Icons of Horror: Hammer Films (2-disc) (The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb / The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll / Scream of Fear / The Gorgon)

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 10/14/2008

Amazon.com
Though perhaps not as iconic as their Dracula and Frankenstein pictures, this quartet of fright flicks from England's Hammer Films deliver enough Saturday afternoon creature feature thrills to please devotees of the legendary studio's output and vintage horror fans alike. 1964's The Gorgon will be the title to attract the most immediate attention due to the presence of Hammer's biggest stars, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, in its cast, and its most celebrated director, Terence Fisher, behind the camera. It's an atmospheric and offbeat entry in the Hammer canon, with one of its most unusual villains: a snake-haired fiend from Greek mythology who turns men into stone. Cushing and Lee are typically fine (both are on the side of the angels for once), and the picture's sole stumbling block is the lackluster makeup for its monster. Lee is also present in supporting roles in two other films in the collection: Scream of Fear (1961), one of several competent psychological suspense features made by Hammer in the wake of Psycho, with Susan Strasberg as a fragile young woman plagued by terrible visions and a house full of suspicious types; and Fisher's The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960), a revamp of the Stevenson story with Paul Massie as the dour scientist whose personality experiments unleash a virile but unhinged alter ego. Hardcore Hammer aficionados will be thrilled to discover that the DVD version is uncut and preserves much of the (mildly) salacious material trimmed for its release in America under the title House of Fright. The final film on Icons of Horror is Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, with Hammer exec Michael Carreras (son of company founder James Carreras) behind the camera for a featherweight monster romp that doesn't hold a candle to Terence Fisher's Mummy in 1959. Unlike previous Icons of Horror DVDs, the supplemental features here are slim--just the theatrical trailers for each film--though they do offer their own degree of charm, especially the ballyhoo-heavy tone of Mummy and the oddly elegant and unnerving preview for Scream of Fear, which is centered solely around an image of Strasberg's face. --Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Seldom-seen gems from Hammer Studios July 23, 2008
26 out of 34 found this review helpful

With so many acknowledged classics from Hammer Studios already available on DVD, I was beginning to wonder if lesser-known efforts like these would ever be released. In case you may have missed them, here's a bit about the films themselves:

TWO FACES OF DR. JECKYLL is the real gem of the set. Christopher Lee is perfectly cast as the hedonistic friend to Paul Massie's Dr. Jeckyll. Hammer favorite Terence Fisher directs this very adult (for its time) story.

CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB is neither the worst (The Mummy's Shroud) nor best (Blood From the Mummy's Tomb) of Hammer's follow-ups to the 1959 original Mummy. In the worst tradition of Mummy movies, however, it's a pretty dull offering.

THE GORGON is a fine pairing of icons Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and is among Hammer's most expensive-looking productions. The title creature reminds one of the work done by the great Ray Harryhausen.

SCREAM OF FEAR is another seldom-seen thriller, much in the vein of Psycho (Collector's Edition). It's certainly the most realistic of the films in this collection.

While no single film here (with the possible exception of TWO FACES...) really compares to Hammer's best films, there's still plenty of b-grade thrills for fans of films of this type.

4 out of 5 stars

PLUGGING SOME GAPS IN YOUR HAMMER COLLECTION August 5, 2008
11 out of 16 found this review helpful

While Columbia was the most faithful purchaser of Hammer productions--crime films, war films, swashbucklers, even comedies--they didn't get the best of their gothic output, which at this time usually went to Universal-International. The films in this set vary in quality. SCREAM OF FEAR was the first of a long line of psychological thrillers from Hammer. It had a strong cast, led by Christopher Lee and a fine director (Seth Holt) at the helm. It's no PSYCHO, but it does it's job. THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL was the first really problematic Hammer production. Some people loved the idea of a handsome Mr. Hyde, others hated it. Since this is Columbia's package, we will hopefully be seeing the version of the film that Columbia released, not the edited melange that appeared in the U.S. under the utterly silly title HOUSE OF FRIGHT. (And while we're at it, let's hope that all of these films are presented in the letterbox format.) THE GORGON is undoubtedly the best film in the set. It offers Terence Fisher directing at the top of his form and a nifty bad guy turn by Peter Cushing as an asylum director with something to hide. Christopher Lee gets to play the hero of sorts as a grumpy classics professor who knows a little something about Gorgons and how to deal with them. The runt of this litter is definitely THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB. It's very similar to the Universal Mummy films of the 1940s, but it does demonstrate the virtues of Hammer's superior production design and the effectiveness of the roster of fine British character actors they could call upon to flesh out even the most uninspired script.

4 out of 5 stars

Long wait finally The Gorgon! June 28, 2008
8 out of 16 found this review helpful

I've been waiting a long time for The Gorgon to get to DVD. Sorry, but I'm not real familiar with the other 3 movies, but the price of admission is worth it just for The Gorgon IMO. I'm a huge fan of Peter Cushing and The Gorgon is another great movie with him in it. I'll have to do a full review of all of them when I get this, but if you're curious right now, you can check the reviews of the VHS tape of The Gorgon.

5 out of 5 stars

was i wishing or what ? June 25, 2008
7 out of 14 found this review helpful

i can't believe these movies are coming out. i just left a review on the icons of adventure a few days ago hopeing that more would be released.and look whats coming out. i have not seen any hammer films that i did not like. there is just some kind of magic in these films, that once you start watching them , you can't leave the tv set. i guess cause they don't make these kind of films with this kind of feelings like hammer made them.gothic style.

4 out of 5 stars

Icons of Horror:Hammer films (2 disc) July 8, 2008
4 out of 12 found this review helpful

I got Curse of the mummys tomb from Amazon.co.uk and Two faces of Dr Jekyll and The gorgon from ebay. Two faces of Dr Jekyll is Ok but I think Curse of the mummys tomb is the best of this selection.
Scream of fear(a taste of fear) is the only movie in this collection I haven't seen,apparently it has Christopher Lee in it so I might try and get it.

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