Are you ready for a quadruple feature of vintage Ape action? Scream Factory’s Universal Horror Collection: Volume 5 has every film dealing with not merely an ape, but what happens when an ape merges with a man or a woman. Can good come from breaking the rules of nature? Of course not, that’s why the quartet of films are full of scares and not merely slapstick. The four films featured in the boxset bring out the animal with mad scientists gone wild.
The Monster and the Girl (1941) has an innocent man get executed after being framed by a mobster for murder. Luckily a mad scientist (George Zucco) saves the dead guy’s brain and puts it inside a gorilla. This leads to the ape going for revenge on the underworld. Zucco was a horror superstar at this time having appeared in The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mad Monster, The Mad Ghoul, The Mummy’s Ghost, The Mummy’s Hand and House of Frankenstein.
The other three films are the Paula Dupree trilogy. Captive Wild Woman (1943) has Milburn Stone (Doc on Gunsmoke) as a superstar animal trainer. He hooks up with a mad scientist (House of Dracula‘s John Carradine) to put human glands in a gorilla. To their surprise the gorilla turns into a woman (Acquanetta). After a second operation, the ape is now a proper woman that they call Paula Dupree. But has the female beast truly become human? Jungle Woman (1944) has Dr. Carl Fletcher (House of Frankenstein‘s J. Carrol Naish) explain what went wrong in his relationship with Paula Dupree. Things wrap up with Jungle Captive (1945) as Rondo Hatten (Brute Man) revives Paula Dupree’s fortunes. This time a biochemist (Magnificent Obsession‘s Otto Kruger) thinks knows where the last two mad scientists went wrong. Is Paula Dupree going to be fine this time? She’s a different woman since Vicky Lane took over the role for this final outing.
So get ready to go ape when Universal Horror Collection: Volume 5 arrives on June 16. This is the perfect collection for the Svengoolie fanatic in your life. Here’s a sneak preview from Scream Factory with the bonus features:
SCREAM FACTORY PRESENTS
UNIVERSAL HORROR COLLECTION VOL. 5
ON BLU-RAY™ JUNE 16, 2020
Universal Horror Collection Vol. 5 will scream to life on Blu-ray™ on June 16 from Scream Factory.
The collection includes four tales of terror from the archives of Universal Pictures, the true home of classic horror. A mobster’s brain is transplanted into an ape who carries out his revenge in The Monster And The Girl. A mad scientist turns an ape into a beautiful, but deadly woman in Captive Wild Woman. Jungle Woman, the sequel to Captive Wild Woman, is an eerie thriller with all the danger of wild animals on the loose and a sexy killer on the prowl! And in The Jungle Captive, a scientist has experimented on re-animating animals … but now he has decided to go one step further and re-animate a human!
Universal Horror Collection Vol. 5 Includes:
THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL
Special Features:
NEW 2K scan of a fine grain film element
NEW Audio Commentary with film historians Tom Weaver and Steve Kronenberg
CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN
Special Features:
NEW Audio Commentary with film historian/author Tom Weaver
Theatrical Trailer
Still Gallery
JUNGLE WOMAN
Special Features:
NEW 2K scan of a fine grain film element
NEW Audio Commentary with film historian Gregory William Mank
Still Gallery
THE JUNGLE CAPTIVE
Special Features:
NEW 2K scan of a fine grain film element
NEW Audio Commentary by film historian Scott Gallinghouse
Theatrical Trailer
About Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory, LLC is a diversified multi-platform media company devoted to producing, uncovering, preserving and revitalizing the very best of pop culture. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their entire careers sharing their music, television and film favorites with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory’s entertainment offerings serve up feature films, classic and contemporary TV series, animation, live music and comedy specials. In addition, Shout! Factory maintains a vast entertainment distribution network which delivers culturally relevant programming, movie and audio content to all the leading digital service providers in North America and across multiple platforms. Shout! Factory owns and operates Shout! Studios, Scream Factory, Shout! Factory Kids, Shout! Factory Films, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Timeless Media Group and Shout! Factory TV. These riches are the result of a creative acquisition mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. Shout! Factory is based in Los Angeles, California. For more on Shout! Factory, visit shoutfactory.com.
