Rating The Universal Dracula Films

 

Now it's time for my personal rankings of the Universal Dracula films made during the studio's classic monster era from 1931 to 1948. 

This will be the same setup as my Universal Frankenstein rankings from yesterday. There's going to be some overlap from that list, as HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, HOUSE OF DRACULA, and ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN both feature the monster and Dracula. For the purposes of this post I'll be looking at those movies by how they feature the Count. 

I also need to point out that, in my opinion, none of the Universal Dracula films significantly stand out from the others. None of them are truly bad....but I wouldn't say any of them are outstanding. I'm ranking them in order of preference, but honestly there's a dozen ways I could have written this list. 

1. SON OF DRACULA (1943) 

I'm sure this choice will get some attention. Robert Siodmak's fine tale of small-town American supernatural noir is one of Universal's most unique monster movies (and thankfully it has no comic relief whatsoever). As for the debate on whether Lon Chaney Jr. actually is playing Dracula here....he's billed in the title credits as "Count Dracula", so that's good enough for me. And as for the debate on Lon Jr.'s performance....I think he's quite good as a vampire (I actually prefer him as Dracula rather than the Frankenstein monster). Lon's portrayal here anticipates Christopher Lee's Dracula in a number of ways--Chaney's scenes are brief, strong, and to the point. The real star of this film, however, is Louise Allbritton, who is fantastic as a death-obsessed dark-haired vixen who chooses to becomes a member of the undead in order to further her own wild schemes. 

2. DRACULA'S DAUGHTER (1936) 

It took a long time, a lot of scripts, and many changes in cast & crew before Universal finally brought out a follow-up to their legendary original DRACULA, but all things considered, it came out very well. Gloria Holden brings plenty of moody screen presence in the title role, and she's also decades ahead of her time in portraying a sympathetic vampire who is searching for a release from her gruesome existence. Director Lambert Hillyer gets almost no attention from old monster movie fans, but he did an excellent job here. What prevents this film from being one of the all-time Universal classics is the far too frequent attempts at humor. 

3. DRACULA (1931)

I must admit that the major reason I have this rated at #3 is due to its overall importance to the entire horror film genre. It's Universal's first true sound horror film....but it's also very slow, and for whatever reason director Tod Browning lets a lot of enticing opportunities slip by. Bela is absolutely iconic, and he always will be, as will Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing and Dwight Frye as Renfield. In the end this is a film that will be remembered for what it could have been instead of what it is. 

4. ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948)

In the monster rallies HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HOUSE OF DRACULA, the Count never got to fully interact with the other creatures. Here he does--and he's played again by Bela Lugosi, in only his second official time playing Dracula in a full-length theatrical film. (You can win a lot of bar bets with that info.) Bela's Count isn't as alien or as creepy here as he was in 1931--but it's great to see him in the cape. Unfortunately this would be the very last time Bela had a decent role in a movie produced by a major American studio. 

5. HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944)

John Carradine takes over the role of Dracula for this entry, and his take on the Count is more subtle and restrained than one would expect from an actor of his reputation (some fans would say he's too restrained in the role). The Count is only in the first part of the story, trying to vamp the lovely Anne Gwynne. 

6. HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945) 

Most of what I said above for HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN can also go here as well. Carradine is once again a low-key Dracula; he's only in the first part of the film; and he sets his sights on a pretty Universal starlet, this time Martha O'Driscoll. One wonders what Carradine could have done if he had been able to play the Count in a 1940s Universal film dedicated solely to the character. 

* I decided not to include Universal's 1931 Spanish version of DRACULA in these rankings--but if I did, it would rank near the bottom. If you think the Lugosi DRACULA is slow--and it is--consider that the Spanish DRACULA is about a half-hour longer, and it's no improvement. It has some notable camera setups, but that's about it. 

Rating The Universal Frankenstein Films

 

In May of this year I wrote a couple blog posts ranking the Frankenstein & Dracula films produced by Hammer Films. Now I'm going to rank the Frankenstein & Dracula films produced by Universal, specifically the ones made during the studio's classic monster period (1931-1948). 

