Universal Horror Collection: Volume 4

Night Key (1937)

Shafted out of patents and pension by the security company he gave his life to, an ailing electronics whiz (Boris Karloff) sets out to humiliate his ex-employer with a device that renders their technology worthless. He didn't count on being found out by a gang of crooks, who threaten his family unless he becomes an accomplice to their thefts. Tidy thriller co-stars Jean Rogers, Warren Hull. 68 min. BW/Rtg: NR

Night Monster (1942)

In the wake of a botched surgery that left him a double amputee and a recluse, millionaire Kurt Ingston (Ralph Morgan) invited his treating physicians to his remote estate to discuss a charitable gift. As the duped doctors die one by one, the other houseguests try to discover who's responsible--but weren't prepared for the uncanny truth. Dark-house chiller co-stars Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Irene Hervey, Niels Asther. 73 min. BW/Rtg: NR

The Climax (1944)

After the success of their "Phantom of the Opera" remake, Universal re-used some of the same sets (and plot) for this thriller. Boris Karloff stars as a Paris Opera House physician obsessed with a beautiful singer he believes to be the reincarnation of the star he murdered in a jealous rage years earlier. With "Phantom" star Susanna Foster, Gale Sondergaard, Turhan Bey. 86 min. C/Rtg: NR

House of Horrors (1946)

In this eerie thriller, a Greenwich Village sculptor saves a deformed man from drowning, then uses him as a model for his work. When he receives "thumbs down" reviews from the critics, the artist sends his friend out to off the naysayers. Robert Lowery, Virginia Grey, and Rondo Hatton, playing "The Creeper," star. 66 min. BW/Rtg: NR