Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Six from beyond the grave.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 28, 2025

Warner Archive has been stepping up their multi-disc collection efforts in recent months, and that's very good news indeed for anyone looking to fill up their shelves on the cheap: these low-risk sets simply bundle together a handful of like-minded titles in a space-saving format at wallet-saving prices. For pure value, look no further.

While the majority of these multi-disc packages highlight a quartet of films grouped by actor, this recent Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection switches it up with a full half-dozen discs from everyone's favorite genre in late October. Previously released on Blu-ray by Warner Archive during the last four years, this is perhaps the "newest" collection (and thus it's perhaps less likely that fans own most or all of them already) but likely boasts the oldest set of films, all from the 1930s. Featured titles include Doctor X and The Mask of Fu Manchu from pre-Code 1932, 1935's Mad Love and Mark of the Vampire, 1936's The Devil Doll and, rounding it out, 1939's non-sequel The Return of Doctor X.

For full synopses and reviews of each film in this collection, please follow the links below.

Doctor X (reviewed by Randy Miller III) - Michael Curtiz directs the first full-length horror movie shot entirely in color, a two-strip Technicolor oddity and the director's first of three entries in that genre. Yet while it was entirely supplanted by his own Mystery of the Wax Museum the following year, its importance as an early pre-Code production makes it well worth revisiting. And in wonderful color, no less! Beautifully restored by UCLA Film and Television Archive and The Film Foundation, in association with Warner Bros. Entertainment, it's been resurrected with extreme care.

The Mask of Fu Manchu (reviewed by Randy Miller III) - One of the most bonkers pre-Code horror films of Golden Age Hollywood, Charles Brabin's singular film must be seen to be believed. Starring Boris Karloff as the obscenely over-the-top Chinese supervillain and Myrna Loy as his sex-obsessed daughter, it was subjected to copious trims and cuts in various American states and foreign countries. Traditional ratings don't apply here: The Mask of Fu Manchu could earn anywhere from 0.5 to five stars, depending on the criteria, and I wouldn't argue. This is basically a B-movie with performances to match and high production values that stand in sharp contrast to its base-level narrative.

Mad Love (reviewed by Randy Miller III) - Karl Freund's visually inventive film is an adaptation of Maurice Renard's 1920 book "The Hands of Orlac" (not its first adaptation) and marks the American film debut of Peter Lorre, already well-known for his performances in Fritz Lang's M and Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. Lorre singularly portrays Dr. Gogol, an incredibly gifted -- and therefore insane -- surgeon whose reputation is that of a miracle worker. He's also an avid patron of the Théâtre des Horreurs, almost single-handedly keeping the show in business by always reserving their most expensive box seat to watch lovely Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake) perform.

Mark of the Vampire (reviewed by Randy Miller III) - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Mark of the Vampire, starring Lionel Barrymore but really starring Bela Lugosi, arrived some four years after the tidal wave of Universal's Classic Monster films began with Dracula. Legosi is unofficially playing the same character here... or at least a lookalike named Count Mora who, along with his daughter Luna (Carroll Borland), is accused of killing Sir Karell Borotyn (Holmes Herbert) in his home. This obvious bit of recycled character work is meant to draw viewers into an otherwise lukewarm murder mystery that somehow feels like every bit of its 60-minute running time. Mark of the Vampire isn't a true standout on the filmography of anyone involved, but it's worth at least a once-over for genre enthusiasts.

The Devil Doll (reviewed by Randy Miller III) - Directed by Tod Browning (Dracula, Freaks), The Devil Doll is an outlandish sci-fi/horror film of the "mad scientist" variety, showcasing a truly unique lead performance by Lionel Barrymore as Paul Lavond. Wrongfully imprisoned for a robbery and murder inside his own Parisian bank by three contemporaries, Paul escapes with Marcel (Henry B. Walthall), a scientist hoping to finish an experiment he began with his wife Malita (Rafaela Ottiano) in a secret location. Covering their tracks, they return to Marcel's lab where his work is revealed: an attempt to miniaturize subjects and prolong Earth's available resources. (It's like Downsizing, but good.)

The Return of Doctor X (reviewed by... yep, you guessed it) - Despite its name, Vincent Sherman's The Return of Doctor X is not a direct sequel to Michael Curtiz's Doctor X above; instead, it's based on a 1938 short story called The Doctor's Secret and shares a few very mild similarities to the original film. It might normally be fine enough on its own merits and kind of stands up as a curious horror/mystery hybrid, but the odd stunt casting of contract player Humphrey Bogart as a vampire is both the most intriguing and most vaguely disappointing thing about it.

Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For details about each film's 1080p transfer, please follow the review links below.

Doctor X

The Mask of Fu Manchu

Mad Love

Mark of the Vampire

The Devil Doll

The Return of Doctor X

Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, for more details about each audio mix, you know what to do by now.

Doctor X

The Mask of Fu Manchu

Mad Love

Mark of the Vampire

The Devil Doll

The Return of Doctor X

Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This six-disc set ships in a hinged keepcase with separate hubs for each disc. Like other WAC collections, this one simply repurposes existing poster-themed covers as a paneled collage. One or more bonus features, identical to those found on the previous Blu-rays, can be found on each disc. Follow the review links for full coverage.

Doctor X

The Mask of Fu Manchu

Mad Love

Mark of the Vampire

The Devil Doll

The Return of Doctor X

Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Warner Archive's new Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection serves up a half-dozen genre oddities from the 1930s and, like their other multi-disc sets, is a cheap and easy way to build your classic film library in a hurry. Each disc in this collection offers very good to excellent A/V presentations (within the wavering boundaries of their respective source materials, of course) and the same holds true for the bonus features as well. This set comes firmly Recommended for obvious reasons... unless, of course, you're already a die-hard fan and own most or all of them already.