Bedlam / The Ghost Ship (1943-1946) from WAC

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Bedlam is at first a bit of a disappointment wehen you see it after the other eight. Like Isle of the Dead it's a bit of a joining of different film types. It's a Lewton horror joined with his desire to do a costume picture like Mademoiselle Fifi. But the more you see and reflect on it the more amazing it becomes. A B film with stunning historical production values, period recreation, historical accuracy

I feel that half of Lewton's horror output doesn't really pass muster as "horror"; Curse of the Cat People certainly doesn't, while all of the Karloff collaborations are really psychological period dramas.

But their lyricism, craftsmanship and production values make them invaluable cinematic entries.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by SeanJoyce

I feel that half of Lewton's horror output doesn't really pass muster as "horror"; Curse of the Cat People certainly doesn't, while all of the Karloff collaborations are really psychological period dramas.

Depends on the definition. Horror is more a feeling than a defined genre, and I would certainly consider Body-Snatcher and Isle of the Dead as spooky films.

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Depends on the definition. Horror is more a feeling than a defined genre, and I would certainly consider Body-Snatcher and Isle of the Dead as spooky films.

They're certainly more "horrific" than Bedlam.

And the number of movies I hold in a higher regard than The Body Snatcher is minute; an absolute triumph of moviemaking, and Karloff's finest.

[Zillamon51]

Originally Posted by mmarczi

I'd rather they be released separately, but Val Lewton beggars can't be choosers, can they?

Originally Posted by Brucaliffo

I would have preferred an individual release for each.

Oh yes. Paying twice as much for the same two movies. Who doesn't love that?

[fred25_Ca]

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I personally love my Warner dvd set, it looks gorgeous, has consistent art, a great documentary and great transfer. Until there is a blu ray box set, i'm fine with what I have. Warner splitting these movies all over the place really turned me off buying these movies on blu ray. Plus, I paid something like 30$ for this set, while it would cost me close to 200$ CAD to get them all on blu ray, definitely not worth it, imo.

Edit: Just wanted to add that I rewatched them all 2 years ago and imo, the scariest and most effective of them is still The leopard man. The scene when the young girl gets stalked and then killed in the beginning is absolute genius and one of the highlights of 40's horror cinema.

[happydood]

^ I loved that set when it was the only game in town, but all of the titles released so far look so good that I can't imagine going back to their dvd transfers. I'll never say never, but I think we've reached the point where a box set of all of them is highly unlikely.

[starsteam]

The DVD box set does look nice. I never got around to buying any of these titles on DVD and have picked up every Blu-ray so far. I'd hope WA releases The Seventh Victim and Criterion releases I Walked with a Zombie within the next year so I can complete the set.

[captainsolo]

While some of the films do live in and out of the horror realm it makes them all the more special and unique. The Seventh Victim is more haunting because it seems so normal on the surface. (It does the subject matter similarly to what later came in Rosemary’s Baby. Even with the cuts made to the film it’s better than the more lauded 1968 film.) Curse of the Cat People is the most personal of Lewton’s films and was his answer to the demand for a sequel. It is a complete surprise the first time-remaining for me the best film ever made about childhood and while most Lewton films get me teary eyed or chilled at the end this is the one that absolutely wrecks me emotionally at the ending.

The outright scariest moment in the whole cycle has got to be the final walk in Isle of the Dead where the build up is unbearable.

The dvd set is beautifully packaged with original art. But I would say the Blu-rays are essential for two reasons. Firstly they are brand new gorgeous scans whereas the DVDs were a mix of some newer but some transfers dating back to the Laserdisc box. The other sad reason is some pressings of the Lewton DVDs are affected by the dreaded Warner dvd rot plague. I never got the box but have the standalones which were fine. I’ve read some reports of people having discs in their boxset go bad so I guess it depends on what year yours was made.

[Zillamon51]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

[Show spoiler]Attachment 265348

I personally love my Warner dvd set, it looks gorgeous, has consistent art, a great documentary and great transfer. Until there is a blu ray box set, i'm fine with what I have. Warner splitting these movies all over the place really turned me off buying these movies on blu ray. Plus, I paid something like 30$ for this set, while it would cost me close to 200$ CAD to get them all on blu ray, definitely not worth it, imo.

Edit: Just wanted to add that I rewatched them all 2 years ago and imo, the scariest and most effective of them is still The leopard man. The scene when the young girl gets stalked and then killed in the beginning is absolute genius and one of the highlights of 40's horror cinema.

If I ever did get all the Blus, I'd seriously consider keeping them in that box. Warner really shit the bed, releasing these piecemeal.

