Universal Announces Hammer Horror set (1 Viewer)

from DVD Answers

I really dislike Universal's packaging of their classics. 8 films crammed onto 2 DVDs? If Warners were doing this as one of their boxed set series with individual keepcases and original art work, I would be doing backflips.

Universal could take a clue from world class chefs. Presentation is important. Sure, it's the meal that matters and how it tastes but it's still nice to be presented with a handsome looking plate before digging in. As it is, I just might stick with my laser discs.

Also, The Bela Lugosi Collection 2 - Disc set featuring "Murders In Rue Morgue", "Black Cat", "The Raven", "Invisible Ray" and "Black Friday"

and 2 Disc SE's of THE DEER HUNTER, THE STING, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (ALL WITH NEW ANAMORPHIC TRANSFERS).

9/13:

DR. DETROIT
HEARTBEEPS
PSYCHO II (ANAMORPHIC)
PSYCHO III (ANAMORPHIC)

Tons of good stuff from Universal.

Sweet news!! I was wondering if there would be more than just the Luggsi set! Man, add this and To kill A Mockingbird, than Dr.Detroit and Heartbeeps the next week and universal is on a roll for classic film fans!

I too generally dislike the flippers from Universal, mainly because it's like picking a needle from a haystack to find one error free. They do price these cheap though, a Warner set of eight films would probably be in $60-$80 range. (Not that I'm complaining about Warners product, easilly 80% of my purchases are Warners boxsets.) But $30 ( I;m yet to pay this much MRSP in Canada) is a deal for Eight films with quality transfers and minimal extras and decent slipcase packaging. I just wish they would use a different manufacturing plant that could make 2 sided DVD's that work without jamming on the layer changes on every player I've tried them in (Panasonic, Toshiba, X-Box and a Sony)

True, individual keepcases with original artwork for each film would be great, but...on the other hand...$29.98 SRP (and even cheaper thru online retailers) for 8 vintage Hammer horrors is a price that can't be beat with a club, especially considering that NIGHT CREATURES is in the package...this film has never had a video release in any format in any country. Too bad the original title, CAPTAIN CLEGG, won't be used.

We should be okay in the compression department if double-sided double-layered discs are used, shouldn't we? Also, the announcement could be read another way: it said it's a "series", and will be released on "two-discs", which could mean that it will be a series of two-disc releases, two films per release, like the MGM Midnight Movies.

Thinking about Hammer horror, does anyone know of a list of available DVD releases? I only have the countess Dracula/Vampire Lovers MGM disc, but would love to get the Dracula/Frankenstein films. They seem to be spread across all the studios in region 1. A list of available DVD's with film release dates (as I like to watch movies in chronological order of theatrical release) would be helpful.

Zeta Minor's essential Hammer DVD Guide is what you seek!

As someone else said, "8 films crammed onto 2 DVDs?"

Universal clearly thinks that the price-point is more important, but I would absolutely pay more for a Warner Brothers-type treatment of my beloved Hammer.

Sept 6 is going to be a broke week for me after buying THE HAMMER COLLECTION, LUGOSI COLLECTION, STING-SE, DEER HUNTER-SE, Paramount's MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK, Fox's THE INNOCENTS. That is probably only the begining.

Brides Of Dracula 85 min.
Phantom Of The Opera 84 min.
Curse Of The Werewolf 91 min.
Paranoic 80 min.
Night Creatures 81 min.
Kiss of the Vampire 88 min.
Nightmare 83 min
The Evil of Frankenstein 84 min.


a dual layer disc can hold four hours comfortably.
four dual layer sides = 8 films with plenty of bit space to spare.
and these aren't getting DTS or 5.1 tracks i would assume.

i don't really expect any problems here.

as far as individual cases go- i greatly prefer the asthetics of the original Universal Monaster discs utilizing the orignal ad art. compared to those, i find the legacy boxes dreary and boring- however, i'm rapidly running out of room to store things, and given the ridiculous sub-alpha price point per film here, i can't complain at at all.
this is a complete helping of all the Hammer material in one fell swoop, with all getting anamorphic transfers.
no having to slog thru post after post of "it's great we're seeing this Hammer title, but what about that one?"

as long as the transfers and encoding look good (and that jury will be out until Sept), i think Universal should be applauded for this.

