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Released by: Synapse Films
Released on: September 11, 2012.
Director: Various
Cast: Various
Year: 1980
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The Series:
When Britain's legendary Hammer Films ceased (at least for the time being) theatrical productions in 1979, making the switch to television probably seemed like a good move and while the fruits of their efforts were short lived, lasting only thirteen episodes, The Hammer House Of Horror was nevertheless a nice continuation of many of the themes and ideas the studio had explored in the glory days of the British horror boom.
While you'd probably assume that the powers that be would tone things down for their foray into the television market, the fact of the matter is that a lot of the material that was churned out for the series was decidedly adult and easily would have earned an R rating had it been released theatrically. It's also worth noting that Hammer was also able to assemble a pretty interesting array of talent to collaborate with producer Roy Skeggs on the series, including one of the studio's most recognizable stars, Peter Cushing.
Tough there wasn't really any continuity between episodes, each of the thirteen stories told here fits nicely under the Hammer banner and the series' influence can certainly be seen on later horror anthology shows geared for a more mature audience, HBO's Tales From The Crypt being a perfect example. Spread over five discs (three episodes a piece on the first four discs, one episode and some extra features on the fifth), Synapse presents the series in its original broadcast order as follows:
Witching Time - A soundtrack composer named David Winter (Jon Finch) works out of his farmhouse where he one night discovers a woman named Lucinda (Patricia Quinn) during a thunderstorm hiding in his stable. Reasonably sure the woman is nuts, David calls his doctor, Charles (Ian McCulloch), to the home to take a look. Soon, Lucinda is making things very difficult for David and his wife Mary (Prunella Gee)…
The Thirteenth Reunion - A journalist named Ruth (Julia Foster) is sent to investigate the miraculous weight loss techniques touted by the Chesterton Slimming Clinic. When she arrives, she befriends a young man named Ben (Warren Clarke) who, shortly after meeting her, dies - presumably from the pill he was given at the clinic. At Ben's funeral, Ruth meets the clinic's janitor (Gerrard Kelly) who fills her in on some nefarious secrets.
Rude Awakening - An estate agent named Norman Shelly (Denholm Elliott) is asked by a Mr. Rayburn (James Laurenson) to appraise a property named Lower Moat Manor. He agrees and becomes terrified while exploring the old home when he hears a voice accuse him of murdering his wife. It turns out to be a nightmare but when he and his foxy young secretary, Lolly (Lucy Gutteridge), start going about their business, nightmare and reality start to collide.
Growing Pains - A scientist named Terrance Morton (Gary Bond) and his wife Laurie (Barbara Kellerman) are devastated when they lose their young son William (Christopher Reilly) after he eats some pills that he found laying around his father's laboratory. To help ease their pain and restore some normalcy to their family unit, they adopt a young man named James (Matthew Blakstad) but upon his arrival it soon becomes obvious he is not who or what he seems.
The House That Bled To Death - Mr. and Mrs. Peters (Nicholas Ball and Rachael David) and their daughter move into a house where strange things start happening - blood drips from the walls, the cat winds up dead, and their daughter, Sophie (Emma Ridley), winds up receiving some knives that tie into the house's past as a strange birthday gift. Obviously whatever happened in the house before the Peters family moved in still has a very, very strong hold.
Charlie Boy - Sarah (Angela Bruce) and her boyfriend Graham (Leigh Lawson) receive from Graham's recently departed uncle a strange African carving that they named Charlie Boy. Once they take possession of the thing, their luck starts to turn sour. From the car accident to the fact that people in a certain photograph are winding up dead, the couple soon realize that this is more than just a wooden doll.
The Silent Scream - An older man named Martin Blueck (Peter Cushing) runs a pet shop where he offers an ex-convict named Chuck (Brian Cox) a job helping him care for the animals - not the puppies and kitties you'd expect but the more dangerous ones that are kept more carefully. Things seem to be going well enough until Chuck notices the safe that the old man keeps on the premises - but Martin is up to something else entirely, something that seems to tie back to the time he spent in a Nazi concentration camp in the Second World War.
Children Of The Full Moon - Married couple Tom (Christopher Cazenove) and Sarah (Celia Gregory) Martin are off for a drive in the quaint English countryside when their car breaks down. They head towards a seemingly abandoned house but soon find that it is inhabited by a Mrs. Ardoy (Diana Dors) who kindly invites them in to spend the night. Later that night they 'think' they're attacked by werewolves but when they wake up in the hospital, they're not quite sure what really happened.
