REVIEW : TWILIGHT TIMES THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST BLU RAY

THE CHARACTER of ROBIN HOOD as far as film production is concerned, seems to have revived and arrived as frequently as the BLOKE in the Cloak, Count Dracula. Since 1938, when actor Errol Flynn donned the tights and bow in 'The Adventures of Robin Hood', which hit loads of lolly for the rich and entertainment for the thrill hungry public, Robin and his Merry Men have nearly always been a winner. There have been many remakes and story direction retakes  that not only revived the tale, but such was the power of the story of Mr Hood, you can spot it like a well aimed arrow, providing themes, influences in everything from extended ideas for spin offs, Mel Brooks epics and even down to a Tom and Jerry or Bugs Bunny cartoon! The world of Robin Hood is one of Olde Worlde very rich, but usless kings, lords and ladies, fat monks and pious priest, where every town has men with swords and maidens who are lit and presented in soft focus, having been crafted by a Westmore brother, who  struggle with the caddish-fiend advances of tash tweaking, baddie barons. But I LOVE it!  

HAMMER FILMS 'SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST'  couldn't be and isn't the DISNEY or Errol version. This Hammer film budget, but BUT it is enormously entertaining. Hammer set design guru, Bernard Robinson was and had been tied up with The Mummy, The Brides of Dracula and the Two Faces of Doctor Jekyll, so John Stoll, did the duties. The reason WHY SWORD does so well is because of its excellent cas. which headlines with Peter Cushing as the Sheriff of Nottingham.. in THREE splendid costume changes. Knowing PC he probably pooted along to Berman's and chose them, as he would say 'Mu-self!'...  and Richard Greene as the lead, and for many THE Robin! Others include Hammer's Richard Pascoe, almost 'out stepping' Cushing as a beauty of a bounder and baddie! Oliver Reed gets the better of Cushing's Sheriff, Niall McGinnis makes a very good Friar Tuck and Richard Greene IS Little John! For a tale, almost exclusively set in woodlands and forest, that also has the FOREST word in its title, one wonders if actress Sarah BRANCH was cast and chosen, only for the potentially endless publicity and press office premier inches that could be pushed and published using her surname as an endless pun? BRANCH is very good in the feature, but held a held a carear that only lasted just over four years!? Did Hammer and Chairman Sir James only spot the BRANCH potential as the main and valid reason to another money spinner and quickly slapped together another fim poster to collect the backers cash? Nope. Truth is, the business  and Hollywood has been churning out  Robin Hood films for actually MORE than a century. And Sword of Sherwood Forest, is certainly one of my personal favorites!

SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST is a film from an era, where movies where 'crafted' for the family. No gallons of gore or huge and cavernous miles deep cleavage, to fall into here! You would think, the attraction of such a film of such qualities, would be well passed. BUT just two weeks ago, PCAS offered up SEVEN copies of the Twilight Time remastered blu ray as sponsored prizes in a VERY well supported competition. This gives a fair indication, that Robin and his Merry Men are still very popular. And in THIS EXCELLENT transfer of the feature film, which is typical of the standard of quality we have come to expect from Twilight Time and Sony, the release looks very good indeed! 

SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST was directed by Hammer film icon Terence Fisher, who was well prepared and knew exactly how best to present all the 'key Hood' moments, having also directed many of the television series episode, that also starred Richrad Greene as Robin. It looks delicious, having been shot in Technicolor and makes the most of the luscious green forests, fern, flora and fauna of the Irish location, having been shot in beautiful Enniskery, County Wicklow. 

VISION

FOR ALL THOSE who mull of the technical pickings of screen size and frames, this 2.35:1 Megascope production is bang on, properly framed. The visuals in that frame, well meet the standards we have come to expect from Twilight Time, who in the past have brought us other Peter Cushing classics like Hammer films 'The Hound Of The Baskervilles' (1959)  and Amicus films 'THE SKULL' (1965) this transfer is immaculate! The colours are VIBRANT and do justice to the magnificent scenery, that both Fisher and cinematographer Ken Hodges were working to capture on the big screen. Hodges also worked with Fisher on the TV series. 

ABOVE: SEVEN LUCKY WINNERS of our TWILIGHT TIME PCAS competition last month!

