Frankenstein

Universal Studios has jumped into the DVD pool with one hell of a splash! First they stunned the world with the amazing DVD for "The Thing", now they choose to show the same care with the Classic Monsters series. No sex. No gore. Some mutants of sorts. But boy, this is still one of the best movies of all time!

The movie itself should need no overview here. The film has been discussed so much it should be almost common knowledge to the horror fan. So instead let's look at the other features this DVD has to offer. First off, this is an amazing transfer. Oh sure, there is a bit of speckling and grain, but after almost 70 years this is to be expected. The sound is what is the big hoopla here. There is no hiss, no crackle, just a crystal clear soundtrack. Many reviews have noted the clarity in the sound, but it is something that must always be addressed when discussing this release. It is that impressive.

The commentary track is very well done. Rudy Behlmer is our commentator on this scripted track. All of the Universal Classics commentary tracks are scripted, but this one is so well done that the scripting doesn't hinder it. Mr. Behlmer has a very relaxed tone to his voice and gets a lot of info in. The style is more of stories from the making of the film as opposed to the technical side. The nice thing he does on this track is while telling a story, if something on the screen needs to be addressed, he will break off from the original story to relate something else, then he will resume the other story. This sounds like it might be confusing, but Mr. Behlmer does this very smoothly so as not to confuse.

The documentary that comes with the movie is produced and written by David J. Skal, a noted classic monster expert. This too is a very impressive feature of the DVD. There is much of interest in the making of and the eventual success of this film to make this documentary very fascinating.

The short film entitled "BOO!" is just o.k. It is a comedy short that puts together clips from old horror films and makes them into a comedy bit. It is rather annoying at times, but a nice addition none-the-less. The trailers are o.k. I am a little bored of the trailer addition on every DVD, but, I suppose some people enjoy these. The production notes, cast and crew bios and gallery are all very well done.

Since this movie and the other Universal Classics are so old, it is amazing that Universal has chosen to show this much care, but at the same time it is great to see these old movies getting this treatment. I suggest every horror fan buy all of the Universal Classic DVD's. Hell, with this treatment and what Universal does for the normal releases, I have to say they just might be the best studio at putting out DVD. Buy this movie, buy it now!