With THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HORROR OF DRACULA, England's Hammer Films revitalized the horror genre in the 50s with some much needed gothic flavor. The independent company was able to churn out lavish looking films for next to nothing in cost, and they made stars out of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, two of the greatest actors ever to grace the silver screen. The director of both films, Terence Fisher, would also become a sort of specialist in the area of period monster melodramas.
Much has already been written
on THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HORROR OF DRACULA, and if you're reading this,
you probably know a good deal about them. Not only are they two of the 
finest films of their kind ever produced, but they were also a phenomenal success
worldwide and influenced studios in nearly every other country in terms of style
and execution. These two efforts had extra doses of blood and sexuality not
seen in most prior horror outings, and they were wrapped up in pretty color-lensed
packages with superior acting and cinematography as well. Long awaited on the
format, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HORROR OF DRACULA have finally made it
to DVD, but just how good are these "must have" discs?
In
terms of quality, lots of controversy has been in the air concerning the transfers
of some other early Hammer Films recently on DVD--most notably Warner's THE
MUMMY and Columbia's REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Those discs were criticized for
not fully realizing the films' original Technicolor splendor, but I can assure
you, HORROR OF DRACULA succeeds in that department. HORROR has never looked
that good in past video versions, and Warner's initial VHS release had a considerable
amount of damage in the second reel of the print source. For this DVD, it seems
that they went back to the original negative because HORROR now looks stunning
and blemishes are nonexistent. Its Technicolor origins are presented in full
force, with colors looking more vivid than ever (especially the blood reds that
Hammer is known for). There is much detail in the picture now fully realized,
such at the Fall leaves during nighttime shots, and all the backdrop trinkets
in Dracula's castle, giving much-needed compliments to Jack Asher beautiful
cinematography and Bernard Ro
binson's
elaborate set design.
About the aspect ratio, Warner
has released the film at 1.78:1 (with Anamorphic enhancement) and this appears
to be true to the original intentions. While I have already seen reports saying
that the top is too tight, cutting off Christopher Lee's head in some shots,
these statements are plain silly. Judging from the letterboxed credits of Warner's
previous VHS and laserdisc transfer, HORROR was shot with a hard matte and the
full frame version was therefore cropped and head space just as tight (so you're
losing little or nothing with this DVD letterboxing). The new letterboxed transfer
not only brings a much needed composition to the film, but it also adds a lot
more picture information to both sides of the screen. Take for example a shot
where Cushing and Michael Gough are conversing with George Benson--in the full
frame version, 
Cushing,
as well as half of Gough's head, are not seen as they do in the letterboxed
one. Another good example is a shot where Dracula (off to the far left of the
screen) is seen trying to escape in a trap door--he's now fully visible.
THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN is equally
impressive. Letterboxed at 1.85:1 with Anamorphic enhancement, Warner presents
a new improved transfer of a title that never looked right on video in the past
(the full frame video version looked as though it was culled from a worn 16mm
source, while the letterboxed laserdisc had dull colors). The DVD presents a
clean picture, remarkably crisp and highly detailed, nicely bringing out the
deep saturated colors of Frankenstein's laboratory, and the elegant period clothing
worn by the actors. So great is the detail that close-up shots of Lee's fleshy
stitched-up creat
ure
are now more intense than ever. The framing comes off highly appropriate, adding
much more to the sides than the old full screen counterpart.
The mono sound on both titles is excellent. There isn't any noticeable distortion or background hiss (aside from occasional pops on CURSE), nicely amplifying the late James Bernard's now legendary scores while dialog and sound effects remain distinct. CURSE has an alternate French language track, and both discs have English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles, and English Closed captions.
Don't expect to see any of the
infamous missing alternative gore footage (reportedly shot for the Japanese
markets), unless you count the bloody staking missing from some video versions
(gladly, reinstated here). Featurettes for both DVDs were proposed early on
(I myself submitted some materials to be used) but later canceled, which is
indeed a shame. 
The
only extras are histories of Hammer's Frankenstein series (for CURSE) and Dracula
series (for HORROR) which are pretty skimpy, as well as skim cast/crew rundowns.
Each disc has its appropriate trailer, and while they don't look nearly as good
as the features, they are far better then when witnessed on various past PD
trailer compilations.
I must commend Warner for selecting
foreign poster art for the covers rather than the comparatively tacky U.S. promotional
stuff. This really gives the discs a grand look, but the snapper cases have
got to go! You better be careful or you're bound to chip the glossy cardboard
while removing the massive clear security labels. Although Warner's packaging
is appeal
ing,
the backs of both make errors: HORROR OF DRACULA has a still of Stephanie Beacham
from DRACULA A.D. 1972 (shades of things to come we hope) and THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
shows a still of Cushing and Yvonne Furneax from THE MUMMY!
While Warner deserves an A+ for their DVD transfers of HORROR OF DRACULA and THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, most will be utterly disappointed with the lack of adequate extras, something we have grown to expect due to Anchor Bay spoiling us (thank you!) with their Hammer Collection. Well, at least we have definitive-looking editions of these essential Hammer classics, and there are lots of other Hammer films on their way (FEAR IN THE NIGHT, TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER, THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, CAPTAIN KRONOS, etc.) that will be heavy on the supplements, so rejoice Hammer fans! (George R. Reis)