ICONS
OF HORROR COLLECTION: HAMMER FILMSTHE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL (1960)/THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB (1964)
THE GORGON (1964)/SCREAM OF FEAR (1961)
Directors: Terence Fisher, Michael Carreras, Seth Holt
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
ICONS
OF HORROR COLLECTION: HAMMER FILMSFor U.S. fans of England’s Hammer Films, 2008 is a banner year for DVD releases. Sony’s ICONS OF HORROR COLLECTION: HAMMER FILMS will bring the total of major Hammer titles being released on DVD this year two an even dozen, and this four-film set ends the year on an absolute high note. The standard was set high with Sony’s earlier Hammer set, ICONS OF ADVENTURE, and this new collection, featuring a quartet of horror classics from the Hammer/Columbia vaults, does not disappoint. Sony even let fans vote for the cover art and they definitely picked a winner!
Disc
1 features THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL (1960), directed by Terence Fisher. The
dull, middle-aged, bearded Dr. Henry Jekyll (Paul Massie) is performing experiments
which reveal a hidden dark side in man. He first gives the altering drug to
a caged monkey, and then to himself. He then transforms into the younger, more
handsome yet sadistic Mr. Edward Hyde. Jekyll’s best friend Paul Allen
(Christopher Lee), who is always soliciting money from him, and Jekyll's bored
wife Kitty (Dawn Addams, THE VAMPIRE LOVERS) are having an affair, and Hyde
easily fits into their sordid underground haunt, the Sphinx. Hyde befriends
(and later double crosses) the equally mischievous Allen, and forces himself
on Kitty, while engaging in a steamy fling with a snake-dancer (Norma Marla).
The good Dr. Jekyll sets out to destroy the personality-changing chemical, and
rid himself of Hyde, but his evil counterpart might be the more prevailing of
the two.
Hammer’s
attempt to modernize Robert Louis Stevenson’s story with an edgy Wolf
Mankowitz screenplay, featuring a non-monstrous looking Hyde and a heightened
sexual tone, resulted in a box office failure upon release. Its American distributor
(AIP) had a difficult time marketing the film under the titles HOUSE OF FRIGHT
and JEKYLL’S INFERNO, but it retained its original moniker when shown
on TV. This might have been considered a disappointment in its day, but it holds
up now as a lavish and interesting variation on a story which has been done
to death, with the usual quality you could expect from director Fisher. Although
Hammer originally wanted ROOM AT THE TOP star Laurence Harvey (he was too expensive)
in the title role, Canadian-born Paul Massie does a decent job, especially with
the more demanding Hyde, even if his character sometimes looks like an excitable
version of 1980s pop star Robert Palmer. Massie also campaigned to play both
Jekyll and Hyde, as producer Michael Carreras only wanted him as Hyde. Under
Roy Ashton’s passable Jekyll make-up and a bass intonation, the actor
does just fine. Great support is given by Lee and Addams, with Hammer character
favorite Francis De Wolff showing up as a police inspector, and a pre-CURSE
OF THE WEREWOLF Oliver Reed is seen briefly as a club bouncer.
The
second film on Disc 1 is THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB (1964), directed
by Michael Carreras. Egyptologists Sir Giles Dalrymple (Jack Gwillim), John
Bray (Ronald Howard) and his fiancée Annette Dubois (Jeanne Roland) uncover
the tomb of the mummy Ra-Antef (Dickie Owen), a centuries-dead Egyptian prince.
Despite warnings from the locals, including the mutilation and slaying of Annette’s
father, the mummy and its priceless trinkets are removed, and American entrepreneur/showman
Alexander King (Fred Clark) has them brought back to England to exhibit and
take on tour, roadshow style. Charming his way into the Egyptologists’
lives is Adam Beauchamp (Terence Morgan, THE PENTHOUSE) who manages to steal
the lovely Annette’s heart, but he conceals a dark secret as the living
mummy goes on a rampage of murder and destruction.
THE
CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB is the second of Hammer’s unrelated mummy
series, with the only discernible link to the original being the presence of
fez-wearing George Pastell as similarly fanatical, yet less sinister protector
of the mummy’s tomb. Michael Carreras was never lauded for his directorial
skills (but hey, the guy did do THE LOST CONTINENT!) in the eyes of critics
and fans, and this film is no exception, as it's often regarded as Hammer’s
worst (Carreras also produced and even wrote the screenplay under the nom de
plume “Henry Younger”, a spoof on Anthony Hinds’ pen name,
John Elder). Shot in Scope utilizing some leftover sets (you’ll recognize
the bricked sewers from 1962’s PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), the story is indeed
conventional, but not as talky as its reputation might suggest, with the 81-minute
running time moving forth in an acceptable manner. The decent mummy action is
the obvious highlight here. Dickie Owen’s bandaged zombie is an imposing
killing machine, and all the death scenes are memorable, and the film has a
number of gory bits, namely in several bloody hand dismemberings. Comic actor
Fred Clark gives a standout performance as Alexander King, echoing Robert Armstrong’s
Carl Denham from KING KONG in many ways.
