The Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection is one hell of a set from the studio, particularly for folks who didn’t already pick up the Legacy Collection sets, and just in time for Halloween.
Universal Classic Monsters
— Complete 30-Film Collection —
(1931-1956)
Genre(s): Horror
Universal | NR – 2437 min. – $149.98 | August 28, 2018
Date Published: 09/16/2018 | Author: The Movieman
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Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.75/5 |
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Universal was at the forefront of monster cinema and distributed some of the definitive of the classic creature features with Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Phantom of the Opera and The Invisible Man. Each of these, well outside of Phantom, had spin-offs and sequels, and mostly of varying qualities. Now, by no means am I a horror aficionado and my experience with films from the 1930s through the 1950s, is on the limited side. So, receiving this Universal Classic Monsters Collection was the perfect opportunity to beef up my film resume as it were with these 26 movies (outside of the box says 30, but there are duplicates which I will outline later when I rundown what is included). A few of these I had previously seen over the years like Dracula and Frankenstein, but the others were fresh viewings. While I absolutely love the films featuring these iconic characters, the spin-offs or sequels were mostly hit or miss with one exception: Bride of Frankenstein, a movie that arguably rivals Frankenstein itself. Others, like Dracula’s Daughter, The Mummy’s Hand, The Invisible Man Returns and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man were adequately entertaining enough. However, never being the biggest fan of Abbott and Costello, their respective films co-starring with these creatures weren’t quite as enjoyable, albeit at least watchable. Again, even though I am not a horror hound, I did tend to really enjoy these monster movies and while Universal attempted to re-create it with an in-universe version with the disappoint and over-produced The Mummy from 2017, might be wise for them to go back to the basics, because despite each of these being 60-70 years old, and even the weaker entries, still were rather impressive… |
SPECIAL FEATURES |
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Each of the Legacy Collections is housed in their own clear Blu-ray case with their own UPCs which match the original releases. These side-slide into a sturdy outer box, also inside is a nice 48-page book containing trivia on each movie. Below is a rundown on what is included in each movie: DRACULA (4.5/5):
DRACULA’S DAUGHTER (0.5/5):
SON OF DRACULA (0.5/5):
THE HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (0.5/5):
THE HOUSE OF DRACULA (0.5/5):
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (3.5/5):
FRANKENSTEIN (4.5/5):
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (3.75/5):
SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (0/5): No Features THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (0.5/5):
FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN (0.5/5):
THE INVISIBLE MAN (3.25):
THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (0/5): No Features THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (0/5): No Features INVISIBLE AGENT (0.5/5):
THE INVISIBLE MAN’S REVENGE (0/5): No Features ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN (0.5/5):
THE MUMMY (4.0/5):
THE MUMMY’S HAND (0.5/5):
THE MUMMY’S TOMB (0.5/5):
THE MUMMY’S GHOST (0.5/4):
THE MUMMY’S CURSE (0.5/5):
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY (0.5/5):
THE WOLFMAN (4.0/5):
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE WOLFMAN (3.5/5):
WEREWOLF OF LONDON ():
SHE-WOLF OF LONDON ():
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (3.75/5):
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (3.0/5):
REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (2.25/5):
THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US (2.25/5):
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VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| All 30 films are presented in their original aspect ratios, all of them 1.33 full frame except for the Black Lagoon films which are 1.85 widescreen. Not sure how much restoration work went into the sequels/spin-offs but based on the featurette detailing the work done on Dracula, these movies do look amazing with incredible detail and looked clean, though a few specs did get through in some instances. Otherwise, all of these movies do look great. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| The movies all, except for Invisible Agent and The Invisible Man’s Revenge (which were DTS 2.0 Mono), received DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks. Although there were some ever so minor hisses, these did sound very nice outputting clear dialogue levels and some minor depth coming through the center channel. |
OVERALL – 5.0/5 |
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The Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection is one hell of a set from the studio, particularly for folks who didn’t already pick up the Legacy Collection sets, and just in time for Halloween as especially the original monster movies like Dracula and Frankenstein make for the perfect holiday viewing (alongside Halloween, of course). |
Note from Universal: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has identified a manufacturing issue which may affect the presentation of the 3D Blu-ray offering of the film Revenge of the Creature, released on August 28, 2018 as part of the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection and the Creature From the Black Lagoon Complete Legacy Collection. A replacement program has been established to ensure that those who have purchased either collection have the opportunity to receive a corrected Blu-ray disc featuring the 3D version of Revenge of the Creature and 2D version of The Creature Walks Among Us.
To receive an updated disc, please e-mail USHEConsumerRelations@visionmediamgmt.com
Universal Monsters are Fantastic!