Not many movies are in contention for being among the Ripper cinema’s “crown jewels.” Perhaps Pandora’s Box. Probably Murder by Decree. And definitely the John Brahm/Laird Cregar Lodger.

My film geek friends have always been split over whether the 1944 Lodger or Murder by Decree is the best Ripper film of all time. There is no doubt in their minds that it's one film or the other. But they are universally convinced that Laird Cregar gives the greatest Ripper performance ever. For many years, though, fans of Ripper cinema had a serious impediment to seeing this film and this performance. The 1944 Lodger was not out on video.

I, at least, had a decent reproduction in a non-commercial VHS print. But I could never tell visitors to my Hollywood Ripper website how to obtain a copy of their own. It was not available commercially (had never even been released commercially!), and it was difficult to find an unauthorized version short of visiting the dealer’s tables at a horror film convention. And even then, the movie was a rare find.

For about a decade, actually, the rumor had kicked around among classic horror fans that Fox was finally planning to release The Lodger. The wait, though, went on for so long that some thought the rumor to be a kind of urban legend for classic film buffs.

As it turned out, it was true. Not only did Fox finally release The Lodger, the studio released it in a lavish boxed set alongside two other 1940s films by director John Brahm — Hangover Square and The Undying Monster. So how is this long-awaited DVD? Well, it really delivers.

The Lodger uses a restored grayscale print with what is either a remastered or a re-recorded soundtrack. Both video and audio quality are superb. The restoration has removed all noticeable flaws from the print and given it a gorgeous range of tone, while the soundtrack has all the clarity, frequency separation, and stereo depth of a recording made on modern equipment.

In addition to high video and audio quality, this DVD collection comes with a small booklet, duplicates of original lobby cards, a “making of” feature, as well as a 1946 Vincent Price radio show production of the 1944 film. In short, this is a classy production. (We particularly enjoyed seeing our acquaintance, film historian Greg Mank, comment in the feature about The Lodger’s place in the classic horror canon).