We need the spider woman, the spider woman strikes back, the Pearl of death, the brute man, the leech woman, the mole people, monster on the campus, curse of the undead, this island earth, lastly Abbott and Costello meet, Frankenstine-mummy-invisible man-mr. Hyde!!!! IMO the complete less classic universal monsters collection but still fun to watch!!!
I would pick up all 6 volumes I might I love commentary! My favorites are the invisible ray, man made monster, night monster, house of horrors, captive Wild woman,jungle woman, jungle captive, the mad ghoul, cult of the cobra, the thing that couldn’t die reviews would be awesome if they would release lesser known universal monsters and these were featured it would be a slam dunk my opinion!
Strangely enough, the personal value I assign to a lot of these older, sometimes quite mediocre films, really increases with the number of them that I own, as it starts to give a wider perspective on a studio’s output and fill out blind spots in my media collection.
Volume 3 is probably the best volume to get honestly. Not to long ago I would have said volume 1 held that title, but since the release of Eureka's Bela lugosi poe set with what in my opinion are better bonus features, I can't recommend that one as easily anymore, especially since you can get Eureka's set for just a little cheaper. Though if bonus features are really important to you, an argument could be made for volume 2 actually being the best.
I bought all of these and love them. My favorite is Vol. 1 because "The Black Cat", "The Raven" and "The Invisible Ray" are the best movies that Karloff and Lugosi made. One disappointment was that "The Black Room" (Karloff twins") wasn't included in any of the sets and I did like the plot. As the volumes started to pull out of the 30's and early 40's, I became less interested in the sets. As we get into the 50's, I found the horror genre became routinized and gore took the place of horror.
I have Volume 4 and have enjoyed it thoroughly. I have a soft spot in my heart for NIGHT KEY - I hadn't seen it since I was a kid. THE CLIMAX is underwhelming, though. It is effectively a sequel to PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (Rains' version), and I was never a big fan of that one, either. One thing you don't go into much are the commentaries. They mostly focus on biographical details of cast and crew along with some production details. You don't get the loving critique that we see with Universal/MCA's "Universal Classic Monsters", but that may be because the material is not available. I'm looking forward to getting Vol. 6 - or Vol. 1 to upgrade the "Bela Lugosi" DVD that I have now. Hopefully Amazon will have a Halloween sale, as I am only a poor corrupt official.
I've already posted here, but I think it's worth mentioning that the movies that haven't had 2k scans aren't necessarily just upscale dvds. In reality 2k scans have existed since the 90s, and many dvds actually have 2k masters, despite only being 480p. That might sound a bit confusing, but think of it like this, you know how some blu-rays use 4k scans, it's the same principle. So does that mean that there's no point in rescanning a movie that already has a 2k master available, well no. You see, dvds were made at a time when the 2k master used was often given digital noise reduction, which made the film grain of the image appear less noticeable, but in turn made the image more blurry and less detailed. Modern 2k scans don't hold to that same standard, and very rarely, if ever, apply digital noise reduction, so these new 2k scans are sharper then previous 2k scans as a result. So is it just upscaling a dvd? No, probably not. Are 2k scans for these sets unnecessary? Well they aren't exactly necessary, but they are certainly welcome.
I have Volumes 1 and 3 on the way to my house. They are scheduled to arrive on Thursday. I picked those particular collections, because those particular volumes appeal to me the most. I’m not a huge fan of jungle and monkey movies (besides King Kong), but I love classic Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney Jr.
That's a smart way to buy these sets. They are all vaguely themed so if jungle movies aren't your thing then you picked well. After watching nearly all of these, volume 1 is certainly the best as far as quality movies.
@@theblureview1083 unfortunately, I find the Volume 3 movies to be disappointing. I’ve been a huge fan of the Volume 1 movies since the old Bella Lugosi Collection on DVD (which also included Murders in the Rue Morgue). However, the Volume 3 movies are definitely nowhere near as good. Without the monster characters or having Lugosi or Karloff in leading roles, they just don’t have the same appeal. For instance, having Lugosi as Edwardo (a poor man’s Igor) in The Black Cat was a complete waste of his talent.
Volume 3 is probably the best volume to get honestly. Not to long ago I would have said volume 1 held that title, but since the release of Eureka's Bela lugosi poe set with what in my opinion are better bonus features, I can't recommend that one as easily anymore, especially since you can get Eureka's set for just a little cheaper.
