The Last Warning (1928)

 

A new 4K transfer of director Paul Leni's final film for Universal (he died in 1929) gets released on Blu-ray by Eureka.

During a packed Broadway performance of the play 'The Snare' star John Woodford (D'Arcy Corrigan) backs into a candlestick and drops down dead. Shortly afterwards his body disappears. The theatre is closed and remains so until five years later the same cast and director are brought back to the venue for a new performance of the same play by a suspicious new producer.

Following on from Leni's 1928 THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (also on Blu-ray from Eureka) and 1927's THE CAT AND THE CANARY (when's that one coming out, then?), THE LAST WARNING reteams Leni with star Laura La Plante who also starred in CAT. Belonging to the same subgenre of 'theatre horror' as Pete Walker's 1972 THE FLESH AND BLOOD SHOW and Michele Soavi's 1987 STAGEFRIGHT the action takes place mainly in the rundown theatre, where a mysterious masked figure is on the prowl. 

Both the opening and finale of the film are highlights of silent cinema. Leni's innovative setups and creative use of lenses were imitated many times and for many years afterwards. The film sags a little in the middle but for something made nearly a hundred years ago this still boasts some jaw-dropping visual compositions and (not least) production design, especially during the climactic attempt to trap the killer.

Eureka's Blu-ray is of a new 4K transfer. The musical accompaniment is composed by Arthur Barrow and features some excellent moments that would not be out of place in 1970s Italian giallo cinema (one bit is very reminiscent of Simon Boswell's Demons Groove from DEMONS 2 of all things).

Extras include a commentary from Stephen Jones and Kim Newman and is up to their usual excellent standard, with both providing a fact-packed track about the Laemmle family and the early years of Universal. A short (just under ten minutes) visual essay is provided by John Soister which is half about Leni and half about what happened at Universal after his demise. You also get a stills gallery and a booklet with new writing on the film from Philip Kemp and from Arthur Barrow about his score.

Paul Leni's THE LAST WARNING is out on Blu-ray from Eureka on Monday 15th February 2021