The Absolutely Diabolical Hammer Films Thread - Page 4

bibmcfeck · 13-04-2006, 15:59

Has anyone else had any problems with the double disc AB Devil Rides Out/Rasputin set?

It's the first of the doubles I've bought. Started watching TDRO last night and immediately encountered a problem. At around the 3m 20s mark as Christopher Lee walks through the hall to enter the room where the society are the disc freezes then jumps a second or two forward to him reaching the door

I've tried it on my Samsung HD950 (where the issue was first noticed), my Philips player in the bedroom and my DVD-ROM but the problem is still there. I can't see anything apparent on the disc either. Is this a known issue or do I have a duffer?

I've yet to watch the rest of the film or Rasputin so that's the only problem I've noticed so far.

John Hodson · 13-04-2006, 16:16

Several Hammer titles from AB suffered from 'disc rot'; I can't remember TDRO being mentioned but Rasputin was notorious. Of course, you could just have a rogue disc (and the discs in the double sets are exactly the same as the single releases) - I've got TDRO and there's no problem here.

Jeffrey K · 13-04-2006, 17:08

The only case of disc rot I've experienced is with the ABUS disc of The Witches. After sitting on my shelf for several years, it wouldn't load on any machine I tried, so I ditched it and bought the double disc set. I found no problems with the new disc, although it most certainly came from the same pressing as the original.

There have been reports of bum discs of Frankenstein Created Woman and The Devil Rides Out, although it seems that not all discs of each title are affected.

bibmcfeck · 13-04-2006, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffrey K

The only case of disc rot I've experienced is with the ABUS disc of The Witches. After sitting on my shelf for several years, it wouldn't load on any machine I tried, so I ditched it and bought the double disc set. I found no problems with the new disc, although it most certainly came from the same pressing as the original.

There have been reports of bum discs of Frankenstein Created Woman and The Devil Rides Out, although it seems that not all discs of each title are affected.

OK thanks. Can't be bothered sending it back to DVD Pacific to be honest. I'll see what Rasputin is like and go from there. Might buy another copy and hopefully hit it lucky

Nebiroth · 13-04-2006, 17:17

Yep I had a defective copy of The Witches as well. Frankenstein Created Woman was also notorious for developing this serious case of rot (it was caused by a defective lacquer used in the manufacture process afaik). I think Rasputin was another one. Not heard of The Devil Rides Out going west though...

It's surprising that a disc in the double sets should be affected, since the problem was limited to the initial pressings - Anchor Bay had new batches made for the replacement discs, and the doubles were released a long time after that.

But this problem causes the disc to be totally unplayable; it goes a deep brown colour and won't even load.

It also happened after about 12-18 months. Any disc that was going to go bad would already have gone that way.

filmandtvman · 13-04-2006, 20:07

Apparently it occurred with every copy of FCW and Anchor Bay's rights to the title lapsed before the problem came to light.
I did not realise about The Witches until a few weeks ago and disovered mine was a duffer.
Had to get the double bill with Prehistoric Women to get a replacement.
My Rasputin was bought on its intitial release and was fine up until I sold it a few months ago and replaced it with the UK Hammer box set.as was my DRO which was only replaced by the German disc a few months ago.

Nebiroth · 14-04-2006, 13:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by filmandtvman

Apparently it occurred with every copy of FCW and Anchor Bay's rights to the title lapsed before the problem came to light..

No - I have a copy of FCW, the double pack which also had The Seven Golden Vampires and it is just fine. These were issued at the end of 2003.

AFAIK Anchor Bay had the disc pressed a second time to provide stock for replacements to go out to everyone who'd bought the title, and also used for the double disc packs.

But I believe that every disc in the first pressing did go bad, same for The Witches.

I sent my copy of The Witches in and they sent me a new one about a year ago! Just because it's OOP doesn't mean they have none. They just can't sell them.

It bounced around a bit because Anchor Bay's returns address was out of date and they no longer use the company based in Santa Monica they ask you to send things back to! They were the firm that did the original pressings so I imagine AB dropped them after that debacle.

But I got it eventually!