Looking back on the history of my blog, I've come to the realization that I haven't done all that much writing about the classic Universal monster movies. I think the main reason for that is those films has been such a presence in my life, I kind of take them for granted. The Universal monster classics are very easy to access--they've been released and re-released on home video in various formats innumerable times, and they're available on all sorts of streaming platforms. Svengoolie also shows at least one of the Universal monster classics every month. I've seen each one of them dozens and dozens of times--I know just about every camera angle and every line of dialogue. It's hard to come up with a fresh new perspective on the Universal monster series (although that doesn't stop excellent writers such as Greg Mank and Frank Dello Stritto from doing so). What more can you say about BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN? 

This list will deal with the Universal Frankenstein films, ranked in order of preference. I have to point out that none of these films are terrible--we're not dealing with any "Paula the Ape Woman" entries here. The first three films in the Universal Frankenstein series are much better that the movies made in the 1940s--but overall the entire set is still very entertaining and watchable, and they still also have great influence on pop culture today. 

1. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)

This is one of my top ten favorite movies of all time, so of course it's going to be on top of this list. 

2. SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939)

Boris Karloff's monster doesn't have much to do here, but the film itself is filled with great flourishes, and a standout cast, with jittery Basil Rathbone, one-armed inspector Lionel Atwill, and best of all, Bela Lugosi giving one of his best screen performances as Ygor. 

3. FRANKENSTEIN (1931)

The original 1931 film has some early sound era creakiness, but I believe this actually contributes to its eerie atmosphere. What director James Whale did here continues to have a lasting impact on genre cinema, as does Boris Karloff's astounding performance....probably the greatest by any actor in horror film history. 

4. ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948)

Ironically this has now become the most beloved film of the entire Universal classic monster series. When I was a young teenager starting to get into classic horror cinema, there were still plenty of writers who felt that this movie was insulting to the legendary monsters. As the Frankenstein monster, Glenn Strange gets more to do here than he did in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HOUSE OF DRACULA combined. Just a fun time all the way around. 

5. FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN (1943)

A major event in horror film history, as this was the first monster vs. monster team-up. It's really more of a Wolf Man story than a Frankenstein one, but director Roy William Neill pulls off all the disparate elements quite well, considering how much behind-the-scenes drama was going on. Part of that drama was what happened to Bela Lugosi's performance as the monster--it was changed greatly in the editing room (and not to the actor's benefit). I have to wonder, though....how would a blinded, talkative monster, with Lugosi's distinctive voice, gone over with the general public??

6. GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942)

With this film, the Frankenstein series started to become more streamlined in every department--story, direction, and acting. Lon Chaney Jr. takes over from Karloff as the monster, and he performs the character as a generic, hulking brute. Bela Lugosi returns as a cleaned-up Ygor, and we also get Lionel Atwill as a treacherous scientist and Universal's #1 scream queen Evelyn Ankers. 

7. HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944)

Boris Karloff returns to the series, this time as a mad doctor who gets involved with most of the Universal terrors and unleashes a true monster rally. Glenn Strange takes over as the monster, but he has almost nothing to do until the very end, and he gets no chance to compete with Lon Chaney Jr., J. Carrol Naish, and John Carradine. 

8. HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945) 

Another multi-monster mash, basically a remake of HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN. The goofy plot attempts to find a scientific "cure" for all the creatures. Once again Glenn Strange as the monster is lost in the shuffle, as Onslow Stevens takes center stage as a well-meaning doctor who becomes infected with Dracula's blood. It's telling that in the 1940s, Universal saw the monster as a physically infirm brute who can do little but cause havoc. 

MAX STEINER: MAESTRO OF MOVIE MUSIC

 

Legendary film composer Max Steiner (1888-1971) wrote the music scores for four of the greatest films ever made: KING KONG, GONE WITH THE WIND, CASABLANCA, and THE SEARCHERS. If these were the only movie soundtracks he created, he would still have a place in Hollywood history--but he did far much more than that. Steiner's life and career are the subject of a 2021 documentary, MAX STEINER: MAESTRO OF MOVIE MUSIC, which I viewed on HBO Max. The documentary was produced, directed, and edited by Diana Friedberg. 

The film charts Steiner's life from his birth in Vienna, to his becoming a young musical prodigy, and then his success with musical theater in England and Europe. When World War One broke out Steiner managed to travel to the United States, where he found work in the silent film industry, and then acclaim in the world of Broadway productions in the 1920s. 

