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The Mad Magician – Indicator Series (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1954
Director: John Brahm
Writer: Crane Wilbur
Cast: Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Patrick O’Neal, Eva Gabor, John Emery, Lenita Lane, Donald Randolph, Jay Novello

Release Date: April 25th, 2022
Approximate Running Time: 72 Minutes 51 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 12 (UK)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £8.99 (UK)

"Made shortly after the box-office success of House of Wax, The Mad Magician returns Vincent Price to the world of three-dimensional horror. He plays Don Gallico, the creator of elaborate illusions for stage magicians, who seeks their fame… and will turn to murder to achieve it!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Sony's 2K remaster, supervised by Rita Belda, was the source to this Indicator edition."

The Mad Magician comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.9 GB

Feature: 21.4 GB

For this release, both the 3-D and 2-D versions of the film have been included. It should be noted that no 3-D glasses are included, and you will need the required equipment to watch this film in 3-D.

The source is in great shape; image clarity and compression are solid, black levels are strong, and there are no issues with digital noise reduction. Though this release shares the same source Twilight Time used for their 2017 Blu-ray, Fidelity in Motion’s solid encode of the 2D version gives it the edge.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, and included with this release are removable English SDH subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, balanced, and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (32 images - stills/posters), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), two super 8 versions of The Mad Magician: version #1 (8 minutes 34 seconds, no sound with burnt English subtitles) and version #2 (16 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Three-Dimensional Magic an appreciation of The Mad Magician and the 3D filmmaking boom of the 1950s by cinematographer Frank Passingham (Kubo and the Two Strings) and archivist Tom Vincent (15 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with film historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby, two short films starring the Three Stooges, both presented in 3D and 2D: Spooks! (15 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH) and Pardon My Backfire (15 minutes 59 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH), and a 40-page booklet (limited edition of 3,000 copies) with cast & crew information. An essay titled Merv Taylor: The Real Mad Magician written by Kat Ellinger, Bryan Foy: King of ‘Little Pictures”, an interview with John Brahm conducted by David Del Valle, a guide to the promotional campaign, an overview of contemporary critical responses, cast & crew information for Spooks! and Pardon My Backfire, an essay titled The 3-D Stooges written by Jeff Billington, archival images, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Shortly after the box office success of House of Wax, producer Brian Foy would quickly start another similar-themed film. And that film in question was The Mad Magician. Besides borrowing elements from the aforementioned House of Wax, another area where these two films have similarities is the carryover of key cast members, including screenwriter Crane Wilbur and cinematographer Bert Glennon, and Vincent Price once again being cast in the lead role.

From a production standpoint, The Mad Magician features a solid premise, a strong narrative that is wonderfully paced, and well-defined characters that are all superbly portrayed by the cast. Another strength of The Mad Magician are its striking visuals, and when it comes to the use of 3-D, this film far exceeds expectations.

Standout moments visually include a sequence of moments where the protagonist has just severed off the head of his employer and the bag he put the head in has been mistakenly taken by a young woman who works for him, and the scene where the protagonist's ex-wife discovers that he has been impersonating a dead man.

When discussing The Mad Magician, one must not overlook the contributions from Vincent Price (Theatre of Blood) in the role of this film’s protagonist, Professor Henry Jarrod. He delivers a rock-solid performance, which allows him to take on many personas. Other notable cast members include Eva Gabor ("Green Acres") in the role of Jarrod’s ex-wife, John Emery (Spellbound) in the role of a magician named The Great Rinaldi, and Lenita Lane in the role of Alice Prentiss, an inquisitive novelist who writes murder mysteries.

Though not as well-remembered as House of Wax, The Mad Magician is a highly entertaining film that makes an excellent companion piece to the aforementioned film.

The Mad Magician gets its best home media release to date from Powerhouse Films, highly recommended.