Written By Shawn Francis
I
was introduced to Hammer Films back in the mid-seventies when I was a
child, thanks primarily to my mother and grandmother who used to
watch this show that came on once a week, right after SPACE: 1999.
It was called, CHILLER THEATER, and it was aired out of New
York, but parts of Massachusetts got it.
For
me Chiller Theater was notable for its eerie opening theme and the
visuals of setting this dead tree in the background, with a pool of
blood spreading out into the foreground, and having this claymation
hand come out of the blood, with the letters C-H-I-L-L-E-R rising up
in front. The hand would then eat up the letters as that damn, eerie
theme continued to play and sear itself into my impressionable mind.
With
that, the mood for the night was set in stone. And that mood was
nothing short of pure terror, I tell you. Most of the time my mother
would not allow me and my brother to watch what ever movie Chiller
Theater put on, unless it was a GODZILLA flick, or some
innocent science fiction film we had seen countless times already,
and even then we were only able to watch a half hour of it, for
Chiller always came on right at the onset of our bed time.
But
most times that didn’t matter. Our bedroom was right next to the
living room, and since we had no door to close to prevent us from
being further traumatized, we were able to listen to the movie. Some
times, even though I was scared out of my mind by what I was hearing,
I would get up and creep out to the edge of the living room’s
doorway and try to watch the TV, but could never really see it for it
was positioned so I had to look at it from the side. Images were
never clear, and maybe I should be grateful they never were.
There
were times, however, that my mother’s parental skills would become
lax and we’d see more of these movies than we should have. One
thing I also remember from Chiller Theater is their love for these
British Dracula and Frankenstein movies. Hammer Films they were
called as the opening credits signified, and what I hated about them
was that they were so colorful . . . the blood, I mean, was
so goddamn vivid. I had never seen the likes of that before.
It’s an odd thing, despite the terrible fear these movies gave me,
I’d still had this desire to try and see them through to the
end. It never happened, though, for once the blood started flowing, I
would simply demand to be put to bed.
No,
I never became a fan of Hammer Films, not by a long shot, nor did I
care to be, but like all viewpoints some of them manage to “change”
as one grows older.
For
the longest time I used to think this studio had done nothing but
Dracula and Frankenstein movies. It wasn’t until me early teens
that I began to understand this studio was more than just vampires
and cobbled together body parts walking on their own. I still wasn’t
a fan, but a movie I saw in the summer of 1982 or ’83 would, at
least, change my view of the studio, just a little bit, for the
better. It was hot that summer and during the afternoon a local
channel aired ISLAND OF THE BURNING DOOMED (aka NIGHT OF THE BIG
HEAT) (1967).
As a
kid, aside from the gore, the other reason I couldn’t get into
Hammer’s films was the pacing. I found them boring. Nothing ever
happened. A lot of talking. But with ISLAND OF THE BURNING DOOMED
something changed. And at that time I also remember thinking every
time I saw Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in a movie, I naturally
assumed it was Hammer related. Again, ISLAND changed all that. I
remember, vividly, my brother and I relaxing that hot afternoon and
actually enjoying and getting sucked into this movie. It was also the
first time I heard someone say “bitch” and “slut”
in a movie, and seeing a guy grab a woman’s chest. I believe this
was right before we got HBO.
We
went outside later and played ISLAND OF THE BURNRING DOOMED,
pretending those weird, globule aliens were invading the front and
backyard.
As I
got even older I began to realize I had seen a few Hammer movies
during my childhood that weren’t part of the “Chiller Theater
Experience,” like FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH (aka QUATERMASS &
THE PIT) (1967), THE LOST CONTINENT (1968) and X THE UNKNOWN
(1956), but never realized they were actually Hammer flicks. I
remember seeing THE REPTILE (1966) for the first time in 1986
and THE GORGON (1964), QUATERMASS II (1957), and CURSE OF
THE WEREWOLF (1961) in the late 90s thanks to AMC (before channel
rot set it in) and those Anchor Bay DVDs.
