Blu-ray Review: COUNTESS DRACULA (1971)

COUNTESS DRACULA (1971) 

Blu-ray+DVD Combo Pack

Label: Synapse Films

Region Code: A/1

Rating: PG

Duration: 93 Minutes
Video: 1080p Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles 

Director: Peter Sasdy
Cast: Ingrid Pitt, Nigel Green, Sandor Eles, Maurice Denhem, Lesley-Anne Down, Patience Collier

COUNTESS DRACULA (1971) stars the voluptuous Ingrid Pitt (THE VAMPIRE LOVERS) as 17th century Hungarian Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy, based on the true story of Elizabeth Báthory. The Countess is a cruel and withered old woman who has just recently been widowed. While punishing her chambermaid for drawing too hot of a bath she discovers that the blood of the virgin girl temporarily rejuvenates her to her former gorgeous self - and Ingrid Pitt is most definitely a gorgeous woman - when she's not layered in warty old age make-up that is.

To continue to enjoy the age-defying benefits of virgin's blood the Countess conspires with her former lover Captain Dobi (Nigel Green, ZULU) and her nanny (Patience Collier) to procure young virgins. To conceal the truth of her youthful appearance she assumes the identity of her own daughter to carry on a love affair with the younger Lt. Imre Toth (Sandor Elès).

Only Grand Master Fabio (Maurice Denham) the resident scholar seems to take notice of the fact that the Countess and her daughter of never in the same place at the same time, it's only when the demand for more virgin blood gets a bit out of control that it draws the attention the local authorities and things start to crumble for the Countess and her conspirators with jealousy and torn loyalties.

We have many of the Hammer Horror tropes are on display here with the Gothic Pinewood Studios back lot locations and the plunging necklines and heaving bosoms you'd come to expect. The story itself is a bit on the slow side and the deliberate pace doesn't necessarily build up to the most exciting of finales but it does have a certain charm... Ingrid Pitt in all her voluptuous beauty in 1080p. Based on the legend of the blood thirsty Elizabeth Bathory we don't see any fang-baring here but we do get a fair amount of bosom-baring so sit back and enjoy this vintage slice of Hammer Horror on Blu-ray.

Blu-ray: This is the last of the announced Hammer horrors from Synapse Films and it's a winner - way to cap of the series. The remastered image looks quite nice with a fair amount of crispness and fine detail. Colors are robust and skin tones are natural in appearance. It's a bit on the grainy side but I do love a pure grain-present presentation over a smeared plasticine scrubbed image. Audio wise we get a very pure DTS-HD Master Audio comes through strong and the score from composer Harry Robertson (TWINS OF EVIL) sounds quite nice even if it's not the most memorable score.

Special features are a bit on the light side compared to the other Hammer entries from Synapse. We begin with an audio commentary with actress Ingrid Pitt, director Peter Sasdy, screenwriter Jeremy Paul and author Jonathan Sothcott. It's a bit dry and appears to have been recorded separately and stitched together so it feels somewhat disjointed. Director Peter Sasdy gets the bulk of the spotlight here with the others chiming in from time to time, there's not a lot of Ingrid Pitt throughout but her moments peppered throughout are quite nice. 

There's also a 11-minute featurette Immortal Countess: The Cinematic Life of Ingrid Pitt with a brief overview of her early life and film career and legacy. We also get a vintage audio interview with Pitt, a theatrical trailer and a more risque reversible sleeve of artwork. It's a bit saddening that this is the last of the Hammer titles from Synapse, let's hope they announce a few more in the near future because they've done a fantastic job.

Special Features:
- Audio commentary with actress Ingrid Pitt, director Peter Sasdy, screenwriter Jeremy Paul and author Jonathan Sothcott
- Immortal Countess: The Cinematic Life of Ingrid Pitt – Featurette (10:47)
- Archival Audio Interview with Ingrid Pitt (8:30)
- Still Gallery (7:10)
- Theatrical Trailer (3:06)
- Reversible Sleeve of Artwork

Verdict: This recent spate of Hammer Horror on Blu-ray has me excited and while COUNTESS DRACULA (1971) may be my least favored of the Synapse Hammer Blu-rays it is a top-notch transfer with some very decent extras and is a pleasing watch thanks in no small part to the unearthly charm of the voluptuous Ingrid Pitt. Not as visceral as Peter Sasdy's other film from the same year HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971) or as delightfully weird as VAMPIRE CIRCUS (1972) but this one deserves a space on your Hammer Horror shelf.  (3 Outta 5) 

