Occupying the fourth spot in our Six Gothic Tales is…The Raven

ONCE UPON A MIDNIGHT DREARY…

Although The Raven is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous poems, the lack of a narrative hook initially stumped screenwriting legend Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Duel) until he realised that the idea of adapting the poem was so ridiculous that he might as well make it a comedy.

And what a comedy! Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff play rival magicians whose paths cross when Dr Craven (Price) hears Dr Bedlo tap-tap-tapping on his windowpane. For Bedlo has been turned into a raven by Dr Scarabus (Karloff), and when transformed back into his old self he naturally vows revenge. But the scripted rivalry is as nothing compared to three great horror masters relentlessly upstaging each other - even a young Jack Nicholson, as Bedlo’s son, barely gets a look-in.

If there’s not much authentic Poe in these sorcery shenanigans, the sets and cinematography more than compensate: director Roger Corman was by then a master of conjuring Gothic atmosphere on a very modest budget.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• The Two Faces of Peter Lorre (1984, 61 mins), Harun Farocki’s career-spanning portrait from Lorre’s early days in the theatre alongside Brecht to his untimely death
• Richard Matheson: Storyteller, an interview with the legendary novelist and screenwriter
• Corman’s Comedy of Poe, an interview with Roger Corman about making The Raven
• The Trick, a short film about rival magicians by Rob Green (The Bunker)
• Promotional Record
• Stills and Poster Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Vladimir Zimakov

Gothic Tale Number Five: The Haunted Palace

ONE BECOMES ACCUSTOMED TO THE DARKNESS…

Although recognised as part of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe cycle (its title comes from a Poe poem), The Haunted Palace has a much more significant place in film history for being the first high-profile adaptation of the work of H.P. Lovecraft, in this case his novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.

Ward is one of two characters played by Vincent Price, the other being Ward’s great-great-grandfather Joseph Curwen, burned as a warlock 110 years before. When Ward returns to the village of Arkham to reclaim the family mansion, his striking resemblance to his ancestor is just the first of many macabre events that proceed to unfold, including the screen debut of Lovecraft’s legendary Necronomicon.

As before, Corman and his team worked wonders with their modest budget, with Daniel Haller’s sets amongst the most elaborate in all the Poe cycle, enhanced by genuinely creepy moments such as the crowd of deformed villagers still living under Curwen’s curse.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by Vincent Price’s biographer David Del Valle and writer Derek Botelho
• Kim Newman on H.P. Lovecraft, a look at the relationship between Lovecraft and the cinema, and the challenges of adapting his work
• A Change of Poe, an interview with Roger Corman
• Stills and Poster Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin

And the last of the Six Gothic Tales is…The Tomb Of Ligeia

THE EYES, THEY CONFOUND ME!

For the last of his cycle of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, Roger Corman asked screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown) to turn Poe’s story ‘Ligeia’ into another vehicle for Vincent Price, who once again plays a man so haunted by his past that he is unable to function in the present.

In this case the past comes in the form of his now-deceased first wife Ligeia, who casts a long shadow over an ill-advised second marriage to a woman who resembles her (Elizabeth Shepherd), particularly when he becomes convinced that Ligeia’s spirit is returning to him in the form of a black cat. But is this actually a delusion on his part?

Although the doom-laden narrative and Price’s tormented performance had become well established ingredients in the Corman Poe cycle, the film looks strikingly different from the earlier films, with much of it taking place in broad daylight, and shot in actual English locations (notably Stonehenge and Norfolk’s Castle Acre Priory) instead of Hollywood sets.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional isolated music and effects track
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by director and producer Roger Corman
• Audio commentary by star Elizabeth Shepherd
• All-new interviews with crew members including cowriter/ production assistant Paul Mayersberg, first assistant director David Tringham, clapper loader Bob Jordan and composer Kenneth V. Jones
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil

Here’s the full specs and artwork for The Killers. Release date: December 8th.

THE MAN WHO WANTED TO DIE…

Ernest Hemingway’s spare, laconic short story about two professional killers and their encounter with a mysteriously unresisting victim was significantly expanded into this all-time film noir classic, which Hemingway said was the first adaptation of his work that he really admired.

As washed-up boxer turned hitman victim Ole ‘Swede’ Andreson, Burt Lancaster made his screen debut, and was catapulted to instant stardom, not least for the screen chemistry that he showed opposite sultry Ava Gardner, whose Kitty Collins is the very personification of the femme fatale.

German émigré Robert Siodmak was one of the directors who helped create film noir, and Woody Bredell’s high-contrast cinematography, all harsh lighting and long shadows, elevates the film far above a conventional crime drama. But even on that level it’s a first-rate demonstration of how to maintain narrative tension, with the flashback structure withholding crucial details until almost the very end.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• Newly restored High Definition (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by Universal
• Original uncompressed PCM mono 1.0 audio
• Isolated Music & Effects soundtrack to highlight Miklós Rózsa’s famous score
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
• Frank Krutnik on The Killers, a video piece by the author of In a Lonely Street, which introduces the film and offers a detailed commentary on four key scenes
• Heroic Fatalism, a video essay adapted from Philip Booth’s comparative study of multiple versions of The Killers (Hemingway, Siodmak, Tarkovsky, Siegel)
• Three archive radio pieces inspired by The Killers: the 1949 Screen Director’s Playhouse adaptation with Burt Lancaster and Shelley Winters; a 1946 Jack Benny spoof; the 1958 Suspense episode ‘Two for the Road’ which reunited original killers William Conrad and Charles McGraw
• Stills and posters gallery
• Trailers for The Killers, Brute Force, The Naked City and Rififi
• Reversible sleeve featuring one of the original posters and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw
• Collector’s booklet containing new writing by Sergio Angelini and archive interviews with director Robert Siodmak, producer Mark Hellinger and cinematographer Woody Bredell, illustrated with original production stills

Comparison between the Arrow Video and Uncut Edition of Shivers :

Parasiten-Mörder - Schnittberichte.com (Detaillierte Fassungs- und Zensurinformationen zu DVD, Blu-ray, Games ...)

Stray Cat Rock: The Collection | Blu-Ray Review | Film @ The Digital Fix

Film 8
Video 8
Audio 7
Extras 6

Wow that Japanese series looks all kinds of :censored: ed-up. Might have to add that to my shopping list.

Good to see the Price, Corman, Poe films getting some love. For anyone who has not seen them, but enjoys Hammer or Amicus films, they are a must see.

I reviewed the old MGM discs a while ago if anyone wants more information on the films:

House of Usher
Pit and the Pendulum
Tales of Terror
The Raven
Haunted Palace
Tomb of Ligeia

Stray cat rock collection has arrived (with 18 cert on box) with the ton of Japanese titles lined up, about time I started making headway into them!

Likwise!
My correct set arrived today as well!

My personalised Withnail & I set arrived today along with a correct version of Stray Cat.