Blu ray review: The Republic Pictures Horror Collection

Republic Pictures was a low budget studio that produced second-features for double feature programs either supporting an A-level picture from a major studio, or coupled with another B movie for neighborhood theaters.  Their main forte was westerns and over the years the studio boasted the talents of John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers among others.  Kino Lorber has released a 4-film, two-disc set of Republic Pictures horror movies showing an area of the studio’s talent that gets less attention. 

The Lady and the Monster (1944), The Phantom Speaks (1945), The Catman of Paris (1946), and Valley of the Zombies (1946) are the features contained here.  They are each restored as 4K scans from HD masters and look absolutely stunning.

Erich Von Stroheim steals the show in The Lady and the Monster, based on the novel Donovan’s Brain (which was made into a movie under that title in 1953).  Von Stroheim is a mad scientist who uses science to attempt to keep a dead millionaire’s brain alive after it has been removed from his body. The brain’s power begins to take over the mind of the scientist’s assistant (Richard Arlen).  Vera Ralston is the object of both men’s affection. This blu ray features a commentary track by film historian Stephen Bissette.

In The Phantom Speaks, a dead criminal’s spirit takes over the body of a doctor controls him, while a newspaper man tries to investigate when this leads to multiple murders.  The commentary on this disc is by novelist and critic Tim Lucas.

The Catman of Paris has a series of murders occur where the victims are clawed as if by a cat.  A man who has befriended all of the victims is a suspect, and soon realizes he is indeed possessed by a spell that causes him to kill.  His friend (Douglas Dumbrille) and lover (Lenore Aubert) believe he is innocent, but soon he begins stalking the woman to kill her. 

Valley of the Zombies may be the best film in the set, with Ian Keith playing a long dead man resurrected as a zombie who quests for human blood to remain alive.  Adrian Booth (aka Lorna Gray) is good as this film’s leading lady, who comes under the zombie’s spell. Both this and Catman of Paris include a commentary by film historians David Del Valle and Miles Hunter.

This excellent collection of B-level horror films of the 1940s is most highly recommended for horror fans, and a must for libraries and research centers.  It really does belong in any comprehensive collection of horror cinema.

The set is available at this link:  REPUBLIC HORROR