Classic Monsters Brings Thrills Home

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to 4K Ultra HD, Bluray and Digital from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment comes UNIVERSAL CLASSIC MONSTERS Icons of Horror Collection.

THE MUMMY hit screens in 1932 as Boris Karloff plays Imhotep, a mummy who is killed for trying to bring his love Ankh-esen-amun back to him. Once revived, he becomes Ardeth Bey to everyone around him while still searching for his long-lost love. Bey meets Frank (David Manners) and Professor Pearson (Leonard Mudie) who are looking for her as well.

He also meets Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann) who looks like his love. When his secrets are discovered, the only way to stop the mummy is to burn The Scroll of Thoth. The climatic ending brings Helen to Bey’s world of power and a time long past but who will survive?

Other cast include Arthur Byron as Sir Joseph Whemple, Edward Van Sloan as Dr. Muller, Bramwell Fletcher as Ralph Norton, Kathryn Byron as Frau Muller and James Crane as Pharaoh Amenophis.

Bonus Features on THE MUMMY includes: Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed, He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce, Unraveling the Legacy of THE MUMMY, THE MUMMY Archives, 100 Years of Universal: The Carl Laemmle Era, Trailer Gallery, Feature Commentary with Film Historical Paul M. Jensen and Feature Commentary with Rick Baker, Scott Essman, Steve Haberman, Bob Burns, and Brent Armstrong.

The 1935 hit THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN sees the return of Boris Karloff as The Monster. Percy Shelly (Douglas Walton) and Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon) tell Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) that her story of the monster is well done. She tells them there is more to the story continuing with villagers and Hans (Reginald Barlow) wanting to see the bones of the monster. While looking, he discovers he is alive and going after wife Minnie (Mary Gordon).

Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) has his body returned to his beloved fiancée Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson). Minnie tries to warn her that the monster is alive but no one is listening to her. Elizabeth is more interested in helping Henry recover from his trauma. He reaches out to Dr. Septimus Pretorius (Dwight Frye) to continue his research., The monster believes he has found his mate, but everything starts to go wrong but in the midst of madness.

Other cast include E.E. Clive as Burgomaster, Dwight Frye as Karl, Ted Billings as Ludwig, and J. Gunnis Davis as Uncle Glutz.

Bonus Features on THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN includes: She’s Alive! Creating The Bride of Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein Archive, 100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics, Trailer Gallery and Feature Commentary with Scott MacQueen.

The 1943 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA brings Erique Claudin (Claude Rains) no longer plays at the Paris Opera House which effect the young Christine Dubois (Susanna Foster) with her voice lessons. He is devoted to her and at the same time sees Raoul Dubert (Edgar Barrier) wanting to marry her. He isn’t the only one as Anatole Garron (Nelson Eddie), a famous opera singer, wants her heart as well.

Trying to write music, Claudin takes it to Maurice Pleyel (Miles Mander) who rejects him, yet, he hears his music being played by Franz Liszt (Fritz Leiber). Rage causes Claudin to become injured and he runs to the sewers covering his face with a mask he steals from the opera house. Once again helping Christine, he knocks out the singer Biancarolli (Jane Farrar) for the opera Amour et Floire and they have no choice but to put Christine in her place. She is a success!

As everything starts to go wrong and the men try to stake their claim to Christine, it is the Phantom who kidnaps the girl. He wants her to sing only for him, but when Raoul and Anatole go after her, disaster strikes them all but in different ways.  

Other cast include J. Edward Bromberg as Amiot, Fritz Feld as Lecours, Frank Puglia as Villeneuve, Steven Geray as Vercheres, Hans Herbert as Marcel and Hume Cronyn as Gerard.

Bonus Features on PHANTOM OF THE OPERA includes: The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked, Production Photographs, 100 Years of Universal: The Lot, Theatrical Trailer and Feature Commentary with Film Historian Scott MacQueen.

Finally, the 1954 CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON brings the expedition of Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno), Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson) and Dr. Mark Williams (Richard Denning) going down the Amazon to look for the fossils a creature with webbed fingers. Davis has brought his girlfriend Kay Lawrence (Julia Adams) and scientist Dr. Edwin Thompson (Whit Bissell) along.

Watching them is the ‘Gill-man’ (Ben Chapman/Ricou Browning) and he notices Kay following their boat down the river. When Kay goes for a swim, the creature follows and leaves behind a claw in the net. The scientists now know that the creature is real. Once captured, it doesn’t stay so for long and kidnaps Kay! David, Lucas and Carl know they must go after her and face the creature.

Other cast include Henry Escalante as Chico, Bernie Gozier as Zee, and Nestor Paiva as Captain Lucas.

Bonus Features of CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON includes: CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, Back to the Black Lagoon, Production Photographs, 100 Years of Universal: The Lot, Trailer Gallery and Feature Commentary with Film Historian Tom Weaver.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

What is amazing about this collection is that these are the movies my mother introduced me to because they are the movies her parents introduced her to! This was the height of frightening films and how I loved Friday nights in our house. First, making pizza (yes, there was a time when people made pizzas in their own home) and then pajamas, grabbing pillows to gather on the floor and making a night of horror films.

