HAMMER HORROR: 8-Film Collection from Universal! - Page 15 - Blu-ray Forum

babybreese · 09-15-2016, 02:37 PM

RockShockPop just reviewed it the other day http://www.rockshockpop.com/forums/c...%B6llenmonster)

HeavyHitter · 09-15-2016, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agreatguy

You'll end up with a very small collection of Hammer movies then.
The bulk of the real classics are not owned by Warner.

This set is good for region locked US fans but the hardcore Hammer fan will find it hard to tolerate the ratio issues here and on other titles although I expect fans acceptance of shortcomings will vary from film to film.

With Nightmare on the way from Final Cut I've decided this 8 film set is not worth it for me as I have 7 of them already and the ones I wanted improving are not improved.
Any UK fans who want the set for £43 delivered can PM me

The improper aspect ratios and subpar transfers are hard to tolerate from the set. I may have to take a look at some of the overseas options.

sa5150 · 09-15-2016, 04:35 PM

I know if you break down the movies it's like about $5 a movie which is GREAT . But I will not watch the ones with the wrong AR , I have good versions of COTW and BOD and only paid $7 for EOF UK and only want this set for KOTV and Nightmare . Importing those 2 titles (whenever nightmare comes out will cost more then this set ) So bottom line is how bad Universal screwed this up . This set was a surprise to all of us but with some hope that at least the right AR would save us all much money then importing overly priced German versions and mid-priced Uk versions . I am not crazy about spending $20-30 plus for Imports and I don't really care all that much for extras unless it's extra footage , a bonus movies is always cool . I may still get it if it ever comes back in stock at B&N or wait till there Christmas sale since I am in no rush now to have this . I wonder how many people are returning this set that had it pre-ordered only to find out it's cropped to hell on 5 movies . You think Universal would ever pull this set ? Stranger things have happened . For potential buyers if you do not own any of these movies on bluray then this is a steal . If you have the imports it's really a choice if you like some of the other choices .

cakefactory · 09-15-2016, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

The improper aspect ratios and subpar transfers are hard to tolerate from the set. I may have to take a look at some of the overseas options.

None of the transfers are worse in any way other than AR on 3 of them, except maybe the color on Curse of the Werewolf, which I don't think anyone has really mentioned so far. (The other one with bad AR is just as bad on the only other available version)

babybreese · 09-15-2016, 06:34 PM

I matched your WEREWOLF caps to the German release but did not bother posting them as color wise they seemed the same. I thought they might look different but no dice.

The only thing I noted was that unlike BRIDES which seems to use a common top in all versions, this is not the case in WEREWOLF, Uni moved the matting up and down for some scenes on this 2.1 botch.

big e · 09-15-2016, 06:55 PM

Universal wasn't the one that did the restoration on these, are they? There were a couple on this set that had the wonkey 2:1 AR on their UK releases. What the hell is wrong with these Hammer releases where so many of them have some weird issue? I don't recall seeing problems like this on DVD. Not to say these problems didn't exist on DVD, but they seem to creep up a lot more on Blu-ray.

oddbox83 · 09-15-2016, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big e

Universal wasn't the one that did the restoration on these, are they? There were a couple on this set that had the wonkey 2:1 AR on their UK releases.

Final Cut licensed them from Universal (via now defunct Hollywood Classics).

Leterface · 09-15-2016, 08:20 PM

Does anyone here have hands on experience with the Brides of Dracula from Spain? Is the correct AR? Is it otherwise on par with US release despite the fact it is a BD-R?

I have the spanish Curse of Werewolf and I believe it has the right AR and the PQ is quite good I think..though its also a BD-R.

big e · 09-15-2016, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oddbox83

Final Cut licensed them from Universal (via now defunct Hollywood Classics).

Ah, so the restorations were preformed by Universal. I thought it was the other way around; the restorations were done by Final Cut or some other 3rd party and licensed from there. Was there any reason why the AR was changed? Was the aspect ratio changed when Universal re-released this on DVD 2-3 years ago?

sa5150 · 09-15-2016, 08:43 PM

Since Universal owns these could they not of just taken the best versions , they could copy the Anolis discs , or would they get sued ... (probably stupid question) . They should of just unconverted the BOD dvd version for this set if they could not get the correct AR . Then I could of seen the nice colors everyone is talking about since I would not need the dvd set . This was a quick get some money before Halloween comes . If they did it right they would have re-scanned the original negatives and restored them . Kinda sick of hearing the story of the fire that burned there digital scans and they refuse to invest in new transfers .

oddbox83 · 09-15-2016, 09:23 PM

Because no one took the time to bother. Sounds like they just picked up the default versions off the shelf without looking into anything.

babybreese · 09-15-2016, 09:31 PM

They provided different transfers to Koch in Germany at their specific request. They just adjust the matte to the image. Universal seems to have a hard on for this 2.1 format & went with this for their own release of the material...it's asinine.

I am not buying no effort, or no one took the time. They took the time to clean up some of the damage in KISS OF THE VAMPIRE.

So it's more like as little effort as possible

Braktastic · 09-15-2016, 09:45 PM

Threads for multi-film releases with issues are a nightmare to follow (pun sort of intended).

