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Fox Horror Classics Vol. 2
Chandu the Magician (1932) Dr. Renault's Secret (1942) Dragonwyck (1946)
Chandu the Magician
(1932) Megalomaniac and would-be world dominator Roxor has kidnapped Robert Regent, along with his death ray invention, in hopes of using it to degenerate humanity into mindless brutes, leaving himself as Earth’s supreme intelligence. Faced with revealing the machine’s secrets or allowing his family to die a horrible death at the hands of Roxor, Regent’s only hope lies with the intervention of his brother-in-law, the be-turbaned yogi and magician Chandu, who has the power to make men see what is not there. Dr. Renault's Secret (1942) A young man visits his fiancée in a remote French villa where her scientist father (George Zucco) resides. There he meets Noel (J. Carrol Naish), Dr. Renault’s mysterious assistant, who has a strange attraction to Renault’s daughter. Soon he learns Noel’s true identity: he is an ape that was turned into a man by Renault’s bizarre experiments! Dragonwyck (1946) When Miranda Wells was invited to live with her dark and charming distant cousin Nicholas Van Ryan in order to school his daughter at Dragonwyck manor she was a naive farm girl. As she watches the dark secrets of the house unfold, she becomes more aware of selfishness, desire, and insanity while becoming more involved with Nicholas. The closer Miranda grows to the community and the Van Ryan’s, the more she wishes she had never come to Dragonwyck. |
Titles
Chandu the Magician Excerpt from the NY Times HERE.
Chandu the Magician is now available on Blu-ray - reviewed and compared HERE to this DVD.
Dr. Renault's Secret
Based upon the bestselling novel
“Dragonwyck” by Anya
Seton, this is Joseph L.
Mankiewicz’ directorial debut.
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Posters
Theatrical Releases: 1932 - 1946
DVD Review: 20th Century Fox (3•disc) - Region 1 - NTSC
DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
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Distribution | 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC | |
Time: | Respectively • 1:11:18, 57:56 + 1:42:44 | |
Bitrate: Chandu the Magician |
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Bitrate: Dr. Renault's Secret |
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Bitrate: Dragonwyck |
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Audio | English (original mono) - Spanish mono Dubs on Dragonwyck and Dr. Renault's Secret | |
Subtitles | English, Spanish, French, None | |
Features |
Release Information: Edition Details: Chandu the
Magician (1932) - single layered
• Featurette:
Horror's Missing Link: Rediscovering Dr. Renault's
Secret (15:51)
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Commentary by Author
Steve Haberman and Filmmaker Constantine Nasr
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Comments: |
Chandu the Magician is now available on Blu-ray - reviewed and compared HERE to this DVD. NOTE: The 3 feature films of this boxset are housed in slim, individual, black, keep cases (see image above) and they are not sold separately at this time. I believe these particular NTSC editions can only be obtained in Fox's Fox Horror Classics Vol. 2 package at present. Each are coded for Region 1 in the NTSC standard. Chandu the Magician and Dr. Renault's Secret are single layered and Dragonwyck is dual-layered discs. The transfers are progressive and in the original aspect ratios (1.33 for all). The audio is original English mono with optional Spanish DUBs on Dr. Renault's Secret and Dragonwyck. There are optional English, French or Spanish subtitles. Each DVD has viable extras - with a commentary on two of the films. Image quality: I thought both single-layered transfers were very impressive - Chandu shows its age but still has some surprisingly detail. Contrast flickers a bit in the opening and it starts with the caveat 'We have brought this film to DVD using the best surviving source material available.'. Dr. Renault's Secret is a short film (less than an hour) and the single layering is most adequate in helping represent the film on digital. It also looks quite strong all things considered. We've compared Dragonwyck HERE to two other existing European DVD editions. Overall in all three there is no distracting damage marks and I was happy that they looked as good as they do although Dragonwyck is only a marginal improvement still showing noise in monochromatic black sequences. Contrast is excellent without green or sepia seeping into the purity of the B/W and shadowy greytones. I think the captures below give a fair representation of how the DVD package looks. They are very watchable!Audio volume is consistent and I noted no significant dropout flaws or excessive background hiss (very minor now and again - on Chandu the Magician). The audio is supported with optional English, Spanish or French subtitles.
Supplements, as per usual for Classic Fox releases - are excellent. The discs have click-thru advertising and stills galleries plus split-screen restoration comparisons. Each film has a 15-minute featurette with input from historians, authors, novelists etc. On the wonderful Chandu the Magician we have expert and author Gregory William Mank giving great coverage to all the eccentricities of the narrative. On Dragonwyck we have a team-up of author Steve Haberman and filmmaker Constantine Nasr (who is also the DVD producer). They are a bit dry together but plenty of information is imparted - especially regarding the studio decisions, Alfred Newman's score, a deleted scene etc. Haberman knows his facts and Nasr backs him up with extraneous data - overall quite good and worth the listen.
Fox Horror Classics Vol. 1 came out almost a year ago (reviewed HERE) so it's been a while for this 2nd volume. Of the three films, while Dr. Renault's Secret may be the only bona-fide horror film. Chandu the Magician is a fabulous vintage fantasy adventure. Dragonwyck is a great film but more a Gothic melodrama than a horror. Still I won't complain because I LOVED these films so much. The price is ridiculously low for what is being offered. Dragonwyck could be considered the come-on star of the collection for some (easily worth the price offered for the whole set) - but I tell you that both Chandu the Magician and Dr. Renault's Secret so adeptly encapsulate that innocent older genre style that we adore. I was in total rapture watching them and I give the, possibly misnamed, Fox's Horror Classic Volume 2 my strongest recommendation! |
DVD Menus
Supplements
Slim Black Keep Case Cover
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Chandu the
Magician (1932) Megalomaniac and would-be world dominator Roxor has kidnapped Robert Regent, along with his death ray invention, in hopes of using it to degenerate humanity into mindless brutes, leaving himself as Earth’s supreme intelligence. Faced with revealing the machine’s secrets or allowing his family to die a horrible death at the hands of Roxor, Regent’s only hope lies with the intervention of his brother-in-law, the be-turbaned yogi and magician Chandu, who has the power to make men see what is not there. |
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Slim Black Keep Case Cover
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Dr. Renault's
Secret (1942) A young man visits his fiancée in a remote French villa where her scientist father (George Zucco) resides. There he meets Noel (J. Carrol Naish), Dr. Renault’s mysterious assistant, who has a strange attraction to Renault’s daughter. Soon he learns Noel’s true identity: he is an ape that was turned into a man by Renault’s bizarre experiments! |
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Screen Captures
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Slim Black Keep Case Cover
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Dragonwyck
(1946) When Miranda Wells was invited to live with her dark and charming distant cousin Nicholas Van Ryan in order to school his daughter at Dragonwyck manor she was a naive farm girl. As she watches the dark secrets of the house unfold, she becomes more aware of selfishness, desire, and insanity while becoming more involved with Nicholas. The closer Miranda grows to the community and the Van Ryan’s, the more she wishes she had never come to Dragonwyck. |
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Screen Captures
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