Review: Hammer Volume 4 – Faces of Fear
Blu-ray: Hammer Volume 4 – Faces of Fear
Following on from Volume 1: Fear Warning, Volume 2: Criminal Intent, and Volume 3: Blood & Terror, it was once again an absolute pleasure to sit down with the latest Hammer Films boxset release from Powerhouse Films in their \’Indicator\’ series.
Volume 4 once again features 4 Hammer movies presented on Blu-ray for the 1st time in the UK. The movies are:
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
Escaping his inevitable demise by the guillotine at the end of The Curse of Frankenstein, Baron Victor Frankenstein (once again played Peter Cushing) escapes to Germany and assumes the identity of \’Doctor Victor Stein\’ (admittedly not the best pseudonym to choose when trying to keep your real identity a secret).
It is here that the powerful and insulated medical board refuse his application to join them. This decision is of course one which will backfire on them, and it does so in a huge way when Victor sets up his own medical business and becomes the most popular Doctor in the area.
His obsession with bringing the dead back to life though has not been quashed, and deep inside his living quarters is yet another \’monster\’ assembled from various body parts that he wants to give life to once again.
Things do not of course go to plan, and Victor soon finds himself in a position where man and \’monster\’ are inseparable.
The Revenge of Frankenstein is a worthy sequel to its predecessor, with Peter Cushing once again being completely mesmerising onscreen, with his body language and sublime use of props forwarding the narrative as much as the dialogue.
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
Giving a nice twist on the classic tale (as Hammer also did with Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde), Dr. Jekyll (Paul Massie) is a meek and pre-occupied man who spends most of his time in his laboratory, much to the chagrin of his frustrated wife Kitty (Dawn Addams).
When Dr. Jekyll suspects his wife of having feelings for the debonair Paul Allen (Christopher Lee), his experiments lead him to create a potion which transforms him into the suave and handsome \’Edward Hyde\’.
Under the identity Hyde, he befriends Allen and leads him into the dark world of London after dark, all while also seducing Kitty under his assumed identity.
Lust and revenge are never good bed fellows, and a happy ending for all is definitely not incoming.
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll has excellent sets, costumes and cinematography. All rounded off under the assured direction of Terence Fisher and with a performance by Christopher Lee that gives him the opportunity to smile and be an affable character for a change.
Taste of Fear (1961)
A young woman who has mysteriously drowned in lake is the opening sequence in this twisting narrative, that also throw red herrings and intertwining character interactions at you with surprising regularity.
Wheelchair bound Penny Appleby (Susan Strasberg) returns to her fathers home after living with her mother since her parents divorce many years ago.
She accepts her Father\’s invitation to live there after the death of her mother, despite never being on good terms with her Father\’s new wife.
It is when arriving at the house and being welcomed by her step-mother, that Penny is told her Father is away on business and return soon. This soon becomes a nightmare situation when Penny begins to see her Fathers dead body in various places around the house…or does she?
The comforting words and affections of Bob the chauffeur (Ronald Lewis) calm Penny, but she begins to suspect her step-mother and the family Doctor (Christopher Lee) of being in cahoots to try and be rid of her.
I\’d surprisingly never seen Taste of Fear before, and was immediately wrapped in its enveloping storyline, guessing, and then second guessing myself, as to what may happen next and what truly was the truth with each character.
An ever-changing narrative which will have even cryptic crossword players scratching their heads on occasion to the correct conclusion.
The Damned (1962)
Another movie in this boxset which I\’d never seen before!
The Damned begins like a 1960\’s movie about youth gangs terrorising the everyday citizens of the seaside town of Weymouth.
However, this soon changes and takes on a far darker science fiction based storyline involving radioactive resistant children who have been specifically created to survive the inevitable nuclear war that will kill most of the population of earth. Now there\’s a narrative curveball!
While seemingly being like 2 completely separate movies joined together to make a whole, it is the charismatic presence of Oliver Reid which ties everything together.
Reid plays \’King\’, the older brother of Joan (Shirley Anne Field), who is a young woman bored of the mundane life she is living and seeks adventure with Simon (Macdonald Carey), an older American visitor to Weymouth who is travelling on his sail boat.
King is overprotective of his sister and will go to any means to stop her flirtations with men…which inevitably leads to King, Penny and Simon discovering a secret that threatens their lives, and also the lives of many others around them.
Firmly embedded in 1960\’s ideology, fashion and music, The Damned is an interesting step away from the Horror genre by Hammer, but one which still also delivers chills and surprises.
Once again this is yet another superb Indicator boxset, and one which should be on the shelves of any Hammer Films fan, and also any fan of cinema.
I eagerly await a Volume 5!
The special features in this boxset are incredible and will keep you enthralled for a very long time.
