A Few Words About A few words about...™ Twins of Evil -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Richard--W]

The light and dark values were all wrong on VAMPIRE CIRCUS and at first glance the same is true of TWINS OF EVIL. I've been immersed in the world of Hammer films for a long time, ever since I saw a Halloween re-release of THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957) and HORROR OF DRACULA (1958) in 1968. I've seen these films projected many times, and have attended private and theatrical screenings. I know how VAMPIRE CIRCUS should look. It's too dark. TWINS OF EVIL is too dark, as well.
The Australian DVD's are also dark, but the light and dark values are balanced as they should be. The gels and filters are not over-emphasized like in the Synapse Blu-rays. Why did I buy TWINS OF EVIL in the first place? jeez! After VAMPIRE CIRCUS, I should have known what to expect.
I commend and acknowledge Synapse for their dedication and efforts, but they need to get someone with more experience and better judgement to time these transfers.

 

[Vincent_P]

.....

 

[bgart13]

You're correct about blue tinting.  Those are night scenes.

I guess I should've been more specific. I was mainly referring to this specific cap from R!S!P! (which I realize is actually from the dvd not bd):

Here's two other matching caps from other versions - first is MGM HD, second is Network's dvd:

I was initially alarmed at the heavy amount of blue tinting that was present in the cap. I've seen three different versions, at least, prior to the Synapse presentation and none had that level of tinting in them. That's what my concern was.
Now that I've received and watched the bd, I was very happy to see it was not that heavy and thick looking (on my tv) -- that specific scene actually more closely resembled the Network dvd image (the third cap). I don't know if it's due to computer monitor settings, that it came from the dvd, or if my tv is just set "better" (not calibrated, but adjusted a bit for my own tastes). Besides a couple anomalies, I'm pretty happy with this disc. Some of the blacks get a bit inky and detail gets lost (mostly in dark scenes with characters that are wearing black), but it's handles the darkness/depth/density much better than the VAMPIRE CIRCUS disc (for my tastes, anyways).
I am curious, and perhaps Vincent knows, but when Synapse is working on these movies, is Don using notes from the director or cinematographer? Or, are they going from their own feelings of what the movies ought to look like? With TWINS, it's easier since John Hough is still living.

 

[Vincent_P]

I'll check with Don, but I know he was working with existing masters that were supplied to Synapse by MGM.
Vincent

 

[Robert Harris]

I'll check with Don, but I know he was working with existing masters that were supplied to Synapse by MGM.
Vincent

Master from MGM

 

[John Hodson]

There's an ITV DVD logo on the back of the case which would tend to point to the fact that if the master came from MGM, surely it came via the UK rights holders?

 

[dpippel]

I watched this for the first time last night and was very pleased. Both the movie and the BD are wonderful! It was a quite a treat to experience a Hammer film from the 70's for the very first time in 2012, especially when the presentation is as nice as the work Synapse has done on Twins of Evil.

 

[davidmatychuk]

I finally watched the Blu-Ray of "Twins Of Evil", which was a wonderful treat (and aren't the true "twins of evil" the characters played by Peter Cushing and Damien Thomas, each doing evil deeds for their own reasons? - discuss!). But the extras are great, too, especially the original documentary. It's almost as long as the feature, and it's really well done. I also got a kick out of the strange little deleted song and the fun featurette about somebody's collection of Hammer props. Terrific work, Synapse!