{"id":24233,"date":"2020-12-09T10:41:30","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T18:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=24233"},"modified":"2020-12-16T17:56:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T01:56:40","slug":"review-curse-of-frankenstein-bluray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2020\/12\/review-curse-of-frankenstein-bluray\/","title":{"rendered":"The Curse of Frankenstein: Two-Disc Special Edition: Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Curse of Frankenstein<\/em><\/strong> isn\u2019t one of the great monster horror movies, even amongst the ones by Hammer Films, but I do appreciate taking a different turn of the classic story with Peter Cushing giving it his all to portraying a more unique version.<\/p>\n

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The Curse of Frankenstein
\n<\/span>\u2014 Two-Disc Special Edition | Warner Archive Collection \u2014
\n(1957)<\/span>
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Genre(s): <\/strong>Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy<\/span>
\nWarner Archive | NR \u2013 83 min. \u2013 $21.99 | December 15, 2020<\/span><\/p>\n

Date Published:<\/strong> 12\/09\/2020 | Author:<\/strong> The Movieman<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Directed by: <\/strong>Terence Fisher
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Jimmy Sangster (screenplay)
\nCast: <\/strong>Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart, Christopher Lee<\/span><\/p>\n

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DISC INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Features: <\/strong>Audio Commentary, Featurettes, Theatrical Trailer
\nSlip Cover: <\/strong>No
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>No
\nFormats Included: <\/strong>Blu-ray
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>2<\/span><\/p>\n
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Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 1.85\/1.66, Full Frame 1.37
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>49.27 GB
\nTotal Bitrate: <\/strong>39.33 Mbps
\nCodecs: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A, B, C<\/span><\/p>\n
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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
\nThe opinions I share are my own.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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THE MOVIE \u2014 3\u00bd\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Plot Synopsis: <\/strong>Victor Frankenstein (PETER CUSHING) is a brilliant scientist willing to stop at nothing in his quest to reanimate a deceased body. After alienating his longtime friend and partner, Paul Krempe (ROBERT URQUHART), with his extreme methods, Frankenstein assembles a hideous creature (CHRISTOPHER LEE) out of dead body parts and succeeds in bringing it to life. But the monster is not as obedient or docile as Frankenstein expected, and it runs amok, resulting in murder and mayhem.<\/p>\n

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Quick Hit Review: The Curse of Frankenstein<\/em><\/strong> was Hammer Films debut into the gothic horror game that spawned several sequels and ushered in other classic monster horror films such as Dracula<\/em> and The Mummy<\/em>. As for the movie itself, it\u2019s not exactly perfect as some of the dialogue is trite or repetitive (several times Robert Urquhart\u2019s Paul reiterates his disapproval for what Frankenstein is doing), but there\u2019s a fun, entertaining element to the film and a different way to tell the story, here Baron Victor Frankenstein is a downright sociopath than seen before.<\/p>\n

I also liked Peter Cushing\u2019s portrayal of the character showing his path to madness (though Cushing pretty much is fantastic in any of the monster horror flicks and his numerous outings as Van Helsing). In addition, funny to see Christopher Lee in a dialogue-free role as The Creature. Not exactly a memorable performance, but the make-up, albeit a tad campy, was fun.<\/p>\n

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The film was directed by Hammer Films go-to guy, Terence Fisher who would go on to helm Horror of Dracula<\/em>, The Revenge of Frankenstein<\/em> (sequel to Curse<\/em><\/strong>), The Mummy<\/em>, The Brides of Dracula<\/em> and numerous other in the monster horror genre.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 4\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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This two-disc set is housed in a standard Blu-ray case. The second disc contains new featurettes.<\/p>\n

Disc One:
\n<\/strong>Audio Commentary<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Film Historians Constantine Nasr and Steve Haberman. Both of them have recorded commentaries on other Hammer Horror films, many released through Shout Factory. Track is available for both the 1.85 and 1.66 versions.<\/p>\n

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Disc Two:
\n<\/strong>1.37:1 \u201cOpen-Matte\u201d Version<\/u><\/strong> is available to watch. Interesting one to include here, especially for completists interested in the technological side of the film.<\/p>\n

The Resurrection Men: Hammer, Frankenstein and the Rebirth of the Horror Film (21:51)<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Examines how Hammer Films injected the popularity of the horror genre beginning with The Curse of Frankenstein<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Hideous Progeny: The Curse of Frankenstein<\/em> and the English Gothic Tradition (22:49)<\/u><\/strong> looking the style and design behind the film.<\/p>\n

Torrents of Light: The Art of Jack Asher (15:14)<\/u><\/strong> is a profile on the cinematographer and how he lights his films.<\/p>\n

Diabolus in Musica: James Bernard and the Sound of Hammer Horror (17:05)<\/u><\/strong> on the scores composed by Bernard on the various films within the studio. Includes an interview with composer Christopher Drake (worked on various DC Animated features).<\/p>\n

Theatrical Trailer (2:19)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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VIDEO \u2013 4\u00bd\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases The Curse of Frankenstein<\/em><\/strong> onto Blu-ray which has been given a new 1080p high-definition transfer which was taken from a new 4K scan. You get two choices for the aspect ratios, the first is 1.85 and the other is 1.66 (an open matted 1.33 option is available on the special features disc). Whichever you choose, the picture looks quite good, detail is fairly nice though not as defined compared with other releases, however, the original film grain has thankfully been retained. However, colors are pretty vibrant and I didn\u2019t really notice any apparent dust marks, scratches or other damage to the film elements.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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AUDIO \u2013 4\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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The movie comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track. As with many of these older, remastered films, you\u2019re not going to get incredible depth though dialogue and James Bernard\u2019s great score does come across with fine clarity with no discernible hissing or popping and the levels overall were well balanced.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 4\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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The Curse of Frankenstein<\/em><\/strong> isn\u2019t one of the great monster horror movies, even amongst the ones by Hammer Films, but I do appreciate taking a different turn of the classic story with Peter Cushing giving it his all to portraying a more unique version of Frankenstein and the story as a whole was entertaining. This two-disc Blu-ray release from the Warner Archive Collection offers up solid transfers and a good selection of bonus material.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers<\/strong>.
\nThese are only here to give an idea of the movie\u2019s video quality and may not be truly representative of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Curse of Frankenstein<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Curse of Frankenstein isn\u2019t one of the great monster horror movies, even amongst the ones by Hammer Films, but I do appreciate taking a different turn of the classic story with Peter Cushing giving it his all to portraying a more unique version.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,970],"tags":[783,4357,4101,2887],"class_list":["post-24233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","category-quick-hit-reviews","tag-christopher-lee","tag-frankenstein","tag-peter-cushing","tag-warner-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24233"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24294,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24233\/revisions\/24294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}