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The Boris Karloff Collection (Tower of London / The Black Castle / The Climax / The Strange Door / Night Key) (1937)

Basil Rathbone , Boris Karloff , George Waggner , Joseph Pevney  |  NR |  DVD
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)

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Frequently Bought Together

The Boris Karloff Collection (Tower of London / The Black Castle / The Climax / The Strange Door / Night Key) + The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday) + Universal Horror: Classic Movie Archive (The Black Cat / Man Made Monster / Horror Island / Night Monster / Captive Wild Woman)
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Product Details

  • Actors: Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Charles Laughton, Jr. Lon Chaney, Paula Corday
  • Directors: George Waggner, Joseph Pevney, Juran Nathan, Lloyd Corrigan, Rowland V. Lee
  • Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
  • Subtitles: English, French
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 3
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: Universal Studios
  • DVD Release Date: September 19, 2006
  • Run Time: 421 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000FWHW8Q
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,254 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • Learn more about "The Boris Karloff Collection (Tower of London / The Black Castle / The Climax / The Strange Door / Night Key)" on IMDb

Special Features

  • Five film on three discs

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The gaunt face, the large eyes and elegant hands, the rich voice with a touch of menace (and more than a touch of lisp): Boris Karloff had the tools of a genuine movie star. He also had a deeply sensitive understanding of flawed creatures, which made his best roles--including the Frankenstein monster and the Mummy--weirdly sympathetic. His profitable employment in those Universal monster movies is filled out with the release of The Boris Karloff Collection, a grouping of non-classics from his Universal jobs.

These are the kind of movies that would show up with great promise on your local "Nightmare Theater" or "Creature Feature" late-show slot: Hey, Boris Karloff in something called Tower of London? Sounds scary! And you'd watch in bewilderment as the film would turn out to be a historical drama with a few grisly touches. Universal perpetuates this misunderstanding with this DVD release, which declares "The Master of Horror in His Most Frightening Roles!" Which is quite a stretch. (Some of Karloff's best horror stuff is on the Bela Lugosi Collection, a superior DVD package.)

Still, for fans, there's much to enjoy here. Tower of London is a thoroughly entertaining tale of Richard III's bloody rise to power, with Basil Rathbone as Richard and Karloff as his bald, beetle-browed executioner (definitely one of Boris's best looks). Two early-1950s films are great fun: The Strange Door has Charles Laughton doing one of his modern-Nero roles as a perverse nobleman with a really cool torture dungeon (Karloff is his servant), and The Black Castle lays on the wolf howls and creaking doors in a tale of revenge. Juicy performances by Richard Greene and Stephen McNally gives this oomph, even if Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr., are peripheral. McNally's castle is equipped with an excellent secret room with swarming alligators.

Night Key (1937) isn't horror, but a perfectly OK B-movie about inventor Karloff and his revenge on the businessman who stole his electrically charged idea. 1944's The Climax was made to capitalize on the lavish sets Universal made for The Phantom of the Opera, and director George Waggner (The Wolf Man) seems far too enamored of costumes and arias. Even when it's dull, which is frequently, the film has gorgeous Technicolor to look at, and Karloff is suitably obsessed as a doctor messing with a promising soprano. In short, the DVD set may disappoint the unwary, but Karloff devotees will enjoy the icon, and the occasional alligator pit. --Robert Horton

Product Description

No other name is as synonymous with screen terror as Boris Karloff. After skyrocketing to international stardom in Universal's Frankenstein and The Mummy, this film icon continued to break ground in an electrifying slate of popular horror classics. Now see this movie legend in five of his most spellbinding and memorable roles in this collector's set that cements Boris Karloff's status as a true giant of American cinema.Night Key (1937), Tower of London (1939), The Climax (1944), The Strange Door (1951), and The Black Castle (1952).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
52 of 55 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Not to be confused with the other Karloff collection this is the one to get. All the films here look extremely good. Occasionally specks and dirt appear but it's rare . Of all the films here "The Black Castle" looks a bit inconsistent but overall looks quite good. "The Climax" has deep rich color capturing the original Technicolor hues although flesh tones appear to be off a tad and probably should have been color corrected. Audio goods good with no distortion and dialogue is clear on all the films. Extras include the original theatrical trailers and nothing else.

"Tower of London" features Karloff in top form with Vincent Price appearing in one of his earliest film roles. Using the sets for "Son of Frankenstein" director Roland V. Lee tells the infamous story of King Richard III. Karloff plays Mort his club footed assistant and the executioner who kills those in the line of succession so that Richard can reach the throne. This features one of Karloff's finest performances from the 30's as Mort the Executioner. Rathbone and Price are also both terrific in their performances as well. This film certainly deserved an audio commentary but doesn't get one.

"The Black Castle" features Karloff with Lon Chaney Jr. with the real heavy being played by Stephen McNally. Sir Richard Burton (Richard Greene) investigates the disappearence of two of his friends. He suspects that Count Von Bruno (McNally) has murdered them. Karloff plays the court physician with Chaney playing a giant mute named Gargon. Director Nathan Juran ("The 7th Voyage of Sinbad")gets the most atmosphere out of this b-movie minor classic. Writer Jerry Sackheim creates an appealing script with witty dialogue (as he did on "The Strange Door")borrowing liberally from other films.
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Karloff is Consistently Better than the Material October 25, 2006
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
With this collection of five films on three discs, Universal has pretty much cleaned its vault of Boris Karloff films waiting to be issued on DVD. What fans are given here, in a nutshell, are two of Karloff's lesser starring vehicles plus three of varying quality in which the horror icon is featured in supporting roles.

