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Island of Doomed Men (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Powerhouse Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (14th October 2024). |
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The Film
 Six bone-chilling tales from the vaults of Columbia Pictures, starring a host of the classic horror genre’s most celebrated names, including Ralph Bellamy (Lady on a Train), Nina Foch (Escape in the Fog), Rose Hobart (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), Jack Holt (Cat People), Boris Karloff (The Criminal Code), Peter Lorre (M), and Fay Wray (Thunderbolt). In Behind the Mask, the dastardly Dr ‘X’ murders his patients and smuggles narcotics in their coffins. Black Moon sees a cursed daughter return to the island where her parents perished in a voodoo ceremony. In Air Hawks, pioneering aviators are tormented by rivals operating a horrifying death ray. Island of Doomed Men sees an undercover agent infiltrating a remote penal colony presided over by a madman. In Cry of the Werewolf, a beautiful female lycanthrope vows to murder those who discover her family’s secret. And, for those whose nerves are still intact, The Soul of a Monster tells the tale of a woman who makes a diabolical deal to save her husband’s life. This essential three-disc collection marks the UK Blu-ray premiere of all six films, and features an array of fascinating contextualising extras, including newly recorded commentaries, critical appreciations, and rare archival short films, as well as a 100-page book containing new and archival writings. Strictly limited to 6,000 individually numbered units.
Video
Three of these films in this set (Behind the Mask, Island of Doomed Men and Air Hawk) aren't horror; Mask is a crime melodrama with some macabre touches; Doomed is a prison drama set on an island and Hawks is business take over drama with a sci-fi twist; the remaining three do fit the Horror brief of the Columbia Horror title well. All are interesting and worth seeing, filling in little gaps in the history of American big screen cinema of the '30s and '40s. From the booklet: Behind the Mask, Black Moon, Air Hawks, Island of Doomed Men, Cry of the Werewolf and The Soul of a Monster were sourced from Sony’s HD remasters. The films’ original mono soundtracks were remastered at the same time. Don’t Kill Your Friends was transferred in High Definition from a 35mm finegrain master composite print by the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).The 1930's Films: Behind the Mask, Black Moon (B&W and Tinted Versions), Air Hawks Pretty standard for monochrome 1930's films. They look pretty sweet if soft with some very infrequent signs of age-related wear and tear but I stress only occasionally. Black levels and contrast are carefully balanced; shadow detail is mostly strong but there is some crush. Contrast is supportive, especially in scenes with highlights like the scene in Behind the Mask where Jack Holt is on an operating table with Edward Van Sloan leering over him with a bight surgical light overhead. For the most part these films are in fine condition and the restorations very good stock footage looks grainier than the material shot specifically for the productions. Film grain is ever present and pretty course on some exterior shots. Detail mostly decent although the soft look does mitigate it in anything other than closeups or some medium shots. There are the usual mild density changes in optical processes. These films can't have been an easy job for the encoders but they've done their usual bang-up job on these titles. Tinted sequences in Black Moon make little appreciable difference to the detail, black levels and contrast comments. Gamma is perfectly balanced in the monochrome with no colour bias. The tinting is very well done and lends those scenes great atmosphere be they orange (ala The Day the Earth Caught Fire, 1961) or especially in green. The 1940s Films: Island of Doomed, Cry of the Werewolf, The Soul of the Monster These films seem to benefit from improving technology and film stocks with greater levels fine detail being more pparent if not stellar. Sharper, crisper images although there are instances of optical softness and mild crush. Black levels are as strong as ever and contrast supportive. There is some very mild print damage here and there but it's blink and you'll miss it which is probably what happened in the restoration; some brief speckling in Cry of the Werewolf for instance. The exception is a short bit at 8:00 in Island of Doomed Men; a shot of Peter Lorre looking shift. Small amount of what appears to be water damage, but it's brief. I also noticed some density shift issues but again nothing too distracting. As with the other films in the set gamma is perfectly balanced and the encoding and mastering as strong as ever. Overall this is a string set of transfers that showcase the generally excellent Sony masters off on their best possible behaviour shy of 4K UHD and HDR grades ('A-'). 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 1.37:1 / 68:33, 68:39, 68:32, 67:21, 63:05, 61:40.
Audio
English LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, 16-bit) Subtitles: English HoH Early sound soundtracks with plenty of mild hiss, especially noticeable on quieter passages. Dialogue is always clear and the occasional melodramatic scoring robust and well rendered (opening and closing credits. There's obviously no range but these tracks are par for the course with others I've heard over the years reviewing discs from this period. By the '40s fidelity improved several notches; it's interesting to notice how the sound recording technology rapidly improves across the three thirties films and is noticeably less fuzzy in the '40s efforts. Hard of hearing subs are top notch (overall, 'B').
