DVD Savant’s Guide to the New Wave of Classic Hammer Blu- rays ? As a public service, Savant has solicited an expert opinion (you’ll have to take my word for that) of a film restoration/transfer specialist who is also an informed fan of the filmic output of the little horror studio at Bray. A comprehensive documentary guide to the legendary British horror film studio, Hammer Films. Buy Hammer Horror - A Fan's Guide here at The Hut. We've got top products at great prices including fashion, homeware and lifestyle products. Free delivery available. Seeds:0 Leech:1 485.62 Mb HAMMER HORROR A FAN'S GUIDE (2008). HAMMER HORROR A FAN'S GUIDE (2008) torrent Information about the torrent HAMMER HORROR A FAN'S GUIDE (2008). Seeders, leechers and torrent status is updated several. Compare Prices for Hammer Horror - a Fan's Guide on DVD at Find-DVD. Enter your review of Hammer Horror - a Fan's Guide. We will post your review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. Search for 'Hammer Horror: A Fan's Guide' on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Share this Rating Title: Hammer Horror: A Fan's Guide (Video 2008) 6.7 /10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? You must be a Show HTML Hammer House of Horror episode guides on TV.com. Watch Hammer House of Horror episodes, view pictures, get episode. Graham's brother, Mark, his uncle. I know, real Hammer fans buy first and worry about quality later, but this little guide might be of help to the rest of us budget- conscious collectors. A . I have access to industry people qualified to compare and judge the discs, but they stay off the record, because their employers forbid them to go online with their opinions. They must sometimes simmer in silence as print critics and web reviewers that have no technical expertise, dispense misinformation or slam entire home video companies for imagined aesthetic crimes. You’d be surprised how many telecine people and video experts have no special interest in movies. But technical experts can be Hammer fans too, and I’m always asking this one about the strange way the UK releases are being transferred. So for Halloween, and to go with the new Warner’s Hammer Blu- ray release, I asked him to do what I can’t do: review the quality of these Region B releases that only a few fans get to see. My unnamed friend has most of them. He’s more lenient than I am about the odd revisions we’ve seen. Just remember that the titles with the fewest comments. When he says, “it gets by,” he’s really saying, “It’s great.” — Glenn Erickson, 1. A GUIDE TO THE NEW WAVEof Region B HAMMER BLU- RAYSGlenn Erickson and I recently had a discussion about the state of the classic Hammer Studios Blu- ray releases, in light of Warner Brothers’ recent four disc set. I mentioned some observations I had with the import titles not yet available in the States and he encouraged me to go through them and write an overview. Many of these have been out for quite awhile, and the issues with some of them have been extensively covered and hotly debated in forums and genre webpages, so this won’t qualify as much of a revelation to the hardcore fans. But I thought the more casual enthusiast who doesn’t frequent those areas of the net might find it of interest. My background is in the areas of film restoration and overseeing telecine work, so I try to point out problems or compliment those areas in particular. What I don’t do is discuss the aesthetics of each movie, since I figure if you’re interested enough to read this you probably already know these films pretty well and have reached your own opinions. If not, most have been reviewed in their standard- def incarnations by DVD Savant and I recommend you look them up! They make great and insightful reading. I also stress that these are simply my opinions, and some fans may find the problems I point out more or less egregious. The theatrical film was titled more descriptively as The Abominable Snowman (of the Himalayas). People were first able to appreciate its B& W . It has so far only been released on Blu- ray in Japan in an expensive, bare bones edition. Quality is good, but little effort has been put into cleaning up the minor battle scars on the film source. Hopefully it will garner a release elsewhere, and it would probably be prudent to wait for a cheaper (and better) edition. But if the true Hammerphile is chomping at the bit to add this to their collection now, it at least is . He verified that Jeff’s information (and that of Classic Horror Film Board posters named “dolphyguy” and “Gerani. The bottom line: don’t ditch the Anchor Bay DVD. Here’s my contact’s response: Okay, just finished looking at both, and he’s indeed correct. Here’s a quick rundown. The Japanese Blu- ray has a runtime of 1: 2. Anchor Bay DVD is 1: 2. On the DVD, a Warner Bros. The Blu- ray does not have the logo. Cushing’s discussion with the High Lama occurs at 2. DVD. My theory as to why it possibly might have been cut is that the Lama’s accent is quite thick during this speech, making him hard to understand. The bandit attack occurs at 2. CHFB guy points out there’s a strange defect in the binocular optical, a