Synopsis:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, serials use to occupy the space right before the feature film. The Phantom Creeps is one such serial. In roughly 10-15 episodes, lasting roughly 20 minutes a piece, the fiendish plots of the maniacal Dr. Alex Zorka (Bela Lugosi) unfolded every week with a cliffhanger ending. In these 12 episodes we are introduced to the good Dr. and his supporting cast of bumbling government "G"-men as well as an assistant who is remarkably resistant to bullets. The plot surrounds, Zorka's discovery of an element that renders everything it comes in contact with invisible. In addition to that, he has trained spiders to attack anyone carrying a special explosive disc of his devious design. For 12 episodes they go round and round and round. Same chases, same locations, same plans. (Cue mad scientist laugh track)

Audio:

The audio is pretty awful. Long before the advent of stereo, mono ruled the day and presented a very uneven, tinny and at times incredibly muffled audio platform. The music coupled with the dialogue present a mixed bag when it comes to listening to the feature. At times the audio is fairly clean but for the most part it's extremely muddy.

Video:

Much like the audio, the video is in pretty poor shape. Every manner of scratch, fleck and hair can be seen floating across the screen. The images are at times blurred and off center and are generally hard on the eyes. Overall, the print is in easily, the worst shape I've ever seen for a DVD transfer. The graininess alone is bad enough to give you a headache.

Extras:

For collectors of this series, the episodes alone would be considered an "extra" however, for those who are not found within the throngs of admirers for this particular feature, outside of the episodes you'll find a bare disc.

Overall:

I can remember my dad telling me about the various serials he used to watch before the main feature as a kid. He really got a kick out of them. Being a child of the information age, the only fare I have found before the feature is the often maligned (and rightly so) trailers for upcoming features. While they often give out way too much information for my tastes, they are more often than not quite entertaining and serve as a pretty decent appetizer as we await the entrance of the entrée! I can see where this was an extremely entertaining segment for the movie going public of yesteryear. In addition to the movie, you got a 20-minute mystery that would carry over to your next viewing of another major film. For those who grew up with this type of programming, this is definitely a keeper. However, for those of us just a little younger and unfamiliar with these 20 minute whodunits, I'd have to say pass on it, solely because It's more frustrating than it is entertaining to see these episodes in their current deplorable condition.