Not one of Hammer’s better mummy movies (although it has many fans) it nevertheless got a beautiful looking transfer. From the Hammer company. NEW 2 hour Directors cut of “The Flesh and The Fury: X-posing ‘Twins of Evil'” feature length documentary exploring Hammer’s “Karnstein Trilogy” from Ballyhoo Productions (2021) Because of the anthology format, there are variety of stories and situations, many of them tried and true formulas and tropes, but done well with decent budgets and name actors. Among them were Peter Cushing, Jon Finch, Denholm Elliott, Diana Dors, Patricia Quinn, Brian Cox, Lucy Gutteridge, Sian Phillips, Barbara Ewing, and Pierce Brosnan, among others. The show’s directors included Peter Sasdy, Don Sharp, Tom Clegg, and Alan Gibson. As for the stories themselves, they’re all successful, but some are more hard-hitting than others. Fan favorite episodes include The Silent Scream, The House that Bled to Death, Children of the Full Moon, Witching Time, and Rude Awakening. With 13 one-hour episodes to choose from, Hammer House of Horror is short but fruitful, predating the TV anthology boom of the 1980s. The general consensus is that this is the jewel in Hammer’s crown. Its influence was felt in genre films for decades, and it cemented all the elements of Hammer’s identity — writer, stars, director — making them the horror kings of the fifties and beyond. The film is so respected that the British Film Institute undertook a restoration, with Warners’ limited participation. Shortly after the restoration was completed, exciting news came that the legendary missing shots from the end disintegration of Dracula had been in found in a print stored in a Japanese archive. The print also had a more explicit vampiric seduction of Mina. The Hammer company leapt at the chance to obtain and restore this material… no small feat, considering it was in absolutely horrendous condition and would require expensive digital fixes. Hammer’s disc uses the BFI’s finished restoration as the source for their Blu-ray. Since it did not include the newly-found footage, the company inserted it in a separate, second version of the film on the three-disc set. Hammer's second addition to its 21st-century canon is certainly an adult thriller, but one of a different shade than Let Me In, the film that resurrected the studio. The Resident finds Hilary Swank as a recently divorced doctor moving into her dream loft in Brooklyn only to discover that her landlord ( Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has a bit of an obsession with her. Hammer veteran Christopher Lee appears briefly as Morgan's father.

In Hammer at Columbia Pictures (11 minutes), C. Courtney Joyner talks about the unique relationship Hammer enjoyed with numerous studios in the States, particularly Columbia, who released the most diverse output of titles. This is an example of when producing a Blu-ray release might not be the best idea if you can’t find good film source material. This Final Cut disc caught a lot of flak for looking objectionably grainy and soft. Once again the original negative for this film is most likely unserviceable, and this appears to be possibly transferred from a YCM ‘recombine.’ Without getting into the technical weeds, what is involved in a recombine is a process similar to the old Technicolor 3-strip negatives. Namely, three different strips of film, each containing one of the color matrices, are optically printed together to create a ‘new’ negative. There are a number of potential problems, however — overall softness and a buildup of dirt and grain. Color fringing occurs, much like the older rear screen televisions when the three color guns were slightly out of alignment. Perhaps that’s a simple way to explain recombining separations, but the relevant aspect is that it’s very possible to end up with a less than ideal element to use for an HD transfer. Kim Newman Introduces ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (2021, 13 mins): appreciation by the critic and author Fresh out of theaters, currently available on VOD and now streaming exclusively on SCREAMBOX, Bloody Disgusting’s Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls is coming home for the holidays, arriving as a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray on December 19, loaded with bonus features, extended/deleted scenes, commentaries and an exclusive slipcover. Commentary with filmmaker/film historian Constantine Nasr and author/film historian Steve Haberman.For its new box set Hammer Films: The Ultimate Collection, Mill Creek Entertainment gathers twenty of the Columbia released titles (spread across ten discs), spanning the years 1957 – 1970, including: The Actors of Hammer Film (8 minutes) is a short segment with film historian David Del Valle in which he shares interesting trivia about several performers in these pictures. The situation I gather from their comments is that they have rights to certain titles, which will be done first over 18 months. Then after that, they'll talk to rights partners about restoring other titles if this first wave does well. I imagine that would include the Universal and Sony titles. Rights seem to have shuffled around a bit recently so I have no idea who has what anymore.

