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The Curse of Frankenstein (Blu-ray + DVD) [1957]

Christopher Lee , Peter Cushing , Terence Fisher    Suitable for 12 years and over   Blu-ray
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
Price: £12.61 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

The Curse of Frankenstein (Blu-ray + DVD) [1957] + Dracula (Blu-ray + DVD) [1958] + Dracula Prince Of Darkness (Blu-ray + DVD)
Price For All Three: £42.71

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Product details

  • Actors: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Hazel Court
  • Directors: Terence Fisher
  • Format: Import, Blu-ray
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region B/2 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.66:1
  • Number of discs: 3
  • Classification: 12
  • Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. UK Ltd
  • DVD Release Date: 15 Oct 2012
  • Run Time: 80 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B008LU8MME
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,428 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

Reviews

From Amazon.co.uk

Britain's Hammer Studios had been making films for decades before they suddenly redefined themselves with this lurid remake of the Universal Studios horror classic. Prohibited by Universal from copying their blocky make-up (and their script, for that matter), Hammer returned to Mary Shelley's novel for inspiration and then went in its own direction. Peter Cushing plays Dr. Frankenstein as the rational scientist turned cold-blooded criminal in his campaign to discover the secret of life, committing murder to further his ends or to remove an inconvenient mistress. Christopher Lee is the pitiable creature, a terrified behemoth more innocent new-born than malevolent monster. His pale, pallid, grotesquely scarred face was so thickly applied that he emotes almost exclusively with his eyes and his awkward, stumbling gestures. The not-so-good Dr. Frankenstein is the true monster, a ruthless scientist whose rejection of superstition extends to all moral considerations. Shot in blood-red colour by Hammer stalwart Terence Fisher, the stylish, often salacious film became Hammer's biggest success to date, made horror stars out of the classically trained Cushing and Lee, and transformed the B studio into the Hammer we know and love today: the house that dripped blood. The Horror of Dracula immediately followed, reuniting the winning team of Cushing and Lee, and Cushing returned in four of six Frankenstein sequels. --Sean Axmaker

Product Description

United Kingdom released, Blu-Ray/Region B DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: 3-DVD Set, Blu-Ray & DVD Combo, Booklet, Commentary, Documentary, Interactive Menu, Making Of, Photo Gallery, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Baron Victor Frankenstein was the archetypal aristocrat, well-read, cultured and arrogant. Beyond the sophisticated veneer existed a cruel, utterly unscrupulous man, obsessed with ambition. Determined to realise his greatest dream to create life, he had assembled a creature from organs gathered from various unwilling donors. The creature is successful brought to life but the instability of the brain, damaged during surgery, causes uncontrollable violent spasms that result in indiscriminate murder... and it is the Baron to whom the blame is laid with fatal consequences. The Curse of Frankenstein is a classic 1957 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions, based on the novel Frankenstein (1816) by Mary Shelley. It was Hammer's first colour horror film, and the first of their Frankenstein series. Its worldwide success led to several sequels, and the studio's new versions of Dracula (1958) and The Mummy (1959) and established "Hammer Horror" as a distinctive brand of Gothic cinema. The film was directed by Terence Fisher and starred Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in two of their most iconic roles. ...The Curse of Frankenstein ( Frankenstein and the Monster ) (Blu-Ray & DVD Combo) (Blu-Ray)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars A considered review of a controversial release. 22 Nov 2012
Format:Blu-ray
Now that the fuss has died down a bit over Curse of Frankenstein, I've been viewing the disc and here's my own personal opinion without influence from either camps. I find the academy framed version generally pleasing but with an uncomfortable amount of dead space whereas the 1.66:1 is noticeably tight. Using the settings on my TV to fake a 1.66:1 from the academy version with higher framing ("common top") is somewhat better but still not without it's faults. Therefore my own conclusion would be that the Warner DVD version got it right in adjusting the matte on a shot by shot basis (though, that of course from cropped more tightly to 1.77:1). That would have created a far more pleasing to the eye 1.66:1 version, even if not 100% accurate. The academy version would be absolutely fine to be left as an option though I do believe calling it the OAR is erroneous. Neither aspect ratios as presented on the disc are completely satisfactory.

