Jeri Jacquin
On DVD in time for the spooky holidays and anyone who movie
marathons that day from Universal Home Entertainment is something no media
library should be without Universal CLASSIC MONSTERS: Complete 30 Film
Collection.
As a youngster, every Friday and Saturday night our family
would look on the three or four channels we had to find ‘horror’ films to
watch. That is when my mother introduced me to names like Lon Chaney Jr., Bela
Lagosi, Claude Rains and Boris Karloff. My first film in this genre was the
Bela Lagosi’s DRACULA.
Beginning with the line ‘in all the annals of living horror,
one name stands out at the epitome of evil!’ From that moment on I was glued to
the very small television set. The close ups of his deep and intense stares
brought DRACULA into our home and it was frightfully glorious.
The second film that stands out came out in that same year
of 1931 with FRANKENSTEIN as Boris Karloff introduced me to empathy for a
creature feared by villagers.
It was the 1941 THE WOLF MAN that I saw Lon Chaney Jr. in a
foggy wood asking an old gypsy woman for the truth about what he was. Once
again I felt so sorry for the character of Larry Talbot but loved the story it
told and, of course, never looked at a full moon the same. Claude Rains also
starred in the same film and he was as elegant as he wanted to be.
The 1943 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA as Rains once again had the
opportunity to enrapture me as Claudin, a man who loves and loses and doesn’t
handle it to well. I love the cinematography, story and cast that puts together
a memorable film that has been made again and again but nothing beats the
original.
In 1954, audiences were introduced to CREATURE FROM THE
BLACK LAGOON and a trip through the Amazon jungle. Scientists discover
something in the water but that something isn’t going to go quietly.
THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US brought people to the theatre in
1956 and made it to my television during a show called Creature Feature. The Gill-Man returns and a mad scientist decides
to make the water creature an unhappy land creature.
This is only six films out of the 30 that have been put
together in this collection!
The Universal Collection includes the films: Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The
Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein, Werewolf of London, Dracula’s
Daughter, Son of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man Returns, The Invisible Woman,
The Mummy’s Hand, The Wolf Man, The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Mummy’s Ghost, The
Mummy’s Tomb, Invisible Agent, Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein Meets the
Wolf Man, Son of Dracula, House of Frankenstein, The Mummy’s Curse, The
Invisible Man’s Revenge, House of Dracula, She-Wolf of London, Abbott and
Costello Meet Frankenstein, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man,
Creature from the Black Lagoon, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, Revenge of
the Creature and The Creature Walks
Among Us.
The Bonus Features include Behind-the-Scenes Documentaries, 3D Versions of CREATURE FROM THE BLACK
LAGOON and REVENGE OF THE CREATURE,
1931 Spanish Version of DRACULA, Featurettes on Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon
Chaney Jr., and Jack Pierce, 13
Expert Feature Commentaries, Archival Footage, Production Photographs and Theatrical Trailers.
This is a film collectors dream to have because these are
films that feature a genre which in turn created those of us who love the
classics. These films are iconic and they star actors that are the genre standard
by which the actors play the role today. Who doesn’t want to have the stare of
Bela Lagosi, who doesn’t want the anger-sadness of Frankenstein and who doesn’t
want to portray the fear of being a wolf on a full moon?
UNIVERSAL CLASSIC MONSTERS: Complete 30-Film Collection is a
jewel on the home media library shelf. These are films that, for its time, were
innovative, experimental and groundbreaking.
Lets be honest, nothing in the world is better than a rainy
day, a warm blanket on the couch, a cup of hot chocolate with black and white
monster movies playing on the big screen in our homes. That is nirvana for me
and millions of others who appreciate what it took to bring these films to the
theatre and now – our homes.
So, when thinking of what you want to be doing for
Halloween, you should definitely get the UNIVERSAL CLASSIC MONSTERS: Complete
30-Film Collection. Curl up and remember who is responsible for the genre that
we love to this very day!
In the end – this is a landmark collection of legendary
monsters!
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