Extras
Audio commentary on Behind the Mask with film historian Daniel Kramer (2024) Audio commentary on Black Moon with film historians Kim Newman and Stephen Jones (2024) Audio commentary on Air Hawks by film historian Jeremy Arnold (2024) Audio commentary on Island of Doomed Men by film historians Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson (2024) Audio commentary on Cry of the Werewolf by film historian Eloise Ross (2024) Audio commentary on The Soul of a Monster by film historians Stephen Jones and Kim Newman (2024) A cadre of strong yaktraks cover every film in the set and focus on all the usual subjects one would expect, some more academic, some more nuts and bolts. All are very listenable and chatty; the Newman-Jones tracks are up to their usual high standard, but they've been at this for over twenty years and have become very familiar with their approach. The other commentators are newer but no less interesting or relevant in their coverage. All are presented in lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 192Kbps) with no hard of hearing subtitles. Being modern recordings there are absolutely no blemishes or sound problems on the sections I sampled. "The British Entertainment History Project (BEHP) Interview with Constance Cummings Conducted by Row Fowler on 25 June 1997" excerpts play as an alternate audio over Behind the Mask (68:29) Cummings (1910-2005) gives good value in a career-spanning interview with Fowler doing a great job in getting her to discuss everything of interest. Sound quality is excellent on the extracts I listened to with no issues of note. Presented in lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 112Kbps); no hard of hearing subtitles. "A Gentleman of Leisure: Sheldon Hall on Jack Holt" 2024 interview (11:01) "Darkness of the Morbid Brain: Jonathan Rigby on Peter Lorre and Columbia Pictures" 2024 interview (16:33) "Casting Shadows: Tom Vincent on the Cinematography of Burnett Guffey" 2024 interview (20:26) 48:00 worth of new interviews lending contextual added value to the films in this set. Hall fills us in on forgotten '30s leading man Holt (Behind the Mask), Hall is always an interesting, learned listen (as befitting his academic background) and I've seen him on many discs in the past. Rigby covers Lorre (Island of Doomed Men) and his work for Columbia, kicking off with wonderfully florid quotes from reviews about Lorre and Mad Love (1935); he's on top form here. Vincent confidently discusses the career of ace cinematographer Guffey (The Soul of a Monster) who would go on to lens big hitters like In a Lonely Place (1950), From Here to Eternity (1953), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and cult favourites like Mr. Sardonicus, Homicidal (both 1961) and two entertaining Matt Helm-Dean Martin romps: The Silencers (1966) and The Ambushers (1967). Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz = all featurettes; 112Kbps = Jack Holt / Burnett Guffey; 192Kbps = Peter Lorre) with no hard of hearing subtitles. Behind the Mask Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (23 images) Black Moon Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (27 images) Air Hawks Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (23 images) Island of Doomed Men Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (30 images) Cry of the Werewolf Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (46 images) The Soul of a Monster Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (22 images) 171 images for all six films in HD. "New York to Berlin in Twenty-Six Hours" 1933 short film (1:17) "Don't Kill Your Friends" 1943 short film (14:03) These are obviously not up to the visual and aural standard of the features but are still in decent nick and not far behind; probably from print sources. Presented in monochrome 1080p24 1.37:1 with the first, shorter piece being lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 192Kbps); the longer short is uncompressed English LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, 16-bit). The first is fleeting but fun, the second is a training film warning about the consequences of pilots not being careful illustrated by the character of Dilbert, an il disciplined fool who cuts corners which lead to injury and death of colleagues, played by Huntz Hall. Hard of hearing subtitles are provided. 100-page book with new essays by Bethan Roberts, Ellen Wright, Sergio Angelini, Paul Duane, Tim Snelson and Jeff Billington; archival profiles of actors Boris Karloff, Fay Wray, and Rochelle Hudson; archival reports on the death of Air Hawks actor Wiley Post; extracts from Cry of the Werewolf’s pressbook; a new piece on actor Rose Hobart’s blacklisting; new writing on the short films; and film credits The usual chunky hardcopy tome that is almost worth the price of the boxed set all by itself. Each film is covered with excellent new essays and we also get plenty of other articles of interest to sweeten the deal.
Packaging
Not sent for review.
Overall
Another superb Powerhouse Indicator Series boxed set just in time for Halloween, although half the set are crime thrillers rather than proper horror. Image and sound are strong, extras superb. A winner ('A-').
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