The dvd of Blood On Satans Claw in the Anchor Bay boxset was an inferior non anamorphic version although there were some nice bonus features .
The individual release of the film had slightly different bonus features but was still not anamorphic.
I can't recall which was which but one had the Linda Hayden interview missing.
So it's worth keeping either of those even if you pick up the more recent anamorphic re-release which has no extras.
And Trunk Records have released the excellent soundtrack.
How could he have missed out The Devil Rides Out? Classic - and classy - Hammer horror and seriously scary too. Apparently Christopher Lee's favourite, out of his Hammer roles.
Yes - one of the very very best. At least they played some of its wonderful score in last night's episode.
I recently bought The Haunting as a DVD. It's still wonderfully atmospheric and the acting is superb. I wish I could recreate the terror I first felt when I watched it alone as child! It was a seriously scary film for me!
The remake had us all giggling in the cinema! "it's all about the family, granpa!"
The absence of Devil Rides Out will certainly have been a concession to the running time. Gatiss has mentioned in the past his love of the story, and indeed he wrote a whole book in tribute to the genre, the second Lucifer Box novel. I think it was caller The Devil in Amber, but I might be confusing it with something else.
Theater of Blood has got to have the best cast of any 70s horror film. Price(s), Rigg, Morley, Hordern, Lowe, Hendry, Dors & Sykes to boot (well in boot).
Even the original Jabba the Hutt is in it.
Fantastic cast. I love the bit when Arthur Lowe's severed head falls off the bed and onto the carpet leaving Joan Hickson still in bed screaming like a banshee. Think of it: Captain Mannering and Miss Marple in bed together....oooh matron !
I loved the bit of footage showing Peter Cushing and Vincent Price being interviewed. Cushing looks a bit the worst for wear, but Price is in full on, horror effect make up and the caption comes up saying 'On set 1973'.
Yes i enjoyed that bit too, they essentially hit the nail on the head in that bit of footage. The reason gothic horror production thrived in the UK at this time is because (in their own words) 'nothing says (gothic) horror more than a old castle in the English countryside or a fog covered London at midnight'.
Out of interest how good are the Transfers of the Hammer films on DVD?. I ask because with some of the Amicus films there have been issues with poor versions, or cuts.
Yes i enjoyed that bit too, they essentially hit the nail on the head in that bit of footage. The reason gothic horror production thrived in the UK at this time is because (in their own words) 'nothing says (gothic) horror more than a old castle in the English countryside or a fog covered London at midnight'.
Out of interet how good are the Transfers of the Hammer films on DVD?. I ask because with some of the Amicus films there have been issues with poor versions, or cuts.
I have a number of individual releases on DVD fromThe Hammer Collection (2006) - I'm very happy with the quality. There is some variation from film to film. and some grain is noticeable, but it's not a problem at all if you're situated more than a few feet from the screen (when played on upscaled blu-ray player to 50" HD TV). As far as I know, there are no cuts.
The following link gives technical (& other) information on the 21 individual films that were released separately and as part of The Ultimate Hammer Collection boxset:
Would love to have seen more of a gore spattered Cushing and Price chatting away--- lovely blokes.
Haunting and Night of the Demon are two of my favourites as well although I disagree with Mark, I thought the demon at the end should never have been seen....still agreat film.
I used to really struggle to sit up on my own late at night and watch the Haunting---its seriously scary.
Wonder if the Evil Dead will get a mention next week !!!
I think it's good that it's a very personal choice by Gatiss, it's a subjective discussion of his influences. As such it's far more entertaining because of his passion.
It's now been confirmed that BBC2 will be showing this brilliant 3 part series starting on Halloween night and parts 2 and 3 showing on both Monday 1st November and Tuesday 2nd November at 11.20pm.
Also, BBC2 are showing Halloween 4 and Halloween 5 over the Halloween weekend as well
I have a number of individual releases on DVD fromThe Hammer Collection (2006) - I'm very happy with the quality. There is some variation from film to film. and some grain is noticeable, but it's not a problem at all if you're situated more than a few feet from the screen (when played on upscaled blu-ray player to 50" HD TV). As far as I know, there are no cuts.
The following link gives technical (& other) information on the 21 individual films that were released separately and as part of The Ultimate Hammer Collection boxset:
Oh wow what a website! Thanks, just the thing I was looking for. Yes I was looking at that box set, intriguing mix of better and poorer Hammer movies in there.
