More Universal Horror Boris and Bela (1 Viewer)

[John Stell]

Just read on the Classic Horror Forum that Universal will be releasing the following Boris/Bela films this fall:

Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Black Cat
The Raven
The Invisible Ray
Black Friday

Most likely will be another legacy set.

 

[Travis W.]

Very good news indeed. The Legacy Collections are always great.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Excellent!!! They will all be mine!

I sure hope there might also be some Universal 1950's sci-fi and Hammer films in the near future, to compliment the Boris/Bela set (or singles).

 

[Matt Stieg]

WOO HOO!!!! I just read this over at Scarlet Street.

The Black Cat and Murders in the Rue Morgue in particular are two of my personal favorites.

That being said, Universal still has a LONG way to go. This is most likely a legacy set, and hopefully it will just be ONE of SEVERAL to come this fall. Let's hope the transfers are up to snuff as well.

Keeping my fingers crossed, I'm optimistic but still very cautious.

 

[Ruz-El]

Awesome! I've been wanting to see "Murders" for a long time. Any chance that some of the censored footage exists? I would love a Skall or Belmer commentary on some of these.

 

[ElAhrai]

Wow, if this is one of the Legacy sets I'm in.

 

[Jay E]

This is great news!!

I was hoping that The Black Cat might wind up in Criterion's hands as it is a true horror classic and one of the most beutifully filmed ones at that, but I'll take a barebones edition never the less.

 

[Steve Christou]

Yay!! Fantastic news. The Black Cat is a must have, one of my favorite Universal horrors.
The only one I haven't seen from the list is Black Friday, I loved Black Sunday though.
Another great Legacy set.

 

[Matt Stieg]

A word of warning about Murders in the Rue Morgue; while I think it's an overall great film, it's also a very wildly uneven one. The two romantic leads are absolutely terrible, with Sidney Fox arguably the worst of Universal's heroines. Nevertheless, the good bits are so strong that they easily override the bad parts (though it makes the film that much more frustrating that there are such crappy parts in it). The art direction and set design, the photography, the lighting, D'Arcy Corrigan's turn as the strange undertaker, and one of Lugosi's very best performances (I would say my personal favorite Lugosi performance) all make this film tops in my book.

Lugosi gets some great moments in the film; a bravura speech about evolution in the wonderfully expressionistic carnival scene at the beginning, the classic line "We shall know if you are to be the bride of SCIENCE!," his kidnapping of the prostitute in the fog-shrouded streets of Paris. (Typing about this movie just now is enough to make me hook up that old ancient contraption known as the Video Cassette Recorder and watch my VHS copy tonight*). Also, I guess I just have an affinity for man-in-ape costume movies. Not because I think they're "bad" (I hate people that harbor smug superiority complexes when it comes to b-horror movies), I just like these kinds of evolutionary horror films. And I don't care what anyone says, I will forever prefer this film to that overrated King Kong movie made a year later.

*While these legacy sets are good deals, I will forever miss the artwork of the 1991-94 "Universal Studios Monsters Classic Collection" VHS releases. That is some of the best artwork ever created for home video releases. I managed to collect all 37 videos and will hold on to them forever, despite however many incarnations these films may see on DVD and beyond.

 

[Michael Warner]

Great news! I've had The Black Cat and The Raven locked on my Tivo's Now Playing list for over three years (too lazy to port them to the computer), it'll be nice to finally have a hard copy of each.

 

[Eric Peterson]

I'm most definitely interested in picking these up, but I beg you Universal, please don't use double-sided discs. These have been a problem nearly every time, and I will not buy the product if released in this format. I won't be getting rid of my VHS until I see what they plan for these.

 

[Matt Fisher]

Anything with Bela sounds good to me, he continues to grow as one of my favorite actors of all time.

 

[Justin_S]

Excellent news! I love all of these films, though I'm especially happy about The Black Cat and The Invisible Ray. I hope Universal delivers top notch quality with these releases, but I'll believe that when and if I see it.

 

[Jim_K]

Very good news if this pans out. The Black Cat is one of my favorites from that era. If this does turn out to be a Legacy set then that's very cool.

Now how about Island of Lost Souls & the Hammer Horror films, ay Universal?

 

[SteveGon]

And yes, don't forget about Island of Lost Souls!

 

[Jim_K]

Bruce, they have the rights to

Brides of Dracula
Curse of the Werewolf
Evil of Frankenstein
Phantom of the Opera '62
Nightmare
Paranoiac
Twins of Evil - there is some debate as to who has the rights to this one

They also own Kiss of the Vampire which was released by Image and is now OOP. I have my copy though so I'm not clamoring for this one.

There may be a couple more I missed.


I'd pick 'em all up if released on DVD, though Brides, Curse & Twins are essential must-haves for me.

 

[John Hodson]

This was from the DVD Talk forum IIRC, earlier this year:

"Universal has been working on it's Hammer material and has uncovered extra footage for BRIDES OF DRACULA and KISS OF EVIL. They also recently made restored theatrical prints of CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF which have played here and there around the country...Hopefully all 3 will be coming to DVD soon."

 

[Stephen PI]

Universal also owns "Captain Clegg" (aka "Night Creatures") and "Shadow of the Cat", which was not strictly a Hammer film but was shot at Bray utilising the Hammer technicians.

"Curse of the Werewolf", "Kiss of the Vampire" and "Brides of Dracula" have all been theatrically updated, so there is no reason for Universal Home Video to delay these titles and release them at the appropriate time.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Excellent news on the Karloff/Lugosi Set and high time, too.
It's good to see Universal dipping back into that classic old Horror Library, and I hope this is only the first of more to come.

 

[Bradley-E]

How about a GOLDEN AGE OF SCI FI Collector's set? TARANTULA, INC. SHRINKING MAN, MOLE PEOPLE, MONOLITH MONSTERS, DEADLY MANTIS, LEECH WOMAN, MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS, LAND UNKNOWN, CULT OF THE COBRA?