horizontal rectangular white block behind the bandit. I don’t think the two deletions add up to the full five- minute discrepancy, but they come close. Any additional edits would be insignificant. While it always stinks to have scenes missing I think I’d stick with the Blu- ray, because in a side- by- side comparison it blows away the old Anchor Bay release, which is of course much less sharp and has significant DNR artifacts. The first signs of trouble was when the company proudly proclaimed via their webpage that they had determined the correct aspect ratio for the film was open matte (or 4. X3 full frame), and would be presenting it that way. The reaction was swift and heated. Several well respected technical historians voiced loud objections, providing trade articles specifically stating the intended framing was 1: 6. Hammer finally agreed to release the Blu- ray with transfers of the film both ways. Once the release hit the shelves there was further grumbling that the matted transfer was centered incorrectly, but it hardly mattered, considering the anemic look of the film in general. Some people felt it was . It was closer to the correct aspect ratio, perhaps, and did include a shot not in the previous release. But the image was more faded and blown out, obliterating many details that were clearer in the DVD. The explanation was the degraded state of the film source, which Hammer said was provided by Warners. This is no doubt true, born out by the fact that Warners bypassed including it in their just released Hammer Blu- ray collection, citing that it . The upside is the disc has many interesting supplemental features and a good commentary track. HORROR OF) DRACULAThe 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. 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. Despite the universally welcome addition of the found footage the Blu- ray release once again hit heated controversy with the fans, this time due to the cold color grading of the film overall. Many felt this was a revisionist attempt to make the film look more contemporary, and was not true to the original look. The Hammer company had received much negative feedback for creative choices on several of their other releases. In this case they are not to blame (if one considers the complaints valid). Ben Thompson oversaw the BFI restoration. In the documentary included on the disc entitled Resurrecting Dracula he explains that the color grading decision was based on a new Check Print supplied by Warners, as well as the way the original negative . But he also stated he intentionally avoided the saturated colors of an IB Technicolor print from the film’s first release. This is a bit baffling, as one would think the goal would be to emulate how the film was presented in 1. No matter how one feels about the film’s look there’s no denying the Blu- ray betters the older Warner DVD in just about every way. The earlier disc was improperly over- matted at 1: 7. Blu- ray is given a roomier and correct matting of 1: 6. The DVD only supplied a trailer, while the Hammer BD has a wealth of fascinating supplemental material. It even includes the Raw transfer of the Japanese source print, which gives one an idea of the miracle Hammer pulled by making this thrashed- to- death image look anywhere near as good as it does. THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLESWe finally get to a title without much controversy! The first release was from Australia’s Shock label, and looked very good indeed. It was bettered (marginally) by the U. K. Arrow disc, which followed months later. Both are sourced from the same master, so the differences are really in the encoding, which seems a tad sharper on the Arrow label release. There’s no question Arrow has the more plentiful and interesting extras as well. THE MUMMYThe Hammer company hit the ball out of the park with this release. Presented both in 1: 6. Jack Asher- lensed color films could be. The release also contains a lot of great extras. The film has also just been released domestically by Warners, and appears to use the same (1: 6. THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATHA Blu- ray version has been available in U. S. It looks muddy, faded, with little detail in the black areas. These are all the signs of a substandard film element, such as a CRI (color reversal intermediate). A number of the Hammer shows from this period have had issues with degeneration to the original negatives, narrowing the choice of what can be used for transfer material. Eureka Entertainment in the U. K. The word on the street is that while not ideal, it’s still a big step up from its domestic counterpart. THE BRIDES OF DRACULAYears ago Universal released a fantastic Hammer Films DVD set. It contained a knockout version of The Brides of Dracula, presented at 1: 6. The film had its Blu- ray debut in England in 2. Final Cut Entertainment label, and it was a disappointing head- scratcher. It should be noted that labels such as Final Cut very often license a title and are provided a master from the licensee on a “take it or leave it” basis.
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