THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966) Blu-ray
Director: John Gilling
Scream Factory/Shout! Factory

Hammer's THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES is called back from the grave for a Blu-ray resurrection courtesy of Scream Factory!

When London University professor Sir James (Andre Morell, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES) receives a concerning letter about an epidemic of mysterious deaths from favorite pupil Peter Thompson (Brook Williams, ABSOLUTION), it is his daughter Sylvia (Diane Clare, WITCHCRAFT) who insists that they travel to Cornwall to visit. Upon arrival, Sylvia makes enemies with the local aristocratic set by putting the foxhunt off the scent and then with the locals when the funeral procession for the brother of Martinus is crashed by the hunting party in reprisal. Sir James and Sylvia are shocked to discover Thompson's wife and Sylvia's former schoolmate Alice (Jacqueline Pearce, THE REPTILE) in fragile health but Sir James initially believes it is in response to the tensions between the villagers and her husband who is unable to explain why twelve young men in good health have died so far. Sir James learns of the symptoms from Thompson which he notes seem more mental than physical but he has not been allowed to perform autopsies on the bodies due to the superstitions of the villagers and the denial of permission by Squire Clive Hamilton (John Carson, CAPTAIN KRONOS: VAMPIRE HUNTER). When Sir James and Thompson dig up the body of Martinus' brother, the discovery of an empty coffin is enough for the local constable (Michael Ripper, SCARS OF DRACULA) to put off filing a report on the desecration while Sir James continues investigating. Meanwhile, Sylvia has observed Alice leaving the house at night and follows only to fall into the hands of the hunting party – lead by DARK ECHOES' Alexander Davion – and is only saved from violation by Hamilton's intervention. Walking back to Thompson's house at night, Sylvia happens upon the ruins of the local tin mine where she discovers Alice's dead body in the arms of a green-faced fiend. Although the constable believes Martinus is behind the murder, he insists that he has seen his dead brother roaming the forest and Sir James comes to suspect that someone in the village is practicing voodoo.

The bottom half of a double bill with DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS, THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES – filmed back-to-back by director John Gilling with THE REPTILE (also set in Cornwall and featuring Pearce) just as the Dracula film was filmed back-to-back with RASPUTIN, THE MAD MONK – is actually the more entertaining film with a familiar plot but novel monsters. Predating NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, these green-skinned zombies do not eat flesh and are controlled by a voodoo master, but their cackles and unnerving stares into camera POV are unnerving and possibly an influence on the zombies of American International's later SUGAR HILL. Clare and Williams are underwhelming young leads so it is just as well that the script does not find a way to throw them together romantically after the death of Pearce's character. Carson and Morrell get the showier parts, making one wish they got to do more than play second fiddle in ostensibly bigger Hammer projects while PARANOIAC hero Davion gets a few good scenes as a secondary villain. The film makes no mystery of the identity of the chief villain, instead focusing on the suspense set pieces including a hallucinatory bit in which Williams is menaced by zombies who burst from the ground of the graveyard. Despite the period setting, the voodoo ceremony bits are right out of any other British film of the era dealing with the subject from DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS' "Papa Benjamin" episode to LIVE AND LET DIE. Although Black Park never convinces as Cornwall, and the sets are repurposed from DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS with some different modular pieces, this and THE REPTILE were undoubtedly the triumphs of director John Gilling's Hammer tenure (which included SHADOW OF THE CAT and THE MUMMY'S SHROUD). James Bernard (HORROR OF DRACULA) contributes another score that builds upon earlier themes yet does not feel as barnstorming in the context of the film as it does heard on the disc's menus.

Released theatrically by Fox in a double bill with DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKESS (released last month on Blu-ray by Scream Factory), THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES went unseen like Hammer's other Fox titles until the studio's rights ran out and the film reverted to Hammer whereupon it was released on DVD by Anchor Bay. The 1.85:1 anamorphic widesescreen DVD transfer, supervised by Blue Underground's William Lustig, represented the film's American version which moved the titles up before the pre-credits sequence causing a continuity error. Scream Factory's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen Blu-ray utilizes the newer HD master struck by Studio Canal for their British Blu-ray which had some synchronization issues in the audio. Scream Factory has not only fixed the audio with a forceful-sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono with regard to Bernard's score, they have also done some additional color work on the master, removing the slight yellow tinge and making the primary colors richer. The Studio Canal master restored the original British title sequence; however, it appears that even they had to work with more than one source as the opening credits have the Associated British presentation card while the end credits have "distributed by Twentieth Century Fox." Optional English SDH subtitle are provided.

Scream Factory has commissioned two new audio commentaries: the first with filmmaker/writer/director Constantine Nasr, film historian/writer/producer Steve Haberman, and historian/writer/producer/actor Ted Newsom, and another with author Troy Howarth. Newsom and Nasr cover the Hammer deal with Fox and its two back-to-back pairs of productions for double billing but note that PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES actually dates back from earlier in the decade as a project pitched to but rejected by Universal Pictures. They also reveal that Clare was dubbed but are puzzled as to why since they note that her performance is not that bad even though Morrell was reportedly not happy with her, and touch upon the class conscious elements of the story, as well as how it has callbacks to THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (also scripted by Peter Bryan) and some parallels with THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (also shot by Arthur Grant). The Howarth track has a lot of overlap – although he notes that the Fox deal actually started with THE NANNY before the double bills – but it is also heavier on, indeed fixated on, facts and figures with Howarth noting as each scene appears onscreen the date on which it was filmed (which may be fascinating to some), but he also identifies some of people whose names eluded the other two commentators like Clare's dubber Olive Gregg who dubbed a number of Hammer actresses (and also suggests that the dubbing may not have had to do with Clare's performance but Hammer's usual practice). While Nasr and Newsom note that the film was one of the last Bray Studios Hammers and puzzle over the use of a Pinewood Studios location establishing shot, Howarth suggests that it is just a stock shot.

Ported over from the Studio Canal release is the making-of "Raising the Dead" (35:27) featuring Carson who expresses annoyance that he is remembered mainly for his Hammer horrors but concedes that it is snobbery on his part, and also provides his recollections of Gilling who had a reputation for being difficult. Pearce recalls having her head cast for her role and getting to see herself on the screen for the first time at the film's local premiere. Marcus Hearn covers the project's origins during the Universal years, the Hammer/Fox deal, and the decision to pair the two Gilling films with the two Fisher films to make the overlapping locations, sets, and actors less obvious (with RASPUTIN and THE REPTILE released three months after the first pairing). Novelist Mark Gatiss suggests that the two Gilling “B” pictures are more interesting than their “A” pictures while Jonathan Rigby notes the similarities to THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES but also posits the film as a more faithful adaptation of "Dracula", and David Huckvale discusses Bernard's score.

Also ported over from the British disc is the Oliver Reed-narrated "World of Hammer" TV special "Mummies, Werewolves and the Living Dead" (24:53) which had previously been included on Anchor Bay's DVD of THE MUMMY'S SHROUD covering PLAGUE as well as CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, THE MUMMY, CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB, THE MUMMY'S SHROUD, NIGHT CREATURES, and LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES, as well as the "Restoration Comparison" (3:37) which covers Studio Canal's restoration and not the additional work done by Shout! Factory, as well as the British theatrical trailer, the almost identical American theatrical trailer, and the American double bill DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS, and a still gallery (7:09). The disc comes with a reversible cover. (Eric Cotenas)

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