"Night Key" (Movie: **** _ DVD Transfer: ****), released in 1937, is the oldest film in the package, as well as the only one set in modern dress. Boris stars as one of his trademarked elderly inventors who falls victim to evil forces that thwart his original benevolent intent, in this case an unscrupulous rival (Samuel S. Hinds) and a hardened crime boss (Alan Baxter, in a performance that brings new meaning to the term "underplaying"). Jean Rogers makes an appealing enough heroine as Karloff's loving daughter, and at 67 minutes, the film fairly whizzes through to its predictable conclusion. It's hokey fun, and includes the theatrical trailer as a bonus feature.

"Tower of London" (Movie: **** _ DVD Transfer: ****), an historical thriller with Karloff in a meaty supporting role as Mord the Executioner, in service to the treacherous Richard III of England (top-billed Basil Rathbone), is definitely a mixed bag. Released in 1939, the film boasts an impressive supporting cast (including Ian Hunter, John Sutton, and Vincent Price), wonderful sets and costumes, and superb cinematography. Unfortunately, the film is ultimately done in by a wildly uneven script, some poor editorial choices, and a laughably poor performance from the usually reliable Barbara O'Neil who scored a triumph that same year as Scarlett O'Hara's mother in "Gone With the Wind".
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars TITLES IN THIS COLLECTION September 17, 2007
Format:DVD
Here are the titles within this collection. Just wish that St. Clair Vision would add them to their release information!

"Snake People"
"The Terror"
"Dick Tracy Meets Grusome"
"Island Monster"
"The Ape"
"Juggernaut"
"The Fatal Hour"
"Sabaka"
"Mr. Wong in Chinatown"
"Doomed to Die"
"Mr. Wong, Detective"
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars St. Clair's Karloff box: Some right, some Wong December 11, 2007
Format:DVD
ST. CLAIR DVD multi-packs are reasonably priced, and offer fine quality video/audio transfers of unrestored public domain material. Discs are single-side recorded, plastic storage cases fairly sturdy, liner notes appear on box's back cover.

HIGHLIGHTS of the BORIS KARLOFF COLLECTION:

In Roger Corman's THE TERROR, Karloff costars with up-and-comer Jack Nicholson. An atmospheric color film somewhat hampered by a rushed production and two directors, THE TERROR feels like two different movies at times. Story involves a French military officer infatuated with a mysterious woman, and an eccentric old castle dweller.

Have you ever wondered what the person behind Rocky the Flying Squirrel and all the old witches in "Fractured Fairy Tales" looked like? If so, SABAKA is your chance to find out. Cartoon voice specialist June Foray appears as the High Priestess in this tale set in India about a revenge-obsessed elephant trainer. Good cast, so-so story.

DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME is one of the better entries in this 1930s-'40s movie series. Here, Karloff is a villain who robs banks by using nerve gas. Tracy is played by Ralph Byrd, who would continue this franchise on TV briefly in the early 1950s. Anne Gwynne, aka Tracy's girlfriend Tess Trueheart, was a popular pin-up girl during WWII.

LOWLIGHTS:
The four "Mr. Wong" movies in this set. Karloff is miscast, for he plays the somewhat eccentric Oriental detective stiffly (almost uncomfortably) and with a British accent. Well... at least the stories are good.

For a similar ST. CLAIR box set, check out their BELA LUGOSI COLLECTION .

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars greay collection
in remember these movies as akid. i enjoted them then and i enjoyed them now. thank you very, very much.
Published 19 days ago by james ross
4.0 out of 5 stars The Tower of London
Any fan of Shakespeare and his Richard III, should see this movie. No, it's not a Karloff film, it belongs to Rathbone as Richard. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Davis Hall
4.0 out of 5 stars Decent Collection
The collection of films can also be found elsewhere. I was not particularly impressed since there are not a lot of extras on this, just the films. Read more
Published 5 months ago by comics_tiger
5.0 out of 5 stars He's the Best
I've loved this man since I was a young kid. Now that I'm an 'old kid' I'm happy to have found these and see my love again.
Published 5 months ago by Lila F. Weiner
4.0 out of 5 stars for the serious collector of Old cinema...
I bought this for "The Climax", because I"d never seen it. The extras and commentary about Climax are really interesting and informative, but I don't want to spoil it... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Paul A. Gusmann
3.0 out of 5 stars Not his best work
The Boris Karloff Collection is six hours and thirty minutes and was released on DVD on September 19, 2006. I am not going to talk about the movies about the collection in general. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Michael Patrick Boyd
4.0 out of 5 stars The Boris Karloff Collection (5 movies)
Movies okay as horrors go. Have seen Karloff in much better roles, but he is good wherever. Still recommend. Love Karloff. Cecy Ivie
Published 8 months ago by Cecy
2.0 out of 5 stars Dissapointment
Those who are expecting horror films will be dissapointed, because none of these films are even remotely scary at all. Read more
Published on May 8, 2011 by Richard Stange
5.0 out of 5 stars Who dat? Boris of chorus!
Boris at the top of his game, in a great collection of 3 star films. The Tower of London is a real jewel, and single handedly elevates this collection to 5 stars.
Published on February 8, 2011 by Richard
5.0 out of 5 stars NICE
I was really suprised, it was in like new condition. I will be buying from here again. Thank you for standing up for quility! Woody
Published on March 29, 2010 by Woodman
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