Customer Reviews

The Ed Wood Collection - A Salute to Incompetence

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is probably the greatest collection of the worst movies of all times. All are the creations from the mind of Ed Wood. Most people may remember the movie of Ed Wood's life with Johnny Depp as the title role. While that was played for laughs and some pathos, the real story was not too far away. Ed Wood had a true passion for making movies. He just did not make good ones. These are all fun to watch and have a laugh at, but understand that the intent was serious movie making. It might be somewhat sad to watch the declining years of Bela Lugosi, though. Get this set to watch and have fun with.

Okay, i was really rough on a previous title by this company because of their highly aggravating huge logo that appeared in the right hand corner of the screen, it was so distracting i couldn't concentrate on the film.This title is different, so far i have not seen that notorious huge logo, i did manage to catch a glimpse of of a small opaque logo saying " Ed Wood", but it was so slight and lasted only a second, it didn't bother me in the least.This is a great value and the quality of the prints are wonderful, great deal, and nice packaging too, no flippers!!! Great deal Passport, hopefully you re-do Bela Lugosi 15 Frightful Films!

I am not reviewing the movies themselves (as we know of their notoriety as "so-bad-they're-good flicks"), but the DVD collection itself.

I found this to be very much worth the nine dollars I spent for it, would've spent more. It is a simple 2-disc DVD compilation of Ed Wood's movies, including "Glen or Glenda", "Bride of the Monster", "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "Jail Bait", along with a small collection of interviews with various people, including Johnny Depp, Tim Burton and Dolores Fuller. The quality was surprisingly good, I was very impressed! I highly recommend this collection.

At under ten bucks any collection of six movies should be considered a steal. But Ed Wood could very well be the exception. Which will mostly depend on whether or not you enjoy a good bad film or not. In my case I have to say it was well worth the price. I find that Wood's ultra-low budget and camp works best when he's doing horror or science fiction with Plan 9 and Bride of the Monster being my favorites. Glen or Glenda is one of the most surreal films I've ever seen with Lugosi playing God, a transvestite,loads of stock footage, and an appearance by the devil. The Violent Years and Jail Bait are explorations on Juvenile Delinquency a theme Wood seemed to touch upon a number of times in his career. What it all boils down to is- are you an Ed Wood fan or not? If you are then you should own this collection. If you've seen the Tim Burton film and enjoyed it then I would definitely recommend it. If your looking for something on the level of Citizen Kane or Lawrence of Arabia, then you are very, very off track. My only minor complaint about the DVD itself is someone thought it necessary to put one of those little icons in the lower right hand corner that says 'The Ed Wood Collection' like we're going to forget what we're watching. We may be Ed Wood fans, but we're not stupid.

What is there really to say? You get six of his most important movies in reasonable video quality for under $10. This is a great alternative if you can't afford the box from Rhino. There is that small logo at the bottom (public domain video sellers are notorious for stealing each other's video sources, thus the "watermark") but it is not a distraction like the ones from some video companies. A great buy and essential to any movie collection.

THE ED WOOD COLLECTION is the perfect tribute to the maestro! Classics all! GLEN OR GLENDA- My personal favorite edwoodian nightmare. Bela Lugosi narrates in god-like fashion while Ed himself displays his love of angora! Dolores Fuller shows her depth as Ed's gal-pal. Even Satan makes a cameo! JAIL BAIT- The great Mr. Wood's take on gangsters with a super-twist ending that only an imbecile couldn't foresee! Awesome! BRIDE OF THE MONSTER- Bela's back as a mad scientist set to rule the world with a master race of atomic supermen! Now, all he needs is one to get him started! Tor Johnson (Beast Of Yucca Flats) lumbers about as the faithful henchman, Lobo. Watch for Bela in his 8"-heeled platform KISS shoes toward the end! THE VIOLENT YEARS- The Big Woody's dialogue shines through in this "haunting" tale of juvenile delinquent girls with guns! He didn't direct this one, but his mark is all over it! A JD film in the REEFER MADNESS vein. PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE- Bela and Tor return, joined by Vampira in Edwardo's most infamous misfire! A halloween staple, PLAN 9 will take your brain away! Beware the graverobbers from outer space! Includes Criswell's beautifully nonsensical intro and outro! NIGHT OF THE GHOULS- Criswell returns as narrator and ghoul in this epic story of the stupor-natural! See Dr. Acula the fake swami as he fleeces the unsuspecting! Watch the white ghost as she glides about! Witness Lobo (Tor again) with a melted face like overcooked lasagna! This movie actually has a fairly good finalé! Yes, the Great One would be proud of this monument. I like to think that he's looking down on us all right now, smiling insanely, a big camera in his hands...

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned in other reviews (or on the DVD box) - the version of "Glen or Glenda" included here is the 72-minute "director's cut" with some scenes that were originally censored. The version included on the current Image Entertainment DVD is the regular 68-minute cut. Not a big deal, but I thought it should be brought up.

This set is a good deal for someone who is interested in Wood's films but doesn't know exactly which ones to buy-you get his 6 most significant movies all at once for below 10 dollars. You can eventually upgrade and get single discs of the ones you like the most, but this will at least give you some idea. (And for some people, this set will be all they need). The prints are not pristine, there's a tiny logo in the corner-but it's not a bad deal if you're not already a fan of Ed's and want to know more about his work.

After watching Tim Burton's Ed Wood movie, I was intrigued so I had to see it for myself... and it's true, he was a terrible writer,director,producer... but in a way that was actually true in that moment in time, without technology and money... probably now he could be as good as Burton or viceversa..

The Ed Wood movies are indeed bad, but his ideas and the plot of his stories are ingenious, creative and critic. In Glen or Glenda he dared to address a topic that even now can be controversial.

This is a fine collection with 6 of his more representative movies (best movies?), in 2 dvd. Also includes interviews with Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Dolores Fuler, Vampira and others.

Really, the movies are so bad they are good...or at least what I expected

This collection is absolutely awful. The quality of each print is terrible - probably from a public domain source. Images are fuzzy, during night scenes you can't see a thing, and there is the most irritating loud hiss on the audio track through out. Finally, the company has put an annoying "Ed Wood Collection" logo on the lower right of the picture that never goes away. Don't be fooled by the price (like I was). Let's face it - Ed Wood movies are not expensive. Pick the ones you really like and buy either the Image Entertainment versions (beautiful crisp prints and excellent no-hiss sound) or wait a few months to buy the new Legend Film releases (remastered B&W prints and Colorized versions on one CD). Don't buy this 2 DVD collection even for a dollar - you will not be able to last 5 minutes the quality is that bad.

At the lower right corner of the screen there appears continuously throughout each movie the text, 'Ed Wood Collection'. These classic movies are in many ways short on craftsmanship, but that does not give the distributor license to deface them with crass self promotion.