Three Edgar Allan Poe Adaptations Starring Bela Lugosi Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Three Edgar Allan Poe Adaptations Starring Bela Lugosi Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 5, 2021

Bela Lugosi may have sadly ended his life as a largely destitute, wasted drug addict consigned to wandering through films like Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space, but in the wake of the release of Dracula in 1931, for one brief, shining moment he was arguably the biggest star at Universal, at least within the studio’s horror output. Of course Lugosi soon had considerable competition from the likes of Boris Karloff in Frankenstein, which opened just a few months after Dracula and which arguably stole a bit of its thunder. That said, it’s important to note that Karloff got that iconic role only after Lugosi dropped out after what have been described as less than successful make up tests. Eureka Entertainment’s Masters of Cinema imprint has now aggregated three early Lugosi efforts, including his first two collaborations with Karloff. This set is at least somewhat similar to Shout! Factory's Region A release of Universal Horror Collection: Volume 1 , including not just in its inclusion of some of the same films but some of the supplements as well, so fans with region free players may want to do some contrasting and comparing between the two releases.

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

Murders in the Rue Morgue Blu-ray review

The Black Cat Blu-ray review

The Raven Blu-ray review

Three Edgar Allan Poe Adaptations Starring Bela Lugosi Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Three Edgar Allan Poe Adaptations Starring Bela Lugosi Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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

Three Edgar Allan Poe Adaptations Starring Bela Lugosi Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Eureka! has packaged this release with Murders in the Rue Morgue on Disc 1 and The Black Cat and The Raven on Disc 2. While there are some film specific supplements, as in the commentaries, there are also more generalist items, so here's a full list of the contents of both discs:

Disc One

• Audio Commentary by film historian Gregory William Mank


• Alternate Soundtrack is presented in LPCM 2.0 Mono and comes with a warning that it was supplied by Universal Pictures and adds music to scenes of the film, and that they recommend listening to the original track for a first viewing.


• Kim Newman Interview (HD; 28:49) is another enjoyable piece with Newman, who discusses the Universal "Poe adaptations".


• The Tell Tale Heart read by Bela Lugosi (HD; 13:21)


• Trailer (HD; 1:35)


• Stills Gallery (HD)


• Reconstructed Version (HD; 1:00:19) features an alternately structured version sparked by an article originally appearing in Video Watchdog. This is an old style "easter egg" that's hidden, but if you poke around the listing right above this one, you'll find it.

Disc Two

• The Black Cat Audio Commentary by film historian Gregory W. Mank explicitly references the Steve Haberman commentary that is included along with this one on Shout! Factory's release of The Black Cat, which makes it doubly odd that the Haberman commentary isn't included here.


• Cats in Horror (HD; 12:47) is a fun overview from Lee Gambin.


• The Black Cat Radio Adaptation with Peter Lorre (HD; 26:02) is a September 18, 1947 radio broadcast from Mystery in the Air.


• Vintage Footage (HD; 00:49) is a kind of hilarious brief silent snippet of kids parading their black cats past Lugosi and Karloff (I'll at least give Bela first billing).


• The Black Cat Stills Gallery (HD)


• The Raven Isolated Music and Effects Track is presented in LPCM 2.0 Mono.


• The Raven Audio Commentary by film historian Gary D. Rhodes


• The Raven Audio Commentary by Samm Deighan


• American Gothic (HD; 14:59) is an interesting exploration of various motifs by Kat Ellinger.


• The Tell-Tale Heart Radio Adaptation with Boris Karloff (HD; 26:42) is an August 3, 1941 episode from Inner Sanctum Mystery.


• Stills Gallery (HD)

While I don't yet have a final retail version, it looks like this Limited Edition also comes with Eureka's typically well appointed insert booklet.

Three Edgar Allan Poe Adaptations Starring Bela Lugosi Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans of early Universal horror should certainly enjoy this collection, though those with region free players may want to check out the Shout! release linked to above, as well as the standalone release of Murders in the Rue Morgue, also offered by Shout! Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplementary package very enjoyable. Recommended.