Classic Horror Collection 2004 Horror Movie Review

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