As my kids grew up, we did the same thing, tradition in the best possible way. It was a way to gather to have family time but also to enjoy some of the best monster movies ever made. The jumps, the richness of the black and white films, the chaos, the yelling at the screen was a blast as a child, a blast with my kids and now, a blast with the grandkids.

These characters are iconic and have made history because of the story, the cinematography, special effects and directors that knew exactly who to cast in the roles. Boris Karloff and Claude Rains brought exactly what these characters needed for us to be frightened but yet, also felt a bit of humanity at the lives they were forced to live.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has brought this awesome collection just in time for the spooky season so get your pizza made (or ordered), find the most comfortable p.j.’s you own, every pillow in the house and settle in with the lights out for a bit of monster binge watching!

All of these iconic characters are, well, misunderstood to my way of thinking which is probably why we enjoy them so much!

In the end – these are the icons of horror!

 

 

THE MUMMY Needs to Stay Wrapped

Jeri Jacquin with Vince Munn

Coming this week from director Alex Kurtzman and Universal Pictures is the rise of evil with THE MUMMY.

Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) is in the middle of the desert with sidekick Chris (Jake Johnson) looking for antiquities. With the help of Col. Greenway (Courtney B. Vance) and a well place bomb that has unearthed something huge, Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) sweeps in to take over.

Down in a cavern they find signs of an Egyptian tomb with something evil that is being protected. Nick jumps right in and with one bullet a sarcophagus rises out of a pit of mercury and the mummy of Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) resides inside.

Taking the find to London, Jenny knows only one person who knows what to do. Dr. Jekyll (Russell Crowe) is a collector of all things malevolent. The princess has other plans when the plan carrying them all comes down mysteriously.

Discovering that the dark force is looking for a knife with a special stone, Jenny and Nick (with the help of a weirdly decomposing Chris) must stop the princess from completing a ritual that started hundreds of years ago.

Unfortunately Nick is part of that ritual that changes everything that is to come!

Jeri Jacquin: So, I once again invited my friend Vince to weigh in on THE MUMMY. I do so because although I started out giving the film a chance not wanting to be grouchy, I once again should have trusted my initial instincts. Am I right Vince?

Vince Munn: Sadly, while the film starts with great promise, it trips over the bandages of its title character on their way to the conclusion. Universal is following in the footsteps of Disney and Warner Bros, making a connected universe of characters that they own.

JJ: So for readers who don’t like spoilers and I try not to do it normally, I feel I have to on this one. Seriously? Egypt, Iraq, the Templar’s and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Are you kidding me? Now you know I became totally disconnected when the last was brought into this film – none of these things are connected and I checked out of the film.

VM: Unfortunately the characters they are using really seem to have no reason to share a connected universe. Taking the classic Universal Monsters by bringing them in to the modern world and connecting them with a secret society of scientists and monster hunters is a ridiculous idea.

JJ: If this is how the studios see the “Dark Universe” then we have a problem going forward. This was supposed to be an intro into the concept and it is totally a hot mess. I don’t care if you put Tom Cruise in the lead, and he doesn’t do a horrible job, it’s just a horrible script.

VM: Tom Cruise is getting older. Mission Impossible aside, he doesn’t need to be doing this film. I am just glad that for now it’s not the Van Helsing reboot we were threatened with. The rest of the cast (Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Sofia Boutella, and Russell Crowe) do a serviceable if not forgettable job.

JJ: Don’t put evil in the air talking about a Van Helsing reboot! I think Crowe as Jekyll/Hyde is not right for this role at all. I can’t even imagine what they were thinking. Then again I didn’t care one wit for the character and actually tried to finish the film not thinking about him again.

VM: Had he been cast as anyone else aside from Dr Jekyll I would be more at ease. He comes off too thuggish and tough as tough Hyde is the dominant mind much like Bud White in LA Confidential.

JJ: What I came away with after the torture of watching THE MUMMY is that Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are safe in my heart and mind of being the coolest version of THE MUMMY. The time period is fantastic and I immediately care about the characters and feel like I’m on a fun trip with tons of craziness. Going home to my DVD of the 1999 THE MUMMY, Rick and Evie made it all better.

VM: Had this been set in the same period as the 1999 reboot, this would be a better film. If you want good popcorn fodder and escapism at its minimum, this is one for you.

JJ: Well, go to http://www.darkuniverse.com and see what the Dark Universe is. Notice there is nothing modern in this piece and yet watching every piece of this clip is just fantastic. It can not be duplicated and I wish they would stop trying. I’d rather see these films once again in theatres than any ridiculous remake, reimaging, rethinking or retelling (all words for ‘hey, lets waste millions on nothing’).

VM: I wanted more and am now nervous about what is to come in this Dark Universe.

That last statement says it all! Nervousness is being kind as I truly don’t think those in charge of creating this Dark Universe know what they are doing. Fans love their Gods & Monsters but when you mash them up and change their look – you’ve slapped fans in the face. THE MUMMY may be spectacular with its special effects and double-iris evil but it is not enough – at least not for me.

I want story, I want to care about the characters enough to cheer for them and throwing a gold book for 2.5 seconds on a library floor expecting me to be happy just don’t do it. Thanks Vince for sharing popcorn with me on this one!

In the end – ancient evil returns without Rick and Evie to save us all!