domestically and abroad maintaining acache of loyal followers. Although the studio delved into, noir, Val Guest, director of The Quatermass Xperiment, reteamed with that film's original scribe, Nigel Kneale, for this top-notch yeti thriller. A team of explorers — led by Dr. John Rollason (Cushing) and his wife Helen (Maureen Connell) — on an expedition to the Himalayas with members of a local monastery collide with a second team of explorers who are searching for the abominable snowman. Visiting The House of Hammer: Britain’s Legendary Horror Magazine featurette with British author/film historian Philip Nutman Of course sadness does begin to creep up and virtually takes centre stage near the end. The documentary is very good in describing how, despite often awkward attempts to keep up, Hammer’s brand of Gothic horror eventually found itself out of date as the genre became more horrifying and more set in the present day, and finishes rather wonderfully with footage from a reading of a script that was never shot called The Unquenchable Thirst Of Dracula. The whole thing is well structured and tight so I guess being selective about what is included has its bonuses as well even if I’m dubious as to the prevailing reason for so much being omitted. If you do decide that it’s worth the cost [bearing in mind how expensive import fees are now], I don’t think you’ll regret biting the bullet if you really do love your Hammer, and seeing as it played on my Blu-ray player without me having to change it to Region ‘A’, it seems to be Region Free too so fans living outside the USA and Canada should have no problem being able to view it.Terrance Fisher’s acclaimed, seminal horror The Mummy (1958) starring screen icon Peter Cushing (Star Wars, The Curse of Frankenstein, The Hound of The Baskervilles) has been unearthed from its tomb, and now the spellbinding horror cult classic is set for the Limited Edition treatment on Blu-ray, with a vast array of special features courtesy of Second Sight Films on 29th August 2022. One of the most charming facets of Onyx the Fortuitous is its commitment to practical effects, specifically its use of puppets to bring demons, ghouls, and creatures to life. A very nice BD from Germany’s Anolis label is available, presented in 1:85:1. Some good extras, in English, as well. The video and audio presentations of these films have all been apparently sourced from the same masters used for the individual Synapse Films Blu-ray releases, though there are sometimes obvious differences. Based on Andrew Bowser’s viral character of the same name , Onyx tells the story of an amateur occultist who learns that sometimes when you raise HELL… you get a little burned .

The company’s direct sequel to Horror of Dracula has never fared very well on home video. Anchor Bay’s early DVD was dull, with muddy colors and fading on the edges of the frame. Subsequent U.K. and Italian releases were a little better but had issues of their own. This was the first Blu-ray release from the new Hammer company (unless we count Quatermass and the Pit; it’s unclear if that was completely under their banner). Most fans give it an unenthusiastic passing grade, but for my taste it’s one of the least watchable Hammer BDs. This is due to the green /yellow- hued color grading. I have seen several early theatrical screenings of DPOD from good quality prints, as well as numerous TV broadcasts through the years. While it was never going to match the sumptuous look of either of the first two entries in the Hammer Dracula series, it still had a ‘normal’ color palate. The BEHP Interview with Freddie Francis (1994, 83 mins): career-spanning audio interview, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring Francis in conversation with Alan Lawson and Syd Wilson Scream Factory has released so many Hammer Horror movies in recent years that we have a whole column dedicated to them – Paul Farrell’s endlessly informative and insightful series Hammer Factory– and they’ve just announced a brand new upcoming release today. In the 1960’s, inspired by the success of PSYCHO, the legendary Hammer House of Horror produced a number of psychological thrillers scripted by screenwriter Jimmy Sangster.Sangster’s ultimate puzzle picture, PARANOIAC!, told the disturbing tale of the Ashby siblings gathering to claim their late parent’s inheritance. The appearance of a long dead brother, a decade after his apparent suicide, unearths a history of obsessive and sadomasochistic relationships… and quite possibly murder!Showcasing an early, explosive performance from Oliver Reed and boasting countless plot twists to keep horror fans guessing until the final frame, PARANOIAC! stands proudly as one of Hammer’s darkest and most sinister thrillers.But, let’s leave the final word to The New York Mirror: “Idiotically entertaining, provided, of course, that you can find entertainment in blood, gore and lunacy.” Hammer Film Productions, the venerable British studio behind some of horror's buzziest titles, was established in 1935 by comedian and entrepreneur William Hinds, who named the company after his own stage name, Will Hammer. Before it completely embraced the horror genre, Hammer produced some of the anodyne mystery thrillers starring Bela Lugosi that were popular at the time, as well as war pictures and the odd Oscar vehicle. (Hammer's first production, the since-lost 1935 film The Public Life of Henry the Ninth, was the first British film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.)

4 New Horror Movies Releasing This Week Including the Japanese Anthology ‘Visitors’!

Cast: David Knight; Duncan Lamont; Janette Scott; Jennie Linden; Moira Redmond; Oliver Reed; Peter Cushing; Peter Woodthorpe; Sheila Burrell Note about Frame Grabs: They were captured in the VLC media player program, and were not adjusted in any way except for size. They are not intended as anything more than a general example of some of the points I brought up. How these Blu-rays will look on your monitor in a home viewing environment can of course be significantly different. Another Final Cut Entertainment U.K. release. Perfectly acceptable, if not impressive in a ‘bowl you over’ sense. A noticeable improvement over the DVD. This remastered Director’s Cut features stereo sound, new candid interviews, rare clips, photos, home movies and over 40 minutes of additional content added to the film. Well over two hours of Gothic ghouls, gore and glamour.