The Beast with Five Fingers Blu Ray Review (Warner Archive Collection)

The Beast with Five Fingers is a 1946 horror film directed by Robert Florey (The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller, The Woman in Red, Hollywood Boulevard, Lady Gangster, Four Star Playhouse, and The Outer Limits). It was written by Curt Siodmak (13 Demon Street, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man Returns, Black Friday, The Invisible Woman, The Ape, and I Walked with a Zombie). Hillary Cummins (played by: Peter Lorre from The Raven, The Comedy of Terrors, The Maltese Falcon, Tales of Terror, Casablanca, and Beat the Devil), the trusted secretary to wheelchair-bound piano virtuoso Francis Ingram (played by: Victor Francen from The Big Scare, Fanny, Journey to the Lost City, I Accuse, and The King) that has a dark passion for the dangerous occult. Tearing through every possible book on the supernatural that he can find in Ingram’s impressive library, Hilary starts to experience strange and terrifying things happening around the house. After a tragic death, the line between reality and unimaginable terror is blurred as the severed hand from a corpse begins killing everyone one by one in the cursed villa!!!! The Beast with Five Fingers is more of a suspense thriller than a horror feature. It takes a little bit to go somewhere but it gets real interesting once one of the main characters are killed off. The script is very dark for the most part, it keeps the tension and build up as all this madness is taking place. It does get a little silly and comical towards the end. Horror veteran Peter Lorre is great in The Beast with Five Fingers as Hillary Cummins. Lorre had one of the most unique faces in Hollywood and he always stood out when he was in anything. He’s the loyal secretary to the former musical genius that goes through hell as his life changes up on him. The rest of the supporting cast includes Victor Francen, Robert Alda (Rhapsody in Blue), Andrea King (Red Planet Mars), J. Carrol Naish (Sahara), Charles Dingle (The Little Foxes), John Alvin (Somewhere in Time), David Hoffman (The Creeper), Patricia Barry (Sea of Love), and Belle Mitchell (High Plains Drifter). The killer hand sub-genre is very original and unique, this is one of the first ones that I remember with that concept. Greedy guests are knocked off one by one as they wait to cash in off someone’s death. Director Robert Florey provides some creative visual shots in The Beast with Five Fingers. It was great to revisit this one after all these years, I’m hoping more discover it from this brand new home video release. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from the Warner Archive Collection! This 1080p (1.37:1) unrated transfer is a brand new 4K restoration from the original nitrate camera negative. This is a massive upgrade compared to all it’s older releases. It’s the best it’s ever going to look on home video. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track on the disc. The audio is fantastic, it helps builds the thrills for it’s creepy atmosphere. All of the dialogue is crisp, the suspense is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with author Dr. Steve Haberman and filmmaker Constantine Nasr. These two experts and fans share plenty of knowledge for this late 40’s production. They chat about the visual style, fx, cast, production, and it’s overall development. If you are curious to find out more about The Beast with Five Fingers then you will dig this one. It has a few restored Merrie Melodies cartoon shorts from the Warner Bros vaults. It has the little over 7 minute “The Foxy Duckling” directed by Arthur Davis and the little over 6 minute “The Gay Anties” directed by Friz Freleng. It has the “Theatrical Trailer”. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!