HAMMER HORROR: 8-Film Collection from Universal!

[Martin_31]

Hopefully the packing isn't in book form.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Markgway

I tend to prefer the chillers to the fullblown monster horror; thus I have Eureka's excellent Paranoiac BD. I've seen Nightmare, but can't remember too much about it, or how it compares to Paranoiac. I think they'd make a great double bill.

Nightmare's alright. There were three of these which were explicitly Diabolique ripoffs - Scream of Fear was the first of the three. I'd say Scream of Fear is the best, Paranoiac is very good, and Nightmare is still pretty good but definitely lesser. They're all pretty fun, especially if you can't remember the plot twists.

Hysteria and Nightmare are vaguely similar, but less Diabolique-influenced. Crescendo could also probably be thrown into this category of twisty thriller/psychological horror.

[Akijama]

Some specs:

Key Details

FORMAT: Blu-ray
MATERIAL NUMBER: 61180919
UPC CODE: 0-2519-23691-6-2

RELEASE TYPE: Sell-Through
UNIT TYPE: Multi-Feature

Pricing Information

S.R.P.: $59.98
M.A.P.: None


Product Details

PACKAGING: Snap Case with Outer Box
NUMBER OF DISCS : 4
NUMBER OF FEATURES: 8
ADDED VALUE:

Disc 1 (Side A) (Feature 1): Brides of Dracula

FEATURE: Brides of Dracula
RUN TIME: 1 Hour 26 Minutes
VIDEO RATING: Not Rated
DISC TYPE: BD-50 (Single Sided)
LAYERS: Single

AUDIO: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
SUBTITLES: English SDH
Spanish
French
COLOR


Disc 1 (Side A) (Feature 2): The Curse of the Werewolf

FEATURE: The Curse of the Werewolf
RUN TIME: 1 Hour 33 Minutes
VIDEO RATING: Not Rated

AUDIO: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
SUBTITLES: English SDH
Spanish
French
COLOR


Disc 2 (Side A) (Feature 1): Night Creatures

FEATURE: Night Creatures
RUN TIME: 1 Hour 23 Minutes
VIDEO RATING: Not Rated
DISC TYPE: BD-50 (Single Sided)
LAYERS: Single

AUDIO: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
SUBTITLES: English SDH
Spanish
French
COLOR


Disc 2 (Side A) (Feature 2): The Phantom of the Opera (1962)

FEATURE: The Phantom of the Opera (1962)
RUN TIME: 1 Hour 25 Minutes
VIDEO RATING: Not Rated

AUDIO: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
SUBTITLES: English SDH
Spanish
French
COLOR


Disc 3 (Side A) (Feature 1): Paranoiac

FEATURE: Paranoiac
RUN TIME: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
VIDEO RATING: Not Rated
DISC TYPE: BD-50 (Single Sided)
LAYERS: Single

AUDIO: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
SUBTITLES: English SDH
Spanish
French
BLACK & WHITE


Disc 3 (Side A) (Feature 2): The Kiss of the Vampire

FEATURE: The Kiss of the Vampire
RUN TIME: 1 Hour 29 Minutes
VIDEO RATING: Not Rated

AUDIO: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
SUBTITLES: English SDH
Spanish
French
COLOR


Disc 4 (Side A) (Feature 1): Nightmare

FEATURE: Nightmare
RUN TIME: 1 Hour 23 Minutes
VIDEO RATING: Not Rated
DISC TYPE: BD-50 (Single Sided)
LAYERS: Single

AUDIO: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
SUBTITLES: English SDH
Spanish
French
BLACK & WHITE


Disc 4 (Side A) (Feature 2): The Evil of Frankenstein

FEATURE: The Evil of Frankenstein
RUN TIME: 1 Hour 27 Minutes
VIDEO RATING: Not Rated

AUDIO: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
SUBTITLES: English SDH
Spanish
French
COLOR

[cakefactory]

Well, none of the special features from the past blu-rays, but I guess that's not surprising. Guess I'll have to search around for them on youtube or something. I am hoping the transfers are nice and that at least some of them are new. Based on what I've read, the Curse of the Werewolf and Evil of Frankenstein ones going around are pretty gorgeous, and I think Paranoiac looked good, but Phantom/Clegg and especially Brides were not so nice. Nightmare's the only one that hasn't gotten a release yet.

