$27.95$27.95
$3.99 delivery May 20 - 21
Ships from: sgd_books Sold by: sgd_books
$24.00$24.00
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: CLSolutions
Image Unavailable
Color:
-
-
-
- Sorry, this item is not available in
- Image not available
- To view this video download Flash Player
Isle of the Dead / Bedlam [DVD]
Return this item for free
Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
Learn more about free returns.- Go to your orders and start the return
- Select the return method
- Ship it!
Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
Watch Instantly with | Rent | Buy |
Purchase options and add-ons
Genre | Drama |
Format | Closed-captioned, Black & White, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC |
Contributor | Katherine Emery, Val Lewton, Josef Mischel, Ernst Deutsch, Erick Hanson, Ellen Drew, Jason Robards Sr., William Hogarth, Alan Napier, Helen Thimig, Skelton Knaggs, Mark Robson, Boris Karloff, Sherry Hall, Marc Cramer, Ardel Wray, Anna Lee See more |
Language | English |
Runtime | 2 hours and 31 minutes |
Frequently bought together
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
Product Description
The most celebrated star in the history of screen horror headlines these two atmospheric works filled with producer Val Lewton's trademark mix of mood, madness and premeditated dread. Boris Karloff shares a quarantined house with other strangers on a plague-infested perhaps spirit-haunted Isle of the Dead. St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum in 1761 London is the setting for Bedlam. Karloff gives an uncanny performance as the doomed overseer who fawns on high-society benefactors while ruling the mentally disturbed inmates with an iron fist. Mark Robson, who edited three films for Lewton and directed five, guides both films.
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : Unrated (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 7.75 x 5.75 x 0.53 inches; 0.01 ounces
- Director : Mark Robson
- Media Format : Closed-captioned, Black & White, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
- Run time : 2 hours and 31 minutes
- Release date : October 4, 2005
- Actors : Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery
- Subtitles: : English, French, Spanish
- Language : English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
- Studio : Turner Home Ent
- ASIN : B000A0GOFK
- Writers : Ardel Wray, Josef Mischel, Mark Robson, Val Lewton, William Hogarth
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #118,400 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #4,598 in Horror (Movies & TV)
- #19,872 in Drama DVDs
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviews with images
-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
So is it the long hand of coincidence reaching out in 2022 after years of Covid that only makes Val Lewton's "Isle of The Dead" a relevant film still? I think not, but taken in that context the film transcends entertainment, and pokes our present reality right in the eye and says: pay attention.
Those familiar with Poe's "Masque of The Red Death" easily can see the tribute here, where a group of people are suddenly lockdown on an isolated island due to an outbreak of plague off the coast of Greece during the Balkan War of 1912.
Beautifully dark and brilliantly atmospheric, the characters struggle with the grim reality of death, while doubts emerge in their god(s) ability to save them from doom. And as their doubts increase, superstition and supernatural elements creep in, giving the film a psychological and hauting mood with every wind and waving shadow.
Even after 77 years this film isn’t out of date, or out of touch. In our new Covid normal I find the characters speak to me still, because their reactions are now, and will be again.
I paired this film with Michael Powell's "Black Narcissus" (1947) from Criterion on bluray for a night of dark classics that my eyes just licked up with every frame.
-------
ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945)
A staid, low-key Val Lewton chiller that stars Boris Karloff as a tyrannical Greek general during the Balkan war. Due to an outbreak of a mysterious plague, the General is quarantined with a small group of people on an island cemetery. As members begin to meet their doom one by one, an old Greek woman among them claims that a vampiric spirit actually responsible for the "affliction" and thusly opens the debate of reason vs. superstition. Karloff's subtle performance perfectly complements the film's eerie atmosphere, and the rest of the outstanding cast delivers strong support. Genre fans will recognize supporting actor Alan Napier, who would later gain television fame as Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, on the classic but campy 1960s series BATMAN.
-------
BEDLAM (1946)
This creepy melodrama isn't really a horror film as much as it is a period-piece thriller. Set in and around a London insane asylum during the 18th Century, the film stars Anna Lee as an upper-crust sycophant who is wrongfully committed to the asylum when she interferes in the affairs of the institution's cruel director, Master George Sims. Boris Karloff's portrayal of Sims is devilishly delicious, yet he still manages to avoid upstaging the wonderful Lee and the rest of the strong, talented cast (a cast that includes Jason Robards, Sr., Billy House, and a young Ellen Corby, among many others). The atmosphere and mood of the setting are adeptly evoked, and the use of William Hogarth engravings--which Lewton claimed inspired the script--as transitional devices is an aesthetic masterstroke that adds even more to the high production quality and helps the film belie its meager budget. The last flick that legendary B-movie producer Lewton would develop for RKO Studios, it's also one of the best.
-------
As with the other double-feature discs in Warner's VAL LEWTON series, the films presented here do not appear to have undergone any restoration, though both are in pretty good shape considering their age. BEDLAM is accompanied by an optional feature-length commentary from film historian Tom Weaver, but no other extras are offered on this disc. Still, these two films are some of the best examples of Lewton's efforts, and they also feature outstanding performances from genre great Boris Karloff. So this disc is well worth the reasonable price of admission and is a must-have for any serious film collector or Karloff fan.
Looking superb in HD, a huge upgrade from the 2005 double feature DVD(with "Bedlam") now containing a theatrical trailer(with Spanish subtitles) and an audio commentary with genre expert Steve Haberman.
Originally to be released by Scream Factory, those plans were canceled, but lets hope that Warner Archive will continue to release/upgrade the other four Lewton produced films from DVD to Blu-ray. They are "I Walked With A Zombie", "The Seventh Victim", "The Ghost Ship" (all 1943) plus the last one produced "Bedlam" (1946).
Top reviews from other countries
Dazu kommt eine für einen Film dieses Alters (1945) hervorragende DVD Veröffentlichung. Die Ausgabe von Odeon Entertainment enthält aber keine englischen Untertitel, jedoch ist die Aussprache so klar, daß man dies verschmerzen kann. Wer keine Probleme mit dem amerikanischen Regionalcode hat, findet den Film auch in einer Boxfassung mit allen anderen RKO Produktionen von Val Lewton. In dieser Version (nicht in der von Odeon Entertainment!) enthalten ist auch eine informative Extra DVD zu Val Lewton und seinem Werk, die man jedem Fan von "klassischen" Gruselfilmen sehr ans Herz legen kann.
Und wie gesagt, Boris Karloff spielt überragend.