Blu-ray Review: HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971)

HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971)
Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack 

Label: Synapse Films 

Region: Region A/1

Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 85 minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. Subtitles: English 
Aspect Ratio: 1080p Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Peter Sasdy
Cast: Eric Porter, Angharad Rees, Jane Merrow, Keith Bell


Another glorious Hammer Films production on hi-def Blu ray from Synapse, this time it Hands of the Ripper (1971) and it's Hammer's second stab at the Jack the Ripper mythos following Room to Let (1949) some three decades earlier. Directed by the incredibly skillful Hammer familiar Peter Sasdy (Taste the Blood of Dracula) the film is a fairly straight ahead thriller with a nice layer of psychological intrigue and supernatural suspense sewn into the proceedings. 

The films open in 1888 London as the notorious Jack the Ripper flees the scene of his latest bloodletting, he's pursued by an torch wielding mob out for justice. The elusive slasher just barely makes it home unseen but as soon as he bars the door behind himself his wife notices his blood-stained hands and quickly puts two and two together. In a state of panic and rage Jack the Ripper murders the woman in front of their infant daughter, his hands still dripping with blood from the earlier murder. 

Now we jump ahead fifteen years later Anna has been adopted by a fraudulent spiritual medium named Ms. Granny Golding (Dora Bryan) who enlists Anna to help her siphon money from the pockets of the the grieved wealthy through theatrical seances. On this particular night a seance is performed and in attendance are psychiatrist John Pritchard (Eric Porter, The Forsyte Saga) and his son Michael (Keith Bell) alongside a grieving woman whose lost a child and Mr. Dysart (Derek Godfrey, The Abominable Dr. Phibes) ), a lecherous member of British Parliament. After the seance Ms. Golding makes an arrangement with Mr. Dysart whom wishes to procure the unfortunate Anna's virginity for a price. When Anna refuses Granny comes into the room to calm the situation, but when reflective light dances upon Anna's face the young woman turns from meek to murderous, she grabs a fire poker and rams it straight through the spiritualist abdomen, impaling her to the door, to the shock of Mr. Dysart. Hearing the blood curdling scream from outside the home Dr. Pritchard rushes inside and comes upon the grisly scene just as Mr. Dysart flees the grisly scene. 

Pritchard knows quite well that it was the young Anna whom murdered the old woman but chooses not to reveal this to the authorities  in fact he takes the young woman home where he can psychoanalyze the young woman to discover just what could have pushed this demure woman could commit such an unspeakable act, believing it to be some for of schizophrenia. To this end he performs various Freudian therapies upon her to get to the root of the evil within her. We soon realize that the murder of the old woman was not an isolated incident and when Anna is subjected to reflective light upon her face the glint triggers a homicidal impulse. The films puts forth this question, is Anna's butchery some form the warped subconscious trauma or is it something more supernatural, perhaps she's possessed by the spirit of her father, Jack the Ripper?

Hands of the Ripper (1971) is a wonderful Gothic thriller with supernatural elements, director Peter Sasdy was firing on all cylinders here, it's a gorgeous period piece with atmosphere to spare and a great cast. Particularly Angharad Reese who is just fantastic as the sweet-faced Anna. There's a wonderful duality to the role as she turns from sweet, to murderous, she's pretty great and despite the fact that we know for a fact that she is the killer we do feel sympathy for her character. Eric Porter turns in a solid performance as the sympathetic psychiatrist who opens his home to the murderess. There's some hubris involved here as the psychiatrist jumps at the opportunity to explore the mind of a murderer, which turns out unsurprisingly to be quite an awful idea. Pritchard's poor judgment not only leads to more murders but to him actually covering-up a few of the murders, there's also a suggestion that the doc has more than pure thoughts where the young woman is considered, too. Definitely a film with some twisted subtext t go along with the onscreen carnage. 

The murders themselves are very nice, perhaps a bit dulled when viewed through eyes that have sat through countless viewings of 80's splatter horror, but surely shocking for the day and when taken in the context of an early 70's Hammer production a pretty gnarly affair. At just 85 minutes in length this is all ripper and no filler, a very well-paced Gothic thriller with great tragic ending, very nice. 

