The Terror / The Little Shop of Horrors (Film Masters) Blu-ray Review + 1080p Screenshots + Packaging Shots

Film Masters brings two of Roger Corman's most well known horror films to blu-ray and does them justice.

Studio: Film Masters
Release Date: May 30th, 1963 (theatrical) (The Terror) / August 5th, 1960 (theatrical) (The Little Shop of Horrors) / December 12th, 2023 (blu-ray)
Run Time: 1 hour 19 minutes 14 seconds (The Terror) / 1 hour 12 minutes 47 seconds (The Little Shop of Horrros)
Region Code: FREE

Disc Count: 2 (BD-50)
Picture: 1080p (1.85:1 aspect ratio) (both films)
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English Dolby Digital 2.0 (both films)
Subtitles: English SDH (for main feature), English (for commentary track) (both films)
Slipcover: No
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Sandra Knight, Dick Miller (The Terror) / Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, Jack Nicholson, Dick Miller (The Little Shop of Horrors)
Written by Leo Gordon, Jack Hill (The Terror) / Charles B. Griffith (The Little Shop of Horrors)
Directed by Roger Corman (both films)
Rating: Not Rated (scary scenes and some gore) (The Terror) /

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Poster

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What's It About?

France, 18th century. Lieutenant Andre Duvalier (Jack Nicholson) has been accidentally separated from his regiment. He is wandering near the coast when he sees a young woman (Sandra Knight) and asks her for directions to Coldon, where he hopes to rejoin his regiment. But the woman doesn't answer, doesn't even greet him and walks away. Eventually she takes him towards the sea, where she disappears in rough water. Andre loses consciousness while trying to follow her, and is attacked by a bird and awakes in a house where an old woman (Dorothy Neumann) claims never to have seen the woman. After he leaves, he sees the woman again, and while trying to follow her, is saved by a man from certain death. Andre learns that in order to help the girl, he must go to castle of Baron Von Leppe (Boris Karloff), and when he arrives, Andre sees the woman looking out of a window. However, Baron Von Leppe is old and seems reluctant to let Andre in. He claims there's no woman in the castle, but shows Andre a painting which does indeed portray her. Andre learns that she is the Baroness, who died twenty years ago. What is the baron's secret? (The Terror)

When clumsy Seymour Krelborn spoils two of a client's flowers, his boss Gravis Mushnick is ready to fire him from his flower shop until Seymour says he has mixed two different breeds of plant at home to create the "Audrey Jr." hybrid. Mushnick agrees to give Seymour another chance, and the next day Seymour brings in Audrey Jr., which becomes Mushnick's pride and joy and draws interest from his other employee Audrey Fulquard and more and more of their clients. Suddenly the plant ails, and Seymour accidentally learns that she likes blood. Upset because he doesn't know how to feed her, he walks along the railroad track and throws a stone that accidentally hits the head of a man who falls on the track and a train runs over him. Seymour takes pieces of the body back to the shop and discovers that the plant likes human flesh. The next morning, Audrey Jr. has grown and become the attraction of the shop. But how will Seymour feed his plant again? (The Little Shop of Horrors)

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Video/Audio

THE TERROR has always looked like crap when it came to it's home video releases. This is the first time I have seen the film actually look good. And look good it does. This "HD Master taken from Original 35mm Archivial Elements" transfer is simply gorgeous. The film has a wonderful and lush grain structure that gives the look and feel of actual film. Colors are bright and bold and blacks as inky black. Whites can get a little blown out at times but that's ok. Skin tones look natural and healthy.

THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS looks great. A thin layer of film grain is present throughout. Blacks are deep, whites look natural, and detail is high as is clarity.

Each film contains English SDH along with subtitles for the commentary tracks. Each film is divided up into 8 chapters.

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Extras/Packaging

Disc 1: The Terror

Commentary for The Terror (found in Setup menu) C. Courtney Joyner and Dr. Steve Haberman guide us through The Terror with interesting facts and stories.

Ghosts in the Machine: Art and Artiface in Roger Corman's Celluloid Castle visual essay (44m 12s, HD, 1.78:1) Howard S. Berger and Kevin Marr (The Flying Maciste Brothers) break down The Terror as they give us a history of Corman as well as the interesting story behind the making of The Terror.

2023 re-cut trailer for The Terror (2m 10s, HD, 1.85:1) I love these recut trailers Film Masters includes on their releases.

Disc 2: The Little Shop of Horrors

Commentary for The Little Shop of Horrors (found in Setup menu) Justin Humphreys and actor Jonathan Haze

Hollywood Intruders: The Filmgroup Story: Part Two documentary (17m 14s, HD, 1.85:1) C. Courtney Joyner continues his history of Filmgroup. The first part of the interview contain be found on the Beast from Haunted Cave / Ski Troop Attack blu-ray from Film Masters

2023 re-cut trailer for The Little Shop of Horrors (1m 28s, HD, 1.85:1)

Film Masters once again gives us some nice packaging. The front cover features the original poster art for THE TERROR along with a big of artwork from THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. The inside features two blu-rays along with a 22 page, full color booklet featuring an essay about THE TERROR from C. Courtney Joyner and an essay about THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS my Mark McGee along with stills from the film and behind the scenes photos.

Each disc is REGION FREE

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Overall

This is the first time I am seeing either one of these films and I have to say that I had a blast with them. While I liked THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, I found THE TERROR to the better film. Sure, the film is nonesseical, but it looks amazing and the cast is great. Watching Karloff and Nicholson acting together is a real treat. Also, any film Dick Miller shows up in can't be all bad. THE TERROR has one of the most unique looks in any Roger Corman film. It looks like it cost so much more than it actually did. I would bet that Dario Argento saw THE TERROR before making SUSPIRIA.

THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS was made for a lot cheaper. You can tell the film was shot on a set with very flat lighting. This doesn't make the film any less of a film. It just highlights the biggest difference between it and THE TERROR. The film has some great characters, including Dick Miller's flower eating customer, and the premise is rather unique (for the time). I have to say that I prefer the 1986 Rick Moranis film over the Corman original. That film seems to have a bit more life than this one. There's just some about the music giving the film a much fuller feel. This film is still pretty damn good, though.

Films Masters has done the horror community a great service by giving both THE TERROR and THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS the treatment they deserve. Not only have they given both films proper transfers and in the film's aspect ratios of 1.85:1, they have produced some awesome extras. There is not one wasted special feature. Everything is worthwhile and fun. I love the inclusion of a booklet, something most of the other boutique labels don't do unless it is a one-off release. This is the type of release we wish every company would do. There is a lot of care and attention put into this release and I love that.

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Extras/Menus