The Plague of the Zombies (1966) coming from Scream Factory

[Michael24]

My copy arrived yesterday but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow night. Was surprised it had reversible covers, though, since it's not a Collector's Edition.

[horroru]

Originally Posted by Michael24

My copy arrived yesterday but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow night. Was surprised it had reversible covers, though, since it's not a Collector's Edition.

Got my copy today, can't wait to check it out.

I think the first non Collector's Edition to have a reversible cover was the excellent Island of Terror with Peter Cushing, but could be wrong.

[DR Herbert West]

Leviathan had a reversible cover.

[Michael24]

Ended up watching this tonight and thought it looked great. I almost thought there was an audio sync issue in a couple of scenes but afterwards I popped in my DVD and it was the same there. Either something inherent to the source or just looks that way for some reason. In any event, PQ and AQ were very good. Here's hoping to more great Hammer titles from Scream this year, including The Devil Rides Out.

And I swear one particular cue from this movie's score inspired the "Nazi Theme" in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[HuggyBear73]

So this is a definite upgrade over the UK release?

[Michael24]

I don't know how it compares to the UK release (I'm not region free) but I'm certainly satisfied with this Blu-ray. I'm sure somebody will be able to compare them or that comparison screenshots will be online before too long.

[Michael24]

Review is up

[babybreese]

You can se more comparison caps at DVD Beaver.
Looks to me like the Studio Canal was a tad more yellow than I thought then it came out.
Scream has done some color correction,
the reds are now closer to red instead of orange.
SC top Scream Bottom

[Shawn1968]

So I take it the 1.66 aspect ratio on this new Scream Factory Blu-ray is correct, and the 1.85 on the 2004 Anchor Bay DVD is incorrect?

[EManT2200]

Finally received mine today, after some delays. First thing I did was switch to the secondary cover art work, really like it a lot more than the cover as originally shipped.

[Darthbooth1978]

What is the reverse cover on this title?

[Michael24]

Originally Posted by Darthbooth1978

What is the reverse cover on this title?

[Darthbooth1978]

Originally Posted by Michael24

Cheers!

[Krynoid-Man]

Does this fix the sync issues the UK disc had?

[cakefactory]

I'm not sure what you're talking about so I can't say.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Shawn1968

So I take it the 1.66 aspect ratio on this new Scream Factory Blu-ray is correct, and the 1.85 on the 2004 Anchor Bay DVD is incorrect?

It may be the European theatrical AR was 1.66 and the US theatrical AR was 1.85. The UK disc is also 1.66:1 and looks fine.

[oddbox83]

More than likely projected at 1.75:1 in the UK, but protected for both 1.66:1 and up to 1.85:1.

I recently watched Phantom of the Opera which is similarly presented in both options and honestly, 1.85:1 looks the best artistically to my eyes. 1.66:1 shows more but adds nothing IMO. Which makes sense, when you know one of your biggest markets will project it 1.85:1, you're going to frame for it to look fine and taller ratios will just make sure nothing untoward is in the frame.

I think this works for most Hammer films, very few look too tight at 1.85:1, and those are limited to the earlier ones.

Anyway, it's nice to be offered a choice! I don't know how Shout handles cramming all onto one disc but the Indicator version of Phantom optimises the bitrate for the two versions of the movie and compresses the extras more to compensate.

[BluPat]

Just watched mine. Nice movie. I really enjoyed it. Great atmosphere and the little village where it took place was cool. It seemed to have some good production values and good acting. Glad I picked this up.

[fred25_Ca]

Am the only one who always found Plague of the zombies to be the end of a golden age for Hammer studio? It was one of their last movie filmed at Bray Studios. Things just wouldn't feel the same after that. The Mummy's shroud would be the last movie shot there (released the same year as The Plague of the zombies, in 1966). Man, John Gilling was on fire that year, with Plague, The reptile and The Mummy's shroud.
While there were still a few good Hammer movies in the next few years (most notably The devil rides out), things would never feel the same imo and the lack of a studio made most of those movies feel cheaper.
I also love André Morell in Plague, he's such a strong character and imo it's his best role (along with playing Watson in The hounds of Baskerville).

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

Am the only one who always found Plague of the zombies to be the end of a golden age for Hammer studio? It was one of their last movie filmed at Bray Studios. Things just wouldn't feel the same after that. The Mummy's shroud would be the last movie shot there (released the same year as The Plague of the zombies, in 1966). Man, John Gilling was on fire that year, with Plague, The reptile and The Mummy's shroud.
While there were still a few good Hammer movies in the next few years (most notably The devil rides out), things would never feel the same imo and the lack of a studio made most of those movies feel cheaper.
I also love André Morell in Plague, he's such a strong character and imo it's his best role (along with playing Watson in The hounds of Baskerville).

I don't think the loss of Bray Studios made the Hammer films look cheaper. Devil Rides Out, Quatermass & The Pit, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, all looked excellent. I think it was really that with the onset of the 70's, Hammer got stuck between repeating their in-house style or becoming an awkwardly trendy studio. And John Gilling's double bill of Plague and The Reptile, I'd say one of those films was a LOT better than the other - The Reptile simply crawled (ha!) with a script for only half of its running time.
Plague was what I'd call the best of Hammer's 2nd-tier movies. Morell was great in the lead. He was also excellent in Cash on Demand where he had the rare opportunity of dominating over Peter Cushing.