Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142229 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-10-12
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 65 minutes

Customer Reviews

MY COPY PLAYS FINE - BEST AVAILABLE VERSIONS ANYWHERE
Based on the review above, I contacted the company before buying this title. They told me that though the initial pressing was missing the audio on the second title, it was caught almost immediately and only 125 copies got to market with this problem. They also informed me that they would replace any defective copies if you drop them an email at their website. With this assurance, I went ahead and purchased a copy. To my delight, it not only plays perfectly, but both films are sharp, crisp and the best, most complete versions of these films available anywhere. The Alpha video version of MITRB looks like mud next to this. Extensive liner notes and beautiful packaging all around. A "must-have" for Slaughter fans and devotees of classic horror.

Buy this!
Yes, my first copy had the audio problem, but the replacement played fine, so don't be afraid to buy this fine introduction to an overlooked horror star. In his highly theatrical way, Tod Slaughter was as enjoyable as Karloff or Lugosi, and, as a few reviewers have noted, no actor ever had so much fun being Bad (with a capital B)! FACE is probably his best and BARN is his first; both films are eminently watchable with good picture quality. So, give Europe's Horror Man a chance; if you love '30s and '40s fright films, chances are you won't regret it. I, for one, hope to see more Slaughter on DVD.

An impressive old-school horror movie
This 1940 George King production from British Lion Studios is a delightfully evil if somewhat hokey little horror film. The setting is Paris, France in the year 1880, and a series of murders has the populace in mortal terror of "Le Loup" ("the wolf"). Why the killer is described as a wolfman is beyond me because in each case, the victim sees a horrifying face in the window and is stabbed in the back with a dagger. When M. de Brisson's bank is robbed during one murder, he fears he will be ruined financially. Then a new client, Chevalier Del Gardo appears to entrust a substantial amount of money to his care; the Chevalier's motives are far from noble, however, as he wants the hand of the young, beautiful Cecile de Brisson in return for his help. Cecile is in love with "lowly" bank clerk Lucien Cortier, and Del Gardo attempts to frame him for the murders. Several additional murders are perpetrated during the course of the story, and Lucien's last opportunity to prove his innocence involves a great new discovery made by a "mad" (yet noble) scientist. This scientist has successfully used electricity to reanimate dead animals, and he is convinced that he can do the same for a dead human; in this manner, one of Le Loup's victims will be able to come back just long enough to name his murderer.

I found this to be an excellent early horror flick. Some elements of the plot are a little ridiculous, but the actors play their parts exceedingly well and do not at any time overdramatize and thus undermine the story. Tod Slaughter plays the evil Chevalier Del Gardo to the hilt and could rightfully make reference to a truly evil cackle on his acting resume, John Warwick as Lucien Cortier shines as the quintessential hero determined to clear his name and nab the true killer, and Marjorie Taylor is delightful as Cecile de Brisson. The special effects, such as they are, are also very effective, particularly the coalescing image of the hideous "face at the window." The introductory text that introduces the motion picture sums the movie up quite well; The Face at the Window is an old-school melodrama "dear to the hearts of all who unashamedly enjoy either a shudder or a laugh at the heights of villainy."