HAMMER HORROR: 8-Film Collection from Universal!

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by schlock

I think it's awesome that anyone would even bring up or remember Famous Monsters magazine these days at all, so you definitely win the internet for tonight!

I was born in 1972, so I caught the tail end of the Famous Monsters of Filmland streak. I remember having an issue with Swamp Thing on the cover, and I remember having a year-end issue with the melting face from Raiders of the Lost Ark on the cover.

In fact, my love of the Friday the 13th movies stems from a recap of the second movie in that year-end issue. There was a huge photo of Pamela Voorhees's head in the refrigerator, and there was a long article that summarized the movie in detail back at a time when I was too young to see it myself.

[happydood]

I already have the Australian set, but I'd be lying if I said that cover didn't send me into fits. I'll likely be breaking down.

[schlock]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I was born in 1972, so I caught the tail end of the Famous Monsters of Filmland streak. I remember having an issue with Swamp Thing on the cover, and I remember having a year-end issue with the melting face from Raiders of the Lost Ark on the cover.

In fact, my love of the Friday the 13th movies stems from a recap of the second movie in that year-end issue. There was a huge photo of Pamela Voorhees's head in the refrigerator, and there was a long article that summarized the movie in detail back at a time when I was too young to see it myself.

My first issue of FM was #88 with Night of Dark Shadows on the cover in 1971. It was just a color photo from the film on the cover, which they would do periodically back then on their covers, but that wasn't really the norm as they'd usually have artwork. Then, seeing their 'order some back-issues' page in that issue (and even then most older issues were already sold out), I was obsessed to collect them all, and I did but it took many years. Anyway, after Star Wars came out, FM pretty much ditched original artwork and changed to photo covers for most of their run afterwards.

There is a later issue of FM that had a photo of Jason's face on the cover that I assume Ft13th fans still want because it came out when the first film was released, and FM usually wouldn't get that gruesome back then (Ha! Now it looks like kindergarten!)

But most older 'vintage' issues of FM were devoted to classic horror and had original beautiful full-color art on their covers. I don't read or look at them much anymore, but they are full of great childhood memories.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by happydood

I already have the Australian set, but I'd be lying if I said that cover didn't send me into fits. I'll likely be breaking down.

This only has two films that are in that Australian set, so you better!

[Partyslammer]

Originally Posted by schlock

My first issue of FM was #88 with Night of Dark Shadows on the cover in 1971. It was just a color photo from the film on the cover, which they would do periodically back then on their covers, but that wasn't really the norm as they'd usually have artwork. Then, seeing their 'order some back-issues' page in that issue (and even then most older issues were already sold out), I was obsessed to collect them all, and I did but it took many years. Anyway, after Star Wars came out, FM pretty much ditched original artwork and changed to photo covers for most of their run afterwards.

There is a later issue of FM that had a photo of Jason's face on the cover that I assume Ft13th fans still want because it came out when the first film was released, and FM usually wouldn't get that gruesome back then (Ha! Now it looks like kindergarten!)

But most older 'vintage' issues of FM were devoted to classic horror and had original beautiful full-color art on their covers. I don't read or look at them much anymore, but they are full of great childhood memories.

I have a box of FM issues going from around issue #50 through the mid #100's from my teen years sitting in my garage. This was probably my favorite issue:

[Ray_Rogers]

The coverart for the Slipcase is really nice! (I'm guessing it'll be a slipcase...) Great design choices and the main font really suits Hammer Productions Horror output. Hopefully this set will have as great as bonus features which were on the Universal Monsters collection. But many of those were legacy bonus features.
Wait, do Universal only have the distribution rights for these 8 titles in the USA/CA or do they have more? If they have more, this set should've had a small caption stating Volume 1. Hopefully cakefactory knows more about this.

[McCliohn]

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

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Ray_Rogers

The coverart for the Slipcase is really nice! (I'm guessing it'll be a slipcase...) Great design choices and the main font really suits Hammer Productions Horror output. Hopefully this set will have as great as bonus features which were on the Universal Monsters collection. But many of those were legacy bonus features.
Wait, do Universal only have the distribution rights for these 8 titles in the USA/CA or do they have more? If they have more, this set should've had a small caption stating Volume 1. Hopefully cakefactory knows more about this.

They only have those 8 horror films. I strongly commend them for not sitting on things and trickling out a few and never releasing others, or making two of them MOD, or some other stupid crap like Sony and Warner like to do.

The set will probably be bare-bones, since the DVD set was. It's too bad, since several of those films have UK blu-rays that have good making-of featurettes with interviews with multiple people. If they'd license them, it would be great, but I doubt they will (Warner sure didn't with The Mummy).