Whoever is in charge of the DVD rights to Hammer films should give themselves a slap. I was tracking down (The Horror of) Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein and The Mummy (all not in the boxset)....And despite them being amongst the most famous Hammer films and the early ones that started it all....They're out of print.
You'd have thought they'd produce a few thousand to cash in on the interest generated by these Gatiss documentaries. They've missed one hell of a payday.
Whoever is in charge of the DVD rights to Hammer films should give themselves a slap. I was tracking down The Horror of Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein and The Mummy (all not in the boxset)....And despite them being amongst the most famous Hammer films and the early ones that started it all....They're out of print.
You'd have thought they'd produce a few thousand to cash in on the interest generated by these Gatiss documentaries.
I agree, after seeing the programme i was very interested in both Hammer and seeing those 2 films in paticular.
I was also interested in seeing The Quatermass Xperiment and glad to notice that its on BBC 4 tonight
I watched the first 2 episodes of this on catch-up last night and it was marvellous. I know very little about old horror movies and the gratuitous rubbish that masquerades as horror these days (Saw, Hostel etc) is of no interest to me.
I thought the clips of Karloff playing Frankenstein's monster were stunning. The scene where the little girl was thrown into the water genuinely shocked me. I've made a mental note to seek out some of those old Lugosi / Karloff / Chaney films.
The scenes with Peter Cushing were very moving. What a great actor and a real gentleman. I used to live in Kent and recognised Whitstable immediately. There's a bench near the seaside with a brass plaque that says how much he loved that view.
Anyway, great series and just the sort of thing BBC4 should be doing. It's rapidly becoming my favourite channel.
The scenes with Peter Cushing were very moving. What a great actor and a real gentleman.
Reminds me of an episode of Jim'll Fix It (must have been early/mid 80's) Peter Cushing had written in and asked for a rose to created and named after his late wife.
Of course Jim fixed it for Mr. Cushing.
At the time I was a snotty know it all teen but the segment on the show with Mr. Cushing naming the rose had me sobbing my eyes out.
For me, this series demonstrates how excellent the BBC in general is, how excellent the much-decried BBC3 and BBC4 are in particular, and how ironic It is that we are delighting on watching it whilst 'our' government (and it's predecessor) should waste so much time wooing Rupert/James Murdoch and News International - to the BBCs detriment.
Don't think BBC 4 is decried by anyone is it? It's a marvellous channel, everything BBC 2 should be.
BBC3 is rightly decried as a f***wit fest, the odd good show aside.
Agree completely with both the above posts re BBC4. BBC4 became 'the new BBC2' a long time ago, and always seems to offer a veritable banquet of top programmes, prime examples at the moment being A History of Horror and Michael Wood's Story of England..
Don't think BBC 4 is decried by anyone is it? It's a marvellous channel, everything BBC 2 should be.
BBC3 is rightly decried as a f***wit fest, the odd good show aside.
Apologies for posting positively about the BBC's output as a whole.
;-)
I didn't mean to favour or to initiate petty argument about one channel above another: my point was about recognising the excellence of the Gatiss prog and the BBC overall.
Out of interest how good are the Transfers of the Hammer films on DVD?. I ask because with some of the Amicus films there have been issues with poor versions, or cuts.
Apart from a few thrillers and comedies I have every Hammer film ever released on dvd , and by and large they are done very well.
I have a mixture of releases from the UK ,US ,Spain and even Germany and the UK ones are usually inferior from a bonus features point of view.
The Devil Rides Out has a superb commentary with Lee and Lawson but I don't think it's on the UK disc.
There are some rarities out in the US like Crescendo and Sony have released 3 boxsets with 14 films but only a few are out here.
Amicus films are another case of mix n match.
The UK releases are very good but there is a much larger selection out in the US as there are with the AIP movies of Vincent Price.
The only Amicus problem is Vault of Horror.
All UK releases have been from a grotty print .
The US release is a pristine print but it's the cut version.
The Film4 version is currently the best one on offer .
It's uncut and marginally better than the UK dvd .
Comments
And Trunk Records have released the excellent soundtrack.
The remake had us all giggling in the cinema! "it's all about the family, granpa!"
Fantastic cast. I love the bit when Arthur Lowe's severed head falls off the bed and onto the carpet leaving Joan Hickson still in bed screaming like a banshee. Think of it: Captain Mannering and Miss Marple in bed together....oooh matron !
I've tried to watch The Haunting a couple of times and fallen asleep halfway through both times, it takes too long to get going.
