You've talked me into it! Now that these restorations are both available, I'll order the double-feature this week and set up a Friday late-night fright fest. I agree that it's hard to go wrong with Hollywood pre-coders - and Michael Curtiz, for that matter, as well.
A really great review - led me to getting the Blu-ray of Dr X - previously I had DVD version. In the UK HMV released Mystery of Wax Museum within its Premium Collection series. I need to go through the DVDs to find if I have copy of Waking Dead. Eureka in the UK have been releasing lots of old horror films featuring Karloff and Lugosi including Murders in the Zoo. Thank you.
Thank you for this review! The Blu-Ray of Doctor X is certainly fantastic. I play a game called Call of Cthulhu with my friends and this film is the foundation I used for a creepy adventure!
Indeed, "The Walking Dead" is criminally underrated and deserves a restored home video release. I've been hoping and waiting for an announcement. Do you feel the odds of it getting the Warner Archive BD treatment are in our favor? Warner Archive has been releasing some weird (but welcome) titles lately, such as "I Wouldn't Be In Your Shoes," which I never anticipated ever seeing it in high definition. If a poverty row gem like that gets the BD treatment, I feel as though Warner Archive could make the leap of faith. Maybe in time for Halloween...who knows?
Thanks for these excellent reviews. I have both Curtiz films in different formats, but now I've just ordered them in Blu-ray. I love the 2-strip films in any genre but the process is particularly atmospheric in the horror genre.
These are tremendous restorations so you’ll feel like you’re seeing them for the first time!! Especially Wax Museum which had a terrible dvd with the wrong color.
Love hearing you talk about these Warner Archive releases, your passion for them comes across in spades, I just wish WA titles were better available in the UK!
Thank you! Hopefully they eventually have easier distribution over there at some point. Over here it’s hard to get Indicator titles without paying top dollar so I can commiserate.
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader i read this film and the wax museum one were actually region free even though they are labelled as region A films? does anyone know if this is true?
Only one strip (at least when it was filmed), not two. (It's two-color, not two-strip.) Edit: I just noticed the back of the Blu-ray packaging also says it was "filmed in rare two-strip Technicolor". Well, Warner got it wrong on their own packaging then. :)
Dang I’ve been saying it wrong all these years. You’re right. It is indeed two color and not two strip since everything was done via one piece of film instead of multiple.
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader I might have mentioned this in my edit after your reply, so I'll say it again. I noticed this morning that the back of the Blu-ray makes the same mistake. Although to be fair my understanding is that they sort of used two strips of film bonded together for the final prints, so two-strip is sort of accurate in that respect, but it certainly was not "filmed in two-strip Technicolor", which wasn't a thing; they only started using multiple strips for filming with the three-strip process.
@@Eyedunno that is correct. I think the terms two color process and two strip Technicolor started getting interchanged and used when it should just be two color process. That’s why Scott MacQueen always says two color in the extras.
This is a strange movie. I don’t think that I really understand it all. If I watch it again, it will be with one of the commentary tracks that you describe in your review. It definitely reminds me of other precode horror movies that I have seen such as Murders at the Zoo and Island of Lost Souls. I agree with you about Curtiz. My favorite Michael Curtiz film is The Breaking Point.
This is one of those rare films that really grows on you. At first I thought it was stagey from the play source and didn’t stack up against Wax Museum. But I kept watching both every Halloween and found myself liking Dr X more and more to the point where I now cherish it it and have them at equal ranks since each film has elements the other doesn’t have. The MacQueen commentary on Dr X is one of the finest ever recorded. Absolutely essential.
Has there been any attempt to locate and restore other Warner Brothers 2-strip Technicolor movies? Did Jack Warner have any other 2-strip color movies in his personal collection? I know that WB lost many (most?) of their 2-strip color movies but it would be wonderful to rescue as much as they can since their work on these 2 films was so successful.
You've talked me into it! Now that these restorations are both available, I'll order the double-feature this week and set up a Friday late-night fright fest. I agree that it's hard to go wrong with Hollywood pre-coders - and Michael Curtiz, for that matter, as well.
These restorations are like seeing them for the first time! And the B&W Dr. X is really something.
Big fan of Doctor X even a bigger fan of Lee Tracy keep up the great work.
A really great review - led me to getting the Blu-ray of Dr X - previously I had DVD version. In the UK HMV released Mystery of Wax Museum within its Premium Collection series. I need to go through the DVDs to find if I have copy of Waking Dead. Eureka in the UK have been releasing lots of old horror films featuring Karloff and Lugosi including Murders in the Zoo.
Thank you.
Ive never seen this. Trying to put together a "short" list of scary titles to purchase for October so i think ill put these near the top!
