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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 11474
Released: September 13, 2009 |
| Our Price: $13.78 |
| Used Price: $11.19 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
From the studio that created the horror genre comes five terrifying films that will send chills down your spine and bring terror to your heart in the Universal Horror Classic Movie Archive! Unearthed from the vaults and on DVD for the very first time, Universal Pictures invites you to journey through fog-filled moors, into haunted mansions and through secret hallways to meet a chilling collection of mad scientists, crazed circus performers, mysterious butlers, maniacal killers and one very ape-like woman! Prepare yourself for hours of pure terror starring some of the most iconic actors in the history of horror, including Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr. The Black Cat Bela Lugosi and Basil Rathbone star in this mystery about a group of greedy heirs stuck in a creepy mansion where, one by one, both cats and people turn up dead. Man Made Monster When a mad scientist transforms a carnival performer (Lon Chaney, Jr.) into a murderous monster, he creates a path of destruction leading to an edge-of-your-seat climax! Horror Island What started out as a treasure-making scheme ends up deadly for a group of people stuck in a seemingly haunted castle with a killer known only as “The Phantom.” Night Monster Bela Lugosi stars in this horrific tale filled with strange characters, secret passages, dark storms and a murderer who’s mastered the art of “mind over matter.” Captive Wild Woman A mad scientist turns an ape into a beautiful, but deadly, woman (Acquanetta) in this frightening film featuring groundbreaking make-up effects.
Universal Horror: Classic Movie Archive (The Black Cat / Man Made Monster / Horror Island / Night Monster / Captive Wild Woman) Reviews:
Good B flicks 
2009-12-15 - What's to say abut this 5-film set? The picture and sound quality are excellent: they look like they were made yesterday. My personal favorite, "Night Monster", just reeks with atmosphere -- a very dark film. A good cast helps make this an exceptional film (in my book).
Universal was quite good at taking a simple story and adding those touches only Universal could do so as to make it better than just a B film. All these films (as with most Universal horror films of the '30s and '40s) have that something extra which takes them above average.
All the films in this set are in excellent condition with appropriate music for each one. I highly recommend this set!
Lesser known but still fun
2009-12-14 - The word "classic" is often used almost as a synonym for "old", as in: if it's old, it must be a classic. Certainly, that is the only reason that the five movies in the Universal Horror Classic Movie Archive rate this description. That's not to say that these are bad movies, but to put them in the same category as Univeral movies like Frankenstein or Dracula is inappropriate.
All the movies date to between 1941 and 1943. The Black Cat (one of several movies that exist with such a title) stars Bela Lugosi and Basil Rathbone in one of those old-dark-house comedy-mysteries (along the lines of The Cat and the Canary or The Old Dark House). This tale involves various killings to get the inheritance of a wealthy old lady. Interestingly, Lugosi would earlier be in another movie with the same title, a generally better film that was his first teaming with Boris Karloff.
Man Made Monster has Lon Chaney has a generally nice guy turned into the slave of a mad scientist with the capability of electrocuting others. Horror Island and Night Monster also fit into the old-dark-house genre. In the former, Dick Foran leads treasure seekers to a castle on an island where the mysterious Phantom also hunts. In Night Monster, a less humorous tale, the occupants of a house are prey to a mysterious killer; this one has Lugosi in a small role.
The final movie, Captive Wild Woman, treads on the ground of such movies as Island of Lost Souls, with John Carradine as a Dr. Moreau-like character who kills to transform a gorilla into a beautiful woman (played by Acquanetta, an actress of the era who is known more for her looks than her acting ability and who wisely doesn't speak here).
This collection of brief (the longest is 73 minutes) and entertaining movies adds to the completeness of any fan's set of Universal's horror films. They may not be really be classics, but they are fun to watch.
Sappy Stuff! 
2009-12-05 - Horror is the last word that comes to mind after watching these films. I'd hadn't heard of any of these before my purchase.If I had known how giddy and slapstick they were, I wouldn't have puchased them.
Entertaining 
2009-12-01 - The stories on this DVD are entertaining. They are only a little over an hour long. Even though they were made in the 40's, the pictures were clear and the sound was really good.
Nice collection of Universal's B movies
2009-11-05 - My favorite of the Universal Horror Archive collection is CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN followed by MAN-MADE MONSTER and each film is enjoyable in the old-fashioned horror film fashion (no gore or slashers killing teenagers). Make no mistake these films are not Universal's finest moments and have nothing to do with Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolf Man or mummy films. They are from the B-movie division and are not as well known or as critically praised. These films are relatively short (about an hour or so long) and a good way to spend an evening when there is nothing worth watching on TV.
