Hammer's Revenge of Frankentein 8/13 (1 Viewer)

[Brandon Gantt]

Just in time for the Halloween season Columbia/TriStar releases this and a slew of other titles this August.
DVDDrive-in has cover art and more news about this and other Columbia titles.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Who the hell thought we'd ever see a 2.35:1 version of "The Brotherhood of Satan"? Huzzah!

 

[Ben Motley]

I'm happy.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN and CURSE OF THE DEMON on the same day? Outstanding!

 

[Jay E]

Curse of the Demon is the really big news. One of the greatest horror films ever made. Like last year, August is turning out to be a great Horror month!

 

[PhilipG]

Excellent news about The Revenge of Frankenstein:

1.66:1 widescreen Anamorphic

Well done, Columbia! Are you listening, MGM & Warner?!

 

[Jim_K]

Excellent news!!
Thank you Columbia. I thought it would be years before Revenge of Frankenstein came out to DVD. What a nice surprise.
This looks to be a great year for Hammer films.

 

[Derek M Germano]

When I asked about CURSE OF THE DEMON, REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE GORGON during the on-line chat with the HTF, Columbia claimed they no longer had the rights to these films. I guess someone dug a little deeper after the chat and uncovered the fact that Columbia did indeed still have the rights to these titles. Hopefully, we will be seeing THE GORGON sometime soon as well.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

I'd be very pleased with this news anyway, but I'm doubly happy, since my LD of REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN has been rotting (thanks to the curse of Sony's LD pressing plant). Plus, we'll be getting CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN soon from Warner, so that's the first two installments of Hammer's Frankenstein series in the bag. Excellent!

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Wow, great news! And don't forget RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE, with Bela Lugosi playing a vampire named Armand Tesla(but he can't fool us, we know it's really Dracula under an alias. ) I can't wait for these DVD's!
I hope Columbia releases some of their other old horror flicks in the future, particularly THE BLACK ROOM(1935), a film that contains one of Boris Karloff's finest performances.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

And Columbia has that whole series of Mad Doctor movies that Karloff made for them in the 1940s too that I'd love to have on DVD. Good show on Revenge and Curse of the Demon, though!

 

[Jay E]

And Columbia has that whole series of Mad Doctor movies that Karloff made for them in the 1940s too that I'd love to have on DVD.

I'd love to see the whole series on DVD too, especially The Devil Commands the best film of the series and an excellent little film.

 

[Jae E]

Thank you, Columbia! 2002 is shaping up to be damn fine year for Hammer fans. Now if we could just get Universal on the bandwagon with "Brides of Dracula", "Curse of the Werewolf", and "Phantom of the Opera"...

 

[Jim_K]

Now if we could just get Universal on the bandwagon with "Brides of Dracula", "Curse of the Werewolf", and "Phantom of the Opera"...

I couldn't agree more.

 

[Derek M Germano]

I've posted a review of THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN with some screen shots, so all the Hammer fans out there can check it out:
http://www.thecinemalaser.com/dvd_re...nstein-dvd.htm

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Thanks for the advance review and screenshots, Derek. Glad to see they kept the 1.66 framing AND enhanced it for 16x9. Take the hint, Warner - don't over-matte Curse of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula to 1.78 or 1.85!!!

Though I'm curious as to why you think the American prints were Eastmancolor? My US posters for the film clearly say "Technicolor" - and, at that time, it meant "IB Technicolor." I recently screened an original 1958 USA print in 35mm and was IB Technicolor (and confirmed as a USA print by the date codes printed on the edge of the film). Besides, any 35mm Eastman print you might have seen recently (unless it was produced after 1982) would most likly have completely faded into pink by now. Since the film was photographed on Eastman stock - Hammer never shot 3-strip Technicolor (and the process wasn't used by 1958, anyway) - the print format shouldn't affect the video version, since they would have struck a brand-new 35mm print for the transfer. Perhaps, though, I'm misinterpreting your remarks on the prints and the DVD version.

 

[Derek M Germano]

Peter,
In recent years, I've gotten to see a an IB Technicolor print of THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN and the colors were richly saturated. The film element used for Columbia TriStar's transfer has somewhat muted hues, which do not look as though they come from an IB Technicolor source.
As for my comments about Columbia releasing the film in Eastmancolor, the theatrical trailer would seem to bear this out:

I would imagine that the film element Columbia TriStar used for this transfer would seem to be of the Eastmancolor lineage, although obviously there were at least a few IB Technicolor prints in existence on this side of the pond- considering that we both had the opportunity to screen one.
Perhaps there is a mis-communication in my review, but I can only go off the information that comes directly from Columbia's own materials and what my eyes tell me about the color.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Is that a frame grab from the trailer on the DVD? That certainly explains the whole Eastmancolor thing, doesn't it?! Now I've got to dig out my poster to see if my memory is mistaken :b

The film element used for Columbia TriStar's transfer has somewhat muted hues, which do not look as though they come from an IB Technicolor source.

It would have to come from an Eastmancolor source - there wouldn't be any IB prints worth transferring (and IB prints aren't a good source for a video transfer - just look at VCI's Gorgo for why they *shouldn't* use IB for video).
Thanks for the clarification.
Pete

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Follow-up - looks like we're *both* right! Here's an image of the US poster (note the words "In SuperNatural Technicolor"):
Link Removed
I wonder why the trailer says Eastman Color? Even the credits of the films say Technicolor, IIRC.

 

[Derek M Germano]

Yes. The frame grab comes from the trailer on the DVD.
It is possible that Columbia initially intended to release THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN in Technicolor, but changed their minds before the final print work was done in the lab. I'm sure Eastmancolor was cheaper, and it is not as if Columbia would have considered THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN an "A" movie worthy of the extra expense. The credits on the American negative were probably prepared in England by Hammer, which would account for why there is a Technicolor credit on the prints.