Disc
2 commences with 1964’s THE GORGON, directed by Terence Fisher. In the
village of Vandorf, a young artist’s girlfriend wanders into the woods,
only to mysteriously turn to stone. The artist is found to have hanged himself
the next day, but a court hearing declares him guilty of murdering the young
woman. Trying to clear his son’s good name, Professor Heitz (Michael Goddliffe)
pays a visit, but he gets a gander of the hideous Gorgon, who dwellins in and
around the ruins of Castle Borski. Before his transformation to granite, Heitz
is able to send off a letter to his other son Paul (Richard Pasco), who quickly
arrives to Vabdorf. Paul also witnesses the Gorgon on reflection, but he survives
and is put into the care of Dr. Namaroff (Peter Cushing) and his lovely assistant
Carla (Barbara Shelley). Namaroff is jealous of the bond between outsider Paul
and the distraught Carla, and offers no help to Paul’s crusade to prove
the creature’s existence. In comes Paul’s good friend Professor
Meister (Christopher Lee) a strong-willed intellectual and the ally that Paul
needs to uncover the Gorgon’s secret identity.
Mixing
Greek mythology with familiar gothic trappings, THE GORGON is a true Hammer
horror classic, even with its flaws, one which is a rather week script by John
Gilling. The cinematography by Michael Reed is outstanding, with a surreal,
story-book appearance, and Bernard Robinson’s sets (reworked from other
Hammer productions) are decadent and visually spectacular. Terence Fisher always
had a skilled grasp for the gothic, and his direction here is nothing short
of imaginative, with a pulsating score by James Bernard to back it up. Essentially,
THE GORGON is a tragic love story/fairytale with Richard Pasco and Barbara Shelley
being the key players, but it’s also a noteworthy Cushing/Lee entry. Though
the two iconic stalwarts have very little screen time together, Cushing’s
low key Dr. Namaroff is overshadowed by the scene-stealing Lee as Meister, heavily
guised in moustache and beard, and it’s nice to see him as the good guy
(in this sort of film) for a change. Roy Ashton’s make-up (on Gorgon Prudence
Hyman and her assorted stone-faced victims) is deliciously gaudy, even though
the rubber snakes affixed to the Gorgon’s head have often been criticized
since they look like they were bought at a Five & Dime.
The
second film on Disc 2 is SCREAM OF FEAR (1961), directed by Seth Holt. Confined
to a wheelchair, Penny Appleby (Susan Strasberg) returns to her home in the
French Riviera to a father she hasn’t seen in nine years. Unfortunately
for her, dad is out of town on business, so she is greeted and accommodated
by her stepmother Jane (Ann Todd), who she is just meeting. With the father
not supposed to return any time soon, Penny begins to see his dead body in various
places in the château, despite the fact that she just spoke to him on
the telephone. With a nosy doctor (Christopher Lee) always stopping by and integrating
poor Penny, she finds solace and trust in the family chauffeur (Ronald Lewis,
MR. SARDONICUS) who gradually believes her story and decides it’s time
to look for a body.
Originally
known as TASTE OF FEAR in the U.K., SCREAM OF FEAR is one of a handful of black
and white psychological thrillers Hammer produced in the wake of PSYCHO. Arguably,
it’s the best of them. Columbia's choice to have Susan Strasberg as the
heroine was a good one, as she is not only pretty, charming and a good actress,
but she’s a great screamer (hence the American title). Director Holt (THE
NANNY) does an excellent job of building tension around the gloomy corridors
of the château where most of the story takes place, with a handful of
nifty shocks to jolt the viewer. Jimmy Sangster wrote the script and also produced
the film, and it’s something he’s justifiably very proud of. The
mystery within stays very focused, with the outcome being a very solid thriller
with more than a few twists and turns along the way. Fans of Christopher Lee
will note that his part here is much smaller for a Hammer film, but he’s
instrumental to the plot and actually does a convincing French accent. SCREAM
OF FEAR is also notable for being one of the few early Hammer horrors detached
from the confines of Bray Studios: it was shot on location in and around Nice
on the French Riviera, with interiors being done at Elstree Studios back in
England.
Sony
has done a flawless job bringing all four films to DVD, so there’s not
too much to say about the High Definition transfers, except that they should
be praised. THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL is presented anamorphic in its original
2.35:1 aspect ratio, with brilliant colors and excellent detail. This is also
the uncut 88-minute version with all the inoffensive swear words (“go
to hell”) restored in the dialog. THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB
is also 2.35:1 widescreen anamorphic, and looks scrumptious, and this version
actually has an extended end sequence not found in some prints. SCREAM OF FEAR
is presented in a 1.66:1 letterboxed anamorphic transfer, and the black and
white image looks very good, with only minimal grain on occasion. Also presented
1.66:1 letterboxed with anamorphic enhancement, THE GORGON is another stunner,
with absolutely gorgeous colors and very sharp detail. The English mono audio
tracks on all four titles are crisp and clean, and all have optional English
subtitles.
The only extra are the trailers for each of the four films, which needless to say, look great. THE GORGON’s trailer looks to be the rarely seen British one. (George R. Reis)