Of the nine films featured in this collection, I had only seen two (TROLLENBERG TERROR, BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE) and read about two others (HOUSE IN MARSH ROAD, CURSE OF THE WRAYDONS). The remaining five movies I had never heard of which isn’t surprising as they weren’t shown on American TV until recently. There are a few bad public domain copies out there of HOUSE IN MARSH ROAD (1960), FIRE MAIDENS (1956) and HOUSE OF USHER (1950) that are available for streaming but they should be avoided. As you can tell from other reviews of this set, people either like it or they don’t. I’m in the former category and hats off to Renown Pictures for coming up with quality prints for most of these obscure titles.
THE TROLLENBERG TERROR (THE CRAWLING EYE in the U.S.) and BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE (both 1958) were already available in quality American editions with VAMPIRE coupled with another Baker / Berman feature THE HELLFIRE CLUB as a “drive-in double bill” complete with commercials and an intermission. Both of them look very good here especially VAMPIRE which is the only color film. THE HOUSE IN MARSH ROAD (INVISIBLE CREATURE in the U.S.) and THE MONKEY’S PAW (1948) have some slight contrast issues but both have good sound and are quite watchable. The remaining five are in great shape with FIRE MAIDENS practically pristine which is good or bad depending on how you feel about it.
THE HOUSE IN MARSH ROAD tells the story of a protective poltergeist while TROLLENBERG TERROR is a pretty good sci-fi offering in the QUATERMASS mold which is only let down at the very end by poor special effects. FIRE MAIDENS has to be seen to be disbelieved and had to be made as a joke. TREAD SOFTLY combines 42nd STREET with THE LAST WARNING to good effect and Patricia Dainton (also in MARSH ROAD) is delightful. An added bonus is having her introduce both of her features courtesy of Talking Pictures TV. Tod Slaughter’s CURSE OF THE WRAYDONS (1946) is one of his later movies and is presented here uncut. If you’ve seen Slaughter before then you know what to expect.
The remaining 3 movies are the rarest of the set. Although the story of THE MONKEY’S PAW is well known, this film version isn’t. The setting is transplanted to Ireland and the names of the characters changed. There is a long prologue but the last half is moodily effective. CROW HOLLOW (1952) has elements of REBECCA with a young second wife coming to the ancestral home and having to deal with three eccentric aunts who may be trying to kill her. Finally there’s THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER which people either love or hate. It’s a stylistic exercise with amateur performances and evocative cinematography. It’s similar in style to Carl Theodor Dreyer’s VAMPYR (1932) and can easily be classified as an art film.
Several of these movies were released individually by Renown Pictures as single DVDs but it’s great to have them all gathered here in one 3 disc set. THE VINTAGE CHILLER & THRILLER COLLECTION is a good title overall as it describes most of the films however I don’t think that THE TROLLENBERG TERROR and FIRE MAIDENS FROM OUTER SPACE belong here as both are sci-fi titles and FIRE MAIDENS could just as easily have been included in one of Renown’s comedy collections. One other criticism I have is that it would have been nice if the set had contained subtitles as THE MONKEY’s PAW is sometimes difficult to understand. Still very much worth having if you enjoy vintage British B movies.
The Capsule Critic 