HAMMER HORROR: 8-Film Collection from Universal!

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by sa5150

Has anyone caught the back artwork . Same as the Airport 4 movie collection . HD picture and Movie theater quality sound (How generic) Caps look just like the German copies from anolis , Not very promising .

Originally Posted by Partyslammer

This lazy graphic design and lack of accuracy in the description doesn't exactly instill confidence that Universal is going to do these films any sort of justice in this package.

I'm not sure what's worse. The member that was trying to gauge the transfer off publicity stills on the back cover, or the member trying to base the quality of the entire set off the synopsis blurb on the back.

And this in a nutshell is what blu-ray.com has been reduced to

[happydood]

I cannot believe that this Hammer Horror set is going to be made up of Airport movies from the '40's. I mean, what's wrong with them?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by sa5150

So since you know it all . You tell us what these are going to be... are these the 4k transfers Universal was talking about ?

I don't think any 4K transfers were talked about with regards to these movies. I don't claim to be a know it all either, I get stuff wrong all the time. I just think people often jump to certain conclusions when there isn't enough evidence to support it.

[The Great Owl]

I pulled the trigger on this Hammer Horror: 8-Film Collection just now from Family Video for $40.98, including the $1.99 shipping.

That's a few bucks less than what it's going for on Amazon.

[LeeFanatic007]

I preordered from Amazon and am paying $38 and change, but that price was a month or two ago.

[DrunkenPumpkin]

Yeah 38.84 here also, and the two packs are 8ish each.

[evilive]

Welp, finally decided to pre-order this set. Got it for $39.97 along with the Frankenstein Legacy Collection at Bullmoose with free shipping.

[stephenharrod]

Bring on the Peter Cushing Frankenstein boxed set!

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by LeeFanatic007

I preordered from Amazon and am paying $38 and change, but that price was a month or two ago.

me too

[Disturbed Blu 1]

Apologies if this has been addressed in this thread at all, but is there any information on packaging? Are there any reviews up anywhere?

[Undeadcow]

My set from Best Buy shipped out and should be here Monday; looking forward to it.

[RevengeFrankenstein]

I'm eagerly awaiting word on these transfers before I take the plunge. I bought the Revenge of Frankenstein/Curse of the Mummy's Tomb 2 pack, and while Curse looks okay, Revenge is basically the upscaled DVD. If the Brides of Dracula transfer here looks like a Blu Ray version of the US release DVD and is not the UK Blu Ray transfer, that probably makes it worth it.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by RevengeFrankenstein

I'm eagerly awaiting word on these transfers before I take the plunge. I bought the Revenge of Frankenstein/Curse of the Mummy's Tomb 2 pack, and while Curse looks okay, Revenge is basically the upscaled DVD. If the Brides of Dracula transfer here looks like a Blu Ray version of the US release DVD and is not the UK Blu Ray transfer, that probably makes it worth it.

I'll have it Tuesday morning. Will try for a report then unless somebody else beats me to it.

[CinemaScope]

Originally Posted by RevengeFrankenstein

I'm eagerly awaiting word on these transfers before I take the plunge.

Yeah, me too. There's some great films in this set, I don't expect new transfers, but I hope they've cleaned-up the old transfers, as dirt & marks show up a hell of a lot more in HD, I still have the DVD set & they all still play (or did the last time I looked at them).

...so all being well I'll stick my order in midweek.

[RevengeFrankenstein]

Much obliged to anyone posting early reviews here!

My 8 film DVD set of this plays well, too, but it's the most recent corrected re-release. If the upgrades are only minor, it may do, for now.

[Undeadcow]

I received my set. The slipcover does list these as 1940-1950s movies but the case itself says 1960s and 1970s. Disc menus are really generic. Here are some quick impressions...

Spot checked Brides of Dracula I see the grain textures similar to DVD Beaver mentions in their review of the Final Cut release... not sure if same master. Color is vibrant. Aspect is widescreen with small bars along horizons (not sure how to judge croping). Overall looks fair to my novice eye.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-r...la_blu-ray.htm

Curse of the Werewolf looks softer especially when paused (lines seem less crisp). It is cropped compared to Anolis blu. The reference shot in post 6 (of thread below) shows more image on top and bottom plus seems to have a darker richer color than in this 8 pack.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=246171

Kiss of the Vampire looks similar to Curse ithe Werewolf with softness. For example at 16:50 paused there is an outdoors night shot that's less clear; although seeing a good range of leaves on a background tree at night looks better than I suspect any DVD could. This too looks cropped versus the prior international release referenced by DVD Beaver with image loss on all sides (if I matched up the shot of the blonde woman's face with pearl earrings and a painting in background right). Colors generally seem muted but the bold reds really pop; even peoples faces sometimes have a reddish tint.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-r...re_blu-ray.htm

This seems economical for newbies but likely not the definitive release for some of these.

[agreatguy]

Even though I already have 7 of these movies and the 8th is due for a UK release soon I couldn't wait so I've managed to find a UK based supplier who is charging £48.99 which is almost the same as it would be from Amazon.com and I get it tomorrow or wednesday at the latest.

First look will be Brides of Dracula in the hope the ratio matches the German release not the UK one , and I really want some improvement to Kiss of the Vampire which is pretty awful on the UK disc.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by ideald

Are these gonna be sold separately or just as the collection?

set only

[surfinhank]

Originally Posted by babybreese

The bad news is the masters that were destroyed in a fire years ago and unavailable and some of the new replacement masters have framing issues or are from a lesser source.

7 have had a UK release, 4 were technically flawed.
BRIDES ( wrong ratio, from a lesser source than the DVD )
WEREWOLF ( UK BD in incorrect ratio )
PHANTOM ( dropped frames )
NIGHT CREATURES ( was 1080i )

Guessing we'll get the same here except NIGHT CREATURE will be proper 1080p.
Still, a pleasant surprise and seems irresistible for Hammer nuts.

Quoted from page 1. So is this everything that was wrong with the previous releases or were there more errors? I wanted to hold off on ordering the set to find out what was and wasn't fixed.

[babybreese]

There's more.....the source for BRIDES in addition to the ratio goof had color issues and was surprisingly grainy. KISS OF THE VAMPIRES had framing and print damage issues.
If Uni goes with the 1.85 WEREWOLF there is an SD insert for a scene.

I am guessing no issues have been addressed.....we'll know for sure soon enough.

Undercow's post seems to point to BRIDES and WEREWOLF being incorrectly matted to 2.1 and KISS not looking so hot. Sounds like nothing new here except NIGHTMARE in 1080p.