Steiner was brought out to Hollywood, and in the early 1930s, as sound on film was being perfected, his innovations on the use of music to enhance what was on the screen would have far reaching effect. Steiner's belief in the power of a properly scored film story enabled him to take part in several outstanding productions, and to gain work and respect from such Hollywood big-wigs as David O. Selznick, Bette Davis, and Jack Warner. 

The documentary presents Steiner as a man devoted to his music and his work--in 1939 he wrote an astounding eleven film scores. Even in late middle age Steiner kept up a punishing schedule. The film suggests that Steiner's unrelenting work ethic might have affected his personal life--he was married four times, and his only son committed suicide at a young age. Despite this the film details that Steiner was well-liked among those he worked alongside with. 

MAX STEINER: MAESTRO OF MOVIE MUSIC is two hours long, which gives it plenty of time to delve into the subject's extensive career, while also giving background and detail on the history and importance of movie musical scores overall. The documentary for the most part has a traditional tone to it, avoiding flashy camera or editing techniques. 

Among the mementos from Steiner's career which are shown are the actual music cues he wrote for some of his most famous film scores. (Many of these include brief notes written by Steiner that display his quirky humor.) 

Fans of the Golden Age of Hollywood will certainly enjoy this documentary--it's a thorough examination of a man who made a major and lasting contribution to the era. 

The Final Season Of THE A-TEAM

 

The season five cast photo for THE A-TEAM

I know what you're thinking. "The final season of THE A-TEAM??? What's the matter, Dan?? Did you run out of obscure Pre-Code movies to write about??" No...I could never run out of those. The reason for this post requires some explanation. 

It basically comes from MeTV's decision to start showing THE A-TEAM every weekday at 6 PM. THE A-TEAM was one of my favorite shows of the 1980s, almost as soon as it debuted in 1983. The program became an immediate smash, and it landed in the top ten of the Nielsen ratings for its first three seasons. 

The ratings went down a bit for season four, as the popularity of the show started to cool. It's not surprising the show leveled off a bit--the average A-TEAM episode was basically like all the others. If you were a regular viewer you could easily guess what was going to happen in each story from week to week. 

By season four, for whatever reason, I wasn't watching the show on a week-to-week basis. By the fifth season (which started in the fall of 1986), it was my senior year of high school, and I had gotten a job, so my TV viewing was curtailed. 

But what really tamped down on my A-TEAM fandom was the fact that the show had been rebooted. This was a common occurrence among American network TV programs of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. A TV show that had been on too long, or had declining ratings, or had gotten stale, would be reworked in some way. New characters would be introduced, or the recurring characters would change locations, jobs, romantic partners, etc. 

The thing is, these TV reboots never worked. A reboot only seemed to hasten the demise of the show that was being changed. When I found out that THE A-TEAM was being reworked for the 86-87 season, I said to myself, "There goes that show." 

Needless to say, the reboot didn't work. The somewhat different A-TEAM didn't even last the entire season before it was canceled by NBC. The truncated fifth season of THE A-TEAM lasted only 13 episodes. 

Due to the fact that MeTV has been running THE A-TEAM every weekday, I finally caught up with its fifth season. I have a few thoughts about the final chapters of THE A-TEAM, and what better place to share them than here? 

Before I discuss the fifth season, I might as well give a quick background on the show for those who are not familiar with it (although I doubt there are many who fit that description). THE A-TEAM concerns four unique and offbeat soldiers of fortune, who have been on the run from the United States government since they were falsely accused of a crime while serving in Vietnam in 1972. The four men now use their combat skills usually in the service of ordinary folks who are being victimized in some way. 

What made the show popular is that it was pure over-the-top escapist action-adventure. On the average episode of THE A-TEAM the crew would fire off more bullets and artillery than that stockpiled by most third world nations, and they would also destroy a fleet of various vehicles. Despite all this mayhem, no one ever got killed--most of the time, no one even got their hair mussed. The bad guys were really, really bad, and the ordinary folks the team helped were really, really good. The show was absolutely ridiculous--but it was also absolutely entertaining, and funny as well. 

