Monday, June 26, 2006

More Universal Horror Coming to DVD

I just learned two new Universal Horror collections will come to DVD in September: the Boris Karloff Collection and the Inner Sanctum Mysteries.

I should be disappointed, since some better films like Island of Lost Souls and Man Made Monster were passed over to create these "themed" sets, but to tell the truth, I've seen those, and I've yet to see most of the ones on the new collection. I guess I've reached the jaded stage of fandom where I look forward to seeing any Univeral Horror flick for the first time. Of course, the reason I never got around to seeing them is I never bothered with them when they were on tv.

The Karloff collection seems to be scraped together from whatever unreleased films Universal has of him. It includes two films from the '50s (Black Castle and Strange Door) and one that isn't even really a horror film (Night Key). In most of these, Karloff seems to be a kind of secondary lead, added as a sort of spice to the casting. Still, I look forward to them.

The inner Sanctum Collection could just as well be called the Lon Chaney, Jr. Collection, as each of the six pictures (an anthology series tied by name and theme only) feature a mustachioed Chaney as the lead. Chaney is a favorite "cult" actor of mine. He was often stiff and one-note, but he had a haunting voice, and was able to convey a kind of adolescent angst that made him perfect for the kind of pathos universal thrillers called for. The only one I've seen, Dead Man's Eyes, was a small budged affair, but a good one. Clever (if implausible) plot, straightforward presentation, and neat resolution. In other words, it doesn't offer you much, but doesn't ask too much of you either. Good, pulpy fun. I eagerly await seeing the rest of the series.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

It's Indicia, its a Trademark...

It's Captain Copyright!

I'm not really opposed to the concept of copyright. But I wonder if this website will ever show anything but the creators of materials protecting their ideas?

I'm also offended that Cap's first heroic mission is getting a bunch of students to buy their textbooks at the campus bookstore (which, it turns out, he owns). University textbooks are an ugly scam to jack up expenses for students, a clear example of the owners of intellectual property abusing their rights and responsibilities.

Would kids be happy to see, for instance, Captain Copyright taking on a comic book artist who created a superhero that his publisher appropriated as their own?