THE UNIVERSAL MONSTERS ON BLU!

[fleed] A true horror fan wouldn't be caught... dead without these! Even high prices couldn't... scare me away from adding them to my... Boo! Ray collection! [/fleed]

Updated it.  If anyone noticed, the initial release didn't have the "Monster By Moonlight" featurette among The Wolf Man extras.  It WILL be on there though.

Haha, cute Reed riff, AtomTastic. And while it's probably unnecessary for me to say this given how cineliterate people here are, I'm going to go ahead and highly recommend "Bride of Frankenstein" in the unlikely event that anyone here hasn't seen it.

 

Obviously, as a movie that came out in 1935, there are certain characteristics of it (i.e. broad acting from some of the less prominent cast members) that come across as outdated, but pound-for-pound, this is one of the most beautiful, resonant, and just plain greatest movies of all time.

 

Personally it was a huge influence on me as a connoisseur of old classic movies because it was one of the first movies to make me realize that really old movies could sometimes be just as powerful and exciting as more modern ones, or even superior to them.

 

The first time I saw "Bride of Frankenstein" in a film class, I was stunned by how much it shook me up emotionally, particularly the scene with the blind man. It's a real masterpiece that was way ahead of its time.

 

"The Mummy" is really amazingly chilling and artistic for its time as well. In contrast, I found "Dracula" disappointing. Very leaden and anti-climactic in the end, but Bela Lugosi's performance carries it and keeps it interesting.

 

"The Invisible Man" had magnificent special effects, but I couldn't stand what an asshole the title character was. I haven't seen "The Wolfman" and "The Phantom of the Opera" yet.

 

You're pretty dead-on there.  The general consensus seems to be that if you could take the production design and style of the Spanish version and meld it with the actors (or at least Lugosi) of the regular one, you'd have a much better film.

 

And get on seeing The Wolf Man.  Phantom too, but definitely The Wolf Man!

Dracula is worth seeing for Dwight Fry alone, only Tom Waits has topped as Renfield. Lugosi is decent, but much better in crazier roles like The Black Cat or Island of Lost Souls.

What he said.

 

Let's also not forget that Dracula WAS scary back in its time.  I'd like to talk about the Kronos Quartet score though.  I hated it the first time I watched it with the score.

Dracula has its moments. Problem is all of those moments are before they arrive in England. And I like the version without the score better. It's just eerie.

 

I have all the box sets, but this news demands the double dip, although other than Son of Frankenstein I'll probably pass on upgrading the rest. At least not until they come on sale.
 

Just wanted to bump up this thread as the box set streets next week.  And US folks should be aware that the UK set is region free and costs roughly $50 cheaper.  There's also a limited edition UK set that comes in a coffin shaped box, for those who need those bells and whistles.

Same films?  Also, what does it include in the way of special features?

Everything is reported to be the same besides the packaging and the disc art.

DVD Beaver has been reviewing the discs one at a time.  And here's a big review of the whole thing from Blu-ray.com, with a page for each film:

 

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Universal-Classic-Monsters-The-Essential-Collection-Blu-ray/35661/#Review

The US set has the discs inside thick paper sleeves in a book.  Whether you think that's good for the longevity of your discs is your call.

 

 

 

 

 

The UK set has a fold-out digipak that houses two discs per "page" while keeping them from rubbing together.  Awkward but much safer, in my opinion.

 

 

Interesting.

How much does this run and what's the usual shipping?

The standard UK edition is about $50 (through Amazon UK), with shipping around $8.50 to the US. The limited coffin edition (only difference is the blu-ray set is set in a coffin) is about $15 more.

This is in comparison to the $111 to purchase the US set on Amazon.

So far, the only reported difference in disc content is a 2nd commentary track on Dracula that's missing from the UK sets, which I've read was a rights issue.

 

If it makes things better, this commentary track was by Steve Haberman, who wrote Dracula: Dead And Loving It.  And I've read he keeps trying to imitate Lugosi.

As long as the transfers are the same............I'm definitely leaning towards the UK set.

In a very good year for Blu-ray, this could arguably be the biggest release of them all.  The UK set is without a doubt the Blu-ray bargain of the year.  If you are a fan of classic horror movies or want to take the plunge into them, this set is for you.  The restorations are miracles.