The Haunted Castle / The Finances of the Grand Duke Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

The Haunted Castle / The Finances of the Grand Duke Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 19, 2019

For all the craziness the internet and social media have brought into many of our lives, one of the saving graces of our particular era is recognizing what wonderful senses of humor many people have, as evidenced by both social media posts and (sometimes especially) responses to those posts. In that regard, one of my social media friends who is a diehard horror film fanatic posted a rather odd news story a few years ago about the skull of famed director F.W. Murnau having been stolen from his crypt. (You can read about the shocking theft here.) That bizarre item may have provoked a laugh or two in and of itself simply because it’s so weird, but a friend of this friend posted a laugh out loud (to me, anyway) non sequitur comment underneath the news item that remains my all time favorite social media riposte: “See? See what happens when you let gay people marry?”. For those unacquainted with much of Murnau’s oeuvre beyond classics like Nosferatu and who would like to expand their horizons regarding films made by Murnau when his head was still (ostensibly?) attached to his body, this new double feature from Kino Lorber offers an interesting duo that may surprise those who think of Murnau as "only" a "dark and stormy night" filmmaker.

For reviews of the two films in this set, please click on the following links:

The Haunted Castle Blu-ray review

The Finances of the Grand Duke Blu-ray review

The Haunted Castle / The Finances of the Grand Duke Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each release is assessed in the above linked reviews. Please see screenshots 8 through 10 accompanying this review for information about the restoration of The Haunted Castle; and screenshots 11 and 12 for information on the restoration of The Finances of the Grand Duke.

The Haunted Castle / The Finances of the Grand Duke Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each release is assessed in the above linked reviews.

The Haunted Castle / The Finances of the Grand Duke Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The sole supplement on this disc is an enjoyable Audio Commentary on The Finances of the Grand Duke by film historian Davaid Kalat.

The Haunted Castle / The Finances of the Grand Duke Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Neither of the films included on this release may be all time classics or even among Murnau's very best, but they're both really interesting in their own ways, and each offer some nice performances and Murnau's typically impressive technical mastery over the hazards of early filming techniques (including then rather rare outside location sequences). The Haunted Castle has noticeably better video quality than The Finances of the Grand Duke, and both films feature enjoyably expressive solo piano scores. The commentary by David Kalat on The Finances of the Grand Duke is highly informative and listenable. Recommended.