Search - Alfred Hitchcock - The Master of Suspense DVD Set on DVD

Rory C.
Reviewed on 10/3/2008...

The Lodger is a must-see

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Passable quality, spotty movies

RMurray847 | Albuquerque, NM United States | 12/12/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Here, in one neat bundle, are presented 10 very early Hitchcock films, from classics such as the early version of THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH and THE LADY VANISHES (one of my favorites) to more obscure films such as YOUNG & INNOCENT and JUNO & THE PAYCOCK (????).I haven't watched them all yet, but here is what you get. Five two-sided DVD's, each side with one movie. The movies themselves are available in 2.0 sound or 5.1 "virtual" surround. There are "scene selections", which involve only a few chapters per movie. And that's about it. The quality of the transfer is not first rate, by any stretch. You would probably be able to get better quality on one of the Criterion editions, but you'd pay quite a bit more. If you plan to watch over and over...go that route. If this is a curiousity for you, then these DVDs will fit the bill nicely and economically. I won't go into the movies themselves. These are early, pre-Hollywood Hitchcock films, and even the weakest of the bunch have many great Hitch moments. I feel like for the price, you simply can't beat it (hey, less than $2 a movie!!). And any serious film student ought to have THE LADY VANISHES on their list!"

A great value, quality is the same as Laserlight DVD's

Kay Emm Gee | 09/03/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Audio and video quality of these movies is exactly the same as the Laserlight issues. Unfortunately most of these movies have not been re-issued on DVD by big name companies such as Kino, Criterion, Universal, or Image. In the mid 1980's Criterion released Laserdisc versions of "Blackmail", "Sabotage", "Secret Agent", and "Young and Innocent", however Criterion has no plans to release these titles on DVD. Audio and video quality is not bad, fairly standard for 1920's and 1930's nitrate films. If you are a Hitchcock enthusiast and are interested in buying these early films buy this box set, it is very economical and the quality is exactly the same as Laserlight's issues.



As an added bonus two episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" are included, you get a total of 12 presentations in this box set! A great value!



Criterion has released a re-mastered version of, "The Lady Vanishes" on DVD. I was shocked to see that the audio and video quality of the Criterion version is almost exactly the same as the version on this box set by the Bci Eclipse Company.

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Saturday Afternoon Suspense

JJGemini | NYC | 08/19/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking to see Hitchcock in all his glory, absolutely go and find the Criterion Collection versions of your favourite Hitchcock films. However, if you don't know which ones are your favourite, yet, take a perusal through these movies. The films haven't been cleaned up and the audio is decent, so you can certainly go through the movies to see some older Hitchcock films, which are obvious seedlings of what was to come. "The Lady Vanishes" is worth the price of admission.



And yes! There really are ten movies included here. What are they?



(1927) LODGER - silent

(1927) THE RING - silent

(1929) BLACKMAIL - silent

(1930) JUNO & THE PAYCOCK

(1931) RICH & STRANGE

(1934) THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

(1936) SABOTAGE

(1936) SECRET AGENT

(1937) YOUNG & INNOCENT

(1938) THE LADY VANISHES



His other 9 movies from pre-Hollywood days (before 1940's "Rebecca") are available in the "The Essential Alfred Hitchcock Collection" (ASIN: B0009WPLVM).





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