Horror Classics Triple Feature, Vol. 1 (Metropolis (1927) / Nosferatu (1922) / The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Customer Reviews:

Terrible product..........2004-09-16

This dvd is pretty bad. I've seen the online trailer for the kino dvd release and the picture quality on the streaming quicktime movie was better then the picture quality on the "triple feature" dvd.

Metropolis and other classics on DVD! To die for! .......2004-08-15

Above standard triple feature DVD chock full of classic and deserving films. This review will discuss each film included on the disc, explaining the movie quality, picture quality, and audio satisfaction.
Nosferatu: The tale of a century old, immortal vampire creature named the "Nosferatu". This is an undead creature that has survived since 1443 and has superhuman qualities. This film tells the experience of two innocent villagers who encounter the evil creature. Jonathan Harker and his wife Nina are living their usual lives, when Harker receives a strange business letter from a rich count that wishes to buy a house adjacent to theirs. The sequences when Harker arrives at the castle and falls into the clutches of the count are frightening even to today's standards. A memorable scene is with Harker in the count's castle bedroom. He opens the door to the mess hall, to see the count standing motionless at the fireplace, 7 feet high. Harker literally grins with fear and shrinks into his bed. Later, Harker manages to return to Bremen, just when the plague has hit. The count arrives by ship, killing the crew in his wake. The plague curse can only be broken when the dreaded and powerful vampire is destroyed.
A classic silent film and a very entertaining one. However, note that this is NOT the restored Nosferatu included on this triple feature. Instead, we view a scratchy, 80 year old, fuzzy focused print. It is quite watchable, but inferior to the more recent Kino Video release. The film looks and sounds its age frequently on this DVD.
Phantom of the Opera: My very first horror classic was this 1925 masterpiece starring Lon Chaney Sr. My favorite movie of all time. The Phantom is physically a mountain, and has face is terrifying. It takes a whole mob to outwit and kill this cunning man, who is far worse than your average film villain. Countless classic moments. Note that this isn't a film for young children. The transfer here is suitable.
Metropolis: The son of a heavy authority in a futuristic city discovers the bleak conditions of the working class, who live in the underground catacombs of the city. The young man works to fight the slavery. However, when the authority, the man's father, discovers floorplans in the uniforms of workers killed in a machinery accident, he orders his threatening accomplice, C.A. Rotwang, to construct a robot of a worker girl to cause revolts. There is a near apocalypse of the giant city when the ranks clash in a revolting fight. Also a historical classic directed by Fritz Lang.
The title cards during the film are legible, but the print looks rather overexposed and pale. This is also the oldest DVD print available and certainly not the best. If you are picky for quality and want a superior print, buy the Kino DVD.
This first volume of the "Triple Feature" Collection by Navarre Entertainment contains three classic films, and is well worth the extra money. The picture quality is from old, unrestored prints, and will displease intolerant viewers. But this DVD is recommended for carefree horror classic fans, which include me and some reviewers here on Amazon.

Two Stars For The Flicks..........2004-05-25

Nosferatu is the finest vampire film ever, Lon Chaney makes a spectacular phantom, and Metropolis is one of the most haunting and majestic films ever created, but the transfer of these films are so horrible on this disc it's insane. The image is unbearably painful to watch and actually gave me headaches. Buy all 3, just avoid this disc.

three good movies, but there's a catch.......2002-11-13

All three of these movies are very good, but the image quality isn't good. I found all three movies watchable, but would definitely prefer a nicer copy. If you are willing to pay more for one movie than you would here for all three you will definitely see and appreciate the difference. These are silent movies so the audio tracks are music - not original recordings, so the sound quality is better.

Metropolis - A sheltered young man in a futuristic society comes to realize the slavery on which is society is based and works to fight it. This is a very good movie - my favorite on this disk, though I would probably have put it on one of the science fiction disks - not horror. The titles are all readable (which is import in a silent film!). The worst problem with this copy is that a large number of scenes and shots are too pale and look very overexposed. The visuals were often frustrating but I was always able to see well enough to see the important details and the story was engaging enough to keep me watching.

Nosferatu - This is the story of Dracula. They changed some of the names and I couldn't tell whether they were trying to pretend it was not Dracula. The vampire was called "Dracula" once in the movie that I caught. (I'm sure there's some history I could read up on if I cared enough.) I didn't find the movie all that scary but most of the original elements were there. The vampire makeup was not very mobile so the vampire seemed card-boardy. Some of the titles were cut off by the screen width which was annoying but I was still able to follow everything. Another reviewer mentioned that this version is also a bit cut up with some interesting pieces missing, which I didn't know from watching this version. If you are a serious Dracula fan I know that there are other editions available and you would probably prefer one of them. For myself, I found this sufficient.

The Phantom of the Opera - A disfigured and insane man lives in the catacombs beneath an opera house and gains a reputation as a Phantom. He falls in love with a singer and helps her reach stardom but when she falls in love with another man he kidnaps her and trys to kill everyone who gets in the way of his marrying her. I enjoyed this one a lot, though I kept expecting them to break into the music from the Broadway production. This was a very well done film at the time with some very impressive sets that feel like real spaces. This is probably the best quality video on the DVD of the three movies. Everything is visible including the falling chandelier, the titles are readable and don't get cut off. One scene is done with a red light to very interesting effect when the Phantom arrives at a masquerade ball costumed as Death. With this film I think you are losing less against a more expensive separate release.

Amazing movies raped by garbage DVD transfer.......2002-10-10

I never realized people had the balls to make such abysmal tranfers of films and sell them on DVDs.

