DVDizzy Forum

I'm sure there are many, like me, who missed out on the releases of Universal's Classic Movie Monster collection years back. Well the fantastic news is that they are reissuing them on April 27. Take A Gander:

Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection (2-Disc Set)
Frankenstein (1931)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
House of Frankenstein (1944)

Dracula: The Legacy Collection (2-Disc Set)
Dracula (1931)
Dracula: Original Spanish Version (1931)
Dracula's Daughter (1936)
Son of Dracula (1943)
House of Dracula (1945)

The Wolf Man: The Legacy Collection (2-Disc Set)
Werewolf of London (1935)
The Wolf Man (1941)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943)
She-Wolf of London (1946)

~

The best part: Each set retails for only $26.98!

Plus, there's a box set of all 3 Legacy Collections that also contains Frankenstein, Dracula, and Wolf-Man Figurines for a retail of $79.98!

Hopefully there will be even more releases soon - The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon . . .

I'm not the horror type of fan but Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolf Man started it all. Then came Jason, Freddy, Chucky, Michael Myers and etc.
But at least they make us think twice when we stay alone at home or go out in

Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolf Man were the classic horror films and always be with us.

I looked on Amazon and couldn't find them listed.

A couple years ago I read that Universal was planning to recreate their monster movie classics in the form of 3D CG animation. IIRC, they said that the first one was going to come out in 2005 (Frankenstein maybe?). However I have not heard anything about it since that one article. Does anyone know the status of these Universal animation projects?

I hope they come with everything that the first releases did(and more)! I also hope that they are the uncut versions that were featured on the previously released DVDs. I know that Frankenstein and Dracula both had scenes cut from them for decades that were put back for the DVD releases.

Looks like these titles I will not be getting. Never could watch them. They never could capture my imagination.

Rebel wrote:A couple years ago I read that Universal was planning to recreate their monster movie classics in the form of 3D CG animation. IIRC, they said that the first one was going to come out in 2005 (Frankenstein maybe?). However I have not heard anything about it since that one article. Does anyone know the status of these Universal animation projects?

Stephen Sommers was to do a CGI Frankenstein (to be animated by ILM). It was going to be a combination of the book Frankenstein and the first two Universal Frankenstein films - Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. The film was also to be black and white only (and I think at one point they were talking of digitally degrading the image too to give it more of an old film look). I understand it was to be faithful to the original book and the Universal films.

Of course some of Sommers' decisions gave Universal cold feet - so there were various creative differences which ultimately resulted in the project being closed down. Some of ILM's test footage is supposed to exist and be available on the web somewhere, but I cannot find it. People report it was looks stunning.

I suppose this is how the Van Helsing project originated... it's probably a spin-off from the Frankenstein animation. Van Helsing will be as faithful to the original stories and Universal films as Sommers' Mummy films are to the Universal Mummy. I'm sure the movie will be a lot of fun... the Vampire's Ball in the trailer looks absolutely fantastic. But it's not a film which will respect Universal's great horror legacy.

As for the Legacy collections, all those films and only one "House of Dracula" is a film that has not been released on DVD before? And I have to buy the other Dracula films just to get this? Also, my Classic Monster DVDs have wonderful supplements which are almost certain to be missing from these packages. Seems like Universal can't do anything right.

I'm also surprised there's not a Mummy Legacy collection - Universal have 5 films there ideal for a package, the first of which (Karloff's The Mummy) is probably the best of Universal's horror films.

http://www.btinternet.com/~james.reader/themummy/
http://www.btinternet.com/~james.reader/dracula/
http://www.btinternet.com/~james.reader/frankenstein/

Note: My site is underconstruction (and has been for about 2 years now) so most of the links on these pages don't work.

2099net wrote: Some of ILM's test footage is supposed to exist and be available on the web somewhere, but I cannot find it. People report it was looks stunning.

It WAS stunning! Absolutely amazing test footage, if they would have went forward with thte project it would have really been something special.

You can see it here: http://fast.horrorseek.com/horror/drpre ... ovilm1.htm

Wow, thanks for the link Maerj!

Short, but sweet. You can really see what Sommers was intending to do with the film; recreate the same look and feel as the 1930's "Universal Classics" but update them with today's technology.

While I do like his Mummy films and I'm sure Van Helsing will be just as good, they're not trying to honour Universal's grand legacy. I do think Sommers is a good writer and director, but I consider the Mummy films to be nothing more than "fluff". I would be interested to see how his definitive, serious version of Frankenstein would turn out.

I've just noticed that site says it's from a Frankenstein vs The Wolfman movie. Odd... all my research indicated it was to be Frankenstein/Bride of Frankenstein.

Here's the Monster Legacy packaging.

http://www.davisdvd.com/images/covers/m ... acy_lg.jpg

Oooooohhhhhhh me want! Me want so, so bad! That set looks so, so cool!

I knew you'd love that clip, Netty!

I enjoyed the Sommer's Mummy movies, but I just don't like that guy's sense of humor. I could have done without that. That guy did a movie, Deep Rising, and it was okay, but the jokes were just so bad.

DVD times is listing the supplements are on the discs.

I can only assume these will be sets of 2 DVD-18 discs.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=6492

Universal has a page showing the specs for these DVDs.

http://homevideo.universalstudios.com/b ... etId=34588

Check out the pics of these babies:

http://davisdvd.com/news/daily_news.html

Someone posted on one of those sites there that the discs are all 2 sided DVD-18 discs. That's okay, but I do prefer one sided discs, then you got the artwork and the one side. Its still is an amazing set!

Maerj wrote:Someone posted on one of those sites there that the discs are all 2 sided DVD-18 discs. That's okay, but I do prefer one sided discs, then you got the artwork and the one side. Its still is an amazing set!

Personally I don't see a big need for DVD-18 discs. Each movie is pretty short by todays standards at around 70 minutes. It shouldn't be much of a problem to fit them all on one-siders.

At first, I was just going to get the Frankenstein & Dracula sets, but after seeing the box set with the busts, I think I'll spring for that. (Unfortunately, I'll have to hold off on TLK1.5 to save up enough money).

Here's the full specs.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=6492

So yes, you get everything off the original releases, plus some Sommers fluff plus House of Dracula.

Bargain!

2099net wrote:Here's the full specs.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=6492

So yes, you get everything off the original releases, plus some Sommers fluff plus House of Dracula.

Bargain!

That's pretty awesome. I wasn't going to bother picking these up, but rather get the individual releases of the original Universal movies in time (they are quite cheap here). However, the inclusion of the original features makes it worthwhile.

The Gift set looks awesome too - I suppose it costs an arm and a leg though...

Loomis wrote:The Gift set looks awesome too - I suppose it costs an arm and a leg though...

Actually, the gift set's retail is on $79.98 - that's cheaper than buying the three DVD sets seperately, plus you get the busts. Great deal, although expensive.

Jack wrote:

Loomis wrote:The Gift set looks awesome too - I suppose it costs an arm and a leg though...

Actually, the gift set's retail is on $79.98 - that's cheaper than buying the three DVD sets seperately, plus you get the busts. Great deal, although expensive.

Stop tempting me, Jack!