Louis Feuillade: The Complete Crime Serials Limited Edition Blu-ray Box Set
'Louis Feuillade: The Complete Crime Serials' (1913-1918) Eureka Masters of Cinema Limited Edition Hardcase 9-Disc Blu-ray Box Set of 2000 copies | 4K restorations | French intertitles w/ English subtitles
An early cinematic pioneer with an undeniably pervasive influence, Louis Feuillade made hundreds of films in a short career spanning only a few decades. Today, he is best remembered for his landmark serials Fantômas, Les Vampires, Judex and Tih Minh, four crime epics that have had an immeasurable impact on popular culture around the globe.
Across Fantômas' five episodes, the eponymous criminal mastermind is pursued by an Inspector Juveand newspaper reporter as he carries out his nefarious schemes. In Les Vampires, a journalist attempts to investigate an enigmatic criminal gang operating in the Parisian underworld – a group known only as the Vampires. In Judex, a mysterious vigilante sets out to bring down a corrupt banker. Finally, in Tih Minh, a young man returning from an expedition in Indochina becomes embroiled in a game of espionage and thievery with a gang of mysterious jewel thieves.
Feuillade’s crime serials had an enormous impact on some of the greatest filmmakers of the twentieth century, chiefly Fritz Lang and Alfred Hitchcock. They also played an important role in the development of the criminal mastermind and masked vigilante characters that would proliferate in pulp magazines, film, television, radio and comic books over the next few decades, including Dr Mabuse, The Shadow and Diabolik.
Limited Edition contents include:
- Fantômas – Audio commentaries on In the Shadow of the Guillotine and Juve vs Fantômas by film historian and author David Kalat
- Les Vampires – Brand new audio commentaries on The Red Cipher and The Spectre by film historian and author David Kalat
- Judex – Brand new audio commentaries on the prologue, The Mysterious Shadow, Atonement, The Water Sprite and The Forgiveness of Love by genre film expert and Video Watchdog founder Tim Lucas
- Tih-Minh – Brand new audio commentaries on The Potion of Forgetfulness, The Mysteries of Circé Villa and Justice by genre film expert and Video Watchdog founder Tim Lucas
- Interview with critic and author Kim Newman
- Interview with critic, film historian and silent cinema expert Pamela Hutchinson on the star of Les Vampires and Judex
- Video essay by film scholar Elizabeth Ezra, editor of European Cinema and France in Focus: Film and National Identity
- Interview with writer, composer and silent film accompanist Neil Brand
- Interview with critic, writer and film commentator Tony Rayns
- Fold-out poster
- Limited edition 100-page collector’s book featuring new writing by Louis Feuillade experts Jonathan Rosenbaum, Calum Baker, Annette Förster, Wendy Haslem, Robin Walz and Leon Hunt on the filmmaker and his crime serials alongside select archival imagery