As I say, AFAIK and disc that was going to go bad due to the major "rot" problem would already have gone that way. It was down to a manufacture error, the lacquer used inevitably caused the entire metal data layer to oxidise into unreadability, uniformly over the whole disc. They turned dark brown!

suestorm · 14-04-2006, 19:46

My "Frankenstein Created Woman" went bad.
But I recorded it off Film Four to dvd and have not bothered buying it commercially since.
I got The Witches/Prehistoric Women set,but PW is letterboxed and awful.
Anchor Bay also had similar problems with the Dario Argento OPERA release,and another whose title escapes me

Mike · 14-04-2006, 23:19

I watched the Warners R2 of "Dracula Prince of Darkness" this morning and was quite pleased with how it looked. Edge enhancement galore in places but otherwise not bad at all. The film, as ever, left me vaguely unsatisfied. It starts beautifully but loses pace and the use of Thorley Walters is disastrously misjudged. I've always wondered why they didn't make more of the blood communion scene as well - censorship restraints one imagines.

John Hodson · 15-04-2006, 08:19

I haven't got this yet; I'm waiting patiently on an anamorphic version - maybe when AB re-releases that Hammer collection?

BTW, anyone fancy the AB R1 To The Devil a Daughter for £3.36 plus shipping? Get yourself over to DVD Pacific

Nebiroth · 15-04-2006, 09:30

That's one of the Warner/Studio Canal ones that went OOP recently here in the UK I think, though it seems to be in stock in plenty of stores.

I don't think there's anything to make the r1 preferable over the r2, excluding the extras which are non-existant in the UK one!

As I recall, it was pretty much hated by Lee and Wheatley because it's almost unrecognisable to anyone who has read the book (whereas The Devil Rides Out is quite faithful)

Mike · 15-04-2006, 09:36

It's a good creepy devil movie though, with Chris Lee in top form. Interesting because it doesn't seem like a Hammer movie somehow. It's got a contemporary, disturbing edge which usually eluded them.

Jeffrey K · 15-04-2006, 17:08

I love the first hour or so of To the Devil a Daughter. It has an agreeably queasy atmosphere and an offbeat approach. Shame about the climax, though.

Nebiroth · 15-04-2006, 17:18

...and the distracting humming sound in the background is induced by Mr Wheatley spinning in his grave at extremely high velocities...!

To all accounts he absolutely hated what was done to his story.

I always thought it was a pity that Hammer didn't produce the "sequel" to The Devil Rides Out as a film; Strange Conflict is a great book and features the same characters. Christopher Lee makes a wonderful Duc de Richleau.

Though I suppose that at the time, they would have been faced with making major cuts to the story or an nigh-impossible special effects requirement.

Though today the story would be relatively starightforward to do. The battles on the astral plane would certainly be rather fun.

R-T-C · 15-04-2006, 17:42

Strange Conflict is an interesting story, but it includes an excursion to the Carribean that might well have been beyond the budget of the studio, and the distain de Richleau shows for the negro characters might well have been outmoded even by the 1960s. More interesting might be 'The Haunting of Toby Jugg' - this interesting paranoia > horror film fits the standard Hammer format quite well, a few characters for most of the run-time but with a nice big ending.

On the topic of Wheatley, am I the only one who sensed his air in Hammers impressive 'Kiss of the Vampire' (1964) - the whole film, especially the Deus ex Machina ending, had a very Wheatley-esque feel to it.

Nebiroth · 16-04-2006, 15:00

Unfortunately, Mr Wheatley's prejudices were reflected in those of his characters.

For example, his views towards non-whites and his tendancy to link physical deformities or ugliness with evil (in The Devil Rides Out he notes that the followers of the Left Hand Path are obvious because they've got hare-lips, missing arms and in Mocata's case are grossly overweight and so on. The film is rather better. Hammer made the point of making it's evil figures attractive)

R-T-C · 16-04-2006, 15:32

Look too at the conservative right wing undertones in the character's speeches. I'm sure that one of the books equates Satanism and Communism.
I guess we are just seeing the effects of a 60 year difference in opinions, who knows, in 60 years time, books by people like Dan Brown might be seen as horribly outdated and politically incorrect.

Has anyone read the Dennis Wheatley book 'Uncharted Seas' (inspiration for The Lost Continent (1968)) - I'm guessing it is very different to the film, but how much?

bibmcfeck · 14-05-2006, 16:03

Bought a second copy of TDRO/Rasputin. TDRO still sticks then jumps slightly at the same point so it must be a manufacturing issue.

What a cracking film it still is though. Pacy, exciting, great cast. Really holds up well after nearly 40 years

Raigmore · 14-05-2006, 19:16

Val Guest directed 3 Hammer TV movies in the mid-80s.
1. In Possession
2. Mark of the Devil
3. Child's Play (This is completely different from the feature films with the same name)

All 3 are very good with very unusal themes. I particulalry like "In Possession" even though it has the irritable Carol Lynley in it.

bibmcfeck · 14-05-2006, 20:07

Are you following me?