DVD Collectors Online

Isle of the Dead, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: Isle of the Dead
Year: 1945
Director: Mark Robson
Rating: NR
Length: 71 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Mono,
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Boris Karloff
Ellen Drew
Marc Cramer
Katherine Emery
Helene Thimig

Plot:
Boris Karloff shares a quarantined house with other strangers on a plague-infested - perhaps spirit-haunted Isle of the Dead.

Extras:
Scene Access
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
Another Val Lewton movie that I enjoyed. Not as much as a few others in the set. But I did like it. I liked Karloff in this movie.  I also liked the superstitious old lady. Her thinking one of the guests is a vampire (or similar to one) was pretty interesting. Of course there is also the whole plague thing. I really can't put my finger on it... but for the most part of the movie the atmosphere is just off. It just didn't seem to be there at least not as good as the previous movies I watched in this set. But I can say this movie has a pretty strong ending.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Anything Goes on January 3rd, 2010)

The Comedy of Terrors, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Comedy of Terrors
Year of Release: 1963
Directed By: Jacques Tourneur
Starring: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Joyce Jameson, Basil Rathbone, Rhubarb
Genre: Horror, Comedy

Overview:
Four Masters of the Macabre star in this sinister and screamingly funny scare-fest! Waldo Trumbull (Vincent Price) is running his father-in-law's (Boris Karloff) funeral home business...straight into the ground! Hounded by his landlord (Basil Rathbone), Trumbull and his assistant (Peter Lorre) devise a way to make death pay: by increasing their customer base through murder and burying the secrets to their success...body by body!

My Thoughts:
This was a lot of fun.  Sure, it's silly, and there's some pretty broad slapstick here, but the script is witty and you've got such stars as Price, Lorre, Karloff and Rathbone.  They really work well together, especially Price and Lorre playing off each other.  Don't take it seriously, and just sit back and laugh.  My only criticism is that I wish they'd let up a bit on the annoying opera singing gag. 

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 3/5

2015 Horror Movie Count: 3

(From Horror/Halloween Marathon 2015 on October 5th, 2015)

Smallville Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

17. Legacy
When Jonathan begins to act strangely, Clark believes Jor-El is sending Jonathan messages through the key and is the cause for his father's withdrawal from the family.

My Thoughts:
This one was a really good episode... the return of Virgil Swann (Christopher Reeve)... a fight between Jonathan Kent and Lionel Luthor...  and the continuation of the arc that divulges Clark's origin. What more can you ask?

18. Truth
When Chloe accidentally inhales a mysterious krypto-gas, she discovers it acts as a truth serum to anyone who comes in contact with her and decides to take advantage of her new power by going to the Kents to find out Clark's secret.

My Thoughts:
This is an episode I liked a lot. In this one there is a few long running questions answered.  I think this episode ranks up there with my favorites. Besides... any reason for a Chloe episode makes me happy!

19. Memoria
Believing that key information about his father's past was lost when his memory was erased, Lex decides to join an experimental program with Dr. Garner to regain the information so he can turn his father over to the FBI.

My Thoughts:
This is a good episode... but couldn't call it one of my favorites. It does answer the question of what exactly is it that caused Lex and Lionel to be against each other as badly as they are. It was pretty cool to see Clark's earliest memory of his real mother placing him in the ship.

(From Smallville Marathon on August 6th, 2007)