The title of Fritz Lang's film sums it up. It's misframed, scratchy, and fuzzy focused. You only see, "Metropo". The rest is off screen.

The DVD is complete garbage. If I could return it, I would.

Customer Reviews:

Ruined it........2004-01-06

Diamond Entertainment should be ashamed. I recently found a copy of this DVD for a cheap price, so I bought it. Little did I know I'd be getting a cheap DVD. The print of Phantom of the Opera is an unusually grainy one, even for this film. In some scenes, particularly the scene where Christine awakens in the Phantom's lair, the print is so dark it is difficult to see.
Another important item missing from this print is the two-strip technicolor Bal Masque scene, which, coming from a 1927 film, is powerful stuff.
In addition, the company has tried to make the DVD more interesting by inserting some random facts from the film's history. This would be fine, except that many of them are incorrect, for instance, Lon Chaney died in 1930, making only one film with sound. The DVD insists that Lon Chaney was an actor who was able to transition to the sound format!
The worst part, however, is the fact that the original organ music, so crucial to the original film, has been replaced with an entirely inappropriate orchestral score. The new score was not written for the film, so the dramatic tension of the original is completely lost.
Don't buy this copy. The double feature may lure you, but the movies themselves are poorly presented, anc superior versions can be purchased.

Who's the Nimrod?.......2003-08-31

Ahem! The cover of the box is The Phantom of Hammer's 1962 version. This is not Lon Chaney. This IS Herbert Lom.

Two great silent horror masterpieces on one DVD!.......2003-06-06

This is the Ultimate Silent Screen Horror Double Feature DVD release from Diamond Entertainment featuring two of the silent era's classic horror films "Nosferatu" (1922) and "The Phantom Of The Opera" (1925).Both films have been digitally remastered from the best availible film sources and have been correctly timed at its right projection speed! "The Phantom Of The Opera"s
musical score consists of a great classical music theme while "Nosferatu"s musical accompainement has a terrific organ score (the opening titles are set to the theme of Bach's 'Tocotta Fugue').While both films have excellent scores,there is one minor catch.The back of the box reads that "Phantom Of The Opera" is both in Color and Black & White,but the entire movie is in Black & White including the Color Masque-Ball sequence! There is also cool extras such as the Facts and Trivia in which it has biographies on "Phantom" star,the legendary Lon Chaney Sr. and "Nosferatu" director F.W. Murnau.The Photo Gallery consists of freeze-framed images from the two films.Although this ain't the greatest double-feature DVD of all time,this set is a definite must-see and is also worth the cheap money! Cheers to Diamond Entertainment for putting out this excellent DVD release!!

Two great silent masterpieces on 1 DVD!.......2003-06-01

This is the Silent Screen Horror Classics Double Feature of perhaps two of the best horror classics of the silent cinema:"Nosferatu" (1922) and "Phantom Of The Opera" which is released by Diamond Entertainment.This double-feature disc contains not only the two films,but also has great bonus features such as the Facts & Trivia about "Phantom" star Lon Chaney Sr. and "Nosferatu" director,the late F.W. Murnau.The Photo stills gallery is mostly composed of still screen shots of the two movies and the great part is that both films have been digitally remastered from the best availible film sources! So-so classical musical score is used for "Phantom Of The Opera" while "Nosferatu" contains a good organ score (w/the opening titles set to Bach's "Tacotta Fugue".).But be warned,the back of the box for this DVD says that "Phantom Of The Opera" is in both B&W and Color,but when watch that film,the ENTIRE film is in black & white including the two-color masque ball sequence.Nevertheless,it's a great DVD and recommended for any DVD collection! Cheers to Diamond Entertainment for making this DVD worth watchable!

Horror Classics Volume 8: The Phantom of the Opera, The Indestructible Man, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Nosferatu

Average customer rating:

Horrible Quality For Such Great Classics
Bindaas Collection

Horror Classics Volume 8: The Phantom of the Opera, The Indestructible Man, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Nosferatu
Starring: Horror Classics
Manufacturer: Mill Creek Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Horror | Independently Distributed | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Horror | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

Independently Distributed | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0009W307E
Release Date: 2004-01-01

Customer Reviews:

Horrible Quality For Such Great Classics.......2006-06-27

I recently purchased 2 separate DVDs from Mill Creek Entertainment, one having The Phantom of the Opera and The Indestructible Man, the other with The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Nosferatu. While it's great to have these films on DVD, be warned that the quality is not that great.

The Phantom of the Opera: This is the 1920's version, starring the great Lon Chaney as the Phantom. The film is probably the best version of the Phantom remakes, considering it focuses on the horror side and not the musical aspect.

The Indestructible Man: A b-movie with Chaney son, Lon Chaney Jr. as the lead. Truly forgettable, and it was also featured in an episode of the 90's show Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Also stars Lon Chaney. His makeup for his character Quasimodo is amazing.

Nosferatu: Max Shreck stars as the famous vampire and he never fails to provide audiences with scary moments.

Other than Indestructible Man, the 3 silent classics suffered in terms of quality and musical scoring. Many classics have had the restored treatment and therefore, have been re-released on special DVDs to provide audiences with a much clearer and more entertaining movie experience. As for the music, it does not match up to the scenes. A worker at Mill Creek must have pushed "repeat" with the music as the film was playing. It practically ruins the film and paralyzes the suspense.
Paying 2 dollars for these 4 films was ok for me, but if you're a fan of silent horror (or that certain b-movie that appeared in this set), check out the restored versions.

Bindaas Collection.......2006-01-12

This is a awesum out of this world kind, man. This collection is really good and priceless. It's an collector's dream to have a collection of this kind in their kitty.

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