Postie has arrived with four US Blu-rays including these two Hammer entries.
As many on here will know, shopping for Hammer on Blu-ray requires multi-region capability and some judicious research as superior transfers of certain films can be found in different territories. The UK, USA and Germany all boast a Hammer title or two with superior image quality compared to other territories.
These two US titles are noticeably superior in terms of image quality to their UK counterparts - and I do mean
noticeably!
The UK releases of both these titles came from Lionsgate and neither was ideal, particularly '...Phantom...'.
The UK BD of 'Curse of Frankenstein, whilst a decent restoration and a definite upgrade from the DVD, had a somewhat washed out colour palette and iffy contrast. This is more than rectified by this new version, in a 2 disc set from the always dependable Warner Archive Collection, with noticeably improved contrast levels and gorgeously rich colours. This is due in no small part to Warner making a new 4k scan from the original colour separation elements, and boy does it show! It leaves the UK release looking somewhat anaemic in comparison. Terrible sleeve, but terrific transfer.
Like the UK release the film is presented in three different aspect ratios, reflecting the framing choices for British and overseas markets. However, reluctant double dippers are well catered for by a completely different raft of extras on the US and UK versions, so worth holding onto your UK copy if you're a Hammer aficionado, particularly as the UK extras include a complete Hammer film, 'Four Sided Triangle'.
However the big -nay, MASSIVE- upgrade comes with 'Phantom of the Opera'. The Lionsgate BD was a true botch job with a whacko aspect ratio which lopped information from all four sides of the frame and one of the worst images I've ever seen on a BD. Dark, murky, dull colours and an image that made one think someone had decided to add extra grain to a.dd to the mess
Excuses were made at the time that the negative and all decent prints/interpositives, etc, had been destroyed in a fire at Universal studios and that the BD transfer was prepared from the best available source materials and this was as good as it would ever get, i.e. utter sh*te!
Not true!
While it appears that, alas, the negative has been destroyed, Scream Factory have made a new 2K restoration from an interpositive that literally sparkles in comparison to "the best available source materials" offered up by Lionsgate. The result is nothing short of a revelation. Clarity, brightness and contrast are greatly enhanced with greatly improved black levels and rich, fully saturated, vibrant colours that literally pop, in comparison to the sorry mess of the Lionsgate transfer. And we even have a choice of two aspect ratios for the purists.
This is one I am looking forward to revisiting as I haven't watched it since my one and only viewing of the UK BD which was utterly marred by being distracted by the utterly awful picture quality.
All in all, this new US release wipes the floor with the UK release in no uncertain terms.
Double dippers are well catered for by a substantial raft of new extra features and two audio commentaries not present on the UK disc.