The start of season Five of THE A-TEAM shook things up a bit, with the boys finally getting caught (for real this time), and being put on trial by the U.S. military. (There was also a new main title sequence, and the title theme was changed slightly.) Of course, the trial is a setup.....but the team comes under the scrutiny of a mysterious intelligence operative named General Stockwell (Robert Vaughn). Stockwell makes an agreement with the A-Team: if they perform a number of special missions for him, he will grant each member of the team a full pardon. 

This results in Stockwell becoming a recurring character on the show, and the team gets a new member as well--Frankie Santana (Eddie Velez), a special-effects expert who has worked with A-Team leader Hannibal Smith (George Peppard) on various low-budget movies. 

Now that they are working for Stockwell, the A-Team is now somewhat legitimate. But this also means that instead of being Robin Hood-like figures who stand up for the regular guy and have issues with the government, the team now works for the government....and they're not very happy about it. Throughout season five, all the members of the team complain about their agreement with Stockwell. If the characters on a TV show are not excited about what they are doing....the audience won't be either. 

The addition of two extra characters left less screen time for the original team....and the new guys didn't do much for the overall show. With his slicked back hair and cocky demeanor, Frankie Santana resembled the type of guy that the A-Team would usually run out of town. Frankie came off more like a junior-league version of team member Templeton Peck, played by Dirk Benedict. With the shifty Stockwell giving the orders, Hannibal's role was reduced. One of the season five episodes even focused on Stockwell, and it even featured Robert Vaughn's co-star from THE MAN FROM UNCLE, David McCallum, as a guest villain. (The episode was even titled "The Just Say Uncle Affair", apparently to make sure the viewers got the connection.) 

The character that seemed to suffer the most in season five was that of B.A. Baracus, as played by Mr. T. Due to ROCKY III and THE A-TEAM, Mr. T became a pop culture icon in the mid-1980s--he even had a Saturday morning kids TV cartoon based around him. Like most overnight sensations, Mr. T faded quickly, and I wonder if that might have been one reason why in the season five episodes, he has almost nothing to do. Another reason may be is that the season five stories revolved more around espionage and international intrigue instead of beating up numerous thugs. As a matter of fact the entire A-Team seemed out of place and overshadowed in the show's new format. (At times during the season the characters appeared to be at loose ends over not being constantly on the run.) 

There was one season five episode that got my attention: "The Spy Who Mugged Me". This one was kind of a James Bond spoof, with the unlikely concept of team member "Howling Mad" Murdock (Dwight Schultz) posing as a suave spy. Schultz actually pulls off an impressive Sean Connery imitation, and I must point out that the actor was one of the main reasons for THE A-TEAM's overall success. Schultz was a talented performer who could do just about anything, and his crazy antics were consistently talked about at schools all over America the day after any A-TEAM episode aired. 

I have no idea who, or what group of TV executives decided to revamp THE A-TEAM, but it didn't work. The idea of the team being caught and put on trial would have been perfect for a series-ending story, but THE A-TEAM didn't get one of those. Even the idea of the team working for the government might have had possibilities, if it was handled creatively. But it seemed that NBC had given up on the show already, and the changes were just a way to give the network an excuse to pull the plug. 

Even if THE A-TEAM had not been revamped, I doubt it would have lasted much longer than it did. The show was a product of its time, and it was about as politically incorrect as you could be on American TV during that period. THE A-TEAM wasn't the type of show that could have lasted a decade or more....how many times can you have the guys try and figure out how to break Murdock out of the VA hospital, or how to get B.A. on a plane?? 

THE A-TEAM will always be one of my favorite TV shows of all time--but I must admit, watching an episode Monday through Friday for weeks on end probably isn't the best way to enjoy it. THE A-TEAM deserved a much better climax than the mediocre final season it was saddled with. 

THE ROAD TO SINGAPORE

 

This is not a Bob Hope-Bing Crosby comedy. It's a 1931 Warner Bros. melodrama, directed by Alfred E. Green. I discovered it on the HBO Max streaming service, of all places. 