Dr X and Wax Museum are one of a kind and musts for classic horror nerds.
Oh gosh there’s still so many classic horrors I haven’t gotten yet…😂
Thank you for this review! The Blu-Ray of Doctor X is certainly fantastic. I play a game called Call of Cthulhu with my friends and this film is the foundation I used for a creepy adventure!
Hope you had some synthetic flesh!🤣
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader Indeed, I gave my players “the recipe” for synthetic flesh, should they ever need it!
Indeed, "The Walking Dead" is criminally underrated and deserves a restored home video release. I've been hoping and waiting for an announcement. Do you feel the odds of it getting the Warner Archive BD treatment are in our favor? Warner Archive has been releasing some weird (but welcome) titles lately, such as "I Wouldn't Be In Your Shoes," which I never anticipated ever seeing it in high definition. If a poverty row gem like that gets the BD treatment, I feel as though Warner Archive could make the leap of faith. Maybe in time for Halloween...who knows?
I think it definitely could happen. Maybe not this year since their Halloween offering is the 1931 Jekyll and Hyde.
Thanks for these excellent reviews. I have both Curtiz films in different formats, but now I've just ordered them in Blu-ray. I love the 2-strip films in any genre but the process is particularly atmospheric in the horror genre.
These are tremendous restorations so you’ll feel like you’re seeing them for the first time!! Especially Wax Museum which had a terrible dvd with the wrong color.
Love hearing you talk about these Warner Archive releases, your passion for them comes across in spades, I just wish WA titles were better available in the UK!
Thank you! Hopefully they eventually have easier distribution over there at some point. Over here it’s hard to get Indicator titles without paying top dollar so I can commiserate.
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader i read this film and the wax museum one were actually region free even though they are labelled as region A films? does anyone know if this is true?
@@delflord I’m not for sure actually. I’ve never checked wac discs but it is possible they’re not region locked on certain titles.
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader thank you
@@delflord Hey Marc. Just to say I have both of these in the UK and they are Region Free (along with every other WAC Blu-ray I've purchased).
Well done video!!! I just watched Dr. X. Great film despite Lee Tracy.
Thanks!! I'll admit I found Tracy maybe a little grating the first time I saw the film but he quickly grew on me over rewatches and in other films.
Got mine my friend, so awesome!!! love it
I wonder why Jack Warner had these two great films in his personal archive, if he wasn't a big fan of horror, I find that so interesting.
Apparently because they were early color and they wound up in his personal vault that was never really checked over.
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader true
Only one strip (at least when it was filmed), not two. (It's two-color, not two-strip.)
Edit: I just noticed the back of the Blu-ray packaging also says it was "filmed in rare two-strip Technicolor". Well, Warner got it wrong on their own packaging then. :)
Dang I’ve been saying it wrong all these years. You’re right. It is indeed two color and not two strip since everything was done via one piece of film instead of multiple.
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader I might have mentioned this in my edit after your reply, so I'll say it again. I noticed this morning that the back of the Blu-ray makes the same mistake. Although to be fair my understanding is that they sort of used two strips of film bonded together for the final prints, so two-strip is sort of accurate in that respect, but it certainly was not "filmed in two-strip Technicolor", which wasn't a thing; they only started using multiple strips for filming with the three-strip process.
@@Eyedunno that is correct. I think the terms two color process and two strip Technicolor started getting interchanged and used when it should just be two color process. That’s why Scott MacQueen always says two color in the extras.
This is a strange movie. I don’t think that I really understand it all. If I watch it again, it will be with one of the commentary tracks that you describe in your review.
It definitely reminds me of other precode horror movies that I have seen such as Murders at the Zoo and Island of Lost Souls.
I agree with you about Curtiz. My favorite Michael Curtiz film is The Breaking Point.
This is one of those rare films that really grows on you. At first I thought it was stagey from the play source and didn’t stack up against Wax Museum. But I kept watching both every Halloween and found myself liking Dr X more and more to the point where I now cherish it it and have them at equal ranks since each film has elements the other doesn’t have.
The MacQueen commentary on Dr X is one of the finest ever recorded. Absolutely essential.
@@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader Thank you.
Has there been any attempt to locate and restore other Warner Brothers 2-strip Technicolor movies? Did Jack Warner have any other 2-strip color movies in his personal collection? I know that WB lost many (most?) of their 2-strip color movies but it would be wonderful to rescue as much as they can since their work on these 2 films was so successful.
I think they have some elements in the vaults but I don’t know about any specifics other than what’s appeared on video in the past.
Synthetic flesh...
Does anyone know if these are available in Region 2 for the UK?