House on Haunted Hill/The Bat

Rating:
Summary: "best sources available" used, but not best transfer!
Review: This double-sided DVD by Goodtimes contains two black&white thrillers. Both center around a haunted/eerie house and needless to say "House on Haunted Hill" is very effective. "The Bat" simply pleasant. So from that point of view, this double-feature does ok.
Now to the technical side.
Goodtimes informs you that "best sources available" have been used. I may ask what good are those sources if you spoil the transfer.

HoHH is in 4:3 ratio, not widescreen, but that does not hurt as much as the contrast/sharpness that has been obviously pushed up to the maximum. I mean the movie really looks black/white and NO grey. This leads to good-looking black color but far too sharp edges. The print however is ok. Sound too.

TB is widescreen, even anamorphic, but the "best source" must have been a s-vhs tape. It simply doesn't look attractive. Here, everything is grey, no real black, no real white and no real edge. Sound is also s-vhs standard only.

Could have been a bargain with the attractive cover provided by Goodtimes, but in the end you get what you pay for. Nothing less and nothing more.