• The Screaming Skull - One of my childhood favorite. Check it out.
• Beast of the Yucca Flats - Classic bad movie.
• The Little Shop of Horrors - Cormans original.
• The Terror - Karloff and Nickolson in a film that should be seen.
• Tormented - Good haunted head story
• Revolt of the Zombies - Not that interesting, but a must see for the completist.
• The Giant Gila Monster - You have to see this one.
• Monster from a Prehistoric Planet - This is a great one, giant birds in Japan.
• The Gorilla - Neat Lugosi comedy film also starring the Ritz Brothers.
• Dead Man Walk - Not bad. Zucco did a few decent films for his time.
• Bloodlust - Mr. Brady from the Brady Bunch in a early role. Good film.
• Maniac - Been wanting to see this one.
• The Amazing Mr. X  - Been wanting to see this one.
• The Vampire Bat - Good one.
• Last Woman on Earth - Been wanting to see this one
• The Ape - Been wanting to see this one.
• The Bat - Not very good, but it does have Vincent Price.
• The Last Man on Earth - Great film.
• The Killer Shrews - You have to see this one.
• Dementia 13 - Ok film.
• The Brain That Wouldn't Die - Fun film.
• Phantom from 10,000 Leagues - A dud. Don't bother.
• King of the Zombies - Ouch this one hurts. It is a zombie film though.

The rest I haven't seen.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Just sat through part of The Killer Shrews.  Looks pretty promising so far.

I saw The Giant Gilla Monster a few months back.  Fun little flick.

I've also seen a few others that came with the set including Metropolis (amazing work) and Nosferatu.

I've always been more with color films than B&W, but have always kept an open mind.  My wife on the other hand DESPISES anything before about '80.  She actually sat down and watched Last Man On Earth today and thoroughly enjoyed it, quite surprising.

I am a bit disappointed that a few other films aren't in the set such as Planet 9 (which I already own) and The Blob.  One would assume that to be a given.  Oh well.  

Fortunatly I don't own too many of the films in the set other than House On Haunted Hill and Nosferatu.  

Here is a complete list from the case.  The ones I cited earlier were not complete:

Carnival Of Souls
Atom Age vamp
Creature Haunted Sea
Nightmare Castle
Black Dragons
Invisible Ghost
One Body Too Many
White Zombie
Giat Leeches
Screaming Skull
Yucca Flats
Terror
Revolt Of Zombies
Gilla Monster
Fatal Hour
Mad Monster
Manicac
Metropolis
Vamp Bat
Ape
Monster Maker
Killer Shrews
Brain That Wouldn't Die
King Of Zombies
Dr. Jekyll & Hyde
Blue Beard
Corpse Vanishes
Night Of Living Dead
Doomed To Die
Phantom Of Opera
Indestructible Man
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Nosferatu
Swamp Women
World Gone Mad
Little Shop Of Horrors (Corman)
Tormented
Monster Walks
Monster Prehistoric Planet
orilla
Shriek In The Night
Bloodlust
Amazing Mr. X
Last Woman On Earth
The Bat
House On Haunted Hill
Last Man On Earth
Dementia 13
Phantom From 10,000 Leagues


Whew.....just typed those by hand.  The things I do for you guys. :)

As I said, this is a great set to have.  The transfers are sometimes shoddy as is the case with Metropolis, but you can't expect greatness from something this cheap.  Especially with a film made in 1925.  :)

[Vermin Boy]

Maniac is one of my hands-down all-time favorite b-movies. You can tell that the director (Dwain Esper, of Reefer Madness fame) is just trying to see how much he can get away with; he busts out every taboo he can think of (including and not limited to nudity, drug use, and a rapist who thinks he's an orangutan), then tries to pass it off as an educational film by randomly inserting definitions of mental illnesses. Did I mention this is 1934? The set is worth it for that one alone (as well as a great assortment of b-classics).

[Menard]

I think it is official: 4 more movies and Scott will have seen every movie made. ( :

[Scott]

Menard said,

>I think it is official: 4 more movies and Scott will have seen every movie made.

I thought I was getting close to the end Menard, but just relized last month that I have about 500 films I still would like to check out. This could take some time. Netflix has a lot to offer and Sinister Video has many older rare films.

MANIAC sounds like a good one. Thanks for the info Vermin Boy.



Post Edited (12-28-04 00:26)

[Menard]

I got about seventy Sinister Video tapes for about a buck a piece from an eBay seller who was just dumping his collection. I would certainly check eBay for Sinister and Something Weird titles. After having seen the dreadful quality of some of these tapes, I would have been upset if I had payed their retail.

Bob

[Scott]

I know what you mean. I remember the alpha and frontrow VHS's were also very poor, but now with the DVD's the quality is atleast bearible and worth viewing. The VHS's were terrible quality with the EP tapes and such.

[Menard]

The majority of mine are SPs are still are not that good. I have not obtained the DVDs from Sinister, but 2 DVDs from Something Weird. I have not converted my collection to DVD because I already have the tapes and do not watch them that frequently. and I have a number of tapes that have yet to make it to DVD (I think we all fall into that category) Besides, I am cheap; I like the cheap boxsets like Brentwood puts out and some of the Platinum collections (watermarks being an aside).

Bob

[The Burgomaster]

How is the picture and sound quality of the 50 movie set?  I know the same company puts out other sets (like 50 detective movies, etc.) but I've been afraid to buy any of them until I got a "quality rating" from someone.



Post Edited (12-30-04 18:56)

[Mr_Vindictive]

Burgo,

It's not too bad.  Some of the quite older films (Nosferatu, Metropolis, etc) are quite muddy but for the most part the films are presented pretty well.  The sound is fairly decent as well.  Considering the price of the set, it's well worth it.