The Val Lewton Horror Collection (Cat People / The Curse of the Cat People / I Walked with a Zombie / The Body Snatcher / Isle of the Dead / Bedlam / The Leopard Man / The Ghost Ship / The Seventh Victim / Shadows in the Dark)

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: DVD
• UPC: 053939727029
• Release Date: January 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Publisher: WarnerBrothers
• Number of Disks: 5
• Other Video Info: box_set
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Val Lewton Horror Collection

------------------------------------------------------------- “Cat People” What you can't see "will" hurt you A man marries a strange woman with a European accent. She seems shy, but she carries a secret. Seems she knows she came from a line of “Cat People,” and passion can bring out her claws. This is reinforced in a scene at a restaurant where another one of her kind recognizes her. She also suspects her new hubby’s female friend has designs on him. So, we get a spooky scene at a swimming pool at night, alone in the gym. There was not enough money or sufficient technology to show scary cat people. They tried people in catsuits, but they just looked cutesy. So they decided to just show shadows and sounds. The rest was up to your imagination. It is a psychological movie with a touch of film noir. --------------------------------------------- “The Curse of the Cat People” In many ways superior to the original The Curse of the Cat People (1944) is not the sequel to Cat People (1942) as much as a stand-alone psychological thriller that just happens to be an extension of the original characters. We have seen the formula before, but you may not have seen such a presentation; a lonely child, Amy Reed (Ann Carter), seeks a playmate that understands her. Who best but the spirit of Oliver's dead wife, Irena (Simone Simon), one of the cat people. Naturally, this upsets the parents. Toss in Amy’s new relationship with reclusive neighbor Julia Farren (Julia Dean). Julia has problems of her own relating to her daughter. The story just gets complex from there. The question is, is it dangerous to fantasize that much, and what will become of the characters in the end? ------------------------------------------- “I Walked with a Zombie” A classic Val Lewton production We are treated to exotic titles and expectations with titles such as “I Walked with a Zombie.” My only encounters with Zombies are those that process in a UNIX operating system that can not be killed. I also watched “Weekend at Bernie’s II.” As with other Lewton productions, he got away with a psychological thriller in the guise of a monster movie. In the days of sailing ships, a nurse (Frances Dee) is employed to go to San Sebastian to look after a plantation owner’s wife (Christine Gordon). The Nurse finds that her charge is more than just a victim of a disease that has left her without will. Turns out if you cut the wife, she does not bleed. We all know what that means. The true story is the relationship between man and wife, man and nurse, nurse and wife, brother and brother, brother and wife; need I say more? Could it mean that there is nothing supernatural, or is love moving in a mysterious way? Can this all be straightened out, or is Jessica Holland the wife destined to be zomiated forever, and the nurse must learn to love from afar? Yeah, Lord, pity them who are dead and give peace and happiness to the living. -------------------------------------- “The Body Snatcher” Based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson “It is through error that a man tries and rises. It is through tragedy he learns. All the roads of learning begin in darkness and go out into the light.” Hippocrates of Gos This film has the psychological complexity of a Val Lewton production but is a lot more graphic than most of his productions, where he just implies violence. He even takes it out on innocent dogs. I feel that someone was pushing Lewton from behind to be more vicious with this film. A young student (Russell Wade) wants to become a doctor like the great Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane (Henry Daniell). Little does he know what it will entail? The DVD has a voiceover commentary from the late Director Robert Wise, who directed “West Side Story” and “The Sound of Music.” Surprisingly, he said that Philip MacDonald wrote the original basic script. -------------------------------------- “Isle of the Dead” "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your