Kings of Pain
Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 07/28/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"The KINGS OF CLASSIC HORROR 4 MOVIE PACK does indeed offer four actors once considered in the top rank of the genre. These films however are far from their best work.
After the worldwide acclaim from Universal's 1931 classic "Dracula" subsided, Bela Lugosi (who had great difficulty speaking English) was consigned to their 'B' company unit, where he churned out little trifles like "The Devil Bat" on an almost bi-monthly basis. Here Lugosi plays a scientist and inventor who is betrayed by his employers. This movie is directed by Jean Yarborough, who later would work with Abbott & Costello on their television show.
"The Devil's Messenger" is cobbled together from a Swedish TV show. Lon Chaney appears as the Devil, but by 1961 he was old and bloated and a mere shadow of his former self.
Boris Karloff is terribly miscast as an Oriental detective in "Doomed To Die." Strangely enough, he played Wong five times (this film was his last go at the character). This one's a mystery-- it's not horror. Karloff's co-star here went on to television fame in the 1950s as the long-suffering wife in "The Life Of Riley" (another show directed by Jean Yarborough).
The best of this banal little bunch is "Shock." Here, Vincent Price (at the beginning of his career) plays a psychiatrist trying to cover up a crime he's committed. The lone witness to the murder goes into shock and ends up in Price's clutches after she is committed to his private sanitarium. Again, not a horror movie.
For some genuine old-time fright films, the HORROR CLASSICS 50 MOVIE PACK COLLECTION is highly recommended!
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The parenthetical numbers preceding these titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings gathered by a cinema resource website.
(5.0) The Devil Bat (1940) - Bela Lugosi
(4.2) The Devil's Messenger (1961) - Lon Chaney Jr.
(5.4) Doomed To Die (1940) - Boris Karloff/Marjorie Reynolds
(6.3) Shock (1946) - Vincent Price"