DW comes to blu ray

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ken68
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DW comes to blu ray

Post by ken68 »

not sure how much interest there will be in this but studio canal are re-issuing TDRO and lost continent on blu ray along with a lot of the other "classic" Hammer films. lost continent is due soon and TDRO will be later this year. hopefully uncut and maybe with some new extras!

ken
Jim
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Post by Jim »

Is the DVD of TDRO cut? (I had not heard this previously; if it's been discussed here, I apologize in advance...)
Last edited by Jim on Sat 25 Feb, 2012 13:34:06, edited 1 time in total.
Garry Holmes
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Post by Garry Holmes »

As far as I'm aware, the cutting was on the American release of the film. THE DEVIL'S BRIDE as it was known, had several seconds cut out of the Black Mass sequence. The original British release, with the DEVIL RIDES OUT titles, is the uncut version (although the BBFC probably insisted on cuts before the release of that print back in the 60s).
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Post by Jim »

Okay. My DVD is the Hammer Collection edition from Anchor Bay, with the U.S. title only given in small print on the back cover. (I read somewhere that the American distributors were afraid our viewers would think the film was a Western...) The movie plays as The Devil Rides Out, though it has both the U.S. and U.K. trailers as extras. Truth be told, I'm not that concerned if a few seconds are missing...
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Post by Garry Holmes »

Jim wrote:Okay. My DVD is the Hammer Collection edition from Anchor Bay, with the U.S. title only given in small print on the back cover. (I read somewhere that the American distributors were afraid our viewers would think the film was a Western...) The movie plays as The Devil Rides Out, though it has both the U.S. and U.K. trailers as extras. Truth be told, I'm not that concerned if a few seconds are missing...
That's the version that I've got, and I think that it is uncut. Blu Ray are releasing the completely uncut version of DRACULA (1958) which has never been seen in the West outside of the screening rooms of the BBFC. It was discovered by a Hammer fan in a Japanese film archive, and contains stuff that was trimmed for being too sexy or too violent (Dracula's demise at the end of the picture is longer and more gruesome than the version before seen). The possibility is that untrimmed versions of other Hammers (including TDRO) exist at the same film archive, but I suspect that it will be quite a while before we know all.
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Post by ericmocata »

If Horror of Dracula (sorry, but that's what us Americans call it) is finally getting released uncut, I would have to say that is great news. I love Hammer movies and that one in particular, though it has little to do with Stoker's novel, is brilliant. I have seen the stills of Dracula's death that show the trimmed sections, but it will amazing to see the movie the way it was meant to be seen. It would also be interesting if there is anything else added to The Devil Rides Out. Though it does differ in many places from the novel, it is one of my absolute favorite movies ever, plus it was the first thing to give me any exposure to Dennis Wheatley.

Speaking of The Devil Rides Out (the movie version, that is), does anybody else think that Rex has a really goofy-looking way of running? The way he swings his arms just bugs me for some reason.

I hope we get uncut versions of the Hammer Frankenstein movies, too. I know that Monster from Hell had a shot or two cut from it, though I think they were included on a Japanese Laserdisc edition. Peter Cushing is my absolute favorite Frankenstein. Unlike the character in the book and just about any other movie version, his portrayal of Frankenstein is unapologetic and he is always sure about what he is doing. He creates a man and it tries to kill him then he kills it and starts over with a new idea. He's got conviction. Some may even say "moxy". It doesn't hurt that he's got a sense of humor.

By the way, as stupid as the "western" thing with The Devil Rides Out sounds, there were numerous war movies and westerns around that time that had Devil and similar words in the titles, so I think that was the concern.
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Post by Jim »

So, have any UK viewers seen any of the new Hammer versions? (I know there was a live showing of TDRO.)
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Post by Garry Holmes »

Jim wrote:So, have any UK viewers seen any of the new Hammer versions? (I know there was a live showing of TDRO.)
I've seen stills from the new release, and it appears that they've tarted up the special effects. Light streams through the door when the Angel of Death arrives, there are blue flames behind the angel's head when it unmasks, and the lighting bolt that destroys the baddies is considerably stronger looking. There has been a lot of debate about it on the fan sites, with the consensus being that they could have avoided the complaints if they had added the new effects as an optional extra rather than an alternative to the original effects.

ericmocata: If you call it HORROR OF DRACULA instead of DRACULA because that is the American title, why do you call this film THE DEVIL RIDES OUT rather than THE DEVILS BRIDE?
:smt077 :smt102
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Post by ericmocata »

That's a good question, Garry. It really just comes down to what I am used to calling the movies. I watch a lot of European horror and most of it has been released under numerous titles at different times. The bulk of it has been re-released in the last couple of decades on VHS/Laserdisc/DVD/Blu-ray under the original titles here in the U.S. as opposed to the titles used for the original U.S. releases.

