Customer Reviews

The Lon Chaney Jr. Collection: Manfish/The Golden Junkman/Lock-Up/The Indestructible Man

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

 

 

I was disappointed to learn that 2 of the 4 films in this collection were, in fact, half-hour t.v. shows. But if you're a fan of Lon Jr. (and I certainly am), it's kind of nice to have them. "The Golden Junkman" is by far the better of the two, with Chaney evoking sympathy as Greek immigrant. "Lock Up" is a standard prison drama.

Chaney fairs somewhat beter in "Manfish," a low-budget but still fairly attractive production, with some great underwater photography. Again, he's a sympathetic character, as opposed to the hulking brutes he often played. And speaking of hulking brutes...

"The Indestructible Man"--curiously relegated to "bonus feature" status in this collection--is the real reason to get this disc. The story is familiar to fans of b-movies of the fifites: Chaney's a convict excuted for murder, but brought back to life to seek revenge against those who wronged him. It's one his signature roles, and Lon has a field day with the limited premise. And you can throw out all those bargain-bin copies of The Indestructible Man...this is as clear a version as we'll ever see.

If you're really a fan, you'll skip the "Remembering Lon Chaney" segment. Gary Graver, apparently a cinematographer on Al Adamson's "Dracula vs. Frankenstein," spends almost the entire time talking about his old boss (Adamson), and barely even mentions Chaney! No mention is made of any of the films contained in this DVD. The whole thing is complete waste of time, and an insult to Chaney and his fans.

Even if you have one of those cheap copies of Indestructible Man, you still need this disc. Beyond that, there's not much to recommend this release.

This DVD is a must have for any Lon Chney Fan. He is 1950's Lon Chnaey, haggered, weathered, still enthusiastic with his unique personality shinng thru.Manfish- is a real treat with lovely location shots and a fine plot.One problem at the end you see color by DeLuxein the credits but the print is black and white.The scuba and location shots would look great in color and I wish I could get a color print.The 2 Tv shows are very interesting. The Golden Junkman is a rare film in which Lon attempts an accent, it sound more Mexican than Greek but this a is a nice piece of 1950's schmaltz. Lon plays a "dumb" washed out lawman as well as anyone and his performence is familar.It is great to see theIndustructible man in all it's glory.Wonderful film.The remembering Lon Chnay segement was very disappointing with a not very attractive rememberence of not only Lon Chaney working for Al Adamson on Dracula Versus Frankenstien but also unkind remberences of Boris Karloff working for Jack Hill and J. Carrol

Naish from a Al Adamson flunky.

There is only one reason to purchase this DVD set and that is for the 'B' Horror movie cult classic "The Indestructible Man". This as well as the other "movie?" on this set "Man-Fish" have been in the public domain for years so there have been numerous tattered and horrible quality copies floating about. "Indestructible Man" is here for the first time in what they claim to be from a 35mm print but it is still very soft - like it may have been a 16mm print copied early on to 35mm stock (companies did this some times for theaters who didn't have 16mm projectors). Though it is the best this film has looked, it is still not in-your-face crystal clear or crisp so tells me it is not from the "original" 35mm negative source. The other titles are actually TV show plays and not feature movies.

The packaging is a bit misleading and isn't a "collection" of any true sorts showcasing Chaney Jr's work.

Contrary to what it says on the package, I'm pretty sure the transfer of "The Indestructible Man" isn't from a 35mm film. It looks better than my public domain copy, but the resolution isn't up to DVD snuff, it jiggles in a very VHS-like way, and it has horizontal lines in it here and there that look suspiciously like video dropouts. Also, there's a lot of dirt on it. Just so you know.

Even so, it's always great to see Lon Chaney.

2 features and 2 TV programs featuring Lon Chaney Jr. The good part is that The Indestructable Man looks pretty good. The Telephone Time episode also is pretty decent with no problems. The bad part is that Manfish was filmed in color and this is a B/W print. The Lock Up episode is good except for some audio problems when they are in the sheriff's office. I can't quite tell if the problem is with the print used or is a problem with the DVD, but I'm inclined to think the problem is with the DVD transfer. All films are in full screen.

IF YOU HAVE ALWAYS LIKE LON JR. LIKE I HAVE, GET THIS SET. I WASN'T DISAPPOINTED IN THE LEAST. MANFISH WAS MY FAVORITE FILM, THOUGH IT'S NOT A HORROR FILM BUT MORE OF AN ADVENTURE DRAMA TYPE OF FILM BUT THE CAST WAS GREAT AND THE STORY VERY INTERESTING. THE INDESTRUCTABLE MAN IS A GREAT B HORROR FILM AND IS A MUST-SEE. LON IS GREAT IN THE ROLE.

LOCKDOWN WAS A CRIME DRAMA THAT IS REALLY A HALF HOUR TV SHOW, BUT IT'S WORTH YOUR TIME JUST TO WATCH LON PLAY THE ROLE OF A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DESSERT TOWN SHERRIF WHO IS A BIT OF A NUT AND LIKES TO SHOOT AT PEOPLE LIKE DUCKS IN A SHOOTING GALLERY. ANOTHER TV SHOW LON STARRED IN WAS IN THE ROLE OF A GREEK FISHERMAN WHO MOVES TO THE USA AND HAS TO RAISE HIS 2 YOUNG SONS AFTER THEIR MOTHER DIES. THIS IS A STORY WITH A GOOD MORALE TO IT AND SHOULD NOT BE MISSED.

AS FAR AS THE LON CHANEY JR. TRIBUTE SEGMENT, I THINK IT WAS WORTH WATCHING. IT WAS SHORT, MAYBE 10 MINUTES BUT IN MY OPINION, INTERESTING. THIS SEGMENT WAS ACTUALLY BRIEF REFLECTIONS OF A FILM CREW MEMBER WHO WORKED ON DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN, WHICH, BY THE WAY, I OWN A COPY OF. IF YOU LOVE B MOVIES AND WANT TO LAUGH ALOT, YOU MUST GET DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN.

BUT LISTEN, GET THIS COLLECTION, MANFISH AND INDESTRUCTABLE MAN ALONE WERE WORTH THE PRICE. YOU WON'T BE SORRY.

MANFISH was shown on British TV in the mid 70s in color!!! Why no color print should exist is a mystery.