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Sony’s Icons of Horror Hammer Film Collection
© Sony Pictures

Mania Grade: C
DVD: Icons of Horror: Hammer Films (2-Disc)
Rating: Unrated
Starring: Paul Massie, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Oliver Reed, Jeanne Roland, Susan Strasberg
Written By: Wolf Mankowitz, Michael Carreras, Jimmy Sangster, John Gilling
Directed By: Terence Fisher, Michael Carreras, Seth Holt
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Original Year of Release: 2008
Extras: Original Trailers

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DVD Review of Icons of Horror: Hammer Films (2-Disc)

By: Robert T. Trate
Review Date: Friday, October 10, 2008

Hammer Studios is notorious for being known as the studio that dripped blood. Their full color Gothic tales and scantily clad women were all the rage after Universal’s movie monsters ran their course. The studios flourished for a long time turning out endless sequels featuring Dracula, Doctor Frankenstein and the like. Their mark can clearly be seen in Tim Burton’s work and his films Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd. Both of which are clearly stylized after Hammer Films. Warner Brothers has released multiple copies of Hammer Films on DVD and has even collected many of them in a box set called the Hammer Classics Collection. Not all Hammer Films were distributed by Warner Brothers though. There are few like Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell that were released by Paramount. Universal released their collection of Hammer Films in the Hammer Horror Series in 2005. Now Sony Pictures for Halloween has released the Icons of Horror: Hammer Films Collection. This two disc collection includes: The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960), The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964), Scream of Fear (1961), The Gorgon (1964).

For those of you that love Hammer Films, this collection is for the completist. The Gorgon and The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll are directed by Hammer (and James Bond) alumni Terrence Fisher. Fitting for the Hammer enthusiast as well is the fact that Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing star or co-star in at least three of the four titles. If your blood runs the same color as all Hammer Films then this collection is a necessity.

For the occasional Hammer fan or for a fan of horror these stories will disappoint. The blood, the beauties and the monsters are few and far between. Each of these titles plays out as if they are melodramas with this strange little monster attached. The blood and the gore do not run rampant and the women are not on par with what one would expect in a Hammer Film.

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll takes the classic Robert Louis Stevenson story and tries to turn the duality of man around. Jekyll becomes a beautiful monster with a seditious violent streak. To Paul Massie’s credit he plays both parts really well. It is unfortunate that the only difference is a beard and a set of heavy eyebrows. Hammer’s best attempt at Stevenson’s classic came when they did Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971). It was a lot more fun and thought provoking. For Christopher Lee fans he actually plays something other than the monster or the bad guy in the film. It is a great treat to see him as the drunken love interest. Look for Oliver Reed (The Curse of the Werewolf ) as the bar bouncer in a small part.

The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb had a clever twist to it and featured an additional villain besides the title character. However, the love story played too much at the center of the plot. Jeanne Roland’s accent made her inaudible and her death just couldn’t come soon enough. Terrance Morgan did steal much of the film with his character. If it wasn’t for the mystery behind who he was and his connection to the Mummy, the film would have been an outright bore.

The Gorgon packed a lot of promise in being a classic Hammer Film in its first few minutes. There was the girl, the gothic feel, an instant murder to get things going and two scientists trying to figure it all out played by Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Again Lee isn’t the bad guy in this tale but more of an academic Sherlock Holmes who comes to the aid of a friend. There are few red herrings in The Gorgon but again this film suffers from a prolonged love affair plot. It isn’t Terence Fisher’s worst film and it probably played second bill to one of Hammer’s bigger releases.

Scream of Fear is probably the least Hammer-esque Film in the set. Shot in black and white and packed with many modern film techniques (then they would have been called experimental), it features a wheelchair bound woman (Susan Strasberg) who visits her estranged father. Unfortunately, he is away on business when she arrives but she nonetheless keeps seeing him everywhere late at night. There are a lot of great twists and turns worthy of Alfred Hitchcock in Scream of Fear. Many modern day audiences will appreciate all that goes into this multi layered plot. It is the one gem in this otherwise disappointing collection.

Icons of Horror: Hammer Films by Sony Pictures is for the Hammer Film completist. If curiosity gets the better of you then I recommend renting the set. Scream of Fear delivers but not in the same vein as the classic Hammer Films. It runs great with fear just not the blood that Hammer fans have come to appreciate.

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