It’s
safe to say by the time DVD was created I had already been turned
into a die-hard Hammer/Amicus fan. But I still had no interest
in their Dracula and Frankenstein movies. I did give in, though,
about ten years ago and watched HORROR OF DRACULA (1958, U.S.
title) and thought it wasn’t bad. Still not a convert, but I
didn’t detest it as I once did. Well, now that Hammer’s been
remastering their library and releasing them anew on blu-ray over in
the U.K., my opinion of DRACULA (1958) has changed yet again.
Funny, how the restoration of a movie can make you appreciate it more
than ever before. Before I get to that, though, I should talk about
the movie first, for those who aren’t familiar with this particular
version of Bram Stoker’s novel.
For the record I
have never read Stoker’s novel, I tried to when Francis Ford
Coppola was getting ready to release his version of it back in
1992, but I only got three to four pages in. The writing was far too
archaic for my tastes and because of that I had no idea what was
going on. This was back when I was in my early twenties; now,
however, I might have more patience with it.
Hammer
Films’ DRACULA (released states side as HORROR OF
DRACULA) was the second film out of the gate, as it pertains to
the studio making movies based on the Universal monsters, right after
they did their own version of Frankenstein (THE CURSE OF
FRANKENSTEIN, 1957). Hammer’s version starts off with Jonathon
Harker (John Van Eyssen) coming to Castle Dracula, as a librarian,
but after he meets the Count and gets settled into his room, he
breaks out a journal and through his voiceovers we learn his real
mission—to kill the Count and put an end to his reign of terror.
Assumption being that he already knows the man is a vampire. But,
like all good plans, it goes astray when the Count’s bride makes
herself known to Harker and bites him.
Before
his eventual transformation into one of the undead, the next day he
manages to strike a severe blow to the “Prince Of Darkness” by
finding their coffins and staking his bride into permanent dirt nap.
Eventually, the movie introduces us to Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) as
he comes searching for his friend. A search of the Count’s castle
reveals something untoward as happened, but the real proof is when he
finds Harker sleeping the sleep of the undead in a coffin in the
castle’s crypt.
All
the Count wants now is a new bride and he tries to make this happen
first with Harker’s fiancé, Lucy Holmwood, but with the help of
Author Holmwood, Helsing throws a monkey wrench into that plan by
tracking Lucy back to her coffin and sending her into a permanent
dirt nap, too. The Count decides to then turn his attention to Mina
(Melissa Stribling) and succeeds in biting her. Eventually, Van
Helsing beats him to the punch again by discovering his coffin; their
final confrontation ends up full circle right back at his castle
where Good wins and Dracula meets a burning end under the light of
day right there inside his own home.
Hammer
has finally released their DRACULA restored to an uncanny
visual splendor in a Blu-Ray/DVD Combo that’s region 2 coded, with
the infamous “Japanese footage” reinserted. This footage revolved
around the Count’s disintegration at the end which was deemed too
graphic by late 50s UK standards, and a shot of the Count getting his
teeth intimately close to Mina’s neck, also deemed to “explicit.”
Hammer enthusiast, Simon Rowson, located the footage in Japan, and
Hammer has included two versions for this release, using seamless
branching—one with the footage restored back into the film, and one
without. Once you hit PLAY, you are then given these two options,
which looks exactly like this: BFI 2007 Restoration (1.66:1) or
Hammer 2012 Restoration (1.66:1).
The
restoration Hammer/BFI has done with this film is nothing short of
outstanding. Colors are beefed up and so is the clarity, so much so
you will be able to make out skin and clothing texture and details in
architecture as well.
I
should also mention this “blue tinting” issue that seems to have
become a centerpiece of extreme debate among certain
collectors recently. And this started when screenshots leaked out of
some scenes that were extremely dark and bluish. The review
copy I was supplied with, however, contradicts these photos. In my
opinion, and to my eyes, neither is the movie too dark nor too blue.
