20 November 2023 (UK) / 21 November 2023 (US/Canada)
The terrifying talents of Newcastle’s Norman Carter ‘Tod’ Slaughter – the first true icon of British horror cinema – are showcased in this long-overdue box set. Featuring the eight films which ‘Europe’s Horror Man’ made in collaboration with British producer-director George King (Tomorrow We Live), this comprehensive collection also includes a number of rare shorts and newsreel items.
Includes the eight films:
- Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn (1935)
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936)
- The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936)
- It's Never Too Late to Mend (1937)
- The Ticket of Leave Man (1937)
- Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror (1938)
- The Face at the Window (1939)
- Crimes at the Dark House (1940)
Tech specs: Blu-ray.com
I am umming and ahhing over this one but the title suggests we could get his post-war work in another box set and I thoroughly enjoyed The Curse of the Wraydons (1946) and had been keeping an eye open for his Spring-Heeled Jack (1950) (these all seem the kind of films to pop up on Talking Pictures, possibly where I caught TCotW) and they could throw in his Burke and Hare film The Greed of William Hart (1948). So, while I think I've only seen his Sweeney Todd, I am probably in the target audience of someone who likes a good Penny Dreadful brought to screen and I've talked myself into buying it.
There's also a debate in the comments at Blu-ray.com about booklets as this comes with a 120 page one. Now I am sucker for a booklet and could do with less of the other filler in a fancy boxset (lobby cards, posters, badges, etc. although I am tickled by The Necro Files having a themed condom as part of the set) but here it's an odd one as Indicator have a Tod Slaughter book that you can buy as a bundle with the boxset. However, the authors of the booklet are the same as the ones on the book, so is it just a trimmed down version? If so, why would you want only part of the book or, if you have to buy part of the book with the set, you'd not feel much incentive to buy the book. A veritable head-scratcher.