THE MASTER: The Complete Series (Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review)

USA/1984
Directed By: Various
Written By: Various
Starring: Lee Van Cleef, Timothy Van Patten, Sho Kosugi
Color/624 Minutes/Not Rated
Region A
Release Date: February 20, 2018

The Series
Lee Van Cleef stars as John Peter McAllister, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War who would become the first Occidental ninja, eventually deciding to leave the life of the ninja behind to search for a daughter he previously did not know he had. This was seen was a betrayal by other ninjas including his former student Okasa (Sho Kosugi) who has sworn to kill his former master for his dishonor. McAllister escapes to a small town where he meets a young, headstrong man named Max Keller (Timothy Van Patten) who constantly finds himself in scuffles and fights, commonly leaving the local bar through the front window. McAllister and Keller team up with Keller's pet hamster Henry who hangs out on the dashboard of Keller's van for a road trip adventure to find McAllister's daughter all while he takes on Keller as his new student teaching him the art of the ninja and finding someone to help and plenty of trouble at each stop along the way.

Premiering on January 20, 1984 THE MASTER should have been a perfect fit for its time. The 80s was a decade that loved odd couple buddy mashups like Knight Rider, Magnum PI, and The A-Team and ninjas were never more popular than they were during the 1980s with films like The American Ninja franchise and Enter The Ninja and Return Of The Ninja which both starred Sho Kosugi. But by August of the same year and after only 13 episodes the series was canceled and sadly most of the big plot points that drove the whole show were left unresolved. It's a shame that we didn't get one big final showdown between McAllister and Okasa and McAllister never does meet his daughter and we don't even get to say goodbye to Henry! That's okay, there's still plenty to love in THE MASTER.

Whether our ninja duo is busy fighting a dangerous and corrupt trucking company, or helping save a small town cannery, rescuing hostages or protecting an orphanage there's always a lot of spin kicks, bar fights and ninja magic. Each epsiode is a hour long (more like 48 minutes with the commercials removed) cheese fest. The best scenes of the series are those in which Sho Kosugi is around and that usually means it is a fight scene with Lee Van Cleef's stand-in that provided the best fight choreography of the series. Even these scenes have that high quality cheese funk to them as if it wasn't noticeable enough on its own that it was a stand-in doing the fight scenes for Lee Van Cleef the rubbery, wrinkled bald cap slaps you in the face. I love it. There's also plenty of scenes where you can clearly see the stand-in actor's eyes and part of his face in the opening of the ninja hood and it's obviously not Lee Van Cleef. This is all part of the charm and that charm permeates the entire series. The writing is fairly standard for a series of this nature where there's a plot that drives the series but most of the time it's individual stories with each episode and only sporadically does that main thread that holds the whole thing together come in to play. But within these standard episodes is a genuine enjoyment and love for the whole thing, especially Lee Van Cleef who is most known for his work in the Spaghetti Western genre and the writers love putting in winks and nods to this as nearly half the episodes have something in them that references his days spent in the old west. From the episode where someone says he looks like Clint Eastwood to which Lee Van Cleef replies "Not quite." or in the episode "High Rollers" which ends in an old west movie set and LVC notes how at home he feels, I fell in love with each of these moments as they popped up through the series. It's a little thing that not everyone will notice but for fans of Van Cleef's work on those pictures it is a little bit of a love letter that I appreciate.  Timothy Van Patten proves to be more than capable being the main character and doing most of the heavy lifting scene to scene. He's handsome and has a likable personality which instantly draws us to him.

THE MASTER is far from perfect and just like most television series that have passed their 30th birthday its seems are starting to show but with fun to be had in each and every episode and guest stars like Demi Moore, Clu Gulager and even Sho Kosugi's little ass kicker of a son Kane on top of the regular cast I can't help but love what THE MASTER has to offer.