Wow, this is Great News!!!

I never thought Universal would release 8 Hammers at one time!

I'm pretty much speechless.

In theory, there shouldn't be a problem stuffing a disc with multiple movies but the horror stories I've heard about the Abbott & Costello sets locking, jamming, breaking up for example have precluded me from investing in them.

Also, I bought and returned three of Universal's Murder She Wrote sets because of this cramming phenomenon until the 4th one proved problem free.

There'll be more than enough room for two films per side, and as for extras, I'm struggling to think of a Warners Hammer that has any (and they have the Hammer 'crown jewels').

When Warners give their Hammer films the Warners treatment (or even ythe Anchor Bay treatment), then I'll be cheering...

Paul, John,

You make good points, and I feel a bit better about this set now. However, I do worry about the locking issues Thomas mentions, and I was never able to find a second wave Legacy set, apart from Creature, that didn't have some scuffing on the double-sided DVDs they used. Also, I am a sucker for original movie postert DVD cover art.

Also, Paul, you say, "no having to slog thru post after post of 'it's great we're seeing this Hammer title, but what about that one?'". I assume you are referring to Universal's Hammer offerings, as there are still plenty of other Hammer titles not yet offered in R1.

Still, the end result here is much happiness. Loads of new Hammer films coming to DVD, and not one of them makes me regret investing in a cheap region-free player and some R2 Hammer DVDs.

yes, i was just referring to the Universals.
"it's great they are releasing Brides of Dracula, but what about Evil Of Frankenstein?!? and where oh where is Night Creatures??!!"

that kind of stuff we will all be spared (and i'm just as big an offender of it as anyone else)

out of all the titles in this set, i only have a vested interest in two of them.

its not that i hate the other movies, i just haven't seen them and am not familiar with them. to be honest, a lot of the Hammer movies leave me cold, save for two of the Universal owned entries.
however, i would have easily paid $10 each for both of the other two, and since the retail on this set should be more than a little over $20, it's almost going to be like getting 6 other films as the 'extras'.
that's a helluva a fine deal to me.

I'm excited for this, and I haven't even seen any of these movies. It's just such a great value.

I too am in the camp dreading having to replace this 5 times in order to get a working copy. I too have had nothing but problems with dual sided discs from Universal. There manufacturing plant sucks in this department. I have not had problems with any other manufactures dual sided discs. I don't mind the packaging on these legacy sets, not as slick as original poster art, but not the worst either. I plan on blind buying this and the Lugosi set out the same day.

I forgot to give a shout out to John Hodson! Thanks for the link to the availability of Hammer on DVD! You did the HTF proud with your quick response, and my wallet a great dis-service as I snap up available titles!

Any recomended starters for a Hammer newbie like myself to gear up for thisupcoming set? I have the countess Dracula/Vampire Lovers disc from MGM, but haven't watched it yet (Picked it up blind at a pawn shop for $5!) The only other Hammer I've seen is Dracula : Prince Of Darkness, and I rather enjoyed it.

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm just glad to be able to buy one of my all time fave Hammmer Movies
Captain Clegg aka Night Creatures
I'd have paid $209 for that alone
so i gues I'mm getting 7 other films for about $5
tee hee
Rob

I'm presuming you are going to want to stick to Hammer horror, rather than thrillers or sci-fi; the Warners Hammers - those 'crown jewels' I spoke of, are the obvious ones - The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, The Mummy. If you can stretch to it this set is excellent. Alot of the Anchor Bay Hammer Collection discs are OOP, but some are still in print and have decent extras. Seek them out. Paramount's Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter is alot of fun.