Michael's Horror Lase-O-Rama: The Most Dangerous Game: Collector's Edition (1995, ROAN Group)

Source: LDDB.com

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Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea) is a hunter, renowned the world over for having stalked the deadliest animals alive, then returned to write the stories. But what starts as a simple trans-Pacific voyage ends in disaster as the ship he's travelling on runs aground and sinks. The sharks infesting the water pick off survivors until only Rainsford, waterlogged and weary but still alive, washes up on the shore of the uncharted Baranka Island.

After a brief exploration of his surroundings, Rainsford locates what appears to be a large fortress. His noctural knocks are answered, and upon entrance he meets the enigmatic Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks) and his Cossack servant Ivan (Noble Johnson). Zaroff is the perfect host, a worldly intellectual who recognizes Rainsford as the author of some of his favorite books. Zaroff also fancies himself as something of a hunter, and is delighted to welcome Rainsford into his home where, as it turns out, Rainsford isn't the only guest.

An earlier shipwreck brought Martin Trowbridge (Robert Armstrong) and his sister Eve (Fay Wray) to his door, where they have been staying while Zaroff's servants work to repair the jetty which could take them back to civilization. As Martin avails himself of the Count's vodka, becoming increasingly more obnoxious, Eve pulls Rainsford aside and tells him things are not as right as they appear. Eve and Martin washed ashore with two members of their ship's crew, but both of those men have not been seen in several days. Zaroff told her they were working on his boat, but Eve swears she's heard the Count fire up the engine and drive away in the night, and neither man has come back for food or rest.

As if that's not strange enough, Zaroff becomes more loose-lipped as the night goes by. He regales Rainsford and the Trowbridges with stories of how he's slowly lost his excitement for hunting as a result of being simply too good at it. Thus, as the years went by, he had to devise newer and steeper challenges for himself. Hunting was his life, and on this island, he has finally been able to reignite his passion by hunting the most dangerous animal to walk the earth. His successes thusfar are displayed in his trophy room, but he won't allow just anyone to view his achievements.

Martin, now completely soused off his gourd, needles and cajoles the Count into letting him see what's beyond the iron door, and finally Zaroff gives in. He instructs his servants to see Eve and Bob to their rooms, and tells the two to enjoy a long night's rest, as he'll be up for a while yet entertaining Martin. Uncomfortable but unable to really offer a reason to decline, Bob and Eve head upstairs, while Zaroff and Martin descend into the cellar.

In the middle of the night, Eve wakes Bob. Unable to sleep, she opened the window for some fresh air and heard the most horrible noises outside, and Martin has not returned to his room. She convinces Bob to help her find her brother, and the two descend into the cellar where the awful truth is revealed: Count Zaroff's been hunting humans, keeping their heads and other grisly bits mounted in his "trophy" room. Unfortunately for the pair, Zaroff and Ivan return to the fortress with their latest trophy, the body of the luckless Martin, where they catch Bob and Eve.

Disappointed that they spoiled the surprise, but excited at the prospect of pitting his own skills against those of the greatest hunter in the world, Zaroff makes a deal with Rainsford. If he and Eve can survive and outwit Zaroff from midnight until daybreak, Zaroff will allow them to leave and return to civilization. And if they don't...well, there's plenty of room on Zaroff's wall for two more trophies...

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If you think Hollywood's obsession with remakes and rip-offs is a recent innovation, then The Most Dangerous Game should disabuse you of that notion quickly. Adapted from a short story by Richard Connell published in 1924, the film has seen nearly twenty remakes, adaptations, and variations on the same theme produced over the years. The first remake was even done by RKO Pictures, who made the original, a mere thirteen years after the fact, and since then it's been adapted for both big and small screen presentations, individual episodes of television shows, and even stage productions. Each version differs in length and tone, with some like 1997's The Pest with John Leguizamo taking the premise more for laughs, while others like 1994's Surviving the Game with Ice-T and Gary Busey play up the action elements. But make no mistake: the 1932 original, despite a running time of only 63 minutes, is horror to the hilt, and succeeds wildly in doing so.

