There's no shortage of competition in the battle to be named the ultimate screen Dracula, but Peter Cushing's turn in Terence Fisher's take on Bram Stoker's classic novel surely makes him a candidate worth considering. As the first Hammer Dracula movie, it's long been cherished by both Hammer and horror enthusiasts. And this Blu-ray release could, with some justification, be described as definitive. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, this release brings together two different takes on the feature, including the 2012 restoration work from Hammer itself, which added in material that had been unseen for many years. Furthermore, the film's transfer is excellent, a real labour of love and an outright justification alone for getting hold of the Blu-ray. But then there are the further two discs of extra material, which dig into the story of the film, as well as spending some time exploring the restoration work that brought it into its current state. Furthermore, there's an excellent commentary track to enjoy as well. The film itself? It remains the star of the show, and one of the best of Hammer's impressive catalogue. Cushing is magnetic in the central role, and the supporting work from the likes of Christopher Lee and Michael Gough adds majesty to an already impressive production. How refreshing, then, that it's all arrived packaged on a Rolls Royce-standard disc release, that shows that with real care and diligence, it's possible to put together Blu-ray packages of older films that are something really very special indeed. --Jon Foster
The 1958 classic from Hammer Film Productions, Dracula is the first in Hammer’s series of films inspired by Bram Stoker’s novel. This is the most complete version of Dracula ever released in the UK and contains the 2007 BFI restoration plus the 2012 Hammer restoration, which adds additional footage that has been unavailable for decades. The additional footage comprises two of the scenes originally censored by the BBFC that have now been restored to the film from the ‘Japanese reels’: Dracula’s seduction of Mina and the vampire count’s sunlight disintegration. Both versions are presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, which has never been available for home viewing.
Hard-living Hollywood starlet Barbara Payton stars as a woman duplicated through technology in this cautionary tale that mixes Home Counties horror with prescient science fiction (Hammer's first). Co-starring Stephen Murray as the unbalanced scientist and directed by Hammer legend Terence Fisher, Four Sided Triangle is featured here as a brand-new 4K restoration from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. Lena returns to her home after many years to discover that her two childhood friends Bill and Robin are now scientists and have created a machine that can perfectly duplicate objects. Bill's heart is broken when he realises that Lena loves Robin until he hits on the mad idea to duplicate Lena in his machine.
Hard-living Hollywood starlet Barbara Payton stars as a woman duplicated through technology in this cautionary tale that mixes Home Counties horror with prescient science fiction (Hammer's first). Co-starring Stephen Murray as the unbalanced scientist and directed by Hammer legend Terence Fisher, Four Sided Triangle is featured here as a brand-new 4K restoration from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.Lena returns to her home after many years to discover that her two childhood friends Bill and Robin are now scientists and have created a machine that can perfectly duplicate objects. Bill's heart is broken when he realises that Lena loves Robin until he hits on the mad idea to duplicate Lena in his machine.Extras:Commentary by Melanie Williams and Thirza Wakefieldwith commentary by Kevin Lyons and Jonathan RigbyTrailerIn the Sticks Sci-Fi!Terence Fisher featurette TITLE TBCI Am Not AshamedImage Gallery
A perennial afternoon telly treat, Carlton-Browne of the F.O. is a little less tart and smart in its assault on British diplomacy than the earlier John and Roy Boulting satires. The much-loved Terry Thomas, is the idiot son of a great ambassador, given a sinecure in the Foreign Office that becomes a hot seat when crises rock the almost-forgotten former colony of Gaillardia. Clod-hopping "dance troupes" of every world power dig for cobalt, a line of partition is painted across the entire island, and the young King (Ian Bannen) is undermined by his wicked uncle (John le Mesurier) and unscrupulous Prime Minister Amphibulos (Peter Sellers). There's a touch of Royal romance as the King gets together with a rival princess (the winning Luciana Paoluzzi), but it's mostly mild laughs at the expense of British ineptitude, with Thorley Walters as the dim army officer who sends his men to put down a rebellion with orders that lead them to turn in a circle and capture his own command post, Miles Malleson as the gouty consul who should have come home in 1916, and a snarling Raymond Huntley as the minister appalled that the new monarch of a British ally was a member of the Labour Party at Oxford. The film finds Sellers' non-specific foreign accent unusually upstaged, with Terry Thomas walking off with most of the comedy scenes, blithely inspecting a line of shabby crack troops who keep passing out at his feet. It fumbles a bit with obvious targets, especially in comparison with similar films like Passport to Pimlico and The Mouse That Roared, but you can't argue with a cast like this. Down in the ranks are: John Van Eyssen, Irene Handl, Nicholas Parsons, Kenneth Griffith, Sam Kydd and Kynaston Reeves. On the DVD: Carlton-Browne of the F.O. comes to disc in fullscreen, with a decent-ish quality print. The film is also available as part of the four-disc Peter Sellers Collection.--Kim Newman
In this Bafta nominated motion picture Dutch painter Jan-Van Rooyer (Hardy Kr''ger) hurries to keep a rendezvous with Jacqueline Cousteau (Micheline Presle) an elegant and sophisticated French woman slightly his elder whose relationship with him had turned from art student into one of love trysts. He arrives and is confronted by Detective Police Inspector Morgan (Stanley Baker) who accuses him of having murdered Jacqueline.
Quatermass is intrigued by strange images on his radar. Thinking them to be meteorites he follows them to a village which on his arrival he finds has been completely destroyed...
Jonathan Harker a student of vampires ventures to Dracula's castle and attacks him. The revengeful vampire leaves his dark abode to prey on the family of his attacker's fiancee. The only man able to protect Harker and his fiancee is Dr. Van Helsing a friend of Harker's. As a fellow-student of vampires he's determined to destroy Dracula...
She lived two amazing lives under his spell! Murray stars as Dr. Bill Leggat who along with his childhood friends Lena and Robin creates a machine that can flawlessly replicate anything be it animate or inanimate. Undermining the trio's professional relationship is the sexual tension that has been brewing for years. Both men are attracted to Lena but on the eve of the public announcement of their invention Lena declares her love for Robin. Devastated Bill decides to clone Len
Four Sided Triangle (Dir. Terence Fisher 1953): Murray stars as Dr. Bill Leggat who along with his childhood friends Lena and Robin creates a machine that can flawlessly replicate anything be it animate or inanimate. Undermining the trio's professional relationship is the sexual tension that has been brewing for years. Both men are attracted to Lena but on the eve of the public announcement of their invention Lena declares her love for Robin. Devastated Bill decides to clone Lena and names the clone who has all of Lena's feelings and memories Helen. Confident that Helen will love him Bill takes her on a holiday. However while away Bill's relationship with Helen does not go as planned causing Bill to resort to some shady experiments on Helen that will force her to love him. Produced by Hammer studios and directed by their most celebrated director Terence Fisher Four Sided Triangle was something of a precursor to many of their most famous films The Quatermass Xperiment (Dir. Val Guest 1955): A missile is launched by Professor Quatermass and his team but when it lands back in the English countryside two of the crew members have disappeared. The third who is barely alive undergoes a quite terrifying transformation which threatens Earth's very existence... Quatermass 2 (Dir. Val Guest 1957): Quatermass is intrigued by strange images on his radar. Thinking them to be meteorites he follows them to a village which on his arrival he finds has been completely destroyed... X The Unknown (Dir. Leslie Norman 1956): Penned by master horror screenwriter Jimmy Sangster and intelligently directed by Leslie (father of film critic Barry) Norman. The story sees a mysterious gelatinous monster which feeds off radioactivity terrorising a remote Scottish village.
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