Blu-ray: It's good to see another Hammer property in the trusted hands of Synapse Films, the film distributor has been doing a bang-up job with the previous Hammer titles Twins of Evil (1971) and Vampire Circus (1972) and now we get Peter Sasdy's gruesome Hammer classic Hands of the Ripper (1971) with newly restored hi-def transfer, presented uncut for the first time on Blu-ray here in the U.S.. Presented in 1080p widescreen (1.66:1) with an MPEG-4 AVC encode. The image is very nice indeed and on par with Synapse's other Hammer presentations, meaning it's quite pleasing. Colors are strong and there's a nice intact grain structure, the cinematography itself is not very sharp, there's a lot of soft focus, but the Blu-ray image is about as sharp as could hope for, a very pleasing 1080p image.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono audio is strong and offers up what depth it's mono spectrum can offer. Dialogue is always clear and Peter Gunning's atmospheric string score comes through very strong, the set even includes an isolated music track for further enjoyment, this is good stuff. There are optional English subtitles included on both the Blu-ray and DVD.

Ballyhoo Motion Pictures again produce a few great supplements for the release beginning with The Devil's Bloody Playthings: Possessed By the Hands of the Ripper (28:21). The engaging featurette is like a half-hour mini Hammer Horror history lesson with interviews from director Peter Sasdy, Hammer historian Wayne Kinsey, author Tim Lucas, director Joe Dante and more. We get some very interesting tidbits about the film's production, producer Aida Young and the difference between the British and censored American cuts of the film.

Slaughter of Innocence: The Evolution of Hammer Gore (5:43) is as a nearly six minute montage of pictures highlighting the more gruesome moments in Hammer history set to Gunner's score.  

The U.S. Television Introduction (7:07) is an interesting audio only relic.  In the U.S. the film was heavily censored for gore and sexuality and an additional intro was filmed for ABC TV broadcast to pad out the abbreviated running time, while these film elements are now considered destroyed during the 2008 Universal Studios fire and what survives is an audio-only recording of actor Severn Darden portraying a psychiatrist which bookends the film. Not the highlight of the features in my opinion but an interesting artifact, even if the audio elements are a bit shaky.    

The last of the extras on the disc are the Original Theatrical Trailer (1:57), 2 TV Spots (0:59), the  Hands of the Ripper Motion Still Gallery (5:43) plus an Isolated Music and Effects Audio Track which is exclusive to the Blu-ray portion of the Blu-ray/DVD combo. Something new to this title is the inclusion of a reversible sleeve of artwork, neither of the previous Hammer Blu-rays from Synapse offered this nifty addition. Overall, a really great presentation of the film, the special features are a bit slim when compared to the previous hammer Blu-rays from Synapse but this is surely a case of just being spoilt, this is a definite recommend.  

Special Features: 
- The Devil's Bloody Playthings: Possessed By the Hands of the Ripper (28:21)
- Slaughter of Innocence: The Evolution of Hammer Gore (5:43)
- U.S. Television Introduction (7:07)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1:57) 

- 2 TV Spots (0:59)
- Hands of the Ripper Motion Still Gallery (5:43)
- Isolated Music and Effects Audio Track (Blu-ray Exclusive) 

Verdict: Hands of the Ripper (1979) is a wonderful 70's Hammer thriller and a very interesting take on the Jack the Ripper mythos. We get some great turn-of-the-century Gothic atmosphere and a few grisly murders along with some psychological weirdness and supernatural elements, this is a fantastic watch. Lucky for us Synapse have also acquired the rights to the Hammer Films' erotic vampire opus Countess Dracula (1971) starring the sublime Ingrid Pitt (The Vampire Lovers) and if all goes according to plan it should on the store shelves by year's end! 4 Outta 5 

DVD Review: The Complete Hammer House of Horror 5-DVD Collector's Edition (1980)

THE COMPLETE HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR (1980)
5-DVD Collector's Edition

Label: Synapse Films
Region: Region 1 NTSC
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 702 minutes
Video: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Full Frame. As Originally Filmed and Broadcast
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Directors: Peter Sasdy, Tom Clegg, Alan Gibson, Don Leaver, Francis Megahay, Robert Young, Don Sharp
Cast: Peter Cushing, Denholm Elliott, Pierce Brosnan, Patricia Quinn

Synopsis: Each generation creates tales of horror… stories that seep through the very heart of our collective fears. The legendary Hammer Studios is recognized as the high watermark of the Gothic macabre, creating some of the most chilling and recognizable horror films of all time.