We need the spider woman, the spider woman strikes back, the Pearl of death, the brute man, the leech woman, the mole people, monster on the campus, curse of the undead, this island earth, lastly Abbott and Costello meet, Frankenstine-mummy-invisible man-mr. Hyde!!!! IMO the complete less classic universal monsters collection but still fun to watch!!!
I would pick up all 6 volumes I might I love commentary! My favorites are the invisible ray, man made monster, night monster, house of horrors, captive Wild woman,jungle woman, jungle captive, the mad ghoul, cult of the cobra, the thing that couldn’t die reviews would be awesome if they would release lesser known universal monsters and these were featured it would be a slam dunk my opinion!
Strangely enough, the personal value I assign to a lot of these older, sometimes quite mediocre films, really increases with the number of them that I own, as it starts to give a wider perspective on a studio’s output and fill out blind spots in my media collection.
Good video, Thank you! I've been interested in getting these. At least Volume 1
Volume 3 is probably the best volume to get honestly. Not to long ago I would have said volume 1 held that title, but since the release of Eureka's Bela lugosi poe set with what in my opinion are better bonus features, I can't recommend that one as easily anymore, especially since you can get Eureka's set for just a little cheaper. Though if bonus features are really important to you, an argument could be made for volume 2 actually being the best.
instaBlaster
I bought all of these and love them.
My favorite is Vol. 1 because "The Black Cat", "The Raven" and "The Invisible Ray" are the best movies that Karloff and Lugosi made.
One disappointment was that "The Black Room" (Karloff twins") wasn't included in any of the sets and I did like the plot.
As the volumes started to pull out of the 30's and early 40's, I became less interested in the sets.
As we get into the 50's, I found the horror genre became routinized and gore took the place of horror.
I have Volume 4 and have enjoyed it thoroughly. I have a soft spot in my heart for NIGHT KEY - I hadn't seen it since I was a kid. THE CLIMAX is underwhelming, though. It is effectively a sequel to PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (Rains' version), and I was never a big fan of that one, either.
One thing you don't go into much are the commentaries. They mostly focus on biographical details of cast and crew along with some production details. You don't get the loving critique that we see with Universal/MCA's "Universal Classic Monsters", but that may be because the material is not available.
I'm looking forward to getting Vol. 6 - or Vol. 1 to upgrade the "Bela Lugosi" DVD that I have now. Hopefully Amazon will have a Halloween sale, as I am only a poor corrupt official.
Excellent review.
I've already posted here, but I think it's worth mentioning that the movies that haven't had 2k scans aren't necessarily just upscale dvds. In reality 2k scans have existed since the 90s, and many dvds actually have 2k masters, despite only being 480p. That might sound a bit confusing, but think of it like this, you know how some blu-rays use 4k scans, it's the same principle. So does that mean that there's no point in rescanning a movie that already has a 2k master available, well no. You see, dvds were made at a time when the 2k master used was often given digital noise reduction, which made the film grain of the image appear less noticeable, but in turn made the image more blurry and less detailed. Modern 2k scans don't hold to that same standard, and very rarely, if ever, apply digital noise reduction, so these new 2k scans are sharper then previous 2k scans as a result. So is it just upscaling a dvd? No, probably not. Are 2k scans for these sets unnecessary? Well they aren't exactly necessary, but they are certainly welcome.
I have Volumes 1 and 3 on the way to my house. They are scheduled to arrive on Thursday. I picked those particular collections, because those particular volumes appeal to me the most. I’m not a huge fan of jungle and monkey movies (besides King Kong), but I love classic Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney Jr.
That's a smart way to buy these sets. They are all vaguely themed so if jungle movies aren't your thing then you picked well. After watching nearly all of these, volume 1 is certainly the best as far as quality movies.
@@theblureview1083 unfortunately, I find the Volume 3 movies to be disappointing. I’ve been a huge fan of the Volume 1 movies since the old Bella Lugosi Collection on DVD (which also included Murders in the Rue Morgue). However, the Volume 3 movies are definitely nowhere near as good. Without the monster characters or having Lugosi or Karloff in leading roles, they just don’t have the same appeal.
For instance, having Lugosi as Edwardo (a poor man’s Igor) in The Black Cat was a complete waste of his talent.
Ordered Volume 3 today as price had gone down and Amazon has also a $8.67 savings coupon offer on it.
Volume 3 is probably the best volume to get honestly. Not to long ago I would have said volume 1 held that title, but since the release of Eureka's Bela lugosi poe set with what in my opinion are better bonus features, I can't recommend that one as easily anymore, especially since you can get Eureka's set for just a little cheaper.
So for the whole set you're looking at about $300. Not worth it