Yes, there is blue in the film, but there is no “tinting,” you
are not seeing certain scenes through a tinted lens. What has been
applied looks to me more of digital brush stroke of light blue
applied to certain lighted areas in certain scenes. For instance the
scene where Michael Gough and Peter Cushing are conversing next to
Lucy’s coffin. The door to the mausoleum is open and you can see
the graveyard in the background. The courtyard has a light sheen of
blue overlain upon it, but Cushing and Gough are free of any
“bluing.” The night scenes are still dark, but there may be a
sliver of light in one or two of the scenes and these slivers are
indeed tinted with a light blue. If there’s anything more beyond
this my eyes don’t seem register it. Basically, Hammer has
remastered DRACULA into a beautiful looking film.
I
can’t comment on the 1.66:1 anamorphic aspect ratio, for I have
never seen this movie in any other DVD incarnation, but according to
what Hammer has stated on their website it is the correct ratio for
this movie, and I shall take them at their word. I have no expertise
in this category, so I have no reason to doubt them.
The
blu-ray and DVD also comes with extras. All on one disc with the
blu-ray, but spread out on two with the standard DVD (movie on one
DVD, extras on another). The main attractions when it comes to the
extras are these four featurettes:
“Dracula
Reborn” (30:32) is a nice featurette that touches on as many
bases as it can on the actual making of the movie, even down to the
score. Among others, screenwriter, Jimmy Sangster and the actress who
played ten-year-old Tania in the movie, Janina Faye, are interviewed.
Historian, Marcus Hern is also interviewed, he also did double duty
directing this featurette, and the three others below.
“Resurrecting
Dracula” (16:56), I suspect the collectors who have a problem
with all those “dark and blue” screenshots will come here first.
This is where we learn how Simon Rowson discovered the footage in
Japan, and how it was precisely integrated back into the film and
restored. And how the film overall got it’s twenty-century
facelift.
“The
Demon Lover” (27:57) Author, Christopher Frayling, dissects
Stoker’s novel and Hammer’s movie showing us how much more
significant it made Stoker’s novel after it came out. And how
popular Hammer’s movie became to pop culture.
“Censoring
Dracula” (9:15) is an informative featurette about exactly how
that footage got excised in the first place, and interestingly enough
how the censoring affected the movie in it’s script stage before
anything was ever filmed. A scene where the Count was supposed to
slit a stagecoach’s throat was quickly nixed once the people in
charge of the censoring read the script and objected to it. You also
go into the mindset of the British Board of Film Censors and what
exactly their MO is when this film came their way.
No
less significant are the added features of “All 4 Surviving
“Japanese Reels” (6-9) Unrestored” (35:01), these are the
reels Simon Rowson had the luck to be allowed to see in Japan. These
are the only ones remaining from that print and they are all here in
their most raw form. You also get the 1990, Oliver Reed narrated
episode of “The World Of Hammer: Dracula And The Undead”
(24:53) which highlights several of Lee’s performances as the
Count and a couple he wasn’t in. “Janina Faye Reading A
Chapter Of Stoker’s Novel At The VAULT Festival” (12:18) is
fairly self explanatory. Rounding out this magnificent Blu-Ray and
DVD is a Stills Gallery (10:46) of “100 fully-restored and rare
images,” and in PDF format a “Booklet By Hammer Archivist,
Robert J.E. Simpson” and the original shooting script.
Last
but not least Hammer has added an audio commentary to the film with
“Hammer historian, Marcus Hearn and author & critic, Jonathon
Rigby” It’s full of trivia and facts, but here’s one that
should put to rest all those complaints collectors and fans are
making about the films “blueing” They state that this version
finally restores all the blue that was intended to be in the film.
There you have it. Case closed.
In
my adult years I have, at least, warmed up to the first DRACULA
movie, but now that I have seen it gloriously restored like this, I
will gladly admit I am now a big fan. And I can now
also say I have a desire to see the other Dracula movies Hammer made.
Concerning their Frankenstein series of flicks, though, yeah, I still
have zero interest in those.
Forgot to mention the release date of MARCH 19th!!
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