This is why I love home video. Shout Factory does a great job of curating this stuff making them one of the best publishers. With October just around the corner naturally people look for some scary movies to help celebrate the Halloween season. Enter The Vincent Price Collection II, a follow-up to last year’s offering. While it does have some flaws this is a must-own collection for fans of the macabre.
Here is what is included:
The Raven
The Comedy Of Terrors
The Tomb Of Ligeia
The Last Man On Earth
Dr. Phibes Rises Again
The Return Of The Fly
House On Haunted Hill
Where modern horror films rely on shock value it used to be that real horror was used to tell the tale. Sure, these may seem tame by today’s standards but they still mostly pack a solid punch. This isn’t the first time Vincent Price’s horror films have been collected – 2007 saw a similar collection on DVD (to name just one). Last year Shout Factory released the first Vincent Price Collection (which I didn’t get – Shout Factory, please rectify that) on Blu-ray which included:
The Pit & The Pendulum
The Masque Of The Red Death
The Haunted Palace
The Fall Of The House Of Usher
The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Witchfider General
Interestingly this second collection almost picks up where the first one left off. We do get the sequel to Dr. Phibes, but we also get the second Fly film. 2007 also saw the original three Fly films released in a DVD collection, so it seems superfluous to have only the second one included here. At the very least since Vincent Price did not star in the third one at least have the first two available.
Some may decry that various studios own certain films and that’s why some films aren’t featured. The back of this box features the Shout Factory logo along with MGM, 20 Century Fox and Warner Brothers. This means Shout Factory is working with these other studios to bring all these films in one thematic package. This is my biggest problem with the set, and maybe it’s a good marketing ploy on the part of Shout Factory, but being required to buy two collections in order to have both Dr. Phibes films feels like a little bit of a scam when we still aren’t getting both Fly films.
1963’s The Raven is a sort of horror/comedy which is more inspired by rather than a straight adaptation of the source material but interjects quite a bit of humor. The humor in The Raven is intentional and it works in this instance. Vincent Price is Dr. Craven, lamenting the loss of his wife. Enter the raven, one Dr. Bedio played by Peter Lorre. It turns out Dr. Scarabus played by Boris Karloff isn’t a nice guy. Alright, so the movie is more about a 15th century conflict between wizards, but it’s still a very fun film.
1963’s The Comedy Of Terrors is pretty much exactly what the title suggests. It not only features Vincent Priceas an undertaker, but Peter Lorre as his assistant, Boris Karloff as the undertaker who started the business but is now a bit old (and deaf). Then there is Basil Rathbone as the landlord. The problem is rent can’t be paid because business is slow. Well, you can sort of guess where this is headed. The T in Terrors should have been in parentheses because it really is a comedy of errors what happens all throughout the film. While you may not get scared this is still a highly enjoyable film.
1964’s The Tomb Of Ligeia was to be the last of Roger Corman’s films based on Edgar Allen Poe’s literary works. This time Price stars Verden Fell, troubled by the death of his first wife, well, he’s haunted by her actually. Or is he? While Vincent Price may have a bit old for the part he still evokes a solid reaction to the material. It is almost as if Price was born to bring Poe’s words to life. While there is heavy revision to the original short story thematically it is essentially the same. Less comedic than the previous two films it is still watchable.
1964’s The Last Man On Earth is the first film based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend which would later be adapted in 1971 as The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston then in 2007 as I Am Legend with Will Smith. In a way this is the most faithful adaptation of the three, and it is really interesting to watch each of them. The 1971 version is still my favorite, but this one comes in a close second. Definitely creepy and makes me want to read the original novel. While it is hampered by the low budget it is still enjoyable.
1972’s Dr. Phibes Rises Again feels like the second half of a full story, or at least a plot twist that was to have happened during the first film now fleshed out to feature length. The formula is much the same as with the original Abominable Dr. Phibes (which featured Old Testament forms of death), this time with some Egyptian themed forms of demise. Price is again in top form in this campy horror film that is almost as good as its predecessor – and certainly at least as fun.
1959’s Return of the Fly is a quickie cash-in sequel in almost every sense. Where the original film was in color, this is in black and white, further enhancing how cheap and quick this film was made for its time. The basic story has 15 years passing and the son taking over for his deceased father. The screenplay is obviously rushed to capitalize on the success of the first film, and this sequel also appears to be filmed in the same manner. As a sequel there are some good plot elements, but nothing is really thought out and a few too many leaps in logic (more so than in the original) make the film far less than it should have been, even with Vincent Price.
1959’s House On Haunted Hill features Price as an eccentric rich man who has invited guests to stay at a supposedly haunted house for a night in order to get a cash prize. There is a bit of mystery as to what is really going on, who really dies, who lives, and well, just watch it. In many ways this is exactly the kind of role that is tailored to Vincent Price – a bit of macabre, a little humor mixed in with the sinister, and there’s plenty to hide behind that half smile of his.
Is the set worth picking up? Yes. Especially if you’re a fan of Vincent Price or 60’s macabre films. There is a wealth of bonus material on the discs as well which is most welcome. Four of the films come with audio commentaries. There are featurettes on most of the films, sometimes multiple featurettes per film. Then there are the introductions and “final words” by Vincent Price himself and of course the trailers and promotional stills. It’s a solid package 30 page booklet with a massive essay and promotional imagery.
Now if only Shout Factory had sent me that first collection.