Icons Of Horror Collection (Two Faces
Of Dr. Jekyll/The Curse Of The
Mummy’s Tomb/The Gorgon/Scream Of Fear/Hammer Films/Sony DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Films: C+
Icons of Horror is the latest Columbia Pictures-distributed
set of Hammer Horror production Sony has decided to issue on DVD and though
they are not the best films the studio ever made, they are interesting examples
of what they achieved when color and the British approach were still a novelty
that sold tickets.
Two Faces Of Dr. Jekyll (1960) has Paul Massie in the
title role in this Terence Fisher-helmed bit that is not the best adaptation of
this material, but with Christopher Lee, Dawn Addams, Oliver Reed and an
uncredited Walter Gotell, one of the classier attempts to deal with the
material. Jack Asher (who already lensed
Hammer’s first Dracula, Mummy and Hounds of the Baskervilles) shot this in MegaScope (in
EastmanColor) and takes advantage of the full frame.
The Curse Of The Mummy’s Tomb (1964) was shot in lesser
Techniscope by the great Otto Heller (The
Ipcress File) and has a great use of color with more energy, but despite
its ambitions to imitate the best past such films, writer/director Michael
Carreras and his good, lesser-known actors still come up with an uneven
film. It looks good here, though.
The Gorgon (1964, 1.66 X 1) reunites Lee,
Cushing and Fisher in its Medusa-like tale that has its moments as they are
joined by Barbara Shelley, Michael Goodliffe and Patrick Troughton in one of
the best adaptations of this material to date.
It may show its age, but makes for compelling viewing. Part of the reason it also holds up is the
camera work of Michael Reed, B.S.C., who shot several key Hammer films, key
episodes of The Saint with Roger
Moore, the great British Sci-Fi film Z.P.G.
and James Bond classic On Her Majesty’s
Secret Service, all reviewed elsewhere on this site.
Scream Of Fear (1964, 1.85 X 1) is a James Sangster-penned
thriller with Psycho ambitions,
Christopher Lee, Susan Strasberg and Ann Todd that was shot in black and white
by no less than Douglas Slocombe (the Indiana Jones trilogy, John Huston’s Freud, Never Say Never Again) has some suspense in director Seth Holt’s
hands, but it is uneven and as compared to William Castle’s later Homicidal, is simply very dated.
All the
films are presented in anamorphically enhanced framing (aspect ratios noted
above) and can be soft and grainy despite being new transfers. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono in all cases is
fine, but all show their age, despite being as clean as Sony could make
them. The only extras are theatrical
trailers for all the films, but I expected more.
For more
Hammer DVD sets from Sony, try Icons of
Adventure at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7130/Icons+of+Adventure+Collection+(Pir
- Nicholas Sheffo
