The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)
by Arthur Lubin, Edgar G. Ulmer, Lambert Hillyer, Lew Landers, Robert Florey
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, David Manners, Julie Bishop, Sidney FoxDirector: Arthur Lubin, Edgar G. Ulmer, Lambert Hillyer, Lew Landers, Robert Florey
Brand: Universal
Writer: Clarence Marks
Writer: Curt Siodmak
Writer: Dale Van Every
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Danish (Original Language); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); German (Original Language); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 337 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-09-06
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)
Movie Review: Seldom seen but excellent Universal horror
Summary: 5 Stars
These five titles are good examples of Universal horror films both before and after the code. However, there is a little matter of truth in advertising to discuss. This is really more of a Lugosi/Karloff collection than a Lugosi collection. In fact, only one film does not feature both actors - "Murders in the Rue Morgue". Of the other four, two have Karloff and Lugosi on a fairly equal footing - "The Raven" and "The Black Cat", which are the best of the films. The other two - "The Invisible Ray" and "Black Friday" are really Karloff films. "Black Friday" really only has Lugosi as a bit player - Karloff is the star of that film.
All five feature the atmosphere and pacing that are unique to the Universal horror films of the time. I would say I found 1932's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" to be the least satisfactory of the films. The atmosphere is great, and Lugosi does one of the things he does best - play a sophistocated and charming madman. Lugosi has somehow managed to mix up ideas of evolution (man and ape being related) with religious ideals of pure blood only coming from virgins - thus his obsession with Camille, a girl he sees at the carnival where he exhibits his ape and speaks of his beliefs. The distracting part of the film consists of the love scenes between Camille and Pierre (Leon Ames). Later in his career Ames excelled at playing a sophistocated cad in the Warren William tradition, but here he just annoys me.
1934's "The Black Cat" changes things a bit and has Lugosi playing the hero for a change. Karloff plays a devil-worshiping priest who has a habit of preserving and displaying the bodies of his late wives in the basement of his castle. He has had Vitus Werdegast (Lugosi) imprisoned and stolen his wife. When Lugosi escapes fifteen years later, he returns for revenge and to retrieve the wife and infant daughter he left behind. Throw into the mix a honeymooning couple that is stranded at Karloff's castle and you have not so much a mystery but a chance for some really great moments between Lugosi and Karloff as they face off.
1935's "The Raven" has Lugosi again playing the charming madman. However here he is a legitimate man of science - brilliant surgeon, Dr. Villon. He saves the life of a young girl by performing emergency surgery on her and falls in love with her. Her father, Judge Thatcher, comes to Villon and tries to convince him that the relationship will never work. Angered that he is good enough to save his daughter's life but not to marry her, he plots a creative Poe-like revenge.
In 1936's "The Invisible Ray", Lugosi is again the good guy. He plays Dr. Felix Benet, who invites Dr. Janos Rukh (Karloff) on a scientific expedition to Africa. There Rukh discovers a powerful substance that has the power both to cure and destroy. When Rukh becomes infected with the substance he discovers he becomes mad with his own power to destroy, especially when he feels that he's been robbed by the expedition of both his wife and his discovery.
1940's "Black Friday" doesn't really fit with the other four, but it is still a very good film. It really is a noir more than it is a horror film. Karloff stars as brain surgeon Ernest Sovac. His good friend is run down by a gangster's car after that gangster is shot by his own mob. The gangster has a broken body as a result of the accident. Sovac's friend's brain is damaged to the point that he is dying. Sovac performs brain surgery and transplants part of the gangster's brain into his friend. He does this partly to save his friend and partly in hope of getting his hands on the money that the gangster has hidden from his mob. Lugosi plays a member of that mob and is not onscreen for very long.
This DVD is highly recommended to fans of Karloff, Lugosi, and Universal horror. The downside is that the films are on one dual-sided disc and there are absolutely no extras. However, the video and audio quality are excellent on all of the films.
More The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday) reviews:
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Summary of The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)
Includes: murders in the rue morgue black cat raven invisible ray black friday Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 09/06/2005 Rating: NrClassics DVD Video
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