The Devil Rides Out I saw once with the title The Devil's Bride, which was the first time I saw it on TV many years ago. Then it was released on Laserdisc by Elite and later VHS and DVD through Anchor Bay using the original title. I have that DVD, so I am used to calling it The Devil Rides Out. Horror of Dracula is still with Warner Bros and is always released under that title here.

It gets a bit confusing sometimes, because some of these movies I am used to calling by an older American release title, but then I get them on DVD or Blu-ray (sometimes Laserdisc too) and they'll have different titles yet I still tend to call them by the alternate titles. For instance, another classic Christopher Lee film, The City of the Dead (which is a wonderfully atmospheric black and white horror film) was released here as Horror Hotel. Until probably ten years ago, that was the title I always saw it under, though I am almost always aware of the different titles for these movies. The first copy I got of that one under its original title was a DVD I got several years back. The VHS versions I bought were both Horror Hotel, so I still tend to call it that, though Mr. Lee rather dislikes that title, much as he dislikes The Devil's Bride. Another is Lucio Fulci's Paura Nella Citta dei Morti Viventi, which was released here as The Gates of Hell. Newer releases of the movie in America use the more common European title, City of the Living Dead, which is a slightly shortened English translation of the original Italian title, which would translate to Fear in the City of the Living Dead (though in England, I believe it is usually known simply as Fear). I still regularly call it The Gates of Hell.

It gets really bad when the case will have one title, but the print used for the release actually has a different title. Not sure why they do that.

That was a bit of a long answer to a short question, but it is a fun topic for me, so I couldn't resist going on a bit about it.
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Post by Garry Holmes »

I've had the same experience. I can remember the early days of both video and DVD, when I would find hitherto unseen Cushing and Lee films which turned out to be the same ones that I already had under a different title (ISLE OF THE BURNING DAMNED turned out to be the pretty innocuous NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT when I got it into the player). In some cases no-one seems to know what a film is supposed to be called, such as AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS which is often listed in various different actors and directors CVs as FENGRIFFEN, BRIDE OF FENGRIFFEN, and FENGRIFFEN-AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS. This doesn't really bother me nowadays, although I find the fact that the Quatermass movies are still referred to by the American release titles (THE CREEPING UNKNOWN, ENEMY FROM SPACE, FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH) in some quarters mildly irritating. It's not that they called different things that bothers me, just that the alternative titles are so lame!

I love CITY OF THE DEAD. It's quite a claustrophobic little thriller, with the entirely studio bound setting giving it a really weird feel. Although it's set in the USA, it was filmed in Surrey, with a lot of Brit actors putting on American accents and ex-pat Americans. Did you find this jarring when you first saw it? I know that some American movies have been set in Britain but filmed on the back lot, and I like them, but the effect can be slightly strange at times. They're not bad, but they feel slightly off. I expect that it's the same when someone from, say, Italy sees an episode of the Roger Moore version of THE SAINT set in their country but filmed in the UK.

ericmocata wrote:That's a good question, Garry. It really just comes down to what I am used to calling the movies. I watch a lot of European horror and most of it has been released under numerous titles at different times. The bulk of it has been re-released in the last couple of decades on VHS/Laserdisc/DVD/Blu-ray under the original titles here in the U.S. as opposed to the titles used for the original U.S. releases.

The Devil Rides Out I saw once with the title The Devil's Bride, which was the first time I saw it on TV many years ago. Then it was released on Laserdisc by Elite and later VHS and DVD through Anchor Bay using the original title. I have that DVD, so I am used to calling it The Devil Rides Out. Horror of Dracula is still with Warner Bros and is always released under that title here.

