No, from what I understand, the original DVD had cleaned-up audio and restored the death screams of Renfield and Dracula. Apparently, when this first DVD came out, there was a music cue missing in the concert hall scene that film buffs rightfully wanted restored. What I think happened is: Universal restored the music cue in this new Legacy release simply by using the previous dirty, pop-ridden soundtrack. Now, Universal has two incomplete versions of the Dracula soundtrack that they're batting back-and-forth between DVD releases.

Bought a new Frankenstein set so now I've got every thing in good condition. First thing I did was watch House of Dracula.

Okay, so I have no willpower and ended up buying the Dracula and Frankenstein sets. It took me a few minutes to find ones that weren't rattling. Both sets look fine and no scratches or scuffing on the discs. That's a relief after hearing the problems others were having. Looking forward to watching it

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Originally posted by Darryl on 03-01-04
With Universal's track record with DVDs, I'd say pull those babies off Ebay ASAP - you may regret it later. These are the same folks that almost gave us Duel, messed up Monty Python's Meaning of Life and Back To The Future.....
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posted by EPJK on 03-01-04
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Universal has so far done a great job with their Franchise Collection titles that were inagurated this year.

Darryl posts on 5-01-03 :

I'm glad I didn't sell my older versions of these films on DVD - even though I bought the new box set, I'm glad I didn't let go of the older releases for reasons like the Dracula soundtrack screw up.

Same here. I bought both, but now that I know about the soundtrack issue, a scratched Legacy Dracula DVD only means: what is being scratched is an inferior product. The bigger problem is that Universal actually DOWNGRADED the quality of the source material when some people are selling their older DVDs. What's more, few people seem to care. They're still hung up on loose DVDs.

I got mine from Amazon yesterday. Fantastic looking sets. I had a loose disc in both the Dracula and Wolfman sets. In both cases, it was the flipper disk that was loose. Disk 1 was firmly seated on the hub in all three cases. At the factory are the disks usually seated manually or mechanically? If it is mechanically, I think there may be a systematic error going on.

It varies. I've found that for some reason DVD-14s and 18s (i.e. double-sided discs) are more often seated by hand. I often find DVD-18s with scratches and fingerprints on them right out of the factory (and in one case, a sneaker print, like someone had stepped on the disc).

I've had absolutely no problems with the Horror Legacy discs that I've watched... with the Best of Abbott and Costello Vol. 2 coming next week, Universal is a lock so far for major DVD studio of the year.

BRAVO, keep em coming Universal!!!

I'm probably one of the few who actually recieved a flawless Monster Legacy set. No floaters, no scatches, and box in perfect condition. Oh yeah, the busts are nice too!

My only problem with the set is I can't find the damn thing. The individual sets yes, but I want the box set, dammit.

Al Pacino,

Does Best Buy and the like have rainchecks available? Perhaps you could put one on hold and they'll call you when one is available. Make sure to tell them to shake it up to make sure there are no loose discs.

Austin Powers : "Oh no, Fahht Bahhstard left a floatahh!!"

Try reading my post this time and living in the present.

Reasons? Name some others. You have named one, and it is trivial. Why do you feel it necessary to exercise hyperbole over instead of just mentioning a minor complaint. You act as if nothing is good about these sets, when in fact, they are great releases. Stop being childish.

Sounds like some people are afraid to admit that Universal screwed up once again. I'm glad I have both releases. Between them, I have everything I need.

Sadly, my only problem with the Monster Legacy set is that I cannot get it. My Best Buy under ordered it and has TON of rain checks written on it to boot. Any recommendations on what other places might carry it for a reasonable price? (Circuit City is out, doesn't carry it.)

You might want to try Borders. It's $76 but there's a 20% coupon over in the Bargains forum which would bring it closer to $62ish. First one I hit sold their only one yesterday but the guy called another store (which had one)

I had 'em hold it for me but when I went to pick it up, it had some floaters. I contemplated the situation and, sadly, had them put it back on the shelf.

I'm hoping that Universal will repackage all these returns they're getting with non-floaters and send 'em back out to stores.

Use STL and get it on Amazon.com

The box set seems to be an unexpected hot seller. My local Futureshop sold out of them within hours of release last week. Today, I went back and asked if they were getting any more in. The lady told me that I was the fifth person to ask her about it in the last 2 hours. Anyway, luckily I found it at a nearby Best Buy.

There are problems with the audio tracks being incorrect, and problems with the packaging (discs coming loose, getting all scratched up in shipment, etc.).

How does this set a new standard of excellence?

Flawed audio and botched packaging aside, these films are gems - and only the purists would notice the differences in the audio tracks. The packaging problem is a pain in the arse, but easy enough to fix by swapping the problem discs for replacements.

Don't let a little thing like incorrect audio tracks and scratched up discs stop you from checking out these films. And with all of the extras, including all of those wonderful sequels, you can't beat it for the price.

I see no one has mentioned the suprise feature: you can skip over the FBI warning at the beginning of each disk.

Don't forget:

9) The missing bass on the original DTS version of Jurassic Park.

10) The horrible transfer of the 1979 version of Dracula where a color film is now practically black and white. (This year is its 25th anniversary. Would be a great time to correct this.)

11) Fullscreen versions only for great movies like Death Becomes Her, The Paper, and The Jerk. (Actually this year is also the 25th anniversary of The Jerk. So this would also be a great time to correct this.)

12) I've not seen too many complaints about this one, so I admit I may be in the minority here - but I feel Schindler's List is not a movie that should be interrupted with a disc flip, and then, to add insult to injury, you have to go back into the menu options to tell it to continue playing DTS.

A few months back I was all set to sell my older Dracula DVD on Ebay. But something kept nagging at me as to how I was going to regret that, since it was, after all, Universal releasing the Legacy set. All I can say is, with the newly messed up audio track, I'm now relieved I decided to keep it.

I would just return the individual movies that are loose or scratched instead of the whole box set. Seeing as I really don't have any room or need the busts I'm going with the individual discs.

No, actually, you can't accept that Universal did a great job. You can't praise a company for good work. You can only find fault and literally nitpick.

First, my packaging was fine. None of my discs were loose. In fact, they had deathgrip spindles. Second, you are correct that only purists would even notice the extremely trivial audio track problem. Now, the new standard of excellence is packaged catalog titles at affordable prices with good transfers and extras. These are superb releases.

I love my set... for those who are having a hard time finding them, DO try Bestbuy and get a raincheck, but you can also check their website to see if the store near you has them IN STOCK... just go to the link for the collection and click the "check preferred stores" link.