[Bugg]

I hope Kiss of the Vampire is a new transfer, the Final Cut Entertainment UK disc was terrible it had a smudgy artificial look like some of the poorly transferred Italian films. The print seemed in decent condition and the colors looked nice but it looks like they tried to smear out the film grain. You can see some of it in the shots at dvdbeaver. The shot of the woman with the keys in back of her, is a prime example. The facial details seems almost melted and the texture of her shirt looks like it was run through a photoshop posterize filter. http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-r...re_blu-ray.htm

[cakefactory]

Whoops, forgot to mention that. Yeah, I think that one might have the worst rep of any of the Hammer discs out there now, besides Curse of Frankenstein.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Nightmare's alright. There were three of these which were explicitly Diabolique ripoffs - Scream of Fear was the first of the three. I'd say Scream of Fear is the best, Paranoiac is very good, and Nightmare is still pretty good but definitely lesser. They're all pretty fun, especially if you can't remember the plot twists. Hysteria and Nightmare are vaguely similar, but less Diabolique-influenced. Crescendo could also probably be thrown into this category of twisty thriller/psychological horror.

Yeah, Scream of Fear was good. I'd be interested in a solo BD release. My Dad has the Sony DVD.

Hysteria I've seen, but again don't remember too much. I think MGM have that one?

Crescendo I must confess I've never heard of. I thought I'd seen all of the Hammer psycho chillers. Now I'm intrigued.

[Partyslammer]

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.

I was under the impression the Universal fire resulted in the loss of the very dated digital transfers used for VHS, Laserdisc and maybe DVD, not the actual film restoration prints done in the 80's.

Despite owning not only all the available UK Blu-ray releases and springing for the superior Anolis German Blu-rays, I'm all in for this upcoming set hoping Universal comes up with even better, new transfers for Brides Of Dracula, Kiss Of The Vampire, Curse Of The Werewolf and (especially) Phantom Of The Opera.

BTW, I think I'm one of the few lucky people that never had a problem with the Universal DVD "flipper" set.

[Mighty Max]

If these really are 2 per bd, then I'm out.

[Partyslammer]

Originally Posted by Mighty Max

If these really are 2 per bd, then I'm out.

There's no extras, only an English language audio track and the movies run around 90 minutes each. If there's issues, I really doubt it will be because of sticking two movies per disc.

[dsman71]

Originally Posted by Markgway

Yeah, Scream of Fear was good. I'd be interested in a solo BD release. My Dad has the Sony DVD.

Hysteria I've seen, but again don't remember too much. I think MGM have that one?

Crescendo I must confess I've never heard of. I thought I'd seen all of the Hammer psycho chillers. Now I'm intrigued.

Hysteria is with Warner via the WAC

Im pretty stoked about this set. I just hope the transfers are given the care and effort they deserve.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

Hopefully the packing isn't in book form.

Snap case with outer box.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Mighty Max

If these really are 2 per bd, then I'm out.

Thanks for stopping by!

[WaverBoy]

Please please PLEASE let these all be in the correct aspect ratio. It would be great if NIGHT CREATURES was in 1.85:1 instead of the too extreme 2:1.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

Please please PLEASE let these all be in the correct aspect ratio. It would be great if NIGHT CREATURES was in 1.85:1 instead of the too extreme 2:1.

Were the DVDs correct? I would think these blu-rays would be the same as those as opposed to the same as the foreign blu-rays.

[petrified-eye]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Nightmare's alright. There were three of these which were explicitly Diabolique ripoffs - Scream of Fear was the first of the three. I'd say Scream of Fear is the best, Paranoiac is very good, and Nightmare is still pretty good but definitely lesser. They're all pretty fun, especially if you can't remember the plot twists.

Hysteria and Nightmare are vaguely similar, but less Diabolique-influenced. Crescendo could also probably be thrown into this category of twisty thriller/psychological horror.

I absolutely loved Hammer horror as a kid but now that I've been revisiting the movies on Blu, the 'magic' has been somewhat gone. I have to say that sometimes I'm awaiting the movie to be over to get to the extras. That being said, I bought the Paranoiac Blu years ago and hadn't seen the movie before and was really surprised of how great it was. It's one of the best Hammer movies for me and since then I've been dying to see the other Hammer films like it.