Sure, the twist is visible a mile away today (and even if it isn't, the cover of the 'Disc pretty much gives it away), but the basement trophy room reveal is downright horrifying in its own right. This is pre-code Hollywood, and while there's nothing to shock the jaded audiences of the 21st century with its black and white presentation, preview audiences of the day walked out of the theater due to directors Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack's depictions of decaying heads and corpses. This caused RKO to re-cut the picture from its original 78-minute run time down to the 63-minute final version presented here. Even that, it turned out, wasn't good enough for the censors who refused to allow it to be exhibited for decades after the Hays Code began formal policing of films in 1934. Among the reasons cited beyond the gore were the relatively casual dress of Fay Wray and Joel McCrea during the hunting sequence, and Martin's excessive consumption of alcohol (since this was now Prohibition era in the US).

I'd read the original short story a number of years ago, and seen countless takes on the premise over the years, but I'd never sat down to watch the original, and I've got to say, I'm sorry I waited so long. This is a masterpiece of cinema, with everything from the cinematography to the pacing to the acting to Max Steiner's awesome musical score ratcheted to a nigh-unbelievable tightness. The sets are gorgeous. The sinking of the ship at the start of the movie is stunning for the period, from the shocked screams of the poor crewmen baked to death as the water hits the boilers and converts to steam, to the explosion which rends the ship in half and sends it to the bottom of the drink in a matter of seconds. The shark attack is surprisingly bloody as well -- nothing like Spielberg would do with Jaws forty-five years later, of course, but still jarring nonetheless.

And then there's Zaroff. Good Lord, is there ever Zaroff. Leslie Banks plays the mad Count to the hilt, leaving so many teeth marks over the scenery you could use them to re-create a bite mold of his mouth to this very day. Despite this, Banks doesn't make him a caricature of a villain either. He's a brooding sociopath with a background that allows the viewer to come to several conclusions about what made him so, but his aristocratic refinements give him a charismatic appeal that throws everyone off just enough to make it seem reasonable he could get away with his maliciousness. Of course you cheer when Joel McCrae outwits him at his own game, but there's a part of him that evinces real sympathy from the viewer as well. That's a hard line to walk for any actor. We celebrate when Anthony Hopkins delivers up a multi-faceted performance as Hannibal Lecter, but Banks's turn as Zaroff is no less laudatory.

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In the world of giving home video releases of films the top-notch treatment, the number one name in the game is "Criterion". Anything they deliver is going to be the best possible transfer struck from the best possible print, with the best possible restoration, and best quality audio they can find. But if I say so myself, what Criterion is to certified cinema classics, ROAN Group was to the Psychotronic. Criterion dealt with the likes of Citizen Kane, King Kong, and 12 Angry Men, while Cary Roan and his partners were more interested in Fulci's Zombie, Argento's Bird With the Crystal Plumage, and this bad boy right here.

I will give damn near anything released by ROAN Group a try, even if it's a genre of picture I wouldn't normally watch, just because of how far they go to deliver the goods on their home video, and The Most Dangerous Game continues this tradition spectacularly. This 'disc was struck from an original 35mm print, rigorously restored to remove dust and scratches from the film along with various audio hisses and pops, then window-boxed to preserve the 1.37:1 original theatrical exhibition ratio. The digital track contains the original mono film soundtrack, while the analog contains the mono track on the left channel, and a commentary track by film historian George Turner isolated on the right channel.

Supplementary materials include a gallery of stills from the movie itself, trailers for King Kong and Mighty Joe Young (two other RKO Pictures releases), and a visual reproduction of the lobby card for 1956's Run For the Sun, which was one of the many remakes this story received. My copy is lacking them, but it also shipped with a page of film notes and a reproduction of the original pressbook.

The story of this movie's creation is nearly as wild as the film itself. It shared not only a number of sets but also several actors with King Kong, with which it was filmed simultaneously. It wasn't uncommon for Fay Wray to wrap a scene in one only to be spirited across the lot just in time to get changed into a different costume and resume shooting on the other, and between the two, her lungs got one hell of a workout. :)

I know I'm gushing like a snob here, but The Most Dangerous Game is truly that phenomenal of a movie. I'm kicking myself for letting four decades pass before finally viewing it, and this 'disc was the perfect introduction. Connell's short story is in the public domain if you want to read it, and what's better, a mistake in copyright filing means the film itself is also. Therefore, where I'd normally provide the trailer, I'm instead going to link the full 63-minute production for your viewing pleasure, courtesy of the Timeless Classic Movies YouTube channel where you can see hundreds more public domain films from this era.

Set aside an hour and watch Leslie Banks utterly own the screen. You can thank me down in the comments.