Rating: 
Summary: Hammer addicts orgy!!
Review: Long time fan of the works of Chris Lee and Peter Cushing these are some of the early and best works. Hammer did good! Hammer Horror Collection (The Curse of Frankenstein / Dracula Has Risen from the Grave / Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed / Horror of Dracula / The Mummy / Taste the Blood of Dracula). Hammer brought lush colour to the old B&W classic, in fast pace, visually beautiful films.You notice when amazon has used DVD and books listed, an item is good if the use price is 1/2 the original price. I notice on these, the used price is HIGHER. I think that says it all. Get these for your collection before they run out!
Rating:
Summary: Hammer addicts orgy!!
Review: Long time fan of the works of Chris Lee and Peter Cushing these are some of the early and best works. Hammer did good! Hammer Horror Collection (The Curse of Frankenstein / Dracula Has Risen from the Grave / Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed / Horror of Dracula / The Mummy / Taste the Blood of Dracula). Hammer brought lush colour to the old B&W classic, in fast pace, visually beautiful films. You notice when amazon has used DVD and books listed, an item is good if the use price is 1/2 the original price. I notice on these, the used price is HIGHER. I think that says it all. Get these for your collection before they run out!
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have for American Hammer Fans
Review: This is an absolutely top-notch collection. The widescreen transfers are nearly flawless, with rich colors - far and away better than any previously video releases. My only beef (minor at that) are the lack of extra disk features. This is especially notable when you compare this set with the recent Universal Monster Legacy collection. That aside, viewing this collection makes it easy to see why Hammer was so popular in its day - high production values, great casts, great pictures. I am just hoping that Warners follows up this US set with a second one because on the Amazon UK site I noticed that there is another box set with lesser, but no less desirable, Hammer titles such as Scars of Dracula, Horror of Frankenstein, The Devil Rides Out, Lust for a Vampire and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb. It would be nice to have that one available in a Region 1 version...
Rating:
Summary: The Blood Is RED and The Fangs are Bared!
Review: This picture is seminal in that it is the first partnership between Christopher Lee and the wonderful Peter Cushing in the Hammer Dracula series. Arguably the best of the series. This film still holds the power to shock today--despite the lack of heads being ripped from their torsos. From the first moment, one is transfixed by the Scarlet Blood dripping over the tomb with "Dracula" engraved upon the crypt lid. This was very alluring in the 1950's. Vampirism and colour were a very new thing indeed. Peter Cushing while maintaining some semblance of humanity is every bit as ruthless to destroy Dracula as Dracula is to destroy those who dared to violate his sanctum. Though not completely faithful to the book, one will find this movie an enjoyable and frightening venture into the Hammer world of Horror. I am only waiting for the equally terrible: Brides of Dracula to be released on DVD. The immediate sequel to Horror of Dracula, though missing Lee as Dracula, this film is even more inspired in its images of horror. And it is a master stroke to have one of Dracula's disciples: David Peel, actually appear with blond hair. The perfect angel, which makes him the perfect devil when he suddenly transforms. Peter Cushing is also in Brides of Dracula. Hurry and release this terrifying film (one of the top five best vampire films ever done!). IN CHRIST JESUS: THE LIVING GOD, W Braithwaite
*Gospel John Ch. 1; John 3:16-18* Email: wbraithwaite@tampabay.rr.com
Rating:
Summary: The BEST Dracula Film EVER!!!
Review: Without a adoubt this 1958 film from Britain's Hammer Studios is THE BEST Dracula film ever made! Not a remake, loose or otherwise, of the Universal/Bela Lugosi film (as the notes on the DVD box states), but a completely new interpretation of Bram Stoker's novel. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are both brillant as Dracula and Dr. Van Helsing and the three women in the film (Melissa Stribling as Mina, Carol Marsh as Lucy and Valiere Gaunt as the vampire woman) are all great. For a film that was made for UNDER $200,000, the movie looks sumptuous. The framing on the anamorphic widescreen DVD appears a bit tight at the top and bottom with more information on each side, but the transfer is nice and bright, the picture is crystal clear and the colour is fine. The only extra is the original trailer (a little over 2 minutes long) and some poorly written notes on the Hammer/ Dracula series. A commentary with Chris Lee would have been nice or an interview, but anyone wanting to know Lee's views on the Dracula films could check out Anchor Bay's fine DVD releases of "DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS" or "SCARS OF DRACULA", if she or he hasn't already. But the film is the thing and I think too many DVD's lately have been loading TOO many extras on their disks and there is such a thing as overkill. All in all, a nice package. It's great to have this classic film on DVD. Just one note about the aspect ratio: I've seen this DVD on both a widescreen TV (16x9) and a normal 4x3 TV monitor and if you watch the letterbox version on a normal TV you see more of the picture. When viewed on a widescreen tv the picture is cut off at the top and bottom (as one reviewer mentioned, Chris Lee's head is cut off in one scene). When Dracula is talking to Harker at the beginning on a 4x3 tv you see all of Lee's head but it is partially cut off on the widescreen tv. Also in the scene when Harker is writing in his journal up in his room, at the bottom of the screen on a 4x3 tv, you can see in the background the fire in the fireplace, but on the widescreen tv I couldn't see it. Has anybody else noticed this?
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