I need the basic gist here, hopefully someone can help?

I have all the individual releases of these films on UK BD. It is my understanding that with the exception of Anolis' Curse of the Werewolf and Brides of Dracula, you're not going to find an appreciably better release elsewhere, correct?

If so, where can I find Anolis' Curse of the Werewolf for purchase?

Finally, I will be selling all my individual UK BD releases to cover the cost of the two Anolis discs (hit me up on PM if interested).

hagios · 09-15-2016, 09:54 PM

I watched for the 1st time for me so far: The Curse Of The Werewolf, Night Creatures & Phantom Of The Opera and these are fantastic, stylish & classy Hammer films!

I'v got Paranoiac, The Kiss Of The Vampire, Nightmare to watch for the 1st time ahead of me!!

I'm so glad that I bought this set for $5 a film, a superb buy for me!!

Hammers' classy style & exquisite sets rule for me!!!

StingingVelvet · 09-15-2016, 09:55 PM

Watched Curse of the Werewolf last night. Thought it was pretty boring honestly, and don't blame my modern tastes because I watched the old The Wolf Man right after and loved it. Curse just kind of meandered around and did noting for an hour and then had a nice ending. I dunno.

Transfer looked alright, about the same as most of the Hammers I have seen. Honestly the aspect ratio didn't bother me at all. Now, let me state VERY clearly because I see the responses coming already: it is wrong, aspect ratio is important, I fully agree. However watching it I wasn't really bothered, it didn't really look cramped too often and the examples of issues caused by it posted in caps are pretty much the only examples of when it causes an issue, and often it is just for a few frames. However YES it is wrong and YES that sucks. I'm just saying I wasn't bothered anywhere near enough to pay $30 for an import.

sa5150 · 09-15-2016, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by babybreese

They provided different transfers to Koch in Germany at their specific request. They just adjust the matte to the image. Universal seems to have a hard on for this 2.1 format & went with this for their own release of the material...it's asinine.

I am not buying no effort, or no one took the time. They took the time to clean up some of the damage in KISS OF THE VAMPIRE.

So it's more like as little effort as possible

Darn , Does that confirm that KOTV is better then the final cut ?

evilive · 09-15-2016, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Watched Curse of the Werewolf last night. Thought it was pretty boring honestly, and don't blame my modern tastes because I watched the old The Wolf Man right after and loved it. Curse just kind of meandered around and did noting for an hour and then had a nice ending. I dunno.

I saw CotW last year for the first time and was utterly disappointed by it. The whole first half hour is a total waste. Even though I did like the look of the Wolfman to certain extent, his head was just too blocky-looking. No wonder Hammer didn't follow with more Werewolf flicks.

agreatguy · 09-15-2016, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sa5150

Darn , Does that confirm that KOTV is better then the final cut ?

As I pointed out earlier, some minor damage present on the UK disc has been removed on the new Universal disc but the overall picture quality is still crap.
Is there a German KOTV?

sa5150 · 09-15-2016, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agreatguy

As I pointed out earlier, some minor damage present on the UK disc has been removed on the new Universal disc but the overall picture quality is still crap.
Is there a German KOTV?

Thanks.

No German , Anyone know if KOTV is on Anolis future list ?

AKORIS · 09-15-2016, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilive

I saw CotW last year for the first time and was utterly disappointed by it. The whole first half hour is a total waste. Even though I did like the look of the Wolfman to certain extent, his head was just too blocky-looking. No wonder Hammer didn't follow with more Werewolf flicks.

hmmm, well I think that this was the coolest, most iconic werewolf look ever. I just wish they had more scenes with him in it!

09-15-2016, 06:55 PM	#286
big e Member Member since:Feb 2009 Blu-ray collection:42 DVD collection:1	Universal wasn't the one that did the restoration on these, are they? There were a couple on this set that had the wonkey 2:1 AR on their UK releases. What the hell is wrong with these Hammer releases where so many of them have some weird issue? I don't recall seeing problems like this on DVD. Not to say these problems didn't exist on DVD, but they seem to creep up a lot more on Blu-ray. Last edited by big e; 09-15-2016 at 07:01 PM.

09-15-2016, 09:54 PM	#294
hagios Blu-ray Knight Member since:Feb 2013 Location:South Midlands town of Denton 4K collection:1246 Blu-ray collection:5220 DVD collection:1354 Trading Score:1	HAMMER HORROR: 8-Film Collection from Universal I watched for the 1st time for me so far: The Curse Of The Werewolf, Night Creatures & Phantom Of The Opera and these are fantastic, stylish & classy Hammer films! I'v got Paranoiac, The Kiss Of The Vampire, Nightmare to watch for the 1st time ahead of me!! I'm so glad that I bought this set for $5 a film, a superb buy for me!! Hammers' classy style & exquisite sets rule for me!!!