The Audio & Video
Kino Lorber gives THE MASTER its worldwide Blu-ray debut via its Studio Classics line and it looks pretty damn great. The new full 1080p transfer retains the series' original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio as it was originally broadcast on televisions in 1984. Clarity and crispness are steady throughout with intermittent moments of light speckling or scratches where the source material was a bit rougher. The vast majority of the time the presentation is gorgeous however with excellent detail evident in the silkiness of the ninja outfits and how plainly Lee Van Cleef's stunt double stands out with his rubbery bald cap. Colors are sharp and black levels are deep and inky. I didn't notice any issues with compression or blocking.

The audio features a 2.0 DTS-HDMA  mix that isn't very dynamic but it's very pleasing to the ear with steady levels and a crisp mix. It gets the job done properly without being unnecessarily fancy. I had no problems with background noise or damage to the audio tracks.

The Extras
Sadly there's no real special features on this release, only a collection of trailers for other Kino releases on disc 3. Interviews or audio commentary on select episodes with Timothy Van Patten or Sho Kosugi would have really made this release special.

The Bottom Line
Kino has preserved THE MASTER for past and future fans with this three disc set and while it may not be high art it is high entertainment. Ninja fans take note! Recommended.

THE MASTER is available HERE

SCREAM Season 1 - Anchor Bay (DVD Review)

USA/2015
Starring: Willa Fitzgerald, Bex Taylor-Klaus, John Karna
Color/10 Episodes
Release Date: May 10, 2016

The Show
The town of Lakewood is under attack by a masked killer that digs up memories of similar events that happened twenty years earlier. The targets are a group of teens and the people connected to them that may be harboring all sorts of secrets.

The SCREAM legacy started in 1996 with Wes Craven's slasher film that made being meta horror cool. The self aware nature of SCREAM wasn't exactly brand new but it was done in a time when horror needed something new and this film took the slasher film cliches from a decade earlier and exploited them in a slasher of their own as survival hinged on knowing how to survive a horror movie.

Now after three sequels SCREAM has been turned into a TV series for a new generation. I will admit that I had very low expectations for the show and little desire to ever see it. Now that I've seen it I will give credit where credit is due and say that it really wasn't that bad. That may not seem like the most glowing accolades of all time but for the complete fishy smelling garbage I expected I was pleasantly surprised by the watchability of season one.

The cast of SCREAM is attractive, even the nerdy and outcast characters are easy on the eyes. There's no surprise that everyone looks good, we're even treated to quite a few sexy lingerie scenes. Don't worry about feeling like a creep, it's pretty obvious that most of these actors are well into their 20s and not high school students. The acting is spotty and uneven with plenty of overacting and the characters are written with plenty of stereotypical upper middle class millennial kids in mind. This was one of the more obnoxious aspects of SCREAM.

SCREAM is as much a teen soap opera as it is a horror series. Relationships come and go and come, teachers and students are connected, family drama, baby mama drama, cyber bullying, it's all here and it plays as big a role as the murder mystery does. It's not as corny and overbearing as daytime soaps but it certainly has that soapy feel while the horror aspects were surprisingly more violent and gruesome than anything I thought I'd see on MTV. The cat and mouse games become a bit repetitive over the ten episodes and the police force is totally useless. There are subplots that disappear for episodes at a time along with some really awkward editing at times. The biggest flaw SCREAM has lies at its core and immediately limits how successful the show could be - We're expected to care about a lot of characters that we're given plenty of reasons to dislike or at the very most tolerate.

All that said, the revelation of the killer and the twists involved are handled decently. It's never something that easily gives away the killer's identity and later on in the series it becomes fun seeing the setup of character's deaths. As I said before the series is a very easy watch that managed to engage me just enough that I could overlook the flaws and mildly enjoy it episode to episode.

