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

ADDITION: Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray (October 2024): Vinegar Syndrome have transferred three 70's Brit thrillers to Blu-ray as part of their Cruel Britannia: Three Killer Thrillers From the UK. The films are Freddie Francis's 1974 Craze, Jack Cardiff's Penny Gold made in 1973 and Ted Hooker's Crucible of Terror from 1971. They are cited as "Penny Gold and Craze scanned and restored in 4K from their 35mm original camera negatives and Crucible of Terror scanned and restored in 2K from a 35mm vault positive". As usual with Vinegar Syndrome these look true to source. However, the sources may be compromised - but not fatally. I've included samples of damage that is very rare (see below) only lasting a frame or two. All from the same era they equally show a thickness with consistent texture in 1080P. There are strong and weaker moments but I was never dissatisfied. Craze may be the best looking of the three showing occasional depth and tighter visuals. Overall, with a few warts, I'd say these look pleasingly film-like.  

NOTE: We have added 136 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Vinegar Syndrome use DTS-HD Master mono tracks (24-bit) in the original English language. There aren't any big-budget dynamic effects in any of these three films but there is gunfire, some funky native dance music in Craze etc. There is gruesome graphic gore, and some nudity, which we have included samples below but audio-wise these are authentically flat and reasonably passive. The score for Craze and Penny Gold was by John Scott who, in his career, had composed for restored silents like the 1920 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well as Ted Kotcheff's classic Wake in Fright, Billy Two Hats, plus Doomwatch, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, Cop-Out, Symptoms, Satan's Slave, A Study in Terror, and Cult Camp Classics like 1970's Trog with Joan Crawford. John Scott also played the flute in The Beatles 1965 recording of "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away". For Crucible of Terror the unremarkable score was by Paris Rutherford (The Love Pill.) Dialogue is consistent in the lossless transfer. Vinegar Syndrome offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-rays.

The Vinegar Syndrome Blu-rays offer new commentaries. For Craze and Crucible of Terror the commentaries are by Kim Newman (author of Classic Monsters Unleashed) and Stephen Jones (author of The Art Of Horror Movies: An Illustrated History). Penny Gold has a commentary by Newman (again) and Barry Forshaw (author of "British Crime Film", "British Gothic Cinema".) There is a second commentary for Craze by David Del Valle (Six Reels Under) and David DeCoteau (who directed 102 motion pictures between 1986 and 2014.) Without dissecting the comments - physical media fans know what to expect and Newman and co. who endlessly deliver rare tidbits and tangential examples. The two Davids work well together and have fun watching the Jack Palance (Attack, Sudden Fear, I Died a Thousand Times, Panic in the Streets, Dracula,) Diana Dors (Yield to the Night, Passport to Shame, The Long Haul, A Kid for Two Farthings,) Trevor Howard (Outcast of the Islands, Brief Encounter, The Cockleshell Heroes, Manuela, They Made Me a Fugitive,) and Suzy Kendall (Spasmo, Fear Is the Key, Torso) film. Happy Gatherings is a 10-minute interview with Judy Matheson, actress in Crucible of Terror who shares her recollections of the production. Her career included appearances in genre films The Flesh and Blood Show, Twins of Evil and Lust for a Vampire and many more. In for a Pound is an 11-minute interview with Richard Heffer, actor in Penny Gold. He was also in Women in Love (1969), Waterloo (1970,) The Sign of Four (1983.) Included is a 50-minute archival career-spanning interview with Michael Jayston, actor in Craze. It was written produced, directed and photographed by Derek Pykett. Jayston played Nicholas II of Russia in the film Nicholas and Alexandra, Peter Guillam in the miniseries Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979,) and was 'the Valeyard' in all fourteen episodes of the Doctor Who serial The Trial of a Time Lord from 1986.    

There is a rare connection with two of these films in that the directors, Jack Cardiff for Penny Gold and Freddie Francis for Craze, were both celebrated British cinematographers initially in their careers. Cardiff shot Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus, and The Red Shoes, John Huston The African Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Under Capricorn among other notable films. Francis was DoP for Joseph Losey's Time Without Pity, Jack Clayton's Room at the Top and The Innocents and David Lynch's The Elephant Man and The Straight Story. Also Freddie Francis was cinematographer for the Jack Cardiff directed film Sons and Lovers, from 1960, receiving his first Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Genre fans are well aware of Francis's directorial work on The Day of the Triffids, Paranoiac, Nightmare, The Evil of Frankenstein, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, The Skull, The Deadly Bees etc. About the three films in this the Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray set; Craze is notable for starring intense Jack Palance (Attack, Sudden Fear, I Died a Thousand Times, Panic in the Streets, Dracula,) lumpy Diana Dors (Yield to the Night, Passport to Shame, The Long Haul, A Kid for Two Farthings,) Trevor Howard (Outcast of the Islands, Brief Encounter, The Cockleshell Heroes, Manuela, They Made Me a Fugitive,) sexy Suzy Kendall (Spasmo, Fear Is the Key, Torso) and Norwegian model and beauty pageant titleholder Julie Ege (Creatures the World Forgot, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires). Craze was based on the 1967 novel The Infernal Idol by Henry Seymour although the film script was uneven. Palance plays a psychotic antiques dealer who sacrifices women to a statue of Chuku, an African idol in the back of his shop. It was the last film produced by Herman Cohen (Blood of Dracula, How to Make a Monster, Horrors of the Black Museum.) In Penny Gold the police are investigating a series of murders involving the hunt for a rare stamp. It stars James Booth (The Man Who Had Power Over Women, Robbery, Ninety Degrees in the Shade, Revenge) and Francesca Annis (Cleopatra, The Pleasure Girls, Dune.) Crucible of Terror was Ted Hooker's only directorial effort. It's about an obsessed sculptor who kills his models to preserve them in bronze. Pretty gruesome stuff although Mike Raven does look a bit like Christopher Lee. So there is more than their fair share of schlock and cheesy dialogue in the three films but they are all watchable and not broaching the "so bad, it's good category". I found them watchable; exploitive Craze has the cast cache, while Penny Gold was more a crime-thriller. Crucible of Terror is a throw away but has stalwart Judy Matheson (The Flesh and Blood Show, Twins of Evil, Lust for a Vampire) and Burmese-British actress Me Me Lai (Jungle Holocaust, Eaten Alive, Au Pair Girls) NOTE: the best double-entendre name in cinema history. Me Me's last movie was Lars von Trier's The Element of Crime in 1984. Known mostly for the extreme horror genre and her exotic appearance she retired from acting and joined the Essex police force where she may have been called to confiscate some of the very banned films that she starred in. The Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray set has four stellar commentaries for films that may push the genre envelope. To each their own.

Gary Tooze