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This three-disc collection of vintage suspense from the Fox vaults not only presents three atmospheric and underrated thrillers in sparkling remastered formats, but also serves as a long-overdue tribute to the talents of director John Brahm and actor Laird Cregar, who stars in two of the three films. 1944's The Lodger is probably the best-known of the three; it's a remake of a 1926 Alfred Hitchcock film and stars Cregar as a mysterious house guest who may be Jack the Ripper. Cregar is top-billed in 1945's Hangover Square as another psychologically tormented soul; here he's a concert pianist (Bernard Herrmann composed the film's stunning concerto) who flies into a psychotic rage at the sound of a dissonant chord. And 1942's The Undying Monster is the "truest" horror title in the collection due to its werewolf plotline, but there's more than a touch of detective drama (and scientific procedural) in its frames as well. All three pictures are distinguished by German-born director Brahm, whose expressionistic visual style and emphasis on psychological terror over physical frights help to set these films apart from the monster-driven horror films coming from Universal at the same time. He's aided considerably by Cregar, who set the standard for movie madmen for decades to come. In addition to their stunning remastering, all three films feature in-depth featurettes on their principal players and histories. Concerto Macabre: The Films of John Brahm traces the director's offbeat career (after making an impact with the three films featured here, he concentrated almost exclusively on TV, where his output included stellar episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits), while The Tragic Mask: The Laird Cregar Story explores the oversized actor's struggle with typecasting and his homosexuality. The Lodger gets its own making-of documentary, The Man in the Attic, which explores Brahm's stunning visual compositions and Cregar's intense performance in detail. Trailers and advertising galleries for all three pictures are included, as are two complete radio adaptations of The Lodger and Hangover Square, both starring Vincent Price, who became Fox's in-house heavy after Cregar's untimely death at 31. Commentary on Hangover Square by film historians Richard Schickel and Steve Haberman with cast member Faye Marlowe, and James Ursini and Alain Silver on The Lodger, round the extras on this chill-filled set. -- Paul Gaita
Product Description
Disc 1: HANGOVER SQUARE **Full-Frame Feature B&W **Commentary by Film Historian/Screenwriter Steve Haberman and Co-Star Faye Marlowe **Commentary by Richard Schickel **The Tragic Mask: The Laird Cregar Story **Hangover Square Vintage Radio Show - Performed by Vincent Price **Restoration Comparison **Trailer **Concertos Macabre: The Films of John Brahm **Restoration Comparison **Trailer
Disc 2: THE LODGER **Full-Frame Feature - B&W **Commentary by Film Historians Alain Silver & James Ursini **Man in the Fog: The Making of The Lodger **The Lodger Vintage Radio Show - Performed by Vincent Price **Restoration Comparison **Trailer **Still Gallery
Disc 3: THE UNDYING MONSTER **Full-Frame Feature - B&W **Concertos Macabre: The Films of John Brahm *Restoration Comparison **Trailer **Advertising Gallery **Still Gallery
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
89 of 92 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Three little known but effective horror films from a major hollywood studio complete this box set. Last year MGM released some of their little known horror films and now Fox has followed suite.
None of the these titles have been on DVD before, and even rarely on VHS. They occasionally showed up on the lackluster Fox Movie Channel a few years ago at odd hours of the early morning. It was on such an occasion that I encountered "The Lodger". This is a top notch effort which rests comfortably between the Gaslight thriller and the classic horror film. Cregar plays the villain with an off kilter, understated creepiness that was way ahead of it's time and could be called the screen's first serial killer performance.
The cinematography looks better and more atmospheric than what Universal was shoving out in the mid 40s'. Fog bound London streets and dimly gaslit interiors play with the viewers sense of claustrophobia. You almost feel as trapped by the heavy atmosphere as Cregar's character. Lodger is no doubt a lost classic of psychological horror.
I have to disagree with other reviewers that "Undying Monster" is the poor cousin of this set. "Hangover Square" feels more like a re-make of Lodger than a film of its own right. But Undying Monster takes us to the dark, atmospheric Sea coast. The sparse sets and jagged cliffs and caves work beautifully here. We have Jane Eyre meets Bram Stoker. A family curse is the plot engine to drive the lush monochrome cinematography. In fact Undying Monster boasts some of the best shots of the set, particularly the opening interior shot as the moon streams into a tudor drawing room. It looked great on the badly duped VHS copy I've had for years. On DVD it promises to be stunning. The titular Monster is not revealed until near the end, so forget about it and soak up the atmosphere. There is an interesting sequence near the end, all done in long shot as if you were a passerby. It's effective and helps cover the lack of make up talent Fox had for horror films.
These films were rarely seen even back in the days of Late Night Creature Features. Universal's films are better known, and MGM's more highly regarded by critics. But these lost Fox Horror films can now find an audience of their own and be appreciated for the loving cinematography.
