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The Horror of Frankenstein [Blu-ray]
(Jimmy Sangster, 1970)
NOTE: After comparing the Studio Canal UK and DE Blu-rays of Fear in the Night HERE. They are determined to be, essentially, the exact same discs. Same running time to the 1/1000th a second, same bitrate, same image, same audio (with the of a inclusion of a German DUB and optional German subtitles) and same extras - minus the second disc DVD but the 7-Blu-ray Hammer Film Edition has all the other films (The Horror of Frankenstein, Scars of Dracula, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, Demons of the Mind, Straight on Till Morning, Fear in the Night, and Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde).
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Hammer Studios Video: Studio Canal (DE) Disc: Region: 'B' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:35:39.734 Disc Size: 30,737,321,491 bytes Feature Size: 26,432,339,520 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.01 Mbps Chapters: 12 Case: Slim Blu-ray case Release date: January 29th, 2018 / November 23rd, 2017
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.66:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1430 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1430 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit) DUB:
DTS-HD Master Audio German 1432 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1432
kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles: English (SDH), German, none
Extras: • New Featurette - Gallows Humour: Inside The Horror of Frankenstein (18:16)• Trailer for a 'Weinberg' (1:59)
Bitrate:
Description: Teenage prodigy Victor Frankenstein tells his father of his ambition to go to university in Vienna. The Baron objects, so Victor coldly sabotages his shooting rifle. The gun explodes in the Baron’s face, killing him. Victor uses his inheritance to decamp to Vienna. Six years pass, and Victor leaves after getting the Dean’s daughter pregnant; returning home with fellow student Wilhelm, he rescues his friend Elizabeth and her father, an eminent professor, from two highwaymen. He kills one, and covertly beheads him. Hidden away from housekeeper and bedwarmer Alys, he and Wilhelm set about researches into the revival of dead tissue. The grisly career of the notorious Victor Frankenstein has begun. This bold experiment in horror comedy was directed by Jimmy Sangster in 1970, and is one of the most unusual of all the Hammer horrors. Ralph Bates stars as the young Victor Frankenstein and Dave Prowse (later to embody Darth Vader in Star Wars) plays his monster.
The Film:
The screenplay, credited to Jeremy Burnham and Jimmy Sangster, the
director, is as bright as can be. And the wry, pointed dialogue is
nicely clipped off by a game cast, including Graham James, Kate O'Mara
and Veronica Carlson. And lo and behold, there is Dennis Price, who
bumped off eight Alec Guinnesses in "Kind
Hearts and Coronets."
Hammer, perhaps in response to
The Fearless Vampire Killers (Roman Polanski's spoof of their
bloodsucker flicks), sends itself up in this black comedy remake of
Curse of Frankenstein. They replace Peter Cushing with the then
up-and-coming horror star Ralph Bates and inject the tale with more sex,
more violent death, and a wicked sense of irreverence. The film opens with Victor Frankenstein, bored with his school lessons, drawing saucy pictures of young ladies in his textbook. The film starts as it means to go on, by getting a bunch of 30-year-olds to dress up as schoolkids for these opening scenes. The idea of a 30-year-old Ralph Bates (complete with five o'clock shadow) and an extremely chesty Veronica Carlson (luckily without same) still being at school is not just absurd, it looks stupid. If they'd just gone for it and stuck Veronica in a Britney Spears-style badly fitting uniform, it might have worked. But they didn't. What's more, on getting home. "young" Victor finds his dad cavorting in the sheets with housemaid Alys (Kate O'Mara), who's supposed to be 16(!) Excerpt from BritishHorror located HEREImage : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. The Horror of Frankenstein gets an impressive transfer to Blu-ray from Studio Canal. It's in dual-layered territory and has a high bitrate for the 1.5 hour feature. It is very textured, with rich, tight colors. The 1080P supports solid contrast and pleasing detail in the original 1.66:1 frame. It's very clean showcasing occasional depth - there are really no flaws with the image. This Blu-ray of The Horror of Frankenstein looks quite impressive. CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :The Blu-ray of The Horror of Frankenstein offers a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 1430 kbps (24-bit.). There are aggressive effects and they have depth. The score is by Malcolm Williamson (Brides of Dracula) and its subtle but suitable to Hammer efforts. There is an optional German DUB and optional English (see sample) or German subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.
Extras : Studio Canal add a 18-minute featurette; Gallows Humour: Inside The Horror of Frankenstein that has Jonathan Rigby (author of English Gothic), Kevin Lyons (Documentation Editor at the BFI), John J. Johnston etc. talking about the film's history, humor, Sangster and production details. There is also a trailer for 'Weinberg'.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze November 29th, 2017
NOTE: After comparing the Studio Canal UK and DE Blu-rays of Fear in the Night HERE. They are determined to be, essentially, the exact same discs. Same running time to the 1/1000th a second, same bitrate, same image, same audio (with the of a inclusion of a German DUB and optional German subtitles) and same extras - minus the second disc DVD but the 7-Blu-ray Hammer Film Edition has all the other films (The Horror of Frankenstein, Scars of Dracula, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, Demons of the Mind, Straight on Till Morning, Fear in the Night, and Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde).
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