Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of)

This legacy set is the best way to own "Frankenstein". There is commentary on both this film and the equally renowned "Bride of Frankenstein". If you get the 75th anniversary edition, you don't have that great sequel. Although Frankenstein was full of the existential doubts that were common in precode horror, Karloff gave the monster a kind of pathos that you can't imagine any other actor giving to that role. "Bride of Frankenstein" is a high quality production that is a bit of a miracle. Made after the advent of the production code, director James Whale had to play the censors like a violin to get this movie made. He appeased the censors by adding more and more religious imagery and then got away with portraying the Frankenstein monster as Christ at the crucifixion. "Son of Frankenstein" is a great view for reasons the makers never intended - it is the film spoofed in "Young Frankenstein" right down to Igor and the one-armed policeman and the game of darts. House of Frankenstein and Ghost of Frankenstein are passable sequels, and at this low price I just consider them to be middling quality extras.

What is not great are the double-sided DVDs which - for some unknown reason - Universal keeps putting its classic collections on. They can last, but you have to be both careful with them and lucky that they work OK to begin with. What is also not great is that this set lacks the wonderful 90 minute documentary "Universal Horror" that is in the 75th anniversary edition of Frankenstein.

The extras in this set are as follows:
Van Helsing director Stephen Sommers hosts an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how these original Frankenstein films inspired his film.

"The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster," an original documentary.

"She's Alive!": Creating the bride of Frankenstein, an original documentary.

Film historians provide insightful commentary to Frankenstein (Rudy Behlmer) and Bride of Frankenstein (Scott MacQueen) on an alternate audio track.

Original theatrical trailers, plus the 1931, 1938, and 1951 reissue trailers for Frankenstein.

Boo!: A short film made from what is left of 1930's "The Cat Creeps", which was a sound version of the classic 1927 silent horror film "The Cat and the Canary".

Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein original poster and photo galleries.

Newly remastered audio track.

I really enjoyed all this movies; almost as much as when I was a kid watching them on TV as Saturday afternoon matinees. The stand outs are definitely the original Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. I found the video and audio quality more than acceptable. The bonus material is almost worth the price of admission... almost. It amazing how well this films stand the test of time. I'm very pleased with this purchase.

I just purchased this set. Upon opening the box, one of the disc was just floating around in the box. This disc had multiple scratches and marks. I attempted to play this disc in my player but it did not play. I tried another player and still no luck. I finally put it in my laptop and it played the House of Frankenstein. The movies are excellent but the quality of the discs are extermely poor. It appears to be a manufacturing issue. I hope in the future that the quality of these discs are made better.
Ms. J.

My problem with the Universal Monster DVD collections is that the sound is so poor. I know that these movies had sound (I think it was called Monomorphic) which tended to be very loud and very soft and would rise and drop in the movie soundtrack, but in all these movies, I guess the sound is not compatable with today's HD ditigal so you get movies that have a restored picture but the poor sound reception does not really work that well in your HD TV, and can ruin both the movie and your emjoyment of it.

For the price and the quantity you can't go wrong. the Legacy sets are great!