Search - Classic Horror Collection on DVD

8 is (never) enough

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 08/06/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Lugosi, Price and Chaney are all part of the CLASSIC HORROR COLLECTION 8 MOVIE PACK. (This set is somewhat pricey because each title is on its own disc-- totally unnecessary for the ones that run barely over an hour.)

Bela Lugosi's 1939 serial, "The Phantom Creeps" was re-edited a decade later into a feature film. Lugosi is a scientist who invents all sorts of unusual weapons-- he even discovers a way to render whole armies helpless. "Human Monster," also with Bela, is a story of a doctor committing insurance fraud and the serial killer that he controls. Lugosi himself plays the murderer in "Invisible Ghost," when a town's leading citizen is hypnotized by his wife's ghost into committing homicides.

In "Last Man..." Vincent Price is the only survivor of a nuclear holocaust, unluckily pursued by zombies out for human blood. In Price's other film here, he hosts a dinner party and offers five guests the opportunity to win $10,000 each if they can spend the night in a haunted house.

"Unnatural" is about artificial insemination and selective human breeding, a topic decades ahead of its time.

Lon Chaney plays a modern-day Frankenstein's monster in "Indestructible Man." He's an executed criminal brought back to life as a violent and seemingly unstoppable mute.

"Nightmare Castle" has a pair of murdered lovers returning to life. They seek revenge on their killer, the woman's husband.

NIGHT SCREAMS 50 MOVIE PACK is a giant box of lesser-known fright films that will keep you on the edge of your seat for many a moonless evening.

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Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 poll ratings found at a specialized cinematic website.

(6.7) The House On Haunted Hill (1959) - Vincent Price/Carolyn Craig/Richard Long
(5.2) The Human Monster {"The Dark Eyes of London") (UK-1940) - Bela Lugosi/Hugh Williams/Greta Gynt
(2.8) Indestructible Man (1956) - Lon Chaney Jr./Max Showalter
(4.7) Invisible Ghost (1941) - Bela Lugosi/Polly Ann Young
(6.9) The Last Man On Earth (USA/Italy-1960) - Vincent Price/Christi Courtland (in support)
(5.3) Nightmare Castle (Italy-1965) - Barbara Steele/Laurence Clift (in support)
(4.9) The Phantom Creeps (edited version of the 1939 serial) (1949) - Bela Lugosi
(5.9) Unnatural (W Ger-1952) - Erich von Stroheim/Hildegard Knef"