Icons of Suspense: Hammer Films [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

 

 

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This is a great 3 disc collection featuring some intriguing Hammer thrillers that were made in the 1950s and 1960s.

Here's a summary of each film:

Disc One
STOP ME BEFORE I KILL (1960)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
Directed by Val Guest
Starring Ronald Lewis, Diane Cilento, Claude Dauphin, Bernard Braden, Francoise Rosay

Alan Colby, a famous racing driver, is badly injured in a road accident. Alan recovers but he has become prone to sudden bouts of anger and violence. After Alan tries to strangle his wife, he starts seeing a psychiatrist. As a result of the therapy he receives, Alan is seemingly cured of his trauma but then his wife mysteriously disappears....
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

CASH ON DEMAND (1963)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Running Time: 80 minutes
Directed by Quentin Lawrence
Starring Peter Cushing, André Morell, Richard Vernon, Norman Bird, Edith Sharp

A fussy bank manager is hoodwinked by a suave criminal into assisting in the robbery of his own bank....
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Disc Two
THE SNORKEL (1958)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
Directed by Guy Green
Starring Peter Van Eyck, Betta St. John, Mandy Miller, Gregoire Aslan, William Franklyn

Candy Brown is convinced that her stepfather, Paul Decker, is a murderer. She thinks that Paul killed her real father and that he has now killed her mother, who has been found gassed to death in their home, but nobody wants to believe her. The police think that Candy's mother commited suicide but Candy's suspicions about Paul grow stronger when she discovers some diving equipment in Paul's room....
RATING 4 out of 5 stars

MANIAC (1963)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
Directed by Michael Carreras
Starring Kerwin Mathews, Nadia Gray, Donald Houston, Liliane Brousse, Norman Bird

An American artist, living in France, shacks up with a woman and her stepdaughter. The woman's husband (and the girl's father) has spent the last four years in an asylum for the brutal retribution killing of a man who assaulted his daughter but he won't be in there for much longer....
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Disc Three
NEVER TAKE CANDY FROM A STRANGER (1960)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 81 minutes
Directed by Cyril Frankel
Starring Gwen Watford, Patrick Allen, Felix Aylmer, Niall MacGinnis, Alison Leggatt

A British man called Carter moves to a Canadian town with his wife and his 10 year-old daughter to take up a teaching job. Soon after they arrive, his daughter and her friend have a disturbing encounter with a local old pervert. Carter and his wife are determined to bring the man to justice but the problem is that the man is part of a well-known family that owns pretty much everything (and everyone) in the town. The eventual court case is predictably a travesty and the dirty old git gets off scot-free, giving him the opportunity to strike again....
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

THESE ARE THE DAMNED (1963)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Runnung Time: 95 minutes
Directed by Joseph Losey
Starring Macdonald Carey, Shirley Ann Field, Oliver Reed, Viveca Lindfors, Alexander Knox

A secret military base houses some very unusual children that are being kept for a special purpose....
RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

This collection is an essential purchase for any fan and collector of Hammer movies and it proves that Hammer weren't just about making horror films. I know that it's a cliché but they don't make 'em like this anymore, and some might say that it's a good job, but I love these type of films. My favourite of this particular bunch is "Maniac" but all of these films are well worth a look.

Five stars from me for this superb collection of Hammer suspenser's (1958-63).
This neat little set has six crisp black and white films from the legendary studio:
Cash On Demand-Stop Me Before I Kill!-The Snorkel-Maniac-Never Take Candy From A Stranger-These Are The Damned.
With minimal packaging and no booklet, it matters not, all the films are full length bright, clean and crisp transfers.
'Cash On Demand' is top of the list for me, a superb suspenser from (1961). A battle of wills enfolds when 'Colonel Gore-Hepburn' played by Andre Morell pays a visit to a small local bank posing as an insurance inspector. The bank manager 'Fordyce' is played by the ubiquitous Peter Cushing, both actors here excell in their performances as a two way band of intense and harrowing dialogue enfolds, for, Hepburn has come to empty the bank vaults... If Fordyce does not comply with Heburn's bidding then, his family will die.
A highly recommended set and I'd suggest acquiring them NOW-do not wait until the set is out of print!

I just watched Cash On Demand, a film I have waited a long time to see and I must say this set is highly recommended just on that film alone, please Sony, let's have more of your Hammer titles soon. The previous sets have all been superb!!

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› See all 11 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Hit Rate High on Top Value Set
Negatives out the way first - the DVD case is rubbish, 3 discs on one spindle is a no-no,(however, for me, still preferable to flipper discs). Read more

Published 11 months ago by Now Zoltan

5.0 out of 5 stars Never Take Sweets from a Stranger - Unexpected Gem
'Never Take Sweets from a Stranger' is a powerful little drama about ethics versus old-established wealth in small-town Canada. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Aesop

5.0 out of 5 stars At last!
I have searched for this film for years (Never take Sweets from a Stranger) and had the added bonus of the other films on the DVD.
This is more of a remark than a review. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Mrs. S. Draffan

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb value - 6 brilliant films
This is quite simply a stunning value-for-money box set. You get six really excellent thrillers, all thoroughly engrossing and entertaining. Read more

Published 15 months ago by PJL

5.0 out of 5 stars Good compilation of six films.
A three disc compilation set of six films, horror, and scientific suspense, from columbia pictures, shame its only region one though.

Published 16 months ago by L. S. C. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Icons of suspense-Nearly
I give this collection 5 stars happily, not because all the films are great (though there isn't a real dud here), but what an opportunity to see such rare, interesting, and... Read more

Published 16 months ago by A. W. Wilson

5.0 out of 5 stars Hammer glory
There are some gems on this dvd. If you aea Hammer fan, you will definately need this. Recommended all the way. Pity there are no commentaries/extras except trailers though.

Published 18 months ago by S. Holmes

5.0 out of 5 stars Rare Hammer Gems
I've just finished watching Cash On Demand, Never Take Sweets From A Stranger and The Snorkel from this set. Read more

Published 21 months ago by T. Turner

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