All which have stood the test of time. Any day is a good day for a scare and with Christmas around the corner, these horror classics should find their way into every horror fan's stockings.
Many thanks to Rhino Home Video for re-releasing these five classics onto DVD, giving fans and newbies alike the chance to enjoy stories that boggle the mind and make you think twice before even going to the bathroom.
CLassic #1: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Probably the most famous of the five DVDs is Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde is one of those black-and-white classics my girlfriend kept trying to get me to watch. I thank Rhino for the opportunity to review this classic. Dr. Jekyll's experiment to separate the soul from the mind and release our inhibitions backfires and turns Jekyll into the villainous Mr. Hyde. Enjoying the good life, Mr. Hyde partakes in, Jekyll realizes his wicked ways and the scientist finds it hard to become the good man he once was. This psychological thriller about the dangers of scientific experimentation and of ignoring your conscious today still entertains and intrigues. Great acting with classic cheesy effects, this movie is a classic no one should miss.
Classic #2: Man Beast
I remember this movie from the classic 80s late night shows. Connie Hayward is in search of her missing brother who has gone off to find the legendary Yeti. Along with her friends, Hud and Steve, the trio meet a doctor obsessed with legendary beast and his assistant, Varga who has his own agenda. Suddenly, members of the exhibition turn up missing and the strange connection Varga has with the Yeti is revealed. This movie's attempts at being serious succeeds in the end. You have to admire the filmmaker's attempts to scare without use of the special effects we have today. There is even an underlying message about humankind's annoying need to discover the unknown and share it with the world whether that discovery wants to be shared or not.
Classic #3: Dance of Death
This movie is possibly the worst of the bunch. When bodies start turning up with their eyes gouged out, Mathius (played by Boris Karloff), a wealthy maker of deadly toys fears someone in his family may have passed an ancestral curse where paranoia takes over and anyone who stares at the carrier must be terminated. In an effort to make sure no one in his family passes the curse, Mathius invites his family members to his mansion to kill them all one by one with the assistance of his toys. This movie is bad! It lacks focus and doesn't take advantage of Karloff's expertise in the horror field. Karloff is great as Mathius, but the film becomes slightly confusing and starts to veer off near the end. The outcome is pretty obvious as soon as one family member brings her boyfriend.