If you're tired of the bad Hollywood "horror" films lately, which bear more resemblance to a series of snuff films rather than anything else, this box set is for you. Curl up on your couch with the DVD remote clutched in your hand. Be sure to darken the room, and quiet the mind. The intelligence and atmosphere of these gothic horrors will soon overcome the decades they have sat waiting in Fox's vault to return to the screen.
None of the these titles have been on DVD before, and even rarely on VHS. They occasionally showed up on the lackluster Fox Movie Channel a few years ago at odd hours of the early morning. It was on such an occasion that I encountered "The Lodger". This is a top notch effort which rests comfortably between the Gaslight thriller and the classic horror film. Cregar plays the villain with an off kilter, understated creepiness that was way ahead of it's time and could be called the screen's first serial killer performance.
The cinematography looks better and more atmospheric than what Universal was shoving out in the mid 40s'. Fog bound London streets and dimly gaslit interiors play with the viewers sense of claustrophobia. You almost feel as trapped by the heavy atmosphere as Cregar's character. Lodger is no doubt a lost classic of psychological horror.
I have to disagree with other reviewers that "Undying Monster" is the poor cousin of this set. "Hangover Square" feels more like a re-make of Lodger than a film of its own right. But Undying Monster takes us to the dark, atmospheric Sea coast. The sparse sets and jagged cliffs and caves work beautifully here. We have Jane Eyre meets Bram Stoker. A family curse is the plot engine to drive the lush monochrome cinematography. In fact Undying Monster boasts some of the best shots of the set, particularly the opening interior shot as the moon streams into a tudor drawing room. It looked great on the badly duped VHS copy I've had for years. On DVD it promises to be stunning. The titular Monster is not revealed until near the end, so forget about it and soak up the atmosphere. There is an interesting sequence near the end, all done in long shot as if you were a passerby. It's effective and helps cover the lack of make up talent Fox had for horror films.
These films were rarely seen even back in the days of Late Night Creature Features. Universal's films are better known, and MGM's more highly regarded by critics. But these lost Fox Horror films can now find an audience of their own and be appreciated for the loving cinematography.
If you're tired of the bad Hollywood "horror" films lately, which bear more resemblance to a series of snuff films rather than anything else, this box set is for you. Curl up on your couch with the DVD remote clutched in your hand. Be sure to darken the room, and quiet the mind. The intelligence and atmosphere of these gothic horrors will soon overcome the decades they have sat waiting in Fox's vault to return to the screen.
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
In the 1930s, the relatively new field of horror cinema was dominated by Universal, with its often wonderful monster movies such as Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy. As the Universal movies got campier in the 1940s, not many studios really filled the void. Certainly, the best of 1940s horror came from Val Lewton's pictures for RKO (Cat People, The Leopard Man and others). Fox, on the other hand, did not really have a reputation for horror in this era, as is obvious from the Fox Horror Classics set. That's not to say that they are bad movies, just that I don't know if they are really horror.
Besides being Fox movies, the three movies in this set are also tied together by all being directed by John Brahm. First made of these three - and the closest to being a horror movie - is also the weakest in the set: The Undying Monster. The story deals with the isolated Hammond family that is plagued by a curse that has a monster preying on the male Hammonds over the past few generations. This is a pale imitation of two genres made famous by Universal: the monster movie (particularly the Wolf Man) and the mystery movie (particularly the Sherlock Holmes movies, though Fox was actually the first to do the Rathbone movies). The biggest failing of the movie is the fact that the monster is on screen too infrequently.
Much better is The Lodger, a remake of what was Alfred Hitchcock's first suspense movie. Even if you've watched the older version, however, this one is still fun to watch and substantially different, plotwise. Among the big names in the movie are Merle Oberon and George Sanders, but the star is Laird Cregar who plays the title character. Sadly, Cregar's career was very short (less than a decade) because he steals the show in most of his movies (especially in I Wake Up Screaming, part of the Fox Film Noir series). The movie itself deals with Cregar as Jack the Ripper, taking up residence in a rooming house where his fellow residents begin to suspect he may not be fully on the up-and-up.
Best of all is Hangover Square. In a way, it is a reworking of The Lodger to capitalize on that movie's box office success, with Sanders and Cregar both returning in hero and villain roles respectively. Actually, Cregar is not so much evil as sick, driven under stress to take on a second, homicidal personality; in his lucid moments, however, he is a good guy, a musician who falls for bad girl Linda Darnell, my favorite femme fatale from the 1940s (who, like Cregar, would die at a young age under tragic circumstances). Besides Cregar and Darnell, there is also the great music of Bernard Herrmann that is an essential part of the movie.
The Lodger and Hangover Square fit more in the thriller or mystery category than horror, but that doesn't diminish their quality. Overall, The Undying Monster merits a low three stars, The Lodger four and Hangover Square five. Add to that some special features, most notably commentaries on the Cregar movies and some mini-documentaries on Cregar and Brahm, and this set merits a full five stars. It may not really be a horror set, but Fox Horror Classics is a worthwhile collection of some generally obscure movies.