It gets a bit confusing sometimes, because some of these movies I am used to calling by an older American release title, but then I get them on DVD or Blu-ray (sometimes Laserdisc too) and they'll have different titles yet I still tend to call them by the alternate titles. For instance, another classic Christopher Lee film, The City of the Dead (which is a wonderfully atmospheric black and white horror film) was released here as Horror Hotel. Until probably ten years ago, that was the title I always saw it under, though I am almost always aware of the different titles for these movies. The first copy I got of that one under its original title was a DVD I got several years back. The VHS versions I bought were both Horror Hotel, so I still tend to call it that, though Mr. Lee rather dislikes that title, much as he dislikes The Devil's Bride. Another is Lucio Fulci's Paura Nella Citta dei Morti Viventi, which was released here as The Gates of Hell. Newer releases of the movie in America use the more common European title, City of the Living Dead, which is a slightly shortened English translation of the original Italian title, which would translate to Fear in the City of the Living Dead (though in England, I believe it is usually known simply as Fear). I still regularly call it The Gates of Hell.

It gets really bad when the case will have one title, but the print used for the release actually has a different title. Not sure why they do that.

That was a bit of a long answer to a short question, but it is a fun topic for me, so I couldn't resist going on a bit about it.
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Post by ericmocata »

I'm not usually bothered that much by accents in movies or TV shows. Besides, it seems American actors don't fake accents as well as actors from other English-speaking areas, so it's probably worse if you're English or Australian, etc. listening to some American running around with some inane fake English accent, "Jolly good, bloody hell, fish 'n' chips, guvnor." Though it can be funny in some cases. For instance, I always thought it was a bit funny to have Lucy Lawless faking an American accent to play somebody in ancient Greece in Xena: Warrior Princess. Then there's Kevin Costner when he played Robin Hood. I guess he figured he would botch the accent so badly that it would be better to just not even try.

The thing that always has bugged me about City of the Dead is the fact that the townspeople burn Elizabeth Selwyn at the stake. Burning supposed witches was European. By the time the witch hysteria made its way to the U.S. burning had been replaced by hanging. It's a small matter though.

As for confusion with titles, it can get really messy sometimes. Take Tobe Hooper's follow-up to the Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Eaten Alive. First, among its many titles is Horror Hotel, which can lead one to think it's the Christopher Lee film. Then there is also Umberto Lenzi's Mangiati Vivi! which is often released as Eaten Alive!, the English translation of the original Italian title. To make things more confusing, both films feature Mel Ferrer.
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Post by Garry Holmes »

Slithering off topic very quickly, but one of my favourite moments of ROBIN HOOD-PRINCE OF THIEVES comes when Robin lands on the South Coast of England. Turning to Morgan Freeman, he smugly informs him that they will feast at his father's castle in Nottingham by the end of the day. I mean, it's only 200 something miles away...
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Post by ericmocata »

They must have had really fast horses. I'm not sure you'd even be able to walk around after riding a horse for 200 miles in a day, actually. I think distances and just the amount of time things should take get distorted frequently in movies. Sometimes it is due to ignorance, sometimes I think it's just that concept of it being fantasy, so it doesn't matter in that respect. But it is pretty amusing when you notice things like that.

Personally, my favorite part in Prince of Thieves was the part where he looks through the telescope and tries to use his sword on troops hundreds of yards away.
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Post by Garry Holmes »

Yes, I suppose that if you're going to do a Robin Hood film you shouldn't really get too uptight about 'realism'. The Richard Carpenter telly series of the 80s had at least one toe in fantasy, and perhaps we should draw a polite veil over the episode of the 60s US series THE TIME TUNNEL (where Robin manages to get King John to sign the Magna Carta). To my mind, the best version is still the Errol Flynn movie from the 30s, followed by the B&W Richard Greene telly series from the 50s. I like the Kevin Costner and even the Russell Crowe movies, but I always think that they never quite get the feel of the original legend. Flynn is the character from the folk tales, whilst the others are trying to do something different with the story.
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Post by Steve Whatley »

I have yet to watch the main feature, but last night I watched the three new supporting documentaries, one about the making of The Devil Rides Out, the second about the restoration and enhancement of the film, and the last about Dennis Wheatley At Hammer, and I would say that all are excellent.

My one criticism so far relates to the World of Hammer episode which is also included, and is that the narrative is drowned out by the soundtrack of the various film clips. I don't recall it being like that when I first saw the series on television back in the 'nineties.

But the three new documentaries alone make this worth the purchase price.

Has anyone who saw the film at the Convention (or anybody else) any opinions on the enhanced special effects?[font=Courier New] [/font]
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