Beware! When Karloff stops the clock… your hour has come!
Critical Perspective
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The third mad doctor movie collaboration between star Boris Karloff and director Nick Grinde for Columbia Pictures … This one boasts a tighter narrative than the previous two films [The Man They Could Not Hang (1939), The Man with Nine Lives (1940)] … Different directors would take over for Karloff’s final two Columbia mad doctor pictures, The Devil Commands (1941) and The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942), with noticeable stylistic differences in the results.
John Llewellyn Probert, FrightFest Guide: Mad Doctor Movies (FAB Press, 2023)
Before I Hang Blu-ray & DVD editions
See which disc extras are included across selected editions.
| Disc Extras | Mill Creek BD-A/US 2023 | Eureka BD-B/UK 2021 | Mill Creek DVD-1/US/OOP 2015 | Sony DVD-1/US/OOP 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio Commentary by Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby | ||||
| Madness & Mayhem: Columbia Horror in the 1930’s & 1940’s - With C. Courtney Joyner | ||||
| Stills Gallery | ||||
| Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Birdsong for a Murderer” | ||||
| Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Death for Sale” | ||||
| Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Corridor of Doom” | ||||
| Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Wailing Wall” |
Edition and Packaging Notes
- Mill Creek’s Blu-ray is included in the “Thrillers from the Vault” box set with The Black Room (1935), The Man They Could Not Hang (1939), The Man with Nine Lives (1940), The Devil Commands (1941), The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942), The Return of the Vampire (1943) and Five (1951).
- Eureka’s Blu-ray is included in the “Karloff at Columbia” box set with The Black Room (1935), The Man They Could Not Hang (1939), The Man with Nine Lives (1940), The Devil Commands (1941) and The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942). It includes a 48-page booklet with writing by Stephen Jacobs (“I End as I Began: ‘The Black Room’” and “Karloff at Columbia: The Mad Doctor Movies”), Jon Towlson (“‘Not Revenge, Retribution’: Karloff at Columbia”) and Craig Ian Mann (“The Duality of Evil: Twin Horrors in ‘The Black Room’”). Reissued without booklet (2022/02/14).
- Mill Creek’s DVD contains no extras. It is included in the “Boris Karloff Collection” box set with The Black Room (1935), The Man They Could Not Hang (1939), The Man with Nine Lives (1940), The Devil Commands (1941) and The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942).
- Sony’s DVD contains no extras. It is included in the “Icons of Horror Collection: Boris Karloff” box set with The Black Room (1935), The Man They Could Not Hang (1939) and The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942).
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Collector’s guide
Compare presentation quality and explore notable disc extras across selected editions.
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Madness & Mayhem: Columbia Horror in the 1930’s & 1940’s (36:17) -
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Birdsong for a Murderer” (Radio Episode, 1952, 21:40) -
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Death for Sale” (Radio Episode, 1952, 24:51) -
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Corridor of Doom” (Radio Episode, 1945, 29:15) -
Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Wailing Wall” (Radio Episode, 1945, 29:18)
| Editions | |
|---|---|
| Extras | Audio Commentary by Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby Eureka BD |
| Madness & Mayhem: Columbia Horror in the 1930’s & 1940’s - With C. Courtney Joyner Mill Creek BD | |
| Stills Gallery Eureka BD | |
| Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Birdsong for a Murderer” Eureka BD | |
| Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “Death for Sale” Eureka BD | |
| Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Corridor of Doom” Eureka BD | |
| Inner Sanctum Mysteries: “The Wailing Wall” Eureka BD |
Notes
- Eureka’s video file is preceded by 1:30 of black screen.