Lon Chaney Collector's Edition

You can sell stuff cheaply if you steal it
It costs a lot to properly prepare silent films for video editions. One must obtain the original film, restore the film, prepare a digital video master, and commission music. Thus, purchasers of silent film on DVD usually get what they pay for -- and this "Collector's Edition" is no exception.

Shameless St. Clair Vision has copied "Ace of Hearts" from the TCM/Warner DVD Chaney set, they have copied "Hunchback", "Oliver Twist, "Outside the Law," "The Shock" and "Nomads of the North" from the Image Entertainment DVD editions, "The Penalty" appears to be from Kino's DVD edition, and I strongly suspect but am not certain that "The Phantom of the Opera' originates with a VHS tape from Video Yesteryear (it is the 1929 sound reissue edition run at an appallingly slow 16 frames per second). Of course the tints and musical scores from their source copies have been stripped off, so these editions are somewhat degraded and entirely b&w with often-inappropriate needle-drop scores...

Lon Chaney rarities at a low price.
I can't bomb this set.
It is what it is....a bargain DVD set offering half decent to not so great prints of Lon Chaney films from the 20s.
The films include:
Phantom of the Opera(1925)-Not a good print,like most public domain versions.The 1929 rerelease version.
Hunchback of Notre Dame(1923)-Half decent print.Buy the Image version if you really like this movie.
Oliver Twist(1922)-Pretty good print.Image has a better print available,though.
The Trap(1924)-Genuine rare Chaney vehicle is not a horror film but a drama about revenge against a man scorned.
A good Chaney performance.Not available anywhere else on DVD.
The Penalty(1920)-Essential Chaney.Sub-Par print.Go with the Kino edition of this one.
Shadows(1922)-Okay print.Image carries best print.(at 24.95!).
Flesh and Blood(1922)-REALLY rare Chaney film about Chaney's escape from prison and his plot for vengeance.
Good Chaney film,avaiable only on this set.
Ace of...

Buy for Flesh and Blood
The Chaney fan will probably already have most of these films on authorized editions elsewhere, but you probably wont have Flesh and Blood, this set is merely worth it to pick up this title, as far as I know this is the only dvd available with Flesh and Blood on it, if you do not have the Trap either this is a good place to grab this film as well, The Trap is also avaiable through Alpha Video and is most likely the same print as this. So if you dont have either of these Chaney rarities then this set is worth it, but only buy this set for those two films, Buy the other more well known titles on the authorized editions they are worth the extra money for better transfers.

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