SOUND

THE SOUNDTRACK on the disc comes as a  DTS HD-MA mono track, which presents dialogue clearly, with no drop out, hiss or bassey muffle. Even though in mono, the music composed by Alun Hoddinott, as in ALL Hood films and particulary the UK tv series, sounds terific. is as good as it could be, with clear dialogue throughout, supporting the clanking and thrashing of duels and sword fights very well. All of this drama, sometimes takes a break and presents Alan-a-Dale played by Denis Lotis singing and yodeling, medieval melodies with harp, flute and his mandolin! Charming! English SDH subtitles are available. 

EXTRAS

IN THE PAST, Twilight Time extras have included, documentaries, galleries, trailers and posters. This release offers a very nice isolated music and effects track. Which personally, would always get my vote, over endless talking heads of types who weren't even breathing when the film was released, let alone a twinkle in some daddy's eye! Also included is the theatrical for the film and the very nice thought of a short but appreciative glossy brochure / booklet on the film.

FOLLOWERS who are interested in purchasing it can skip along to the Twilight Time website or the Screen Archives website to order their copy. A GREAT watch for the family at Christmas.

 

YOU REVIEW: MILL CREEK REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN DISAPPOINTMENT

THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN: Part of a TWO Hammer film package, with The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, released on blu ray by Mill Creek Entertainment September 2016. Mill Creek's double feature is currently the only way to own these films on BLU RAY:  They can be purchased  HERE

 *Deep, heavy sigh*

Where as Mill Creek Entertainment's blu ray release of The Gorgon I felt looked incredible for it's age and found very few flaws with the look and sound of the film, Revenge of Frankenstein looks as if it had been strained through a dirty wet sock. What a shame, for it is one of the better sequels, in the Hammer films Frankenstein series. Picking up precisely where The Curse of Frankenstein left off, Revenge is a brilliant journey into the twisted genius of Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his machinations to reanimate a human life. Peter Cushing's performance is immaculate and his snark and slight tinge of madness portrayal of Frankenstein is among his finest.

That being said...

This blu ray looks awful. I mean if you told me that this was transferred from a used VHS tape, I wouldn't be hard pressed to believe you. Let's start with the egregious amount of scratches, dirt and vertical lines that mar this 58 year old film. Remember those awful film reels you used to have to watch in high school back in the day?  Well, it's not THAT bad, but the mere fact that I am using that as an example of how to represent the disrespect this transfer is to the film should show you how much of a lost opportunity this is and it's distracting to the enjoyment of viewing the film on this format. When the Columbia Pictures opening came up I let out an audible "Uh-oh." I knew I was in for a challenging viewing of Revenge of Frankenstein. Still, I adore this film and it's always a pleasure to revisit it but it deserves better. Much better.

Now, on to the color quality of this release. There isn't any. It's so diluted through the ravages of time that everything looks washed out. Peter's crystal blue eyes withstanding, it looks as if this was put through a soft filter with an eraser. Where in The Gorgon's colors popped, watching Revenge feels like someone turned off the color hue setting on my television. The 1.66:1 Aspect Ratio doesn't assist this situation in any way and may have been yet another hindrance to this struggling release. Also, the 25g blu ray as opposed to the normal 50g capacity blu ray further recedes the films chances of a successful viewing. If a character moves too fast on screen it gets blurry. That should never happen. I am not going to go into the sound as it is mono and was recorded as such in 1958. There's nothing any one can do about that and for what it is it sounds just fine.

I don't want to blame Mill Creek Entertainment for this transfer but I have to wonder if they a) did the best that they could do with the quality of the print they had access to or b) didn't try at all. With how incredible The Gorgon looked I am going to go by faith and choose answer A. However, I will be keeping an eye on the quality of any future releases along with the two films I have yet to watch from the Double Features. So Mill Creek is currently batting 500. They need to keep an eye on quality control on the text of the blu ray covers (Curese instead of Curse on Curse of The Mummy's Tomb and Gorgan instead of Gorgon.) However, I do look forward to any future Hammer releases from them.

The YOU REVIEW feature: All YOU REVIEW features are complete and unedited  written reviews  independently submitted by followers of the Peter Cushing Appreciation Society , it's website and Facebook Fan Page. The opinions here in, are solely the authors and are shared here with the purpose and intent of providing a guide to dvd's and blu rays recently released featuring the work of Peter Cushing.  All viewing equipment used for the reviews is domestic and typical of the range of players and tv monitors used in a domestic viewing environment.