Before he even shows up in the film, Hugh Dawltry (William Powell) is described as "a bounder". The suave Dawltry lives on a plantation near a village called Khota, located somewhere in Southeast Asia. The group of upper-class Brits who reside there consider Dawltry an outcast. Hugh develops an interest in Philippa March (Doris Kenyon), the frustrated new wife of a disagreeable doctor (Louis Calhern). The doctor's 18 year old sister (Marian Marsh) also has a huge crush on the mysterious Dawltry. The slippery Hugh manages to deal with his problems in his own way. 

THE ROAD TO SINGAPORE is a rather low-key story that owes much to the smooth presence of William Powell. As Dawltry, Powell spends most of the film wearing fashionable suits and imbibing alcohol. The ladies in the British colony of Khota find him fascinating, while the men can't stand him. Dawltry apparently has plenty of money (he doesn't actually work), but other than his supposedly bad reputation, the viewer never learns all that much about him. 

Doris Kenyon (an actress I'm not familiar with) is the bored wife who yearns for Powell. She's all right in the role, but I was far more interested in the ultra-cute Marian Marsh, who brings some much-needed brightness in her attempts to get Hugh Dawltry's attention. It's fun to watch Marsh try and vamp an amused Powell. 

The rest of the characters are stuffy, arrogant Brits who don't have much to do other than spend time at the local club. Actually the lead characters don't do much more than that either--Doris Kenyon is constantly lounging about, fanning herself from the heat and looking miserable. The only natives that are shown are inconsequential servants. 

The movie is very much like a stage play, except for one notable SVENGALI-like shot. It's a camera movement that starts out with a closeup of Doris Kenyon looking out the window of her house, sweeps across a miniature outdoor set, and winds up on a close-up of William Powell looking out his window. 

The main Pre-Code elements here are a scene where Marian Marsh and Doris Kenyon are dressed only in lingerie and stockings, and the ending, which probably wouldn't have passed muster if the film was made later in the decade. The real reasons to watch THE ROAD TO SINGAPORE are William Powell and Marian Marsh. 

CRAZE

 

CRAZE is a 1974 British horror film, with plenty of notable names involved in it. It was produced by Herman Cohen and directed by Freddie Francis, and it stars Jack Palance, along with a supporting cast featuring several impressive talents of the English stage & screen. Despite boasting such a collection of worthy individuals, there's no reason to get crazy over CRAZE. 

If you're familiar with the Herman Cohen Cinematic Universe, the story structure of CRAZE won't surprise you any. As in many other Cohen pictures (I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN, HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM, BLACK ZOO, etc.), CRAZE features a mentally deranged middle-aged man committing a series of bizarre gruesome murders, while at the same time ensnaring a younger male friend into a web of lies and deceit. In between the occasional killings are far too many scenes of various Scotland Yard inspectors trying to figure out what is going on, and multiple characters yelling at each other. 

Jack Palance plays Neal Mottram, an antiques dealer in London who also happens to worship an African god named Chuku. Mottram keeps a statue of Chuku in the cellar of his shop, and he learns that by offering sacrifices to it--or to put it bluntly, by murdering women--he apparently receives financial windfalls. Neal's young friend and business partner Ronnie (Martin Potter) tries to convince Neal after a few of these windfalls that they should take the money and get away before the police get on to them. Neal, however, is convinced that Chuku must continually be offered more and more sacrifices. Eventually the truly crazed Neal serves Chuku in the most personal way possible. 

Like just about every horror film produced by Herman Cohen, the plot of CRAZE isn't all that riveting when you actually sit down and watch the whole thing. The viewer never finds out exactly why Neal worships Chuku in the first place, or whether this "god" is actually helping him in some supernatural way, or even whether Neal is possessed by Chuku. As Neal, Jack Palance gets plenty of chances to let it rip, but his sweaty, loony antics aren't very thrilling. Michael Gough (who played similar roles in a number of Herman Cohen productions) had enough mad charisma to make such a character entertaining to watch, but Palance is just strange and off-putting. I wanted the police to catch him mainly so the movie would come to an end. 

What's astounding about CRAZE is the number of distinguished performers that Herman Cohen somehow managed to convince to appear in it. Trevor Howard and Michael Jayston play Scotland Yard investigators, and there's also Dame Edith Evans, Hugh Griffith, Diana Dors, and Kathleen Byron. Hammer veterans Julie Ege, Percy Herbert, and David Warbeck also have small roles. One would think that with a cast like that, something interesting would result, but it doesn't. 

