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Hammer Horror Series
(Brides of Dracula / Curse of the Werewolf / Phantom of the Opera (1962) / Paranoiac / Kiss of the Vampire / Nightmare / Night Creatures / Evil of Frankenstein) DVD
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directed by
Freddie Francis, Peter Graham Scott, Don Sharp and Terence Fisher
UK 1960- 64
Hammer Films have quite a strong reputation amongst horror
genre fans and I finally had the time to finish up watching this Boxset. First-off I wouldn't
consider myself a huge horror film fan as I often found the reputation of the
genre suffered as it was often diluted with many schlocky, cheaply produced and
often exploitive copycats. These Hammer films though are the cream of the crop
and this boxset alone has altered my opinion of the genre. I actually watched 4
of the films in one day! Dracula, Frankenstein, werewolves, phantoms are all
specters that are common to children growing up - so right off the legends are
imbedded and we know what to expect. I was impressed with the production
quality, acting (Peter Cushing, Oliver Reed and Janette Scott), even pace and
adequately written scripts. These amount to some of the most complete and
competent horror films ever made... although I might not put Nightmare,
Paranoiac and Night Creatures into the horror genre, they are
certainly good psychological thrillers... and they were produced by Hammer
Studios. |
Posters
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Theatrical Releases: 1960 - 1964
DVD Review: Universal - Region 1 - NTSC
DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from: |
Distribution | Universal Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC | |
Runtime |
1:32:39 + 1:25:24 + 1:24:03 + 1:19:54 + 1:28:12 + 1:22:12 + 1:26:33 + 1:22:03 = approx. 11 hours |
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Video |
All widescreen anamorphic Average Bitrate: 6.32 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Disc 1 Side A -
Brides of Dracula / Curse of the Werewolf |
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Bitrate:
Disc 1
Side B - Phantom of the Opera (1962) / Paranoiac |
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Bitrate:
Disc 2 Side A - Kiss of the Vampire / Nightmare |
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Bitrate:
Disc 2
Side B - Night Creatures / Evil of Frankenstein |
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Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) | |
Subtitles | English (Hoh), Spanish, French, None | |
Features |
Release Information:
Edition Details: • None |
Comments: |
These 2 discs are referred to as a DVD18's which are two sided and dual layered. There are a very small number of players that seem to have trouble playing these discs all the way through. I have 4 different players and have not had a problem at all. Well, the DVD package is a little better than I anticipated. I wasn't expecting too much. It is akin to Universal's DVD release of the Gary Cooper Collection or the Bela Lugosi Boxset. In this case a bare bones collection of 8 films pragmatically spread over 2 of dual sided discs, with no extra features and selling at an astonishingly inexpensive total cost (around $20). The 8 films look very good, aspect ratios are maintained (even the 1.66's), all transfers are widescreen and progressive - decent-to-good contrast, 2.0 channel audio and well done optional subtitles. I found them all to be very sharp with no discernable excessive damage. My only complaint would be some minor shimmering/strobbing in a couple of scenes throughout the almost 11 hours of viewable material. We are now not expecting
any extensive extras or individual releases with keep cases (don't we
have enough?) - but these transfers are great - and at what cost? These films generally
don't warrant a lot of supplement attention, which in many cases these
days amount to filler or advertisements, and these come out to less
than $3 a film. What better $ value is there out there? I'm sold on this
manner of packaging some previously unreleased tittles that many crave
and we strongly recommend!
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DVD Menus
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Subtitle Sample
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Screen Captures
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