Thrillers From The Vault: 8 Classic Horror Films Blu-Ray Review – Spine-Tinglers From Karloff, Lugosi & More

ENTER THE VAULT WITH 8 CLASSICS SHOCK-FULL OF THRILLS! 

THE BLACK ROOM (1935) – Twin brothers are born to a ruling family. One twin inherits a castle and becomes infamous for his sadistic behavior and murders the other twin, assuming his identity.

THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG (1939) – A doctor working on experiments to restore life to the dead is hanged for murder. Brought back to life by his assistant, he sets about murdering the jury that convicted him.

BEFORE I HANG (1940) – Sentenced to die for a mercy death, a doctor spends his final days on his experiments. Before his end, he injects himself with serum from a maniac’s blood to deadly effect.

THE MAN WITH NINE LIVES (1940) – A scientist seeks a cure for cancer by freezing bodies in suspended animation, eventually freezing himself. Thawed 10 years later, he continues his research using his enemies.

THE DEVIL COMMANDS (1941) – A scientist obsessed with communication beyond the grave registers brain activity in a corpse. When he escalates his work taking desperate measures, the bodies begin to pile up.

THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU (1942) – An addled scientist and a conniving huckster attempt scientific experiments in the basement of a hotel, leaving bodies piling up in the cellar in this comedic thriller.

THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (1943) – A 200-year old Vampire prowls the countryside feeding on villagers until a railroad spike is driven through his heart. He is entombed for decades until a German bomb releases him.

FIVE (1951) – A woman and four men survive a nuclear explosion and seek shelter in a house. They must work together, but their clashing visions of the future could lead to their destruction.

For thoughts on Thrillers From The Vault: 8 Classic Horror Films Collection, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

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Video Quality

Thrillers From The Vault: 8 Classic Horror Films Collection comes to Blu-Ray with eight films spread over four discs. With most of these films being so short, it is not an issue to have two films per disc. These films share many of the same qualities, so I will mostly be judging them in groups while pointing out noticeable differences when necessary. Mill Creek Entertainment has been unable to do any additional restoration for these films, so the quality is based on whatever masters they were provided by Sony. Overall, these transfers are a step up from the very disappointing Sci-Fi Collection counterpart released at the same time as this one. No one presentation in this set is a revelation, but most of the movies hold up at least a pretty decent level of quality for the value. Every film suffers from a bit of print damage, compression artifacting, and other digital anomalies, but the severity varies from film to film.

Almost all of these films I would deem to be in agreeable shape with only The Man With Nine Lives having an egregious downturn in the last 10 minutes of the picture. Most of the others are pretty consistent from beginning to end at whatever level of quality they are delivering. Contrast balance in the grayscale, density and fine detail are all of pleasant enough quality. While far from flawless, they do not showcase substantial instances of macroblocking or other digital anomalies. Print damage makes itself known at points throughout, but most of it is not too distracting with only fleeting lines and splotches. A lot of the natural film grain remains and allows for some detail. The greyscale has some flicker and fluctuation, but we have seen much worse. When it comes to a Mill Creek release, we are happy these transfers look as good as they do. 

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray set presents these eight films with DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio tracks that are acceptable while still succumbing to some age-related anomalies. The score maintains a decent fidelity among these titles, but you can hear a bit of strain in the upper registers at points. Dialogue comes through clearly throughout this set of films as it plays well with competing sounds. These films employ some atmospheric sound effects in the mix that thankfully do not get muddled. These films are working from a vintage sound design, and these tracks do their best to bring them to life. All the films included on this set have optional English subtitles provided. 

Special Features

Disc One

• Madness and Mayhem: A new nearly 37-minute featurette in which film historian C. Courtney Joyner discusses the place of horror at Columbia Pictures in the 1930s and 40s. This is really well produced with great insights and clips.  

• The Black Door Brain Commentary: Film historian Dr. Steve Haberman provides an information-packed commentary track in which he discusses the themes of the narrative, the legacy of the feature, the background of the performers, the technical achievements and more. 

• The Man They Could Not Hang Commentary: Film Historian C. Courtney Joyner and Cereal at Midnight host Heath Holland give a detailed overview of the feature in which they discuss it in a historical context, give details about the production, share insights about the cast and crew and much more. These two have a good rapport and keep things entertaining throughout. 

Disc Three

• The Devil Commands Audio Commentary: Film Historian Tom Weaver provides a thoughtfully researched and entertaining commentary track in which he discusses the career of Boris Karloff, the evolution of the story, where this fits into the output of Columbia horror, the background of the ensemble players and more. 

• The Boogie Man Will Get You Audio Commentary: The crew from The Monster Party Podcast including James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, Larry Strothe and Matt Weinhold provide a lively commentary track for the feature. In this track, the crew provides a great amount of historical tidbits including background information on the actors who pop up on screen, how this blends horror and comedy elements, the technical detail of the feature and much more. These guys are a wealth of information while also having a fun dynamic between one another that will keep you chuckling. 

Final Thoughts

The new Thrillers From The Vault: 8 Classic Horror Films Collection from Mill Creek Entertainment offers up a selection of films that are quite a treat for old school horror fiends. While they may not be on the A-list in terms of public recognition, there is so much fun to be had from icons of the genre. The A/V presentation for the set could be better, but it is not a trainwreck by any means. Mill Creek has also delivered a nice selection of bonus features to boost the value of the package. The films are worth owning, and if you can find it for a good price the set is not a bad addition to your collection. Recommended 

Thrillers From The Vault: 8 Classic Horror Films Collection is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Mill Creek Entertainment has supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.