6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
In England, a young American falls in love with the sister of a sadistic and lecherous motorcycle gang leader who despises the American. The couple takes refuge from the gang leader's harassment in a cave where they discover a group of children, who are the result of an experiment by a scientist seeking to develop a race of humans capable of surviving an atomic blast.
Starring: Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Viveca Lindfors, Alexander Knox, Oliver Reed (I)Horror | 100% |
Drama | 9% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English: LPCM Mono
LPCM on Original British cut
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region B (A, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This version of this film is available as part of Hammer Volume Four: Faces of Fear.
Powerhouse Films has already delighted fans of a certain iconic British studio with Hammer Volume One: Fear Warning!, Hammer Volume Two: Criminal Intent and Hammer Volume Three: Blood & Terror, all of which offered an admittedly
sometimes
odd grabbag of films. This fourth volume of offerings from Hammer is itself kind of an odd grabbag of sorts, with two more “traditional”
Hammer opuses, at least in terms of offering a recognizable genre character like Frankenstein and/or Dr. Jekyll, included with two other, more
contemporary,
outings that at least may arguably offer some Gothic content in their own way.
Note: Powerhouse provided only check discs for purposes of this review.
The Damned is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Powerhouse's Indicator imprint with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 2.35:1. Since I'm
working from check discs without the benefit of any supporting documentation, I can't include any verbiage from Powerhouse about the transfer, other
than their website's statement that this release sports a "2K restoration" (there's no specification as to whether this refers to both versions). While Disc
One offers the film with two different titles, other than the credits sequence, there's no difference. Disc Two offers the shorter original UK theatrical
version, but if there are any major differences in actual video quality, they escaped my eyes. For those interested screenshots 1 through 20 are from
the longer cuts on Disc One, while screenshots 21 through 25 are from the shorter original UK version, and I've attempted to come close to duplicating
frames on at least a couple of them so that those interested can do side by side comparisons. Arthur Grant's black and white cinematography is
generally very well rendered here, with some excellent fine detail in close-ups and an engagingly organic looking grain field throughout the
presentations. Clarity is generally excellent throughout as well, but a couple of location shots, notably a scene with Simon's boat and some later
cliffside material, can look just slightly washed out. There are occasional slight deficits in shadow detail in some of the darker "cave" scenes. Some of
the compositing is almost comically bad (see screenshots 20 and 25).
Kind of interestingly, Disc One features DTS-HD Master Audio Mono and Disc Two features LPCM Mono, but I didn't notice any huge differences between the two tracks (it's maybe arguable that the DTS-HD Master Audio track has a bit more in the midrange, but not by much if at all). There's a just very slight brashness to the upper registers that can make some of the cues in James Bernard's score utilizing higher frequencies sound a tad bright, but dialogue and actual sound effects are full bodied and sound fine. There are some good changes in general ambience when the film ventures from outside to the cloistered environment of the bunker where the kids are being held.
This comes as a two disc release which is a bit confusedly listed as an exclusive to the box set, since from what I'm gleaning the film is only available
as part of the box set, anyway. In any case, the contents of each disc are as follows:
Disc One
- Shirley Anne Field: Looking in the Right Place (1080p; 10:05)
- David Palmer, Kit Williams, and Christopher Witty: Children of 'The Damned' (1080p; 23:16) is a fun piece with some of the now middle aged performers who were among the kids in the film.
- Evan Jones: Something Out of Nothing (1080p; 6:36) features the film's writer, who got his first feature film credit with this piece.
- Anthony Heller: Smoke Screen (1080p; 11:22) features the film's camera operator.
- Gavrik Losey: Beneath the Surface (1080p; 25:37) offers some interesting thoughts from director Joseph Losey's son.
- I Q Hunter: Beyond Black Leather (1080p; 14:20)
- Neil Sinyard: No Future (1080p; 25:29)
The Damned is in some ways unlike any other Hammer film, even some that have a perceived science fiction bent. This is a film with a message, but for me personally, that message encounters some significant detours due to both the structure of the film and some of the interrelationships that are delved into. Still, this is a fascinating viewing experience, and one which is presented with generally solid technical merits and an outstanding slate of supplements. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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