Brides Of Dracula [1960]
£4.97
Excellent Sequel to Horror of Dracula ! - I love how Van Helsing carried on from the original although it would have been nice to see Christopher Lee. This is my favorite Peter Cushing film. I live in America and originally I bought the R1 DVD included in The Hammer Horror Series boxset from universal but I had nasty results with the disks, Brides of Dracula being part of it so I bought a Multi Region DVD Player and bought this DVD and now am able to view one of my favorite Hammer/Peter Cushing films.
what a waste... - unbelievable at this point that a company would still butcher a film like this on dvd. the framing really ruins an impressively shot film.
One of Hammer s finest achievements - but not a great DVD - Brides of Dracula was the first of Hammer s many sequels to their breakthrough hit, and it s not just the best of the series but one of their very best pictures. There s no Christopher Lee this time round - in fact, there s no Dracula at all - but there s a lot of imagination at play here in a beautifully plotted story that sees Peter Cushing s Van Helsing coming up against David Peel s Baron Meinster, a follower of Dracula s vampire cult, after Yvonne Monlaur s schoolteacher ill-advisedly releases him from the shackles his not-as-mad-as-she-looks mother keeps him in. There s a lot going on beneath the stylish surface here - a psychiatrist could probably have a field day with the curious relationship between Peel and Martita Hunt (We pray for death, both of us. At least, I hope he prays), not to mention Van Helsing s visible discomfort in the company of women - but it never overwhelms the plot, and there s no shortage of memorable scenes, from the professor treating a rather nasty bite he just got to the servant silently offering pointers to a newly created vampire on its first outing as one of the undead. Reuniting most of the behind-the-cameras talent from their first Dracula film and throwing in a rather splendid climax in a burning windmill, this is definitely one of Hammer s finest hours. Sadly, though one of their best looking pictures, like the overcopped first Hammer Dracula the UK DVD of Brides is also a bit of a disappointment - no extras and in the wrong ratio.
Ripped off again!! - This is a fantastic film, well-deserving its cult status as one of Hammer s best-loved classics. The direction, production and acting are all first rate and it is a shining example of the best of the horror genre from the 1960s. It should get 5 stars, but...Why do we consumers get constantly ripped off by the companies producing these DVDs (and before that, VHS tapes)? To release this film after the long wait in a format which completely wastes Terence Fisher s excellently atmospheric direction is not just a shame, it is an artistic crime. The problem is that the companies don t care one little bit, as long as they make their money. Another problem is that enough consumers either are ignorant of these travesties or THEY don t really care either. Those who DO know and DO care should refuse to buy this DVD, or return it to the company who made it, complaining. Maybe then, they would listen. Maybe...All I can say is thank heavens for Amazon and others enabling reviewers to warn potential customers about being ripped off. At least with a bit of knowledge as to what we SHOULD be getting but are ACTUALLY being given, people can make an informed decision about spending their money on a bad product or not. Rather than buy this and then have to re-purchase the inevitable special edition (i.e. what it should have been in the first place) I will cross my fingers, put up some garlic bulbs, say a prayer and wait.
About Time Too! - It beggars belief that it has taken all these years for this little seen Hammer Classic to be released on Region 2 DVD, and about time too!!A follow up to the hugely successful Horror of Dracula released in 1958, Peter Cushing reprises his role as the vampire hunter and destroyer Van Helsing who is sent for by a local priest to investigate the death of a local girl. Van Helsing discovers that the Baron Meinster (superbly played by David Peel who retired from acting shortly afterwards to become an art dealer)has been accidentally released from his imprisonment where he has been chained by his own mother (played by the superb Martita Hunt)who had discovered what he had become, and is hell bent on creating a new colony of Vampires. Yvonne Monlaur, a French Actress, (and a rather beautiful one at that) plays a school teacher who rather unwisely releases the Baron from his prison and comes under his spell. She eventually finds out later in the story who the Baron actually is, but is rescued in the nick of time by Van Helsing (who else?) in a great action sequence in a ruined windmill.There are some striking scenes in this film, notably the emergence from the grave of a female vampire, the scene in the windmill when Van Helsing has to burn off the vampire teeth marks from his neck, and the final confrontation between Van Helsing and the Baron in the windmill which has been set on fire.Enhanced by a superb cast, Freda Jackson(a fine veteran actress in her own right) Miles Malleson(a wonderful character actor)and of course Martita Hunt, Yvonne Monlaur, and David Peel.The print is rather good too, although it is not in the correct screen ratio, but it doesnt really matter. What does matter is, that this Hammer Classic is now available at long last. Sound is ok, but dont forget it was made in 1960. Price is pretty good too. Hammer fans will snap it up anyway.