Just last night I watched Hands of the Ripper Blu and I think it was one of the better Hammer films, too. I'm quite surprised these movies are less known than some of the others I frankly consider quite tedious. Like Countess Dracula and Brides of Dracula.

[dsman71]

Nightmare is a great thriller and would be a superior double feature with Scream of Fear Sure the film probably loses it luster if youve seen it a dozen or so times..well that might not be true. Its really creepy. Ill take that one over Paranoiac anytime. Im not into Night Creatures either..

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by petrified-eye

I absolutely loved Hammer horror as a kid but now that I've been revisiting the movies on Blu, the 'magic' has been somewhat gone. I have to say that sometimes I'm awaiting the movie to be over to get to the extras. That being said, I bought the Paranoiac Blu years ago and hadn't seen the movie before and was really surprised of how great it was. It's one of the best Hammer movies for me and since then I've been dying to see the other Hammer films like it.

Just last night I watched Hands of the Ripper Blu and I think it was one of the better Hammer films, too. I'm quite surprised these movies are less known than some of the others I frankly consider quite tedious. Like Countess Dracula and Brides of Dracula.

You might kind of have to get re-acclimated to them every time you watch one. I find sometimes I get bored by a Hammer movie, but then if I watch a few others and come back to it, I'm in the mood for it. They definitely are stodgier than modern movies. But yeah, the "B-List" Hammer movies tend to be the better ones. "Hands of the Ripper" is quite a good one and the end of it is surprisingly moving. But then, well-known ones, like some of the Dracula movies in particular, are often hard to make it through. My list of 20 best Hammer movies would only have a couple of the well-known ones. Three of those Synapse ones are really damn good, and naturally, "Countess Dracula" is vastly inferior, yet is easily the best-known cause it has Dracula in the title

The best "bang for your buck" with Hammer movies, IMO, might be that Sony "Icons of Suspense" set. There are multiple movies in that set that are flat-out awesome, and no one ever talks about them. Cash on Demand, These are the Damned, and Never Take Candy from a Stranger are all fantastic, and "The Snorkel" is also quite an interesting and effective little thriller. Only "Stop Me Before I Kill" is skip-worthy.

This particular set's movies I would rank:

Brides of Dracula (I have to be in the mood, but the whole intro has such a wonderfully weird atmosphere, and the whole third act is really great sustained action, some of the best in their whole filmography)
Paranoiac
Curse of the Werewolf
Night Creatures
Nightmare
Kiss of the Vampire
Evil of Frankenstein
Phantom of the Opera

Only "Phantom" is outright lame (it feels really abbreviated, and it's weird how careful they were being with the Phantom himself), and "Evil of Frankenstein" is the only other one I would hesitate to say that I like.

Originally Posted by dsman71

Nightmare is a great thriller and would be a superior double feature with Scream of Fear Sure the film probably loses it luster if youve seen it a dozen or so times..well that might not be true. Its really creepy. Ill take that one over Paranoiac anytime. Im not into Night Creatures either..

Night Creatures should be renamed Captain Clegg so people don't keep getting confused and expecting a horror movie! It's a pretty fun swashbuckler and it's cool seeing Peter Cushing in that kind of role. Oliver Reed is great as well and it's pretty tightly plotted, with the last act being quite exciting. I think you should rewatch it once this comes out!

[petrified-eye]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

The best "bang for your buck" with Hammer movies, IMO, might be that Sony "Icons of Suspense" set. There are multiple movies in that set that are flat-out awesome, and no one ever talks about them. Cash on Demand, These are the Damned, and Never Take Candy from a Stranger are all fantastic, and "The Snorkel" is also quite an interesting and effective little thriller. Only "Stop Me Before I Kill" is skip-worthy.

Thanks for the tip! I have three books and two DVD-documentaries of Hammer films and I don't recall ever even hearing about The Snorkel before. But I haven't bought a single movie on DVD in 6-7 years so this is a tough call

[Mighty Max]

Originally Posted by Partyslammer

There's no extras, only an English language audio track and the movies run around 90 minutes each. If there's issues, I really doubt it will be because of sticking two movies per disc.

Yeah, my collection needs to be in alphabetical order.
I refuse to buy double movie bds.
I have 3, i think...
Curse and some other one I got as a gift from my sister. I would have had timecop, but that was 2 on one as well.

As much as I love digibooks, I refuse to get the universal and hammer sets. I opted for the individuals.