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YOU REVIEW: MILL CREEK THE GORGON : SCOTT JONES

The YOU REVIEW feature: All YOU REVIEW features are complete and unedited  written reviews  independently submitted by followers of the Peter Cushing Appreciation Society , it's website and Facebook Fan Page. The opinions here in, are solely the authors and are shared here with the purpose and intent of providing a guide to dvd's and blu rays recently released featuring the work of Peter Cushing.  All viewing equipment used for the reviews is domestic and typical of the range of players and tv monitors used in a domestic viewing environment.

Mill Creek Entertainment's Hammer Films Double Feature: The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll and The Gorgon : Theatrical Release: 1964 : Blu Ray Release Date: 09/06/16 Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen Duration: 84 Minutes Featuring: Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee Directed By: Terence Fisher

"The only thing wrong with "The Gorgon" is the gorgon!" Sir Christopher Lee

While Sir Christopher Lee's humorous quote above isn't 100% accurate, he does make a very valid point in regards to this film. The Gorgon is a 1964 Hammer release and by all accounts it is a top tier Hammer film. Gloriously shot and directed by Terence Fisher, A Hammer stalwart, it has a  vibrant color palate, beautifully rendered matte paintings and the workman like professionalism of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee's performances are, as always, standouts. However, in saying that the special effects budget could have been given a significant boost to make The Gorgon a perfect Hammer film. The reveal of Megeara at the conclusion of the third act is almost laughable. Cheaply designed wigs and rubber snakes on wires can only go so far to terrorize a viewer. Up to that point the film is fantastically creepy and it maintains it's pace at a steady rate. If only it wasn't for that reveal. I am laughing whilst typing this.I believe this is one of the few, if only in fact, of Hammer's films steeped in Greek mythology. Overall, it works and is a nice departure from the two 'bigs' of the Hammer world Dracula and Frankenstein.

Enough about the quality of the film itself and story. This is a review of the Mill Creek Entertainment Blu Ray release for Hammer Films Double Features. This particular collection contains The Gorgon and The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll. I must admit I have yet to watch The Two Faces of Dr. Jeckyll, but will remedy that soon enough. I would like to preface this review by reminding the reader that this film was released in 1964 on a budget of approximately 150,000 English pounds. A preposterously low budget even for the times.  This release is in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio so the entire screen of your television will be taken up by the film, no black bars. I don't know if a better aspect ratio would have assisted the film in it's tightness but to my eyes I felt it looked marvelous. The colors pop, detail is incredible and for being recorded in Mono the music is frightening and beautiful while the dialogue is easily heard and not muddled.

One problem I had was the obvious difference in film quality between the set shots (which are vibrant and clear) to the "day for night" shots which are grainy and hard to see. However, I have only ever seen this film previously on television from horrible prints and bad resolution so Mill Creek, in my mind, did a bang up job of cleaning this film up as best they could. Again, for a 52 year old low budget horror film, it really comes to life on blu ray. I believe if Mill Creek would have gone for a higher bit rate, say 50m as opposed to 25m and made the disc a dual layer it may have  made some difference but I am not technologically inclined enough o make that a 100% true statement. There are no bonus features or subtitles but for the cost, less than $10 for two classic horror films on a budget release blu ray, I see no problem with this in any way.

Peter Cushing (Dr. Namaroff) is amazing in this film, as usual, his professionalism overcomes the quality and or price tag for any film he appears in. Funnily enough, I found Christopher Lee's character (Prof. Karl Meister) to be the comic relief! "Ill? You must have been in your grave and dug your way out!" Don't use long words, Inspector; they don't suit you." The supporting characters are all well played and I was never distracted by any kind of overacting. My problems with the gorgon herself (a very scary looking Prudence Hyman) are merely aesthetic. When she appears in long shots or in reflection she is certifiably frightful. If only if it wasn't for the final reveal. $1,000 more dollars and they could have fixed it, but I have heard that the production had literally run out of money by that point and boy does it show.

So, overall, well done Mill Creek! I have been waiting for years for a decent quality release of The Gorgon and now I have one. We should count ourselves lucky that we as fans have access to these films at all, let alone released on blu ray.

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