One would also think that with a director like Freddie Francis and a cinematographer like John Wilcox, there might be some visual flourishes at least...but it seems that these two men did just enough to make CRAZE a competently made film, nothing more. By the time he was shooting CRAZE, Freddie Francis had become burned out by the many low-budget horrors he had worked on, and it shows. I can't name one single scene in CRAZE that was handled in an imaginative or memorable manner. The movie has a seedy and unpleasant look and feel to it. 

Of course, Francis had to deal with the script he was given. The one for CRAZE was written by Cohen and his longtime collaborator Aben Kandel, and it plays like a "usual scenes" medley of their earlier thrillers. There's not much action in CRAZE...but there's plenty of shots of Palance walking around a number of English locations. At one point, during a very protracted sequence, Neal sets up a one-night stand with a former flame played by Diana Dors, in order to establish an alibi. The viewer immediately suspects that Dors will wind up being a future victim--but it never comes to that. 

CRAZE was made at the tail end of the Golden Age of the English Gothic horror film, and by this time Herman Cohen's typical approach to such material was wearing very thin. As a matter of fact Cohen never produced a film of this nature on his own ever again. CRAZE will get attention from English Gothic fans (such as myself) for the names attached to it, but a cast & crew such as this deserved a much better production. 

MASK OF MURDER

 

MASK OF MURDER is a very obscure Swedish-Canadian mystery thriller, made in 1985 and starring Rod Taylor, Christopher Lee, and Valerie Perrine. The entire movie is available as an extra on the MURDER STORY Blu-ray disc included in Severin's THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE 2 box set. 

Despite the fact that MASK OF MURDER was filmed in Sweden, its story is set in a small town in Canada. In this town a serial killer has been tracked down, and he is eventually killed by Police Supt. Bob McLaine (Rod Taylor). Almost immediately more murders start to happen, all fitting the same pattern of the deceased killer. McLaine starts to wonder if the killer has somehow been reincarnated, while also dealing with personal problems at home--his wife (Valerie Perrine) is having an affair with one of his fellow police officers. 

MASK OF MURDER tries to be a gripping psychological suspense tale, but it's dull and depressing, with glum, uninteresting characters. Director Arne Mattson doesn't give the story much flash or flair--even the murder sequences are very generic. The story takes place in the middle of winter, and due to this there's a grey, desultory atmosphere hanging over everything. Perhaps that was the director's intention, but it doesn't make a viewer all that enthusiastic to follow the talky, slow-moving plot. 

Rod Taylor gives a rather sullen performance as the put-upon Supt. McLaine. I'm sure what was going on in the story influenced Taylor's attitude, but one wonders if the actor regretted even being in this production. Christopher Lee plays Taylor's boss, Chief Supt. Jonathan Rich. It's another of Lee's many "He's not in it enough, and why did he even bother to take part in this" roles. Lee brings some much needed spirit when he is onscreen, but you get the feeling that his character is way overqualified to be a police chief in such a small boring town. 

There's an attempt here to try and inject a supernatural element, by suggesting that a dead serial killer may be able to influence others from beyond the grave, but it isn't developed enough. The ending is rather awkward, and it leaves more questions than answers. What really hurts the film is that nearly every character has been dubbed--even Rod Taylor is dubbed over a couple times. This doesn't help the already clunky dialogue. 

On the back of Severin's Blu-ray disc case of MURDER STORY, it is stated that their presentation of MASK OF MURDER is sourced from the best existing master. The movie is not in HD, it is in full frame, and it looks as if it comes from a VHS tape. The colors are pale and drab, and the visual quality just makes the film feel even more cheap and seedy. 

Christopher Lee was involved in several obscure films in his lengthy acting career, but MASK OF MURDER is particularly rare. It doesn't seem to have gotten any sort of major theatrical release, and most sources say that while it was made in 1985, it didn't get released on home video until 1988. Some might give Severin some respect for including something unknown as this in a deluxe Blu-ray box set, while others may opine that a more effective production could have taken up the slot. 

At one point in MASK OF MURDER, Christopher Lee's character complains, "Blah, blah, blah..." That's about the best way to describe the film overall.