INDICATOR LIMITED BLU-RAY EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:
THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN
- New 4K restoration
- Original mono audio
- Audio commentary with film historians Marcus Hearn and Jonathan Rigby (2019)
- Audio commentary with horror and fantasy authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman (2019)
- Back from the Dead: Inside ‘The Revenge of Frankenstein’ (2019, 22 mins): new and exclusive documentary, featuring Alan Barnes, Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby, exploring aspects of the film’s production
- Hammer’s Women: Eunice Gayson (2019, 8 mins): profile of the Hammer star by film historian Pamela Hutchinson
- A Frankenstein for the 20th Century(2019, 27 mins): video essay by film historian Kat Ellinger and Dima Ballin
- Arpeggios of Melancholy (2019, 13 mins): appreciation of composer Leonard Salzedo’s score by David Huckvale, author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde
- Outtakes reel (1958, 12 mins, mute): rare, unseen on-set footage
- Super 8 version (8 mins, b&w, mute): cut-down home cinema presentation
- Original theatrical trailer
- Joe Dante trailer commentary (2013, 2 mins): short critical appreciation
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with a new essay by Marcus Hearn, Kieran Foster on Hammer’s unrealised Tales of Frankenstein television series, Jimmy Sangster on The Revenge of Frankenstein, a selection of promotional materials, an overview of contemporary reviews, and film credits
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL
-
High Definition remaster
-
Original mono audio
-
Audio commentary with film historians Josephine Botting and Jonathan Rigby (2019)
-
Identity Crisis: Inside ‘The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll’ (2019, 19 mins): new and exclusive documentary, featuring Alan Barnes, Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby, exploring aspects of the film’s production
-
Hammer’s Women: Dawn Addams (2019, 11 mins): profile of the Hammer star by British cinema expert Laura Mayne
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Interview with Paul Massie (1967, 10 mins): archival audio recording of the film’s star
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Now and Then: Wolf Mankowitz (1968, 28 mins): archival interview featuring the screenwriter in conversation with broadcaster Bernard Braden
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Mauve Decadence (2019, 11 mins): appreciation of composer Monty Norman’s score by David Huckvale, the author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde
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The Many Faces of Dr. Jekyll (2019, 7 mins): an overview of the censorship history of The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll
-
Original theatrical trailer
-
Sam Hamm trailer commentary (2013, 3 mins): short critical appreciation
-
Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
-
New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
-
Limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with a new essay by Kat Ellinger, a selection of promotional materials, an overview of contemporary reviews, and film credits
-
UK premiere on Blu-ray
TASTE OF FEAR
- High Definition remaster
- Original mono audio
- Two presentations of the film: Taste of Fear, with the rarely seen original UK title sequence, and Scream of Fear, with the alternative US titles
- New audio commentary with Kevin Lyons, editor of The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television
- Body Horror: Inside ‘Taste of Fear’ (2019, 23 mins): new and exclusive documentary, featuring Alan Barnes, Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby, exploring aspects of the film’s production
- Hammer’s Women: Ann Todd (2019, 12 mins): profile of the Taste of Fear actor by Melanie Williams, author of Female Stars of British Cinema: The Women in Question
- The BFI Southbank Interview with Jimmy Sangster (2008, 68 mins): archival audio recording of the celebrated filmmaker and screenwriter in conversation with Marcus Hearn at London’s BFI Southbank
- The BEHP Video Interview with Jimmy Sangster (2008, 117 mins): archival video recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring Sangster in conversation with Jonathan Rigby
- The BEHP Interview with Douglas Slocombe, Part Two: From Hammer to Spielberg (1988, 82 mins): archival audio recording featuring the renowned cinematographer in conversation with Sidney Cole
- Fear Makers (2019, 9 mins): camera operator Desmond Davis and assistant sound editor John Crome recall the making of the film
- Anxiety and Terror (2019, 25 mins): appreciation of Clifton Parker’s score by David Huckvale, author of Hammer Films’ Psychological Thrillers, 1950–1972
- Super 8 version of Scream of Fear (20 mins): original cut-down home cinema presentation
- Original US Scream of Fear theatrical trailer
- Sam Hamm trailer commentary (2013, 2 mins): short critical appreciation
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with an essay by Marcus Hearn, Jimmy Sangster on Taste of Fear, an archival on-set report, a selection of promotional materials, an overview of contemporary reviews, and film credits
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
THE DAMNED (2x Blu-ray)
- 2K restoration
- Original mono audio
- Alternative presentations of the complete 96-minute version, playable as either The Damned or These Are the Damned
- Box-set exclusive presentation of the rarely seen original 87-minute UK theatrical cut of The Damned on Disc 2.
- Audio commentary with film historians Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan
- On the Brink: Inside ‘The Damned’ (2019, 27 mins): new and exclusive documentary, featuring Alan Barnes, Kevin Lyons, Nick Riddle and Jonathan Rigby, exploring aspects of the film’s production
- Hammer’s Women: Viveca Lindfors(2019, 15 mins): profile of the renowned actor by film historian Lindsay Hallam
- Looking in the Right Place (2019, 10 mins): actor Shirley Anne Field recalls working with Oliver Reed and Joseph Losey
- Children of ‘The Damned’ (2019, 24 mins): former child actors David Palmer, Kit Williams and Christopher Witty discuss their experiences of makingThe Damned
- Something Out of Nothing (2019, 7 mins): screenwriter Evan Jones reflects on his first feature-film credit
- Smoke Screen (2019, 12 mins): interview with camera operator Anthony Heller
- Beneath the Surface (2019, 26 mins): interview with filmmaker Gavrik Losey, son of director Joseph Losey
- Beyond Black Leather (2019, 15 mins): academic I Q Hunter discusses The Damned
- No Future (2019, 26 mins): appreciation by author and film historian Neil Sinyard
- The Lonely Shore (2019, 21 mins): appreciation of James Bernard’s score by David Huckvale, author of James Bernard, Composer to Count Dracula: A Critical Biography
- Isolated music & effects track
- Original US theatrical trailer
- Joe Dante trailer commentary (2013, 4 mins): short critical appreciation
- Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Limited edition exclusive 36-page booklet with a new essay by Richard Combs, Joseph Losey on The Damned, a look at the US pressbook, an overview of contemporary reviews, and film credits
- UK premiere on Blu-ray
Hammer Volume 4: Faces of Fear is released on November 25th, 2019.
Review by Dave from discs kindly supplied by Powerhouse Films.
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