09-15-2016, 02:37 PM	#281
babybreese Blu-ray Guru Member since:Sep 2012 Blu-ray collection:304	RockShockPop just reviewed it the other day http://www.rockshockpop.com/forums/c...%B6llenmonster)

09-15-2016, 04:35 PM	#283
sa5150 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Dec 2011 Location:Chicago IL 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:870 DVD collection:330 Digital collection:7 iTunes collection:3 Prime collection:4 Blu-ray reviews:11 Trading Score:40	I know if you break down the movies it's like about $5 a movie which is GREAT . But I will not watch the ones with the wrong AR , I have good versions of COTW and BOD and only paid $7 for EOF UK and only want this set for KOTV and Nightmare . Importing those 2 titles (whenever nightmare comes out will cost more then this set ) So bottom line is how bad Universal screwed this up . This set was a surprise to all of us but with some hope that at least the right AR would save us all much money then importing overly priced German versions and mid-priced Uk versions . I am not crazy about spending $20-30 plus for Imports and I don't really care all that much for extras unless it's extra footage , a bonus movies is always cool . I may still get it if it ever comes back in stock at B&N or wait till there Christmas sale since I am in no rush now to have this . I wonder how many people are returning this set that had it pre-ordered only to find out it's cropped to hell on 5 movies . You think Universal would ever pull this set ? Stranger things have happened . For potential buyers if you do not own any of these movies on bluray then this is a steal . If you have the imports it's really a choice if you like some of the other choices .

09-15-2016, 06:34 PM	#285
babybreese Blu-ray Guru Member since:Sep 2012 Blu-ray collection:304	I matched your WEREWOLF caps to the German release but did not bother posting them as color wise they seemed the same. I thought they might look different but no dice. The only thing I noted was that unlike BRIDES which seems to use a common top in all versions, this is not the case in WEREWOLF, Uni moved the matting up and down for some scenes on this 2.1 botch.

09-15-2016, 08:20 PM	#288
Leterface Power Member Member since:Dec 2008 Blu-ray collection:92 Blu-ray reviews:1	Does anyone here have hands on experience with the Brides of Dracula from Spain? Is the correct AR? Is it otherwise on par with US release despite the fact it is a BD-R? I have the spanish Curse of Werewolf and I believe it has the right AR and the PQ is quite good I think..though its also a BD-R.

09-15-2016, 08:43 PM	#290
sa5150 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Dec 2011 Location:Chicago IL 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:870 DVD collection:330 Digital collection:7 iTunes collection:3 Prime collection:4 Blu-ray reviews:11 Trading Score:40	Since Universal owns these could they not of just taken the best versions , they could copy the Anolis discs , or would they get sued ... (probably stupid question) . They should of just unconverted the BOD dvd version for this set if they could not get the correct AR . Then I could of seen the nice colors everyone is talking about since I would not need the dvd set . This was a quick get some money before Halloween comes . If they did it right they would have re-scanned the original negatives and restored them . Kinda sick of hearing the story of the fire that burned there digital scans and they refuse to invest in new transfers .

09-15-2016, 09:23 PM	#291
oddbox83 Blu-ray Champion Member since:Sep 2013 Location:UK	Because no one took the time to bother. Sounds like they just picked up the default versions off the shelf without looking into anything.

09-15-2016, 09:31 PM	#292
babybreese Blu-ray Guru Member since:Sep 2012 Blu-ray collection:304	They provided different transfers to Koch in Germany at their specific request. They just adjust the matte to the image. Universal seems to have a hard on for this 2.1 format & went with this for their own release of the material...it's asinine. I am not buying no effort, or no one took the time. They took the time to clean up some of the damage in KISS OF THE VAMPIRE. So it's more like as little effort as possible

09-15-2016, 09:45 PM	#293
Braktastic Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Nov 2007 4K collection:595 Blu-ray collection:595 Trading Score:13	Threads for multi-film releases with issues are a nightmare to follow (pun sort of intended). I need the basic gist here, hopefully someone can help? I have all the individual releases of these films on UK BD. It is my understanding that with the exception of Anolis' Curse of the Werewolf and Brides of Dracula, you're not going to find an appreciably better release elsewhere, correct? If so, where can I find Anolis' Curse of the Werewolf for purchase? Finally, I will be selling all my individual UK BD releases to cover the cost of the two Anolis discs (hit me up on PM if interested).

09-15-2016, 09:55 PM	#295
StingingVelvet Blu-ray Grand Duke Member since:Jan 2014 Location:Philadelphia, PA 4K collection:853 Blu-ray collection:2332 DVD collection:111 Digital collection:12 Trading Score:69	Watched Curse of the Werewolf last night. Thought it was pretty boring honestly, and don't blame my modern tastes because I watched the old The Wolf Man right after and loved it. Curse just kind of meandered around and did noting for an hour and then had a nice ending. I dunno. Transfer looked alright, about the same as most of the Hammers I have seen. Honestly the aspect ratio didn't bother me at all. Now, let me state VERY clearly because I see the responses coming already: it is wrong, aspect ratio is important, I fully agree. However watching it I wasn't really bothered, it didn't really look cramped too often and the examples of issues caused by it posted in caps are pretty much the only examples of when it causes an issue, and often it is just for a few frames. However YES it is wrong and YES that sucks. I'm just saying I wasn't bothered anywhere near enough to pay $30 for an import.

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