5/5 Bela Lugosi, An ape-man, and a very young Price.
  by Old Man Parker (The Big Island, Hawaii, USA)
Because I am a rabid Bela Lugosi fan, I greatly enjoyed this collection. Chandu the Magician features Bela as one of his greatest villians: Roxnor! A black cloaked wizard in a tomb full of Frankenstein-like machines and weilding a "death ray" with which to rule the world! This is like Indian Jones finding a forgotten Idol of pure gold -in fantasy adventure! A Bela Lugosi MUST SEE!

Dragonwyck is a gothic romance with a very young Vincent Price doing his very cool Vincent Price thing. Lovely.

Dr. Renault's Secret is a wonderful horror film. An amazing proformance by J Carrol Naish as the heart breakingly human ape-man. George Zucco at his mad doctor best. A great addition to your "APE" horror collection that was all the rage in the 30's and 40's.

Beautiful transfers. Lush Black and White - moody, dark, rich with shadows and depth. Nothing like a well shot and restored Black and White film.

But are they all "Horror" films? Not really. Someone's pushing that genre a bit beyond it's bounds there with that claim. But still, all well worth a good watch. All "good stories" and that's what movies really are supposed to be.

However, if you loved Dracula, White Zombie, and Murders in the Rue Morgue, then you MUST have Chandu the Magician to see all of Lugsi's best work.

5/5 Fox Horror Classic Vol. 2
  by Dennis Smith
Such a pleasure to see Dragonwyck again and to experience two other "lost" films. Now I can't wait to get Volume 1.

4/5 my review
  by Linda J. Major (smithville,mo)
i bought this as a christmas gift. the gift has not been delivered to the family as of yet. but if its anything like what i have ordered in the past from amazon and their affiliates who sell movies it is probably the superior quality that we have come to enjoy from them.

3/5 Hardly horror but neat package
  by Douglas M
Fox seem to have a very creative marketing team because it is a stretch of the imagination by any standards that this extraordinary package would be classified as a horror collection. True horror enthusiasts might be very disappointed.

First off is the 1932 "Changdu the Magician", a boys' own adventure which not surprisingly became a serial a few years later. The film has Bela Lugosi chewing the scenery with great aplomb as he steals a death ray and tortures its inventor to learn how to use it. Edmund Lowe, a matinee idol of yesteryear, is a stiff and far too proper hero but the film benefits from great photography and imaginative sets.

Next is "Dr Renault's Secret", a neatly directed programmer released in 1942 and with a fair gallery of supporting players, a moderately interesting story about the missing link between man and the ape and 2 fine central performances by the enigmatic George Zucco and the superb J Carroll Naish. It is a very polished "little" film with excellent sets and photography and the closest to a horror film of this trio.

The final film, released in 1946, is the gothic romance, "Dragonwyck", an expensively mounted vehicle for the rapidly rising Gene Tierney and a star making role for Vincent Price playing the sort of character he would make his own in subsequent years. This could not be classified as a horror film really (think of "Jane Eyre" or "Rebecca" and you'll get the idea) and while it is well made with good performances from the leads and the indispensible Walter Huston, it is quite dull and predictable. This was the first film directed by Joseph Mankiewicz.

The prints of the film are excellent, surprisingly so in the case of "Changdu" which is a very old Fox film, many of which have not survived. "Renault" is a very bright print preserving the outstanding Fox photography. Each film has a short documentary with the same group of dull historians. They tend to be repetitious. "Changdu" and "Dragonwyck" have good commentaries and Greg Mank is particuarly witty and entertaining with "Changdu". Theatrical trailers for the later films are also presented.

This is a very unusual set, nicely packaged with an insert about the films and also very cheap, possibly because it would appeal to a very limited audience. Accordingly, it is very good value if the films are of interest to you.

5/5 Horrors? Volume 2
  by mrliteral
Around a year ago, I had the opportunity to watch the movies that comprised Fox Horror Classics Volume 1. They were enjoyable enough, but I wondered if they were truly horror films. Similarly, I enjoyed Fox Horror Classics, Volume 2, but still wondered if the trio of could really fit the definition of horror.

Chronologically, the first in the set is Chandu the Magician, a cliff-hanging adventure which pits the mystically powered Chandu (Edmund Lowe) against Roxor (Bela Lugosi), a megalomaniac intent on world conquest with a death ray invented by Chandu's brother-in-law. It's fun fantasy adventure reminiscent of the early adventure serials, but the only real connection to true horror is Lugosi's presence, which is also the highlight of the movie.

Next is Dr. Renault's Secret, and this movie fits much better in the horror genre. This brief (58 minute) film is one of a series of horror films in the era that deals with men becoming animals (like The Wolf Man) or animals becoming men (like Island of Lost Souls). In this case, the title character (George Zucco) has tried converting an ape to a human (J. Caroll Naish), but like all mad scientists, has tampered with forces he doesn't fully comprehend. This also has veteran tough guy actor Mike Mazurki (from Murder My Sweet) involved in a kidnapping subplot.

While Dragonwyck has a vague supernatural element and a gothic atmosphere, it is more reminiscent of stories like Jane Eyre and Rebecca than what would have been considered horror at the time. Vincent Price and Gene Tierney star, and unlike the movie Laura, there is no Dana Andrews to get in their way (but like Laura, there is a painting that plays a part in the tale). Price is the wealthy master of the title estate who invites distant farm girl cousin Tierney to stay at his estate. The overt reason is so she can be a companion to his daughter, but Price has a secret agenda in mind as well. Though Tierney gets the top billing, this is really Price's movie, with a role that is a precursor to the haunted characters he would later play in the Roger Corman-directed Poe films.

All three movies in the set are fine movies, even if I don't think I'd really call them a horror set; more like one horror film, one gothic romance and one adventure story. But even if Fox has fudged things a bit to make up the set, it is still a nice set, with commentaries on the first and third movies plus other extras. This may not a set to treat yourself to on Halloween, but for the rest of the year, it is perfectly fine.