BACK IN 1957 in the Hammer film ‘The Curse of Frankenstein' Peter Cushing with flare, brings a body BACK TO LIFE! Fast forward to December 2020 and Warner Brothers Archive Collection, with a superb 4K remastering RESURRECTS this 63 year old classic and iconic Hammer film, into a TWO DISC living cinema legend! It's well and truly breathing and has never looked better, take my word for it, it has MUCH more than a pulse, with a casket busting full of extras.
THE PLOT: THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN: HAMMER FILMS (1957)
The Curse of Frankenstein chronicles the misadventures of Victor
Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) as he relates to a priest the events that culminate in his
current predicament. At a young age, his mother passes, and he inherits
his family's fortune, which he uses to hire Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart) to instruct him
in the medical sciences. Of sharp intellect, Victor eventually exhausts
Krempe of his knowledge, at which point they become partners in the
pursuit of scientific advancement. But as Victor's dedication to his
project grows, so too grows Krempe's disdain. His unchecked ambition
eventually leads to his demise, as he revives a dead body (The Creature Christopher Lee) but the results are not what he expected. He is executed after being thought
mad by the priest to whom he tells his tale.
AND SO, HERE WE ARE, a day many #Hammerfilm / #PeterCushng fans in the US thought, would never arrive. 'The Curse of Frankenstein' has finally made it's way State-side, with a Region A Blu-ray release. Again, there is much to celebrate in this release, it's a package that maintains the standards of the Warner Team previous Hammer blu ray releases, namely 'Dracula AD 1972' 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula' and their Hammer film blu ray box set 'Hammer Horror Classics' back in 2015. There has been something very rewarding about watching ALL of Warner's treatments of these title. After years and years, viewing these films in more often than not, substandard presentations and at times in very disappointing quality. Press play and right away, you'll see the results of Warner Archive Collection, restoration of the film, to its wonderful 4K scans of preserved separated elements!
Warner brings us 'The Curse of Frankenstein' in not just one, but three separate aspect ratios. Disc one presents the film in either 1.85:1 (US theatrical) or 1.66:1 (UK theatrical), while disc two presents the film in 1.37:1 (open matte for TV). Many who protested at the ratio and colour grading of the 2013 Lionsgate Blu Ray, should be MORE than happy with the choices available here. It seems that Warner has given a lot of thought to the reception that the 2013 release received, and given fans a package that should please everyone...
THE VISUALS:
THE COLOUR through-out is rich with a quite variety of hues, really making the most of the the on-set lighting and the use of cinematographer Jack Asher's amazing colour gels. The exterior woodland areas are just like you would expect them to look in a Hammer film, LUSH GREEN and BROWN. The same can be at last said of the colour and detail in Bernard Robertson's set design too. The Baron's home is great evidence how Robertson made the most of every inch of the set, with colours of the furnishings, paintings with hue soaked walls, curtains, here being seen very clearly, and in a selection of ratios for the first time, since the film was viewed back in 1957. The REMASTERING IS impressive!
THE BARON'S lab dances with colour, solid blacks and contrast giving you clear shadows, while subtly creating the atmosphere in places like, the creatures cell, the shadowy corridor to the cell, the Baron's dank lock up in the prologue. Nothing here looks washed out, over exposed or too bright, from what could have been errors or problems in the UK process. It's a 'screen-capture-fan-dream-scape! Every scene looks like a painting! It's all THERE, just as that Hammer crew, headed by Terence Fisher, wanted it to be! It's just taken decades to finally get onto our home cinema screens!
THE AUDIO:
The audio here is presented in English 2.0 mono DTS-HD with optional subtitles
in English SDH. As with most single channel-sourced audio tracks, this
one lacks any real dynamics. But nothing is lost with this audio, as the
film’s original soundtrack is more than exceptable. The dialogue and wild-tracking is very clear. The storms, lab and accompanying sound effects supplement James Bernard’s score, without OTT distorted crashing or overpowering and competing . If you are watching wearing headphones, outside of very mild hiss, this is a
clean soundtrack, that’s free of any dropouts or distortion.
PERSONALLY, one of the very enjoyable experiences in watching all of the Warner Hammer Blu Ray releases has been, spotting things in a viewing, that you have NEVER seen before! Like many out there, I have watched these films many times, but for me screening a much loved Cushing classic, given the Warner Team treatment, presents the feature as a quite different experience... this Curse of Frankenstein Blu Ray, is no exception to that expectation, the film looks and sounds, quite different!
