Vincent Price Collection II

Scream Factory pays loving tribute once again to the late, great Vincent Price in another extensive horror Blu-ray release. The seven films in "The Vincent Price Collection II" have been meticulously restored in high definition for the very first time, and come with the abundance of bonus material that only Scream Factory can bring.

These aren't the highly popular Price films that perhaps fans were wanting, save for the well-known "The House on Haunted Hill," which has William Castle's gimmicky stamp all over it. Of the seven films (cased on a 4-disc set), two are inferior sequels. "The Return of the Fly" and "Dr. Phibes Rises Again" weren't as popular as their predecessors, but should be viewed for sheer fun value alone. It should come as no surprise that those two titles come with the least amount of special features.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is "The House on Haunted Hill," a gothic ghost story where Price locks a group of strangers in a supposed haunted house and offers to pay them $10,000 if they survive the night. The film's Blu-ray transfer (in black and white) looks tremendous, and the three featurettes on the disc are highly enjoyable. "The Art of Fear" and "Working with Vincent Price" talk about the legacy of Price's horror films.

We all knew that the Master of Terror's films were funny, but who knew some of them were actually filmed as comedies in the first place? "The Raven" and "The Comedy of Terrors" fall into that comedy category, and as Price explains in his introductions and parting words for both features, the filmmakers and actors purposely hammed it up. "The Raven" uses the Edgar Allen Poe short story only as a starting point, then veers into a totally different direction, telling the farce of two competing magicians. These two films, plus "The Last Man on Earth," were penned by Richard Matheson, and all films have a "Richard Matheson Storyteller" documentary as a special feature.

Another Edgar Allen Poe adaptation, "The Tomb of Ligeia," gets included on Disc 2, and a 32-page handsome booklet (featuring rare photos, posters, and essays) is a nice companion piece for these seven Vincent Price films.

"Vincent Price Collection II"
Blu-ray
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