[Ray_Rogers]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

They only have those 8 horror films. I strongly commend them for not sitting on things and trickling out a few and never releasing others, or making two of them MOD, or some other stupid crap like Sony and Warner like to do.

The set will probably be bare-bones, since the DVD set was. It's too bad, since several of those films have UK blu-rays that have good making-of featurettes with interviews with multiple people. If they'd license them, it would be great, but I doubt they will (Warner sure didn't with The Mummy).

Damn awesome Universal is releasing them on Blu-ray all in one go.
Aren't some of these titles released on Blu-ray in the incorrect aspect ratio in a few countries? As long as they're OAR, BD50, original intended color timings, original cinematic audio in LOSSLESS, and loads of properly produced film grain, count this set sold. I could just get the UK Blus for the bonus features if this release is only containing the film trailers.
Have the full specs been detailed for all 8 titles?

So damn glad I'm getting re-interested in branching out my Blu-ray collection. Especially filling in much needed gaps and starting the Hammer Productions part of it officially.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Ray_Rogers

Damn awesome Universal is releasing them on Blu-ray all in one go.
Aren't some of these titles released on Blu-ray in the incorrect aspect ratio in a few countries? As long as they're OAR, BD50, original intended color timings, original cinematic audio in LOSSLESS, and loads of properly produced film grain, count this set sold. I could just get the UK Blus for the bonus features if this release is only containing the film trailers.
Have the full specs been detailed for all 8 titles?

So damn glad I'm getting re-interested in branching out my Blu-ray collection. Especially filling in much needed gaps and starting the Hammer Productions part of it officially.

Below are the bonus features we're going to be losing if Universal goes the bare-bones route, which it looks like they will if the information posted earlier about 2 films per disc is true. Curse of the Werewolf, Brides of Dracula, and Evil of Frankenstein have Anolis releases which fixed the aspect ratio woes and added several more extra features (such as the longer single-subject interviews on Brides and Evil, and the full comic/graphic novels on Curse and Brides, and the TV scenes for Evil). Curse of the Werewolf and Evil of Frankenstein look pretty damn good. Captain Clegg has messed-up video issues, but I haven't looked into them extensively, I think BabyBreese can elaborate if he reads this thread! Paranoiac looks fine, if not spectacular. Phantom of the Opera is good, I think. Kiss of the Vampire is ugly.


Brides of Dracula - 31 minute making-of featurette with interviews, 26 minute interview with Yvonne Monlaur, an entire comic version of the film scanned and gone through as video, scans of german pressbooks, trailers

Curse of the Werewolf - 46 minute making-of featurette with interviews (including Oliver Reed!), 23 minute featurette of a Hammer expert showing us his prop collection (this is on Synapse's Twins of Evil, though), trailer, extensive promo scans, full graphic novel scanned and gone through as video

Kiss of the Vampire - Commentary by Edward De Souza and Jennifer Daniel (the hero and heroine of the movie), stills gallery, trailer

Captain Clegg - 30 minute making-of featurette with interviews, 6 minute featurette about the horse carriages used in this (and other) Hammer flicks, still gallery

Phantom of the Opera - 30 minute making-of-featurette with interviews, stills/promo gallery, trailer

Paranoiac - Music/Sound effects isolated audio track, trailer, promo/stills gallery

Evil of Frankenstein - commentary (in German, though), 30 minute making-of-featurette with interviews (including Peter Cushing), stills/promo gallery, trailer, 13 minutes worth of scenes which were added for the American TV version, 2:30 interview with Caron Gardner (the burgomaster's wife), 38 minute interview with Caron Gardner (not really sure what the heck they have to talk about since she's in the movie for all of one minute!).

[schlock]

Originally Posted by Partyslammer

I have a box of FM issues going from around issue #50 through the mid #100's from my teen years sitting in my garage. This was probably my favorite issue:

That was a great issue. I remember buying it at the corner store. That issue in particular used to be worth very good $$$ on the collector's market as well because it was Godzilla and it wasn't available for long, but I don't think most monster magazines of this sort are worth even squat these days at all (now that everyone is digital). But the magazines themselves are still worth a helluvalot (maybe not financially) to the owners who still cherish them. And that's all that really counts.

EDIT: Anyway, sorry for getting way off topic, but for any fans of Hammer films, there was TONS of coverage of Hammer films in FM in its long run - from articles, to cover artwork or photos. I learned so much about Lee and Cushing and pretty much all the Hammer films just from that magazine (and others like CFQ and COF), decades before the internet. Worth a google search today at least.

