The Bela Lugosi Collection Movie Review (2005)

I find myself drawn more to the horror, sci-fi and psychological thriller genres of the 20's, 30's and 40's than those of today. That being the case, I've become quite familiar with Bela Lugosi and he is one of my favorite actors of that era. I was quite excited to run across this set, but while there are a handful of gems, there are some downfalls here that dampen its potential.

This collection contains five Universal Studios Lugosi films that span from 1932 to 1940. This is a single, two-sided disc that has a total feature running time of 5 hours and 37 minutes. The first side is what I call the "Poe Side," as it has 'Murders in the Rue Morgue', 'The Black Cat' and 'The Raven'. These are undoubtedly the best offerings here and showcase why Lugosi is a legend. The second side is where I lost a good deal of interest. 'The Invisible Ray' and 'Black Friday' are good films for what they are, but neither of them (especially 'Black Friday',) feature Lugosi for more than a few minutes and are carried by Boris Karloff. I'm just as big a fan of Karloff and he does a good job with the roles, but I am disappointed from the perspective that this is a Lugosi collection. Ideally, 'Black Friday' would have been replaced with 'Dracula' or 'Son of Frankenstein'.

'The Black Cat' and 'The Raven' are two of my favorite movies and the acting supremely illuminates both Lugosi and Karloff. In addition, even if the final two movies aren't necessarily Lugosi films so to speak, they're still enjoyable to watch.

~TJ