Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) - Blu-ray in March 5 2012

[bgart13]

It means they make more money licensing it out with each region, generally speaking.

[John Hodson]

Cineoutsider review - Melon Farmers also report sound synch issues.

[Shemp]

Thanks for the link, John. Good to see more attention being given to this issue.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by bgart13

There's nothing arbitrary about region coding. It's to make money. Hammer has said that a US distributor will be announced shortly. Hang in there.

Hopefully the US distributor does a better job with these.

Here's a review from "Partyslammer" over on AVS....

Really bad news about the just released "Dracula Prince Of Darkness" blu-ray.

First off, it *is* heavily DNR'd while the color is overly vivid and contrasted as the early review mentioned in this thread indicated. Way more obvious when watching it than the screen caps in this thread may indicate, especially the opening sequence where the ending of Horror Of Dracula plays out in that smoke-surrounded diamond frame.

But the real ...horror here is the audio track is way out of sync with the video, maybe a full second off. I'm a pretty forgiving viewer and have managed to enjoy watching numerous movies in spite of pretty flawed presentations on home video but this one really pissed me off not just because I have been eagerly awaiting key Hammer films to start showing up on Blu-ray even as pricey imports but the fact Studio Canal clearly had a really good source and just screwed this up in every conceivable manner.

Big thumbs down.

[NoirFan]

Does anyone know exactly how long the synch issues last for? Cineoutsider just says 'a few minutes'.

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

Does anyone know exactly how long the synch issues last for? Cineoutsider just says 'a few minutes'.

Consensus seems to be for around 15 minutes, including the flashback at the start. Some are saying it's 'slight', others, like the chap above, say that at times it's a second out. There's a little more from end users at Amazon.

I'd like to see this in action myself, but I'm afraid I cancelled my pre-order to await the outcome - Hammer fans desperately want these to be a success, but above all Hammer fans want them right.

[NoirFan]

That's terrible - has anyone emailed Studio Canal to express their displeasure?

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

That's terrible - has anyone emailed Studio Canal to express their displeasure?

Hammer have been notified by Facebook and Twitter; they say they are investigating. I know I'm not the only one to Tweet Studio Canal (nothing in response), but please, go ahead, the more the better, though it probably might carry more weight from disgruntled folks that actually have it in their hands. It needs sorting and fast.

[Judex]

Hammer have just posted this on Facebook:

Notice from StudioCanal UK regarding faulty Dracula Prince Of Darkness Blu-ray/DVD Double-Play discs:

"We recently discovered a small audio synch issue within a couple of scenes of the Dracula Prince Of Darkness discs that were released on the 5th of March.

This problem occurred at the authoring stage where a fix was not implemented despite being supplied.

With this in mind we will be replacing any discs that have this issue present.

Please send your proof of payment and your address to enquiries@vdcgroup.com and we will endeavour to send a working replacement to you promptly."

[Mr. Thomsen]

Well, I guess that's at least something. Good luck on trying to persuade StudioCanal that they are a bit too trigger happy with the DNR, though...

Somebody in the company must like the way their stuff keeps turning out. Didn't they also do the work on the dreadful 'Don't Look Now'?

[Zen_Amako]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

Somebody in the company must like the way their stuff keeps turning out. Didn't they also do the work on the dreadful 'Don't Look Now'?

My guess is that most viewers just aren't as discerning when it comes to picture quality. I recall that Don't Look Now got a perfect score in Empire magazine. Most people don't care about DNR, EE, preserving grain, etc. as long as they get a watchable movie in hi-def. It's only when you become aware of all these issues that it becomes irritating when studios drop the ball.

[mattyl149]

I've just e-mailed them about the replacement

[Shemp]

Amazing how few reviewers picked up on and reported the audio sync issue. I can't help but wonder how much attention some reviewers pay to the disc they're watching and if they actually watch the whole thing at all.

[CaptainKronos]

I think a lot reviews don't watch the whole movie through (including some on this site). They probably only watch key scenes. I have found problems on different movies (such as pixelation, audio problems) not reported in reviews. They'll give something a 4 out of 5 that has major problems. That's lazy !

[HammerDave]

Anyone had an acknowledgement of their email?

[fleetservice673]

I have emailed Studio Canal about this issue and did not recieve a reply back.

I am holding on to the old Anchor Bay releases on all three Hammers this studio are putting out untill things are put right.
The company needs to get this right if these releases are to be a success.

[HammerDave]

You can probably see from my username what a huge Hammer fan I am, so I was disappointed both in the transfer and the audio glitch. The picture did look better depending on which TV I was using, but the DNR in the opening flashback is really excessive. A real shame given the trouble they went to with rebuliding the UK-correct titles.

The good news is, I was at the first screening of the restored 1958 Dracula a few weeks ago, projected from a digital copy on to a cinema sized screen, and it looked very nice.

[HuggyBear73]

Originally Posted by John Hodson

Cineoutsider review - Melon Farmers also report sound synch issues.

Just great. Another lip synch issue. Does anyone know what the hell they're doing anymore when they release these blu-rays?

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by HammerDave

The good news is, I was at the first screening of the restored 1958 Dracula a few weeks ago, projected from a digital copy on to a cinema sized screen, and it looked very nice.

Keeping fingers crossed. I'd have loved to be at that screening.

[kandraks]

Received my disc today. Here are the pics of the slipcover and the case.





The double play sticker on the front of the slipcase comes off easily.

I've only skipped through the film to see the PQ and to me it didn't seem so horrendous as I expected from some posts reporting, but then again, maybe I didn't go in with high expectations to begin with