Subtitles:

English, none

English (SDH), Spanish, French, None

English, none (only on 1.85:1 version, the other two have 'none')

Extras:

• Commentary with Edward De Souza & Jennifer Daniel - Moderated by Peter Irving

Description: Honeymooning in Bavaria, Gerald and Marianne Harcourt experience car trouble and are forced to spend a few days in a small remote village. Soon Doctor Ravna, owner of the impressive chateau that sits imposingly above the village, invites them to dinner and the couple are persuaded to go. Their association with Ravna and his charming beautiful family is to prove disastrous as they become unwittingly embroiled with this company of vampires who seek to initiate them into their diabolical creed. When the pair attend a masked ball at the chateau a few days later things start to go eerily wrong when Gerald begins to feel faint and Marianne disappears only to later return in front of a ceremony of gowned vampires and announced as their new disciple.

 

 

The Film:

A beautifully photographed film in which an English honeymoon couple are lured towards a fate worse than death by a Bavarian disciple (Willman) of the late Count Dracula. The main trouble is that some of the acting, especially from de Souza and Daniel as the young couple, is terribly stiff (against which must be set Isobel Black, playing a very fetching vampire). The use of scenery is particularly superb, giving it an almost Dreyerian quality. Ironically, the film's release was delayed until 1964 because the distributors thought that the bat-infestation climax (one of the best scenes) flew dangerously close to The Birds, even though it was made quite some time before Hitchcock's film.

Excerpt from Timeout located HERE

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

Kiss of the Vampire gets a decent, but not stellar transfer to Blu-ray from Final Cut Entertainment in the UK. It is single-layered with a supportive bitrate for the 1.5 hour feature. It has some inconsistency at around the 42-minute mark, appearing frail with light artifacts but straightens up after that looking improved throughout the rest of the feature. The visuals can exhibit some thinness and has very minor edge-enhancement but this may be more a factor of the source than a flaw in the 1080P rendering. Colors are notable - bright and true (reds and greens) and it is transferred at the 1.85;1 aspect ratio with occasional depth. There are a few speckles but nothing untoward. Not an incredibly dynamic Blu-ray appearance but acceptable for watching the film.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

1) Final Cut - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP 2) Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray SECOND 3) Shout! Factory (TV version) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray THIRD 4) Shout! Factory (1.66:1) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray FOURTH 5) Shout! Factory (1.85:1) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Final Cut - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP 2) Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray SECOND 3) Shout! Factory (TV version) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray THIRD 4) Shout! Factory (1.66:1) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray FOURTH 5) Shout! Factory (1.85:1) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 

1) Final Cut - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP 2) Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray SECOND 3) Shout! Factory (1.66:1) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray THIRD 4) Shout! Factory (1.85:1) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

Final Cut - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

Final Cut - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

Final Cut - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

Final Cut - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

Final Cut - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

Final Cut - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

More Final Cut - Region 'B' - Blu-ray Captures

 

 

 

 

 

Final Cut utilize a linear PCM 2.0 channel mono track at 1536 kbps. It is clear, flat but has varying degrees of depth (screams). India-born, Hammer regular, James Bernard (The Plague of the Zombies, Dracula Prince of Darkness, These Are the Damned, Across the Bridge, The Curse of Frankenstein) score adds a tight, creepy, atmosphere that definitely benefits from the lossless transfer. There are optional English subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

Universal use a DTS-HD Master in 24-bit. My ears couldn't detect much of a difference, if any, in the sound exported by the two Blu-rays. The Universal audio may be marginally deeper in exporting the bass. There are optional English - SDH (see sample), Spanish or French subtitles offered and the Universal Blu-ray disc is, also, Region FREE.

Included is a commentary with Edward De Souza (played Gerald Harcourt in the film) & Jennifer Daniel (Marianne Harcourt) moderated by Peter Irving. It's a good one - worth listening to and there is also a stills gallery and the alternate US Trailer.

No extras that I have found on the Universal Blu-ray Boxset.

As stated, I LOVED the commentaries (kudos to Steve Haberman, Constantine Nasr on the 1.66:1 version,  and I always enjoy  Troy Howarth + Nathaniel Thompson - here on the longer TV version with blood etc. removed, but additional sequences.) The 'Edward De Souza, Jennifer Daniels commentary moderated by Peter Irving is repeated from the Final Cut UK Blu-ray. After the commentaries are two new featurettes: The Men Who Made Hammer: on composer James Bernard running 17-minutes and another episode in that series on production designer Bernard Robinson just shy of 20-minutes. There is a original theatrical trailer and Radio Spot, a Kiss Of Evil TV trailer and a 1/4 hour of additional scenes that were added to the TV Version Kiss Of Evil for those curious who don't watch the included SD version.