Carpathian Eagle - A homicide detective named Inspector Clifford (Anthony Valentine) arrives at a murder scene to discover a body which has had its heart cut out. He later hears, seemingly by complete coincidence, a historian named Natalie (Suzanna Danielle) interviewed on the radio discussing how centuries ago a countess murdered others the same way. He finds Natalie to learn more who introduces her to the last known relative of the countess who quickly becomes his prime suspect!
Guardian Of The Abyss - An antique mirror with ties to a Satanic cult wins up in the possessions of an antiques dealer named Laura (Barbara Ewing) who picks it up at auction. She lets her friend Michael Roberts (Ray Lonnen) get it appraised, much to the dismay of a man named Simon Andrews (Paul Darrow) who would very much like to buy it from her. When the mirror starts to show the ability to put Mike into a trance like state, however, it seems that maybe they should have sold it to Simon after all - and then a woman named Allison (Rosalyn Landor) who may have escaped from the cult the mirror originally belonged to shows up.
Visitors From The Grave - A mentally disturbed woman named Penny (Kathryn Leigh Scott) is home alone one night when she is attacked by a man who breaks into her home. She finds her shotgun and shoots him dead, her friend Harry (Simon MacCorkindale) later able to identify the body as a man he knows named Charles Willoughby (Stanley Lebor). Since Penny's gun was unlicensed and given that she shouldn't have had it in the first place, she and Harry bury the body in some nearby woods - but soon it seems that Charles may have returned from the grave seeking revenge!
The Two Faces Of Evil - Martin (Gary Raymond) and Janet (Anna Calder-Marshall) Lewis, on vacation with their son (Paul Hawkins), pick up a hitchhiker clad in a yellow rain slick but when he attacks Martin, they wind up in a car wreck. Janet's not in horrible shape but Martin has been injured pretty badly. Surprisingly quickly, however, he shows up at the cottage they were headed to in the first place - but something is off and not quite right about the man she knows as Martin…
The Mark Of Satan - A lowly hospital employee named Edwyn Rord (Peter McEnery) lives with his mother in her home where they rent to a single mother named Stella (Georgina Hale) who lives there with her infant child. When Edwyn becomes obsessed with a man named Mr. Holt who wound up in the morgue after drilling his own brain to deal with the devil he believed had possessed him, things get odd. Edwyn begins to see every usage of the number 9 as some sort of code and begins to suspect that the devil himself is targeting him.
While some of the episodes hold up better than others, by and large the content here is excellent, the right mix of horror and suspense and generally quite well paced and showing some very strong production values. Some interesting actors pop up throughout the series and you can get a fair bit of enjoyment out of the series just from trying to place all of the familiar faces that appear! There's loads of atmosphere throughout the show and plenty of solid tension as well - couple that with some great locations and a really nice sense of classic style and the series is just as enjoyable now as it has ever been.
Video/Audio/Extras:
It's hard to complain about Synapse's 1.33.1 fullframe presentation here, it shows a nice improvement over the previous set that A&E released some time ago. Detail is strong, color reproduction is pretty much perfect and black levels are deep while shadow detail remains pretty good throughout. There are no problems with compression artifacts or nasty edge enhancement and the picture is free from any serious print damage. Skin tones look lifelike and accurate and texture and contrast look nice - the series looks really, really good here. It would have been awesome to see this on Blu-ray, but that didn't happen. With that said, it's hard to imagine the standard definition presentation looking much better than it does here.
The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound on this set is also top notch, offering up clear dialogue and properly balanced levels with no trace of hiss or distortion. The scores used in the various episodes sound nice and the sound effects are mixed in at the appropriate levels. There are no alternate language tracks or subtitles provided.
As far as the extras are concerned, film historian Shane M. Dallmann provides narrated introductions to each of the thirteen episodes contained in this set, offering up some basic facts and trivia for each one and providing some insight into the history of the series along the way. Additionally, we get two interviews here, the first of which is entitled Grave Recollections and is an interview with actress Kathryn Leigh Scott. Here she roughly eight minutes about how she got into the acting business, what it was like working with Dan Curtis and Peter Sasdy and more. The second interview is entitled Hammer Housekeeping and it spends roughly the same amount of time chatting up actress Mia Nadasi, who also happened to be married to Peter Sasdy. She shares some memories of what it was like working with her husband and offers up some stories about working for Hammer Studios. Aside from that, we get some classy menus that offer up episode selection and scene selection and a decent sized still gallery.
The Final Word:
Synapse brings the much beloved Hammer House Of Horror back to DVD in a complete series edition that offers considerably better video quality than past editions have offered and some nice new extras features as well. The series itself is excellent and should make for pretty much an essential purchase for any fan of Hammer horror or British horror in general. Great stuff!
