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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 

 

 

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. out of     

Gary W. Tooze

 

   Posters

Theatrical Releases: 1960 - 1964

 DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Universal - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover

   

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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

Video All widescreen anamorphic
Average Bitrate: 6.32 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s 

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:  Disc 1 Side A - Brides of Dracula / Curse of the Werewolf
 

Bitrate: Disc 1 Side B - Phantom of the Opera (1962) / Paranoiac
 

Bitrate:  Disc 2 Side A - Kiss of the Vampire / Nightmare
 

Bitrate: Disc 2 Side B - Night Creatures / Evil of Frankenstein
 

Audio English (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles English (Hoh), Spanish, French, None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Universal Home Video

Aspect Ratio:
Original and all widescreen anamorphic

Edition Details:

• None

DVD Release Date: September 6th, 2005

Double Digi-pak sleeve inside cardboard slip case
Chapters: most have 12 or 18

 

 

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!  out of     

Gary W. Tooze

 





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DVD Box Cover

   

CLICK to order from:

Distribution Universal Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC



 

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Gary Tooze

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