Yes i enjoyed that bit too, they essentially hit the nail on the head in that bit of footage. The reason gothic horror production thrived in the UK at this time is because (in their own words) 'nothing says (gothic) horror more than a old castle in the English countryside or a fog covered London at midnight'.
Out of interest how good are the Transfers of the Hammer films on DVD?. I ask because with some of the Amicus films there have been issues with poor versions, or cuts.
I have a number of individual releases on DVD fromThe Hammer Collection (2006) - I'm very happy with the quality. There is some variation from film to film. and some grain is noticeable, but it's not a problem at all if you're situated more than a few feet from the screen (when played on upscaled blu-ray player to 50" HD TV). As far as I know, there are no cuts.
The following link gives technical (& other) information on the 21 individual films that were released separately and as part of The Ultimate Hammer Collection boxset:
http://mondo-esoterica.net/boxsets/Ultimate%20Hammer.html
Would love to have seen more of a gore spattered Cushing and Price chatting away--- lovely blokes.
Haunting and Night of the Demon are two of my favourites as well although I disagree with Mark, I thought the demon at the end should never have been seen....still agreat film.
I used to really struggle to sit up on my own late at night and watch the Haunting---its seriously scary.
Wonder if the Evil Dead will get a mention next week !!!
I'm loving it and learning a lot.
Also, BBC2 are showing Halloween 4 and Halloween 5 over the Halloween weekend as well
Oh wow what a website! Thanks, just the thing I was looking for. Yes I was looking at that box set, intriguing mix of better and poorer Hammer movies in there.
Whoever is in charge of the DVD rights to Hammer films should give themselves a slap. I was tracking down (The Horror of) Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein and The Mummy (all not in the boxset)....And despite them being amongst the most famous Hammer films and the early ones that started it all....They're out of print.
You'd have thought they'd produce a few thousand to cash in on the interest generated by these Gatiss documentaries. They've missed one hell of a payday.
I agree, after seeing the programme i was very interested in both Hammer and seeing those 2 films in paticular.
I was also interested in seeing The Quatermass Xperiment and glad to notice that its on BBC 4 tonight
A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss - How to make authentic horror blood
I watched the first 2 episodes of this on catch-up last night and it was marvellous. I know very little about old horror movies and the gratuitous rubbish that masquerades as horror these days (Saw, Hostel etc) is of no interest to me.
I thought the clips of Karloff playing Frankenstein's monster were stunning. The scene where the little girl was thrown into the water genuinely shocked me. I've made a mental note to seek out some of those old Lugosi / Karloff / Chaney films.
The scenes with Peter Cushing were very moving. What a great actor and a real gentleman. I used to live in Kent and recognised Whitstable immediately. There's a bench near the seaside with a brass plaque that says how much he loved that view.
Anyway, great series and just the sort of thing BBC4 should be doing. It's rapidly becoming my favourite channel.
Reminds me of an episode of Jim'll Fix It (must have been early/mid 80's) Peter Cushing had written in and asked for a rose to created and named after his late wife.
Of course Jim fixed it for Mr. Cushing.
At the time I was a snotty know it all teen but the segment on the show with Mr. Cushing naming the rose had me sobbing my eyes out.
What an absolute gentleman.
Well done, Mark Gatiss. Absolutely top quality.
BBC3 is rightly decried as a f***wit fest, the odd good show aside.
Agree completely with both the above posts re BBC4. BBC4 became 'the new BBC2' a long time ago, and always seems to offer a veritable banquet of top programmes, prime examples at the moment being A History of Horror and Michael Wood's Story of England..
Apologies for posting positively about the BBC's output as a whole.
;-)
I didn't mean to favour or to initiate petty argument about one channel above another: my point was about recognising the excellence of the Gatiss prog and the BBC overall.
Apart from a few thrillers and comedies I have every Hammer film ever released on dvd , and by and large they are done very well.
I have a mixture of releases from the UK ,US ,Spain and even Germany and the UK ones are usually inferior from a bonus features point of view.
The Devil Rides Out has a superb commentary with Lee and Lawson but I don't think it's on the UK disc.
There are some rarities out in the US like Crescendo and Sony have released 3 boxsets with 14 films but only a few are out here.
Amicus films are another case of mix n match.
The UK releases are very good but there is a much larger selection out in the US as there are with the AIP movies of Vincent Price.
The only Amicus problem is Vault of Horror.
All UK releases have been from a grotty print .
The US release is a pristine print but it's the cut version.
The Film4 version is currently the best one on offer .
It's uncut and marginally better than the UK dvd .