Horror Classics: V1

Metropolis - A sheltered young man in a futuristic society comes to realize the slavery on which is society is based and works to fight it. This is a very good movie - my favorite on this disk, though I would probably have put it on one of the science fiction disks - not horror. The titles are all readable (which is import in a silent film!). The worst problem with this copy is that a large number of scenes and shots are too pale and look very overexposed. The visuals were often frustrating but I was always able to see well enough to see the important details and the story was engaging enough to keep me watching.

Nosferatu - This is the story of Dracula. They changed some of the names and I couldn't tell whether they were trying to pretend it was not Dracula. The vampire was called "Dracula" once in the movie that I caught. (I'm sure there's some history I could read up on if I cared enough.) I didn't find the movie all that scary but most of the original elements were there. The vampire makeup was not very mobile so the vampire seemed card-boardy. Some of the titles were cut off by the screen width which was annoying but I was still able to follow everything. Another reviewer mentioned that this version is also a bit cut up with some interesting pieces missing, which I didn't know from watching this version. If you are a serious Dracula fan I know that there are other editions available and you would probably prefer one of them. For myself, I found this sufficient.

The Phantom of the Opera - A disfigured and insane man lives in the catacombs beneath an opera house and gains a reputation as a Phantom. He falls in love with a singer and helps her reach stardom but when she falls in love with another man he kidnaps her and trys to kill everyone who gets in the way of his marrying her. I enjoyed this one a lot, though I kept expecting them to break into the music from the Broadway production. This was a very well done film at the time with some very impressive sets that feel like real spaces. This is probably the best quality video on the DVD of the three movies. Everything is visible including the falling chandelier, the titles are readable and don't get cut off. One scene is done with a red light to very interesting effect when the Phantom arrives at a masquerade ball costumed as Death. With this film I think you are losing less against a more expensive separate release.

The title of Fritz Lang's film sums it up. It's misframed, scratchy, and fuzzy focused. You only see, "Metropo". The rest is off screen.

The DVD is complete garbage. If I could return it, I would.

What a shame considering the three films it contains are such extrodinary classics.