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Released by: All Day Entertainment
Released on: 7/24/2001
Director: Various
Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Oliver Reed, Nastassja Kinski, Raquel Welch, and many more.
Year: Various
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The Movie:
All Day Entertainment has released a few really cooltrailer compilations over the last year or two, and The Horror of Hammer stands out as one of their best.
A hodge podge of promo spots for the studio that dripped blood, the Horror of Hammer is a grossly entertaining and interesting package containing almost two hours worth of some of the coolest trailers ever assembled on one disc.
All the classics are represented nicely here, from Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, and To The Devil A Daughter, as well as some of their lesser known sci-fi entries like X The Unknown.
But hands down the best trailers on the DVD are the ones for their series of caveman adventure films like 1,000,000 Years B.C. and The Prehistoric Women. They just don't make'em like that anymore, and I would have loved to have been able to see this type of stuff on the big screen back in the day.
It's also worth noting some of the interesting guest appearances that happened throughout the Hammer days, like William Castle showing up in trailer for The Old Dark House, or a young Oliver Reed in Curse of the Werewolf.
And of course, Lee and Cushing are very well represented here, with a good chunk of the selection devoted, and justly so, to their efforts.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The trailers range from beat up to near mint on this DVD, so it's difficult to really grade the quality, but it's very watchable, as long as you don't mind the grain and specs that are common on most older trailer reels.
The Dolby Digital mono track isn't going to impress you if you're looking for a surround sound demo disc, but it's fine overall for what this is. Dialogue is hissy and poppy sometimes, but it doesn't really detract from the presentation.
Not only is there a nice set of liners included on this release that lists out the trailers in order they're presented, but there's a few bonus TV spots and promotional spots as well. To round it all off, All Day has had a pair of Hammer experts provide commentary over the entire thing. Ted Newsom, Gary H. Smith, and Stuart Galbraith IV all speak at length over the compilation and provide a wealth of information about the studio and it's cast and crew members. It's an informative track that's definitely worth listening to.
The Final Word:
There's tons of fun to be had on this disc for the Hammer fan in your house and the extras are worthwhile as well.