[Ray_Rogers]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Below are the bonus features we're going to be losing if Universal goes the bare-bones route. Curse of the Werewolf, Brides of Dracula, and Evil of Frankenstein have Anolis releases which fixed the aspect ratio woes and added several more extra features (such as the longer single-subject interviews on Brides and Evil, and the full comic/graphic novels on Curse and Brides, and the TV scenes for Evil). Curse of the Werewolf and Evil of Frankenstein look pretty damn good. Captain Clegg has messed-up video issues, but I haven't looked into them extensively, I think BabyBreese can elaborate if he reads this thread! Paranoiac looks fine, if not spectacular. Phantom of the Opera is good, I think. Kiss of the Vampire is ugly.


Brides of Dracula - 31 minute making-of featurette with interviews, 26 minute interview with Yvonne Monlaur, an entire comic version of the film scanned and gone through as video, scans of german pressbooks, trailers

Curse of the Werewolf - 46 minute making-of featurette with interviews (including Oliver Reed!), 23 minute featurette of a Hammer expert showing us his prop collection (this is on Synapse's Twins of Evil, though), trailer, extensive promo scans, full graphic novel scanned and gone through as video

Kiss of the Vampire - Commentary by Edward De Souza and Jennifer Daniel (the hero and heroine of the movie), stills gallery, trailer

Captain Clegg - 30 minute making-of featurette with interviews, 6 minute featurette about the horse carriages used in this (and other) Hammer flicks, still gallery

Phantom of the Opera - 30 minute making-of-featurette with interviews, stills/promo gallery, trailer

Paranoiac - Music/Sound effects isolated audio track, trailer, promo/stills gallery

Evil of Frankenstein - commentary (in German, though), 30 minute making-of-featurette with interviews (including Peter Cushing), stills/promo gallery, trailer, 13 minutes worth of scenes which were added for the American TV version, 2:30 interview with Caron Gardner (the lead actress), 38 minute interview with Caron Gardner.

If these discs are still worth it for what I mentioned above, I'd be more than willing to double-up for these titles. Glad you have way more knowledge about the releases and saves me the confusion on the research.

[houndfan]

Please let 'Brides of Dracula' be a sparkling new print, correct-ratio disc! The German disc is in the right ratio but fuzzy as heck, and the UK disc is incorrect ratio AND fuzzy as heck! Come on Universal!!

[Ray_Rogers]

Originally Posted by houndfan

Please let 'Brides of Dracula' be a sparkling new print, correct-ratio disc! The German disc is in the right ratio but fuzzy as heck, and the UK disc is incorrect ratio AND fuzzy as heck! Come on Universal!!

Fuzzy? What do you mean? Film grain or encoding noise? Cause all movies shot on film are supposed to have film grain.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Ray_Rogers

Fuzzy? What do you mean? Film grain or encoding noise? Cause all movies shot on film are supposed to have film grain.

Just look at caps, the detail's kind of low and the color's faded with sort of a brownish haze over everything (that was the impression I got while watching it, anyway - the caps might suggest something else to you). It's not DNR'd or anything, it's just very grainy. The DVD version has much better color IMO. There are comparisons on the reviews on diabolique magazine. The UK review has comparisons to the universal DVD, and the Anolis review has comparisons between the blu-rays.

http://diaboliquemagazine.com/brides...lu-ray-review/
http://diaboliquemagazine.com/brides...lu-ray-review/

[houndfan]

Yes, I understand that films are meant to have grain. I have enough of an appreciation, and enough of a collection, to appreciate that. It's just that the Brides disc in the UK is just way TOO grainy - or noisy - fuzzy. Either way . . .!
When you look at the Anolis or Universal SD VD, where grain is intact but the image still sharp, the difference is startling. Anyhow - here's hoping the new Blu of it from the US will put it all right

Originally Posted by Ray_Rogers

Fuzzy? What do you mean? Film grain or encoding noise? Cause all movies shot on film are supposed to have film grain.

[jimqk]

I thought Universal's DVD version of all these films was pretty good. I don't remember ever harboring any complaints about it (other than they were two-sided discs). Still, I want to see major improvements with the Blu-ray set. I think that is what we'll see.

Universal did a great job in bringing the Universal Classic Monsters to Blu-ray, and I expect nothing less with this Hammer collection. Sure, there won't be any extras likes with the Monsters set, but as long as the movies look and sound great, I'll be happy.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by houndfan

Yes, I understand that films are meant to have grain. I have enough of an appreciation, and enough of a collection, to appreciate that. It's just that the Brides disc in the UK is just way TOO grainy - or noisy - fuzzy. Either way . . .!

It definitely looked different. Good or bad I can't say, but the grain on that release was not your typical 60's movie grain.

[sa5150]

$42.08 !!!

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by sa5150

$42.08 !!!

Great deal for eight movies. As long as the transfers are up to snuff, I'd snap it up at that price so I'd be ready for my annual October horror marathon.