Val Lewton Horror Collection [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

 

 

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This set features 9 movies,cat people ,curse of the cat people,isle of the dead,bedlam,I walked with a zombie,seventh victim,the body snatcher,leopard man and ghost ship.With stars such as boris karloff,simone simon,tom conway,kent smith and kim hunter.Directors jacques tourneur,mark robson(earthquake)and robert wise.Seven of the movies have commentaries,by the likes of william friedkin,kim newman,steve haberman,robert wise,tom weaver and greg mank with audio interview excerpts by simone simon.There is a documentary "shadows in the dark;the legacy of val lewton"(53:20) and one extra documentary,that was not in the previous set,"man in the shadows"(76:36),the latter is presented by Martin Scorcese.For around £30 you cant go wrong.I am most looking forward to body snatcher,the two cat people movies and bedlam,and of course the two documentaries.

Val Lewton was that Hollywood anomaly: A creative producer, but whose talents never exceeded the B-movie environment in which he operated. The result was a series of horror films made fast and on the cheap but which, 60 years later, still have enough interest to qualify for their own genre: The endearing horror movie. Through the happenstance of Lewton's ability to attract and work with some talented (and inexpensive) directors and writers, we now have the opportunity to watch these nine movies. Some, notably Bedlam and The Body Snatchers, are very good. Some, like The Leopard Man, are eerily satisfying. Sit back and enjoy.

CAT PEOPLE:
Says psychiatrist Dr. Louis Judd to Irena Reed, his reluctant patient. He is describing the things they have just talked about. "...and the cat women of your village...women who in jealousy or anger or out of their own corrupt passions can change into great cats, like panthers. And if one of these women were to fall in love, and her lover was to kiss her and to take her into his embrace, she would be driven by her own evil to kill him." As we can tell, Irena may have a problem. Her husband may have an even worse one.

THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE:
Great potential within limited means, and then the slow leak of air from the balloon. The Curse of the Cat People pulls together Simone Simon, Kent Smith and Jane Randolph from Cat People. This time, however, despite great photography and some eerie situations, the pieces simply fall apart. There is some tension and suspense, but to no great purpose. We just wind up knowing more than we want to about the needs of lonely children.

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE:
"Everything seems beautiful because you don't understand," says Paul Holland (Tom Conway) to nurse Betsy Connell (Frances Dee), on their voyage to Haiti where she will take care of his seriously ill wife. "Those flying fish, they're jumping in terror because bigger fish want to eat them. That luminous water...it takes its gleam from millions of tiny dead bodies, the glitter of putrescence..." If that attitude isn't enough to be off-putting, Betsy discovers that Holland's "ill" wife may well be a zombie. The movie veers into melodramatic silliness; still, there's plenty of eerie atmosphere.

THE BODY SNATCHER:
For a low-budget, B movie horror quickie, The Body Snatcher holds up remarkably well. The horror is in the situation, not the actors' make-up or the staggering around of corpses. Corpses there are, but they're freshly dug up, and their purpose is not to grasp and choke, but to be dissected by a complex and morally ambiguous surgeon. We're watching a duel, as director Robert Wise says, between the two lead characters. Henry Daniell, the surgeon, and Boris Karloff, who provides bodies, pull off the trick of combining distaste, arrogance and mutual need.

ISLE OF THE DEAD:
This programmer is a good example of why B movies are B movies. The story could be interesting: A small group of people in an isolated setting are forced to deal with a threat to their lives. In the course of the movie some will live and some will die, some will prove brave and some will go mad. "The vorvolaka still lives," whispers the crone of a housekeeper, "rose-cheeked and full of blood!" Even with ripe dialogue like this, the movie becomes predictable.

BEDLAM:
Bedlam was not successful at the box office yet was probably the best constructed of Lewton's films. Along with The Body Snatchers, it stands up as a compelling story with solid dialogue and better acting than we've come to expect from Lewton's films. Boris Karloff, in a performance of skill and complexity, plays Master George Sims, the ruler of St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum in London...a forbidding hulk of a stone building. Bedlam, for short. The time is 1761. Bedlam is the place where the insane are sent, as well as inconvenient or embarrassing relatives. Nell Bowen (Anna Lee), is the smart, privileged and arrogant protege of a fat English lord. When she meets Sims, her dislike is instant. Before long, Mistress Bowen finds herself committed to Bedlam and must find a way to expose Sims. Bedlam is a clever and well-made film.

THE LEOPARD MAN:
Sure, The Leopard Man is a cheap B movie, but I like it a lot. It only runs 66 minutes and it packs a lot of craftsmanship into that time. What seems unusual to me is that the film, made to be filled with dread, is also filled with regret. "What sort of man would kill like a leopard and leave traces of a leopard..." says one character. When we find out, we're a little saddened. This was no raving monster with steel claws taped to his hands, just a quiet guy who was the victim of his nature and his obsessions.

THE GHOST SHIP:
This quickie is the story of a mad sea captain who has become fixated on doing away with his young third officer. Most of the action takes place on ship as the young man tries to convince the crew that the captain is mad. There is no style to the movie and the acting is just passable.

THE SEVENTH VICTIM:
This programer is noteworthy for just three things. First, an atmosphere of creepy mystery. Second, some effective characterizations by actors who never escaped from B-movie purgatory. Third, and by far the most important, an excellent performance by Kim Hunter in her first movie role. The movie has to do with a coven whose members seem to believe in death...for others.
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All the movies look just fine on their two-to-a-disc DVDs.

at last a chance to see some of the greatest horror movies of the 40's!
Relying more on suggestion and atmosphere than monsters and ghouls lewtons series of scary movies still remain influential today. My personal faves on this set are Isle of the dead (great karloff movie and a unique take on the vampire myth) and ghost ship (still a great study in power and madness) Most of the films come with insightful commentery's and a supurb documentary on the final disc. there is some wear and tear on the prints in places but otherwise the films look and sound great and well worth 25 quid of any film-buff's cash.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Val Lewton omnibus
Val Lewton Collection [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

This collection provides excellent value for money, combining as it does the principal output of Val Lewton's... Read more

Published 3 months ago by Fred Oliphant

5.0 out of 5 stars The Val Lewton Horror Collection
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Cat People"
What you can't see "will" hurt you

A man marries a strange woman with a... Read more

Published 11 months ago by bernie

4.0 out of 5 stars Val Lewton gives us a new genre: Endearing horror films
Val Lewton was that Hollywood anomaly: A creative producer, but whose talents never exceeded the B-movie environment in which he operated. Read more

Published 18 months ago by C. O. DeRiemer

5.0 out of 5 stars Total joy
I was full of joy when I came across this boxed set of Val Lewton's films, and it doesn't disappoint. Read more

Published on 15 Aug 2008 by Andy K

5.0 out of 5 stars The Val Lewton Horror Collection
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Cat People"
What you can't see "will" hurt you

A man marries a strange woman with a... Read more

Published on 25 Jun 2007 by bernie

5.0 out of 5 stars horror galore
great to see all the great val lewton's horror films on dvd, and not before time.
as a bonus, a documentary has been included as well as various audio commentaries.

Published on 15 May 2006 by Mr. A. E. Ward Davies

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