Regarding the picture quality, I have always reserved judgement on this due to the original negative being, to all intents and purposes, lost. Now that I've had a good look at the Blu-ray version, I think that many people are being unfairly harsh. It is soft, yes, but it's also quite naturally filmic without any objectionable digital tinkering. It may be true that going back to the best available colour separation elements (which were apparently made when it was discovered the film stock was degrading) and recombining them wholly in the digital domain could render superior results, but that would be costly and the ball is in Warner's court as they have the elements, not Hammer.

Overall, while not without it's faults, it's certainly not as terrible as some are making out. People, including myself, are now understandably wary of pre-ordering new Hammer discs due to some of the poorly worded PR and frankly bizarre decisions made of late (I refer you to the inexplicable lack of original effects on The Devil Rides Out). My advice is not to let it spoil the enjoyment that this disc can offer because it's very far from awful. Add to that a rather nice extras package which includes another full length film among the number, it's not a bad release if not perfect.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Tarnished jewel 23 Oct 2012
By Tony Floyd VINE™ VOICE
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
So far I have been really pleased with the successful revival of the Hammer brand, especially the fact that the `new' Hammer has shown a welcome commitment to their legacy by investing in this restoration programme. The HD versions of Dracula Prince of Darkness, Plague of the Zombies, The Reptile (and Quatermass and the Pit and Paranoiac) have been excellent, as I'm sure the next suite of releases will be. And let us not forget that this is after all a commercial activity, and Hammer presumably want to appeal to older long-standing Hammer aficionados as well as entice a new generation to embrace the pleasures of British Gothic. Hence the enhancements that have been made to The Devil Rides Out, which I am in favour of as the dodgy (and unfinished) special effects have always marred the film for me and ultimately diminish its impact. (Having said that I do hope that this sort of interference is kept to a minimum and has only been applied judiciously in this instance to address a long standing and well known shortcoming - I would not be happy for this approach to be extended to other films with notoriously underwhelming special effects, say The Lost Continent for example where the papier-mache-and-string effects are part of the charm.)

However, in this instance, I don't think this Blu-Ray transfer of one of Hammer's crown jewels is going to satisfy either the old Hammer fan or the new devotee. Sadly, after a week of viewing and re-viewing this title, alongside a re-bought copy of the Warner DVD release - re-bought because I'd sold my original copy in anticipation of this Blu-Ray edition - my feeling is that this is the most disappointing of the official Hammer BR releases to date. I need to emphasise that the criticism here is not in the knee jerk `whatever they've done it's bound to be wrong' line. But comparing the image quality of the older Warner Bros DVD version with both the Academy and widescreen versions on the BR here, even though they are clearly derived from the same source (evident in the `young' Frankenstein scenes) , the image quality - the colour, the sharpness - is undoubtedly better on the older DVD. (I'm not going to talk about the version of the film on the DVDs in this new edition - as these simply replicate the image quality of the BR.)

I have absolutely no technical expertise or inside knowledge in these matters, but using just the evidence of my own eyeballs, there is no contest. The versions of the film on this BR are washed out, faded, blurry and lacklustre. The image on the WB DVD is cleaner and more crisp, the colour far more vivid, lush and just more `Hammer, than this muddy BR. In other ways the BR looks like a step backward. Look at the scene where Frankenstein and Krempe cut down the corpse from the gibbet. On the BR there is a continual flickering through the entire scene; on the WB DVD no such flickering is evident. (If other people could confirm this just to allay my fears that I might have a dodgy copy). This is even more dismaying because on the Universal Monster Box, the problem of flickering in the substantially older Universal movies has been highlighted and corrected. Annoyingly in Curse of Frankenstein, it seems to have been introduced where it did not before exist. So the bottom line as regards the film itself is that in future it'll be the WB DVD version that I'll be watching.

I've not even addressed the aspect ratio issue, which has been done to death on the official Hammer blog and elsewhere, but my reservations on this score are less pronounced than over the generally poor image quality. (Though I am persuaded that a widescreen presentation is the correct one, so the concerns expressed elsewhere as to how Hammer have dealt with this issue add to my wariness about ordering future offerings sight unseen, particularly in relation to the release of the Dracula Blu-Ray next year.)

