So many people feel October is the perfect time of the year for spooky and eerie movies. While for other movie fans there is always time for a good classic horror film.
Warner Archive Collection are giving film fans a good dose of terror for the month of Halloween. Here on Classic Cinema Plus we start our look at these releases with the double feature Blu-ray of Val Lewton.
Val Lewton was Russian-American novelist, but is probably best known for being a film producer and screenwriter. He made a string of low-budget horror films in the 1940s. Warner Archive Collection released a Val Lewton horror classic on Blu-ray Isle of the Dead earlier this year. Now it's time for a double dose of terror with the Val Lewton Double Feature Blu-ray.
Let's take a deeper look at the two 40s mystery, horror films included in this double feature.
Classic Cinema Plus Rating System
**** = Don't Miss It!
*** = Worth A Look.
** = An Okay Way to spend an evening.
* = You haven't missed anything.
Ghost Ship (1943) Tom Merriman (Russell Wade) signs on as third officer on the ship Altair under Captain Stone (Richard Dix). Everything looks good at first, but after a couple of mysterious deaths, he begins to suspect Captain Stone is a madman and to blame. ***
Bedlam (1946) St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum is known as "Bedlam". Nell Bowen (Anna Lee) is concerned that the patients are being mistreated. When she seeks to better the situation, the head of "Bedlam", George Sims (Boris Karloff), uses his political savvy to have Nell committed, but that won't stop her! ***
For me any Blu-ray that has the great Boris Karloff in it is a total win. I personally love early horror films, they relied on atmosphere, building tension to the climax of the film. They didn't just hang their hats on gore.
These two films haven been transferred from new 2K scans. Both films are presented in 1080p, but in their original full screen format in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The audio is an English 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track. The black and white picture of these films are crisp and clean and look amazing on Blu-ray.
As for bonus features, Warner Archive has ported over the audio commentary by Tom Weaver from the previous DVD release. These are two of Lewton's most impressive films and will be a welcome edition to anyone's classic horror Blu-ray collection.
If you love those old 40s horror pictures as much as I do. This Val Lewton Double Feature of The Ghpst Ship and Bedlam on gourgous Blu-ray is a must own. I highly recommend it. You can pick up a copy for yourself by heading over to Amazon.com.
Out of 4 Film Reels (4 Being the Best) Warner Archive's Blu-ray of the Val Lewton Double Feature receives...
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