The Devil-Doll appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The transfer worked well, especially given the movie’s age.
Sharpness satisfied overall. Some shots led to a little softness, but the majority of the flick came with appealing definition.
Jagged edges and moiré effects caused no problems. Edge haloes remained absent, and with a layer of fine grain, I suspected no issues with digital noise reduction.
Of course, the movie’s complex for the era visual effects created some anomalies. However, these remained modest and didn’t distract.
Black levels seemed nicely deep and dark, and contrast was appropriately displayed. The movie showed a good silvery look, and shadow detail was also concise and developed.
Source flaws failed to become an issue. The transfer eliminated those defects and left this as a clean presentation. I felt very happy with this transfer.
As for the film’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack, it replicated the original material with positive quality. Dialogue seemed fine for its era, and was relatively crisp and well-defined with no signs of edginess or problems related to intelligibility.
The movie featured a fairly spare score, but when we heard music, it was acceptably broad and clear. The material presented little low end but the dynamics were fine for a track of this vintage.
Though effects were similarly dated, they seemed adequately clean and realistic, and no aspects of the mix displayed signs of distortion. Background noise failed to become an issue. All in all, the audio worked fine for its age.
When we shift to extras, we locate an audio commentary from film historian Dr. Bruce Haberman and film historian/Filmmaker Constantine Nasr. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the source and its adaptation, story, characters and the evolution of the screenplay, cast and crew, some production elements and genre areas.
This turns into a tight little track, especially in the way Nasr and Baberman trace the development of the script. We get a fine look at the film from the commentary.
In addition to the film’s trailer, we find two circa 1936 vintage animated shorts. The disc includes Milk and Money (8:09) and The Phantom Ship (7:36).
With Money, we get an early Porky Pig affair, as the character debuted a mere year earlier. It shows Porky in a nascent state and not much like the persona we’d know and love.
Money also shows a Tex Avery who needed a few more years to get to his trademark directorial style, though we do see glimmers of his tendencies. This makes Money more interesting as a historical curiosity than an amusing short.
As for Ship, it stars a short-lived anthropomorphic feline named “Beans”. The successor to the better-known Bosko – and the equally forgotten Buddy – Beans offers another character who seems to exist mainly to give Looney Tunes their own Mickey Mouse ripoff.
Neither Bosko nor Buddy proved memorable, and Beans follows suit. As Beans and his nephews – bizarrely shown to be dogs – visit the titular vessel, they encounter spooky weirdness.
Alas, the audience finds little entertainment value from this excursion. Ship comes with a few decent moments but most of it seems bland.
As one of the final films made by Tod Browning, The Devil-Doll manages to create a reasonably evocative tale. Some moments drag but the overall package works. The Blu-ray brings appropriate picture and audio along with a decent mix of bonus materials. Doll winds up as a largely clever and involving movie.