[SMOOT]

The Blu-rays are a big step up over the old box set --
At least for the 5 we have at present.
I was happy to have the box set when it was first released, but the restorations we have now have pushed the box to the side (again, for the 5 we have at present) --

I’m really looking forward to this new release and so hope that we get the final 2 before the end of the year.

[jfearnside]

This was an EASY pre-order!

It's been great reading this thread and seeing all the love for these Lewton films. Personally, I don't care how they're categorized--they're just fantastic works of art. Are they horror films? Noirs? Psychological thrillers? Gothic period pieces? Each film exhibits characteristics of at least two of these genres--and each film is tremendously effective. Isle of the Dead is probably my favorite, followed closely by Cat People and The Curse of the Cat People--well, and I Walked with a Zombie, and The Leopard Man... shoot, you can't go wrong with any of 'em!

I don't own the old box set--it was already fetching WAY too much by the time I was ready to purchase it--but I did individually collect all five DVD two-fers. Like others here, I love the original artwork and consistent look of these together. I hate to lose that.

But let's face it: they cram two films onto each DVD, and some of the transfers are pretty old. From all reports, the new Blu-rays blow these old DVDs right out of the water. I was holding out for a Warner Archive box set, but it seems increasingly unlikely. So I jumped in and bought all the other Lewton Blus with my pre-order. It came out to about $17 per film. I'm not going to quibble with that! I'm just looking forward to popping in these atmospheric gems as Halloween approaches and enjoying their impeccably moody, spooky vibes in all their 1080p glory...

[captainsolo]

They all are dramatic improvements even if I wish Shout Factory had addressed the audio hum noise in Leopard Man.

The biggest night and day difference is probably The Body Snatcher which was the old LD master on DVD and very dark. The new scan is like an entirely new film!

[ravenus]

^Yep. I have Cat People, Curse of... and The Body-Snatcher on blu and all of them are significant improvements on their DVD transfer. I value these more than a unified box, glorious as that box was in its time.

[evilive]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

The other sad reason is some pressings of the Lewton DVDs are affected by the dreaded Warner dvd rot plague. I never got the box but have the standalones which were fine. I’ve read some reports of people having discs in their boxset go bad so I guess it depends on what year yours was made.

Yep, my copy of I Walked With A Zombie had this problem. Bought a standalone copy and shortly afterward suffered the same problem. Haven't been able to view the film for a good few years now.

[captainsolo]

I keep finding more and more rotted Warner DVDs in my collection sadly. All are studio discs from the affected period of 2006-2010 or so. None are MOD Archive discs.

[iamnoone]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

I keep finding more and more rotted Warner DVDs in my collection sadly. All are studio discs from the affected period of 2006-2010 or so. None are MOD Archive discs.

Same here. Their pressed discs from that period are less reliable than their later DVD-R reissues. I don't even want to pull a Warner disc off the shelf anymore as they may be rotted. And some play fine for an hour and then just freeze in the middle, like "Land of the Pharaohs", so it's not like they just won't load at all - which would be easier to check than freezing halfway through. I heard a lot of the Tarzan films from the two box-sets also won't play. "Twisted Terror" box and yes, the "Val Lewton" box had many reports of rottage. Thus, why it's so critical to get as many of these out on Blu.

[captainsolo]

The effects are varied. Fast forwarding or scanning the whole disc in a program won't bring all of them up.
-Feature freezes and stops at any given point
-one feature in a double feature set rotted
-Various or all extras refuse to play
-Entire disc refuses to load or register at all

It makes Laserdisc rot look like nothing. I only own two completely rotted LDs. HD-DVD is notorious for WB discs but the DVD problems make them look like nothing. And most of these titles will never get released again sadly.

[Richard--W]

I hope it isn't too long before WB Archive releases new scans I Walked With a Zombie and
The Seventh Victim. The transfers have all looked spectacular so far. The double-features
are a good idea.

[thisis2]

...i wish Warner had released The Leopard Man because as already mentioned in an above post the Shout release has that annoying hum during most of the dialogue..it was mentioned by others on the relevant thread at the time of its release..

[Rzzzz]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

The effects are varied. Fast forwarding or scanning the whole disc in a program won't bring all of them up.
-Feature freezes and stops at any given point
-one feature in a double feature set rotted
-Various or all extras refuse to play
-Entire disc refuses to load or register at all

It makes Laserdisc rot look like nothing. I only own two completely rotted LDs. HD-DVD is notorious for WB discs but the DVD problems make them look like nothing. And most of these titles will never get released again sadly.

Yeah, it happened to me with this one...



I watched Isle of the Dead after the blu was announced and it played fine. I tried watching Bedlam last week and it froze at the part where Karloff goes to his office at the beginning of the film. I cleaned it and messed with it for ten minutes with no luck. Not a scratch or mark. I couldn't even see any rot. I threw it in the trash....