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List Price: $39.98Amazon.com's Price: $23.49 You Save: $16.49 (41%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0012569792876
Format: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 3
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: October 10, 2006
Running Time: 412 minutes
Sales Rank: 5659
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: December 02, 1939
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Doctor X/The Return of Dr. X Mark of the Vampire/The Mask of Fu Manchu Mad Love/The Devil DollFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR UPC: 012569792876 Manufacturer No: 79287
Amazon.com:
Universal ruled the monster movie in the 1930s, but this hugely enjoyable DVD set offers a counter-argument from MGM and Warners. Its half-dozen horror titles run the gamut from classic vampirism to baroque romanticism, and gather horror luminaries such as Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Peter Lorre.
The greatest film of the bunch is Mad Love (1935), a rich and oft-imitated bit of perversity with a deeply romantic streak. Concert pianist Colin Clive (from Frankenstein) has his hands wrecked, and his actress wife (Frances Drake) turns to the obsessive Dr. Gogol (Lorre), who has long worshipped her. But the doctor replaces the pianist's hands with those of a murderous circus knife-thrower! Superbly directed by Karl Freund (The Mummy), this eerie film is shaped by Lorre's subtle, uncannily sympathetic performance.
Karloff reigns in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), which offers more minute-for-minute lurid action than any other movie in this set. Connoisseurs of horror will be well pleased by the roster: a crocodile pit, deadly snakes and spiders, poisons, various forms of torture including a man strapped beneath a giant reverberating bell, and Fu Manchu's sexy daughter (Myrna Loy). MGM designer Cedric Gibbons runs wild with a wonderfully daffy Deco-meets-Orientalism scheme. There are some undeniably racist epithets thrown in the direction of the evil Dr. Fu Manchu, but he gives as good as he gets, and the character is ultimately as irresistible as any evil mastermind. Karloff gives one of his juiciest performances ever.
Doctor X (1932) is presented in a recently-restored 2-strip Technicolor process (a lot of throbbing greens and oranges), which gives the movie an antique appeal. Doctor Xavier (Lionel Atwill) brings his colleagues together to figure out which of them might be the Full Moon Killer; daughter Fay Wray and reporter Lee Tracy (a typical fast-talking role for this fun actor) tag along. Michael Curtiz directed; he also did the similar Mystery of the Wax Museum, again with Atwill (available on the House of Wax disc). The Return of Doctor X (1939) is more of a curio than a full-fledged horror movie, as it has Humphrey Bogart, resplendent in a Bride of Frankenstein hair streak, in a rare supernatural outing.
The other two films are directed by Tod Browning. Mark of the Vampire (1935) is a clear example of MGM trying to ride the Dracula gravy train, with plenty of smoky graveyards, scuttling possums, and Lugosi in a tuxedo striding through giant spider webs. Lugosi is peripheral here, as Lionel Barrymore hunts down the blood-suckers. It's slow going, but the touches are wonderful and there's a spooky vampiress. Browning makes The Devil-Doll (1936) a memorably oddball thriller, with Barrymore a wronged man seeking revenge--and exploiting a device that allows people to be miniaturized. All the films have lively commentary tracks, except Devil-Doll. Overall this is a very neat package; even the inclusion of Return of Doctor X makes sense as a pairing with its original. MGM and Warners seemed embarrassed by the horror genre in the thirties, but these examples prove they could rise to Universal's game. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Finally, "The Return of Dr. X" Returns!
The only film in this set whichI have not yet seen is Karloff's "The Mask of Fu Manchu," so I shall not comment on it as yet. The other films are at least enjoyable, some great, but my main interest in purchasing this set was Bogart's "The Return of Dr. X." Legend has it that this was Jack Warner's punishment for Bogie's protests against being typecast by the studio. I remember seeing it on TV, on a program called "Chiller Theater," and it impressed me from the very start, not merely because of Bogie's ... Read More
Rating: - MGM & WB vs. UNIVERSAL
In the early 30's, Universal was the leading exponent of the horror genre on film with such classics as "Dracula", "Frankenstein" and "The Mummy". MGM and Warner Brothers also cashed in on the craze and the results are really good. Utilizing such iconic stars as Lionel Barrymore, Peter Lorre (in his first US film) and even Universal legends Karloff and Lugosi the companies made some fine entries into the genre. The weakest is DR. X. Using a gimmicky 2 strip color format, the print transfer is the worst ... Read More
Rating:  - A couple of gems, a couple of rarities and 2 duds
This collection from the vaults of Warner Brothers and MGM, studios more famous for other film genres, contains some great stuff but it could have been better with a few changes.
First, the good - the prints are generally excellent, the theatrical trailers are included and the commentary for "Fu Manchu" is outstanding, with "Mad Love" and "Doctor X" close behind. "Mad Love" benefits from stunning camera work, not surprising when the director is the famous cameraman Karl Freund.
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Rating: - Pre-Hays Code Wildness, Camp and Hilarity!
These films are such gems, each of them, and the restored prints are so beautiful, that this collection should not be missed whether you are a seasoned archivist or just discovering the Universal Horror Canon. The bonus features are sparse, comprising mostly commentary tracks from film historians and critics (although one,The Return of Dr. X, which stars a very creepy Humphrey Bogart, has commentary that includes the 100-year-old director!) and sometimes the theatrical trailer. But The Mask of Fu Manchu ... Read More
Rating: - Good collection of horror films at a great price
Rather than just focusing on a few horror franchises and milking them for all they were worth with five or six B quality sequels apiece as Universal did with Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, and the Invisible Man, in the 30's and 40's Warner and MGM would usually take just one good idea and make just one good horror movie. This is a collection of six of Warner and MGM's better excursions into the horror genre during that era.
Everyone else has gone into the plots of these movies in detail, ... Read More
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