Review of Classic Horror Collection: The Monster / Hands Of The Ripper / The Uncanny

Introduction

The Uncanny comes as part of the "Classic Horror Collection", which also features "The Monster" and "Hands of the Ripper", both of which are covered by our other site reviews.

"The Uncanny" was made in 1977 by director Denis Heroux and stars Peter Cushing, Samantha Eggar, Ray Milland and Susan Penhaligon.

The story follows a researcher who relates three tales of feline horror in which seemingly innocuous cats attack and murder their masters (and as a cat owner myself, hopefully I`ll not be suffering the same fate! - particularly as one of the cats is alarmingly similar to mine!). The ferocious felines then attempt to permanently silence the outspoken scientist himself.

Video

The video is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and is not particularly good quality. There is little or no dirt on the print, but the image is grainy and there is a distinct lack of focus and detail due to the limited resolution of the film. There is limited contrast at times leading to a slightly washed out look. Of course, the movie is 25 years old, so things have to be taken in context.

Visually, the film is run of the mill, with competent sets and costumes, all of which are competently filmed, except for the section in the second story when a girl is shrunk down to cat food size, complete with dreadful rear projection, making things less than convincing to say the least.

Audio

The soundtrack comes in mono, replayed through the front stereo pair. Clearly this isn`t going to lead to any huge aural excitement, but the dialogue and effects are clear throughout the film. A fairly unexciting score pipes up during moments of tension.

Features

There are no extras.

The menus are animated and easy to navigate.

Conclusion

Overall, like so many other old horror movies "The Uncanny" is neither scary nor tense and provides only limited entertainment. The first story is the best of the three, and it`s downhill from there on, the second marred by poor effects and the third just not very good. Anyone who has a rabid dislike of cats will probably feel at unease as they attack their victims however!

When the film is combined with the below par video and sound, this disc is pretty unappealing. I would therefore suggest keeping an eye out for it on television instead.