Besides being Fox movies, the three movies in this set are also tied together by all being directed by John Brahm. First made of these three - and the closest to being a horror movie - is also the weakest in the set: The Undying Monster. The story deals with the isolated Hammond family that is plagued by a curse that has a monster preying on the male Hammonds over the past few generations. This is a pale imitation of two genres made famous by Universal: the monster movie (particularly the Wolf Man) and the mystery movie (particularly the Sherlock Holmes movies, though Fox was actually the first to do the Rathbone movies). The biggest failing of the movie is the fact that the monster is on screen too infrequently.
Much better is The Lodger, a remake of what was Alfred Hitchcock's first suspense movie. Even if you've watched the older version, however, this one is still fun to watch and substantially different, plotwise. Among the big names in the movie are Merle Oberon and George Sanders, but the star is Laird Cregar who plays the title character. Sadly, Cregar's career was very short (less than a decade) because he steals the show in most of his movies (especially in I Wake Up Screaming, part of the Fox Film Noir series). The movie itself deals with Cregar as Jack the Ripper, taking up residence in a rooming house where his fellow residents begin to suspect he may not be fully on the up-and-up.
Best of all is Hangover Square. In a way, it is a reworking of The Lodger to capitalize on that movie's box office success, with Sanders and Cregar both returning in hero and villain roles respectively. Actually, Cregar is not so much evil as sick, driven under stress to take on a second, homicidal personality; in his lucid moments, however, he is a good guy, a musician who falls for bad girl Linda Darnell, my favorite femme fatale from the 1940s (who, like Cregar, would die at a young age under tragic circumstances). Besides Cregar and Darnell, there is also the great music of Bernard Herrmann that is an essential part of the movie.
The Lodger and Hangover Square fit more in the thriller or mystery category than horror, but that doesn't diminish their quality. Overall, The Undying Monster merits a low three stars, The Lodger four and Hangover Square five. Add to that some special features, most notably commentaries on the Cregar movies and some mini-documentaries on Cregar and Brahm, and this set merits a full five stars. It may not really be a horror set, but Fox Horror Classics is a worthwhile collection of some generally obscure movies.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By Bela
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Fox set of classic films are just great.
The Lodger remake from 44' is awesome and
one of the better Jack the Ripper movies made.
Hangover Square has most of same cast as Lodger
and is more film noir/mystery than horror but
also very well made. Better than most. Undying
Monster was an attempt at making a wolfman movie
but it's more of a mystery movie but again very
well made and acted. I highly recommend this set.
The Lodger remake from 44' is awesome and
one of the better Jack the Ripper movies made.
Hangover Square has most of same cast as Lodger
and is more film noir/mystery than horror but
also very well made. Better than most. Undying
Monster was an attempt at making a wolfman movie
but it's more of a mystery movie but again very
well made and acted. I highly recommend this set.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Horror Classics
This set of horror classics included one of my favorites "the Lodger" a remake off the silent film by Alfred Hitchcock, this is the first done with sound, starring Liard... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ruth Verrett
5.0 out of 5 stars
ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOXSETS
Love this boxset and you will too if you like old dark house movies.Laird Cregar stars in two and tragically died very young,31 i think. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Vlad the emailer
5.0 out of 5 stars
A lodger named JACK
.....the Ripper. The Hanover segment bored me somewhat, the Monster segment was okay and strange enough to re-watch and still enjoy ---- buy it for The Lodger. Read more
Published 3 months ago by S. Banzhaf
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Product
I was thrilled with the DVD and also the company who shipped it. It was a bit longer than usual still in the time frame but I was really impressed with the customer service who I... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Charles Dickens
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fox Horror classics collection
This was a good buy also....been looking for the lodger for awhile and finally found it w/the other 2 movies in this addition. Watched all 3 and recommend.
Published 3 months ago by Charlene Carbon
4.0 out of 5 stars
Boyfriend likes
My boyfriend bought this. He loves old hororr. He said it was good. Sorry, I cant be more specific but I know nothing about old horror!
Published 5 months ago by Amanda
5.0 out of 5 stars
Laird Cregar
I got this set for the Cregar movies, a good buy for two quality Cregar films with nice extras. "The Lodger" is a bit of a formula story, but the cinematography combined with... Read more
Published 5 months ago by K. W.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Lodger
I have wanted the film The Lodger for a long, long time. Past tries were just too expensive. And then this little gem of a collection came along and I got two other movies that I... Read more
Published 7 months ago by LJ Minor
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent selection of three Super Films, Horror/Drama/Thriller
If, you thought that James Dean died to young. Laird Cregar (1913-1944) at 31, was just getting started on a stellar career. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Phillip R. Hinds
4.0 out of 5 stars
SUPERB FOX HORROR NOIR---BUT WON'T BE GOING TO THE NEXT BONFIRE PARTY...
A trio of atmospheric mystery-horror noirs from 20th Century Fox Studios and all directed by John Brahm. Read more
Published on November 14, 2010 by FRED C. DOBBS