Moving on to the rest of the package, there's the usual making of doc with archive of Michael Carreras and Jimmy Sangster plus the welcome irreverence of Melvyn Hayes, a short and moving tribute to Peter Cushing, and then in SD the earlier Terence Fisher Hammer feature Four Side Triangle, the lame duck (but fascinating historical artefact) TV pilot episode of Tales of Frankenstein and the World of Hammer `Frankenstein' segment. These are included as extras on the Blu-Ray and also included on the 2nd DVD. Exclusively on this 2nd Extras DVD is a pdf `booklet' (not provided as hard copy insert) on the genesis of Curse of Frankenstein. There is also the indispensable commentary by Jonathan Rigby and Marcus Hearn on both the BR and DVD versions of the film. All very worthwhile - it's just a shame that the jewel they are meant to offset is less than glittering.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A PROJECTIONIST VIEW WHO WAS THERE. 23 Oct 2012
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
To put this aspect ratio into perspective I offer the following

I was a Projectionist showing this film at the ABC Cinemas In Dewsbury UK & it was shown in WideScreen
as all films after THE COMMAND with Guy Madison (First Warner CinemaScope film)to be shown on the ABC circuit.
All NON SCOPE films were shown in a ratio of 1,66 to 1.85,depending on what screen you visited.

The aspect ratio being dictated by the size of the proscenium.Plates were cut out to fit the screen,
though not done to exact measurements,as any Projectionist will tell you. The plates were cut to match the screen and masking installed.
So the aspect ratio varied from screen to screen.

When Curse Of Frankenstein came out all the ABC Cinemas in the UK had been converted for WideScreen.
I used to do relief work at various throughout the country and all showed Curse in WideScreen.

CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN was shown in WIDESCREEN.Whether that was the intention originally before it was filmed,well that's another story.

The 5 Stars are for the Film not the dodgy transfer to Blu-ray.

Hope this helps.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Landmark Hammer Horror!
A must-have for gothic horror fans. The transfers are not a massive improvement over what has been previously released. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Carl Morano
5.0 out of 5 stars The Laurence Olivier of Horror in his first Horror role
A wonderful presentation of a fabulous film in which Petet Cushing demonstrates what an amazing character actor he was. Read more
Published 2 months ago by nick h 132
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing...
Well, I read the reviews and hummed and hawed before buying the Blu Ray; in the end I decided to throw caution to the wind. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. K. Ducklin
1.0 out of 5 stars excellent film,terrible blu ray transfer!
This film is superb! My bad comments are only on the lame blu ray transfer!
The picture quality of this blu ray is no better than previously dvd's. Read more
Published 3 months ago by ivo
3.0 out of 5 stars Crying shame
What can I say? If you're planning to buy this Blu-ray simply because you're expecting a Blu-ray quality image, think twice. The transfer is almost enough to make you weep. Read more
Published 3 months ago by C. Dawson
3.0 out of 5 stars SHOCK . . .SHOCK . . .SHOCKING
This is the worst quality BluRay disc in my collection from a picture quality point of view. Other reviewers have gone into detail and I can only say how right they are. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Geoff
5.0 out of 5 stars The Curse of Frankenstein
the Curse of Frankenstein. Well this is basically what kicked started Hammer horror. Being born in the 90s, this is the first time I have watched this. Read more
Published 4 months ago by The Man
4.0 out of 5 stars Not so bad: bad things come from 1957not bluray transfer
i compared it with the Warner hoùe video everybody knows: the bluray doesn t have more definition cause it was filmedwith poor conditions , limited budget but it has better... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ribeiro
1.0 out of 5 stars Curse it!
This Classic Hammer Horror was not given the right treatment at all! The picture quality is appaling. I'm understanding it to be the fault of Lionsgate. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Rick
2.0 out of 5 stars More Grain then a Saw Mill !
OMG ! I'm a Hammer Fan & was so looking forward to this. But the Blu-ray is terrible the picture quality is ghastly so bad it almost look like the picture is ghosting in some... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. Dean Thompson
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