Every October when I exclusively watch horror movies to celebrate the Halloween season, Doctor X is one of the films that I always watch. Known for its line “synthetic flesh” the creature in this picture is nothing short of hideous and is spookier than most, including those in contemporary horror cinema!
Based on the play known as The Terror, Doctor X is an early two-strip technicolor film made during the pre-code era. The plot is not complex; it is the familiar mad scientist tale with a creature that appears and kills people whenever the full moon is lighting the dark skies. The killings are referred to as the full moon murders as they take place under the moon’s powerful light. After investigating the murders by aggressive reporter Lee Taylor (Lee Tracy, Dinner at Eight), the killer is revealed to be a scientist that becomes a man-made monster who works at a medical academy run by Doctor Xavier (horror screen legend Lionel Atwill, Murders in the Zoo, Son of Frankenstein). All his staff members are suspects including Dr. Wells (Preston Foster, Annie Oakley, Ladies they Talk About), Dr. Haines (John Wray, The Mouthpiece), Dr. Duke (Harry Beresford, Scandal Sheet) and Dr. Rowitz (Arthur Edmund Carewe, Charlie Chan’s Secret).
Dr. Xavier is granted 48 hours by the police to solve the murder is his own way. He plans to reenact the murder scene using his daughter Joanne Xavier (iconic actress Fay Wray, King Kong) as the “victim” with the suspects all handcuffed to their chairs. The reenactment goes very wrong!
I just love Doctor X! The monster in this movie to me is one of the scariest faces ever in cinema. No, not up to Lon Chaney’s Phantom of the Opera, but certainly one of the creepiest, easily in my top 10. On top of that, the film has a great ensemble of veteran actors who hand in superior performances, to go with the excellent direction by Michael Curtiz who gives this picture a ton of atmosphere and eeriness throughout with an incredibly suspenseful climax. He was also the man behind his other early technicolor classic The Mystery of the Wax Museum.
Doctor X Is presented on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection. This release offers both the color and black and white versions of the film. Regarding the colorized version, which was how the film was shot, the movie has never looked better on home video. Given a new 4K scan and a thorough clean-up, the image quality looks incredible with vibrant, bold colors, rich black levels and excellent shadow detail. Skin tones look accurate, with great details to close-ups of the actors and the creature’s face. It is a major league improvement over the DVD.
The English DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track is also crisp and clear without popping sounds, hissing or other distractions. The lossless audio has dialog, screams and other noises sounding fluid throughout the presentation.
Extras are aplenty for this release. Warner has done a wonderful job adding supplemental materials for this release. As mentioned before, Doctor X includes a black and white version of the film which has also been restored. Needles to say the image is impressive and looks gorgeous in 1080p. Not only that, but this cut is also a bit longer with scenes shot differently.
There are two audio commentaries for Doctor X. The first commentary track features author and film historian Alan K. Rode. He covers a great deal of ground, such as the making of the film, the cast and the crew. Do note that the commentary is only on the color version. The second commentary track which is also only available during the color version, features Scott MacQueen, head of preservation at UCLA’s Film and Television Archive. He discusses the restoration of the film and the two-strip technicolor process.
A featurette, Monsters and Mayhem: The Horror Films of Michael Curtiz looks at his trio of horror films, Doctor X, Mystery of the Wax Museum and The Walking Dead
Something fans will really be into is an extra called UCLA Before & After Restoration Reel, displaying the details in a before and after the restoration work done for Doctor X.
A theatrical trailer rounds out the extras.
Warner Archive has outdone itself on this release of Doctor X. The audio and video quality for this offering is remarkable and highly recommended. Along with the extras to go with the great viewing and listening experience easily makes Doctor X a strong candidate to be among the best releases of the year.
Doctor X
Director- Michael Curtiz
Cast- Lionel Atwill, Lee Tracy, Fay Wray
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Warner Brothers / Warner Archive Collection
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date-4/16/21