The Series: As the legendary Hammer Films ran out of theatrical steam during the 1970's and  they stopped production of cinema releases and concentrated on television production with this short-lived horror anthology series, each episode a fifty-minute stand-alone feature directed by Hammer alum and featuring many familiar faces including Peter Cushing, Brian Cox, Pierce Bronson and Denholm Elliot among many others. Each episode is tightly directed with strong casts, atmosphere to spare and all matter of horror themed subjects. We get thirteen episodes in all and here's the rundown: 

Witching Time: The debut episode of the series directed by Don Leaver (TV's The Avengers), it's great start to the series here with about a film score composer named David Winter (Jon Finch, Hitchcock's Frenzy) living in the countryside and stressing over his wife's infidelity is visited upon by a beguiling witch named Lucinda (Patricia Quinn, The Rocky Horror Picture Show) whom hails from the 17th century. As she seduces him and drains his life's essence he grows more and more erratic, making life miserable for both he and his cheating wife Mary (Prunella Gee, Never Say Never Again). Great stuff, very comedic in it's own way with nudity aplenty and a great witch-burning pulse-pounder of an ending also featuring Ian McCulloch of Lucio Fulci's Zombie (1979) 

The Thirteenth Reunion: This episode is directed by Hammer-alum Peter Sasdy who also directed Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) and Countess Dracula (1971) as well as two other Hammer House of Horror episodes, we're in good hands here and his trio of episodes are among the series finest. This is another darkly comical tale of tabloid reporter Ruth (Julia Fioster, Alfie) whom goes undercover at a fat-farm that's infamous for it's vile talking-down to of chubbies, making 'em feel so bad about the extra pounds that they are shamed into fitness. When a man she meets at the clinic dies mysteriously she investigates which ends at a bizarre dinner party where the guest have very peculiar tastes.

Rude Awakening: Also directed by Peter Sasdy this is one of my favorites from the series no doubt in part star Denholm Elliot (Trading Places) as a adulterous real-estate agent who loses his grip on reality after visiting a strange property. Plagued by grisly nightmares of murdering his wife and differing scenarios of lust with his sexy secretary Lolly (Lucy Gutteridge, Top Secret), it hard to tell what real and what's a dream and it's fun stuff, very surreal with some great dream sequences and Gutteridge is a knockout! 

Growing Pains: Directed by Francis Megahay (Taffin), it's a ghostly thriller about a couple whom adopt a strange young boy after there son's tragic death. The parents are a bit self-obsessed and it seems the boy is either responsible for a series of bizarre occurrences or channeling the spirit of their deceased son. The bizarre occurrences include a vicious dog attack, maggot infested meat and a spooky finale at the graveyard.  

The House That Bled to Death: Another notable entry this time directed by Tom Clegg, who? When Mr.Peters (Nicholas Ball, Life Force) and his wife move into a home that was the site of a murder some years previously strange things happen, you get your typical windows and doors slamming shut and a few odder things like blood dripping from the walls and a cat meeting it's demise on a broken window pane. A nice moment of nudity, nosy-neighbor voyeurism and a handful of spooky moments including a notorious scene spraying a birthday party full of kids with massive amounts of the red stuff from overhead pipes, a fun episode with a wonderful twisty and viciousending. 

Charlie Boy: Now we get to the tale of a young couple whom inherit a strange African carved voodoo dolll, this episode directed by Robert Young who brought us the twisted carny-vamp tale Vampire Circus (1972). The couple use it for personal gain but it's not long before the tables are turned setting of a series of voodoo-inspired deaths, and there you have it - another devilishly good episode. 

The Silent Scream: This twisted tale comes from Hammer director Alan Gibson who brought us Dracula A.D. (1972) and The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) - two lesser Hammer vamp entries but I will tell you this is a fun episode starring a very young Brian Cox (Manhunter) as an ex-con who goes to work for meek pet shop owner Martin played by horror great Peter Cushing (Horror of Dracula). When Chuck's criminal sensibilities get the best of him he discovers that Martin is not as altruistic as first thought. A very intriguing episode with wonderful performances from Cox and Cushing, this one features a host of big cats and animals with a hint of naziploitation, dark stuff and thought provoking. 

Children of the Full Moon: Here we go, a werewolf tale, finally some classic horror staples. Directed by Tom Clegg (again) who directed a series of Made-for-TV Sharpe's films starring Sean Bean, which I've never seen so that don't mean shit. This time out a young couple find themselves stranded when their car dies on a rural road. Seeking shelter at a home deep in the woods they are attacked by what appears to be a werewolf. We get some creepy moments here with the quirky family that resides and some awesomely schlocky werewolf make-up.

