NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Indicator Blu-ray (October 2019): Indicator have transferred Joseph Losey's These Are the Damned to 1080P Blu-ray. It is part of Indicator's Hammer Volume Four: Faces of Fear with THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL, TASTE OF FEAR and THE DAMNED. The Indicator offers alternative, seamlessly-branched, presentations of the complete 96-minute version, playable as either The Damned or These Are the Damned and a second Blu-ray of the rarely seen original 87-minute UK theatrical cut of The Damned. The video quality, cited as a "2K restoration" seems on-par with the German 1080P from earlier this year. The Indicator may be slightly superior in-motion. Both UK and 'complete version' are also on-par with each other. You can see the comparison captures below.

NOTE: We have added 40 more large resolution Blu-ray captures for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE.

Audio-wide, Indicator go with liner PCM tracks (for both) in 24-bit. It is in English mono and advances in minor ways over the 16-bit Koch, The James Bernard (The Terror of the Tongs, The Devil Rides Out, The Plague of the Zombies, Dracula Prince of Darkness, Across the Bridge, The Curse of Frankenstein) score sounds very effective here. Indicator offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

This is the most stacked of all 4 films in the Hammer Volume Four: Faces of Fear boxset (which is saying something.) On the complete 96-minute version, we get an audio commentary with film historians Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan who discuss how this is more of a Losey films than a Hammer film, the shooting locations in place like Weymouth that Kat was very familiar with, how These are the Dammed exists in the same universe as the Boulting Brother's Brighton Rock and much more. It contains some fabulous analysis and is a very rewarding listen. On the Brink: Inside ‘The Damned’ is a new and exclusive 26-minute documentary, featuring Alan Barnes, Kevin Lyons, Nick Riddle and Jonathan Rigby, exploring aspects of the film’s production. Always great to hear form these knowledgeable chaps. We get another segment of Hammer’s Women - this time a new 1/4 hour profile of Viveca Lindfors by film historian Lindsay Hallam. Looking in the Right Place spend 10 lovely minutes with, still attractive, actor Shirley Anne Field recalling working with Oliver Reed and Joseph Losey. Children of ‘The Damned’ is a new 23-minute interview with former child actors David Palmer, Kit Williams and Christopher Witty discussing their experiences of making The Damned. Something Out of Nothing spends 7-minute with screenwriter Evan Jones reflecting on his first feature-film credit, Smoke Screen is a new 11-minute interview with camera operator Anthony Heller, Beneath the Surface is a 25-minute interview with filmmaker Gavrik Losey, son of director Joseph Losey as a subsection of three critical appraisals along with Beyond Black Leather - a 1/4 hour with academic I Q Hunter discussing The Damned and No Future - a 26-minute appreciation by author and film historian Neil Sinyard. Phew - these are all solid gold extras. Next up is The Lonely Shore a new 21-minute appreciation of James Bernard’s score by David Huckvale, author of James Bernard, Composer to Count Dracula: A Critical Biography. There is an optional isolated music & effects track, an original US theatrical trailer plus a Joe Dante trailer commentary from 2013, as another critical appreciation. Lastly is an image gallery of promotional and publicity materials plus the package has a limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with a new essay by Richard Combs, Joseph Losey on The Damned, a look at the US pressbook, an overview of contemporary reviews, and film credits. Incredible.

So we recently cited Shout! Factory's 1988 The Blob Blu-ray as the most complete package of the year... well, move over - The Indicator Blu-rays of The Damned (actually the entire Hammer Volume Four set) has, already, pushed that out of top spot - and what's more, this is a magnificent film - perhaps Hammer's only one delving into art-house territory. It's cinema that is always evocative of sequels or pre-quels to The Village of the Damned and Children of the Damned and has the photogenic Shirley Anne Field. It's a weird and delightful 60's entry and a must have for any cinephile digital librarians. Buy with extreme confidence.

***

ADDITION: Koch Media Blu-ray (June 2019): Koch Media have transferred Hammer Studio's These are the Damned, directed by Joseph Losey, to Blu-ray. It looks reasonably pleasing in 1080P. We've compared it to the, relatively, lackluster Sony DVD set from 2010 (reviewed HERE.) It certainly advances in terms of clarity, detail, contrast.... the higher resolution and 5X bitrate exposes a superior presentation. It looked great on my system.

On their Blu-ray, Koch Media use a DTS-HD 2.0 channel mono track (16-bit) in the original English language with a similar encoded German DUB. It is a modest advancement in the film's audio with another pleasing score by frequent Hammer composer, James Bernard (The Terror of the Tongs, The Devil Rides Out, The Plague of the Zombies, Dracula Prince of Darkness, Across the Bridge, The Curse of Frankenstein) sounding a bit deeper with consistent and clear dialogue. Koch Media offer optional English or German subtitles on their Region 'B'-locked Blu-ray.

The Koch Media Blu-ray only offer a trailer and image gallery which includes posters and stills.

One of the more unique films in the Hammer canon. I've awaited this entry for a long time and have heard it will be coming to Indicator, or the like, soon. Now on Blu-ray. An easy recommendation to Hammer completists - I can finally ignore my Sony DVD set as they have all reached 1080P! 

Gary Tooze