When this set first appeared in 2009, it fulfilled a long standing need for a decent print of one of Boris Karloff’s best 1930s non-Universal horror films. That movie was THE WALKING DEAD made for Warner Brothers in 1936 by Michael Curtiz just before he hit the big time with THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. It was an interesting hybrid that contained elements of the gangster film and the horror picture where wrongly accused Karloff is executed and then brought back to life by scientist Edmund Gween. BK then proceeds to get revenge on the mobsters and the crooked lawyer (Ricardo Cortez) who framed him. Once seen, Karloff’s otherworldly stare of hatred cannot be forgotten.
The other BK offering, FRANKENSTEIN 1970, was made in 1958 and has him playing the last of the Frankensteins who is once again trying to create an artificial being. This time around he has atomic energy at his disposal but, of course, the final result is the same. Of interest, aside from BK’s performance (one of his most flamboyant), are the elaborate A movie sets left over from the Diana Barrymore biopic TOO MUCH, TOO SOON and the Cinemascope aspect ratio. The influence of Hammer’s THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, made the year before, is evident in the focus on the scientific aspects of creation. 1970 was released on a double bill with Zsa Zsa Gabor’s QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE.
The two Bela Lugosi offerings were both made for RKO in the 1940s. In YOU’LL FIND OUT (1940) he is joined by Karloff and by Peter Lorre. It was the only time that the two Hungarian born icons ever appeared together. Lugosi plays a fake spiritualist and Lorre is a skeptic trying to expose him. Actually the two of them and Karloff are working together to bump off a young heiress (Helen Parrish) but are ultimately foiled by the real star of the picture, bandleader Kay Kyser. Kyser was then at the height of his popularity and the movie opens with his COLLEGE OF MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE radio show. The film captures Kyser and his band’s madcap humor as well as their superb musicianship.
Last and least is ZOMBIES ON BROADWAY (1945) which has Lugosi reprising his mad scientist role once again. The film is really a vehicle for RKO’s answer to Abbott & Costello, Wally Brown & Alan Carney. While they’re not A & C, they’re not as bad as many reviewers seem to feel. They play off each other well and have some good lines. What makes ZOMBIES worthwhile is that it recycles elements from Val Lewton’s I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE from 2 years earlier. There are the same sets, the same zombie (Darby Jones), and even Island singer Sir Lancelot. You even get to see future TV producer Sheldon Leonard doing his gangster shtick. This WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION edition is a 2018 re-issue.
The Capsule Critic 