Carpathian Eagle: Francis Megahy returns to direct this police procedural as a Detective Clifford (Anthony Valentine, The Monster Club) investigates a series of ritual murders wherein the victims have had their hearts ripped outta their chest, the prime suspect is Mrs. Henska (Siân Phillips, Dune) the ancestor of a cruel Carpathian countess. Okay, honestly this one's a bit of a snoozer in my opinion but we do get a glimpse of a pre-007 Pierce Bronson. 

Guardian of the Abyss: From Don Sharp the director of the schlock-tastic classic Psychomania (1973) comes this tale of a cursed mirror which brought to mind the story of "The Gate Crasher" from the Amicus anthology film From Beyond the Grave (1973) and I rather enjoyed it, some great occult and fantasy elements even though the cursed-object story was a bit rote by 1980 but Sharp makes it work, fun stuff. . 

Visitor from the Grave: The final Peter Sasdy episode is a good one, too. Much like "Rude Awakening" before it has some very surreal and dreamlike moments. Here we have a slightly disturbed heiress named Penny (Kathryn Leigh Scott, of TV's Dark Shadows) is attacked and nearly raped buy an intruder whom she shoots in the face with a shotgun, ouch. Due to various circumstances she is unable to report the crime to the authorities and the body is buried in the nearby woods. However, Penny is haunted by the apparition of the man afterwards which frays her already tenuous grip on reality. This was another fantastic Sasdy episode, we get some genuinely creepy and surreal  moments with a nice bit of gore, too. 

The Two Faces of Evil: Alan Gibson's second episode of the series deals with doppelgangers and is quite an interesting watch with some wonderfully askew visuals and chilling moments. Janet (Anna-Calder-Marshall) and her husband Martin (Gary Raymond) are on vacation with their young son when they pick up a hitchhiker during a torrential rainstorm. The stranger's face is obscured and he's dressed in a yellow rain slicker, without warning he attacks the husband ending in a horrific car accident that kills the stranger. The husband survives but is is unable to speak and during his recovery there are signs that he just might not be who she thinks he is. This was a great episode, a weird and chilling tale that brought to mind elements of David Cronenberg's The Brood (1979).

The Mark of Satan: The final episode in the series is directed by Don Leaver whom also handled the first episode who much like Jim Carrey's character in the film The Number 23 (2007) becomes obsessed with a number - this time out it's the number 9 which he begins to see everywhere around him following the death of a neighbor after he drills a hole into his skull believing himself possessed by the Devil.

Typical of horror anthologies whether they be TV or film productions there's a lot to digest here and not all of it is stellar but on the whole this is a succeesful and macabre mix of horror and suspense with a surprising amount of nudity. Produced in the 1980 the series definitely has a 1970's feel to it but then again we weren't quite into the MTV era-80's just yet. If you love the classic Gothic-tinged Hammer  horrors there's gonna be a lot to love here. We get a little bit of everything; werewolves, cannibalism, Satanism, doppelgangers, witchcraft and dark comedy, this is great stuff and the generous smattering of nudity and gore is not unappreciated, a few years later Hammer again ventured into the TV market with Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense which I definitely want to seek out now. 

DVD: All thirteen episodes are presented in their original British broadcast versions and aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full-frame and look quite good, detail and colors fare better than I had expected with decent black levels too, not much to complain about here in the video department. Synapse have Likewise the English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio delivers dialogue, score and effects clearly and without distortion, very clean presentation. A very solid presentation from Synapse films.

In the special feature department we get informative if brief one-minute episode introductions by film scholar Shane M. Dallman with bits of trivia for all thirteen episodes. There's also two video interview with actresses Kathryn Lee Scott and Mia Nadasi (then wife of director Peter Sasdy) who offer up tales of how they got into the film industry and working on their respective episodes.

Special Features:
- Episode Introductions with Film Historian Shane M. Dallmann
- GRAVE RECOLLECTIONS: A VISIT WITH KATHRYN LEIGH SCOTT (8:24) 16x9
- HAMMER HOUSEKEEPING: A VISIT WITH MIA NADASI (6:14) 16x9
- Animated Still Gallery (6:14) 

Verdict: Previous to checking out Synapse's 5-disc DVD set I was completely unaware of this Hammer produced British TV horror anthology series but after taking in all thirteen episodes I am pleased to give this a recommend, lovers of The Twilight Zone, Tales from the Darkside and Tales from the Crypt are strongly encouraged to seek this out. Worry not, for a thirty year old TV series these episodes stand the test of time, solid writing and chills through and through. (4 Outta 5)