SCREAM isn't going to be a big hit with hardened and seasoned horror fans. It is geared toward an audience that is closer to their high school graduation than their 30th birthday and is more interested in the new Drake song than who the hell Wes Craven is or what he did. MTV knows that and created the show for that audience. As far as that goes I'd say they were successful even if the show really is exceedingly mediocre.

The Audio & Video
Anchor Bay releases SCREAM Season 1 on DVD with a great looking and sounding presentation. The anamorphic widescreen transfer has great detail, color and black levels. It's a spotless picture as it should be. The audio is crystal clear with no distortions or level fluctuations.

The Extras
-Deleted Scenes
-Gag Reels
-Promotional Gallery

The Bottom Line
For a show that I had little interest in and equally little faith in I didn't find myself in misery while watching it. I know I'm not the target audience for this show so I had to take it with a small grain of salt and judge it as such. I wouldn't call myself a fan but I don't think SCREAM is bad. Recommended for fans of lighter horror fare.

SCREAM Season 1 is available HERE

The Walking Dead season 4 (Blu-ray Review) - AMC/Anchor Bay

The fourth season of AMC's THE WALKING DEAD really brought the show from an entertaining show set in the zombie apocalypse and turned it into a must watch action-drama while setting up the best which is yet to come. Our group of survivors in Atlanta try to set up a simpler life and a bit of civilization after their battle with Woodbury. Rick has renounced his leader ship and tends to crops and raising pigs instead. Life within the prison walls is as close to ideal as the group has seen since the outbreak. Things take a turn for the worse when a pig becomes sick and a virus seems to be spreading making survival very difficult with the lack of medical supplies. As the sickness claims members in a cellblock they reanimate causing panic in the prison. Survival in the prison is in jeopardy as the outer security is also compromised as the walkers are knocking down the outer fences.

While the prison survivors fight to stay alive and keep their security while the Governor aligns himself with a new family and group using his persuasive ways to quickly gain their loyalty and become the voice of the group. The governor uses his new group to wage an attack on the prison after taking a couple members hostage. He demands the prison for his own use in exchange for the lives of the captives. When Rick refuses and one captive is killed the war between the prison group and the Governor begins again ending with the prison being overrun despite a victory in battle. The attack on the prison has left the group scattered and broken with small groups fractured off in to different directions. The small groups all fight to survive on the road, in neighborhoods while they all eventually follow signs along the railroad tracks promising salvation and safety in a place called Terminus. When the group arrives in several packs at Terminus they learn that the people running the town are not who they claimed to be.

THE WALKING DEAD stepped up every aspect of its production from acting and writing to action and emotion. Special effects and horror elements remain high as the numerous zombie scenes are bloody and gory throughout the season. The zombies continue to have a great disgusting and decayed design. I wish there was a bit more practical effects as opposed to CGI but the CGI isn't bad looking. The drama is ramped up to a level we haven't seen in previous seasons with the group split and several relationships severed. The pacing of this season is fantastic as every episode works to a bigger story and there is very little filler unlike earlier in the series. Changing the setting in the second half from the prison to the road and eventually Terminus was welcome and will have viewers on the edge of their seat with a new and dangerously exciting wild environment. Emotions and entertainment run high in this season.

The Blu-ray from Anchor Bay looks and sounds fantastic. This is an AMC show which means you're getting some of the highest TV production values available and it translates to disc. The season is spread across five discs and features a gorgeous 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer with crystal clarity and very high detail levels. Colors are vivid and pop just enough while black levels are deep. The English audio track is a 7.1 HD track with an excellent and boisterous mix. Special features are abundant with several featurettes including "Inside The Walking Dead", "The Making Of...", "Drawing insprations", "Hershel", "The Governor Is Back", "Society, Science and Survival", "Inside KNB EFX", and "A Journey Back To Brutality". Also included are audio commentaries and extended versions on several different episodes and a selection of deleted scenes.

THE WALKING DEAD is my favorite current show on television and I've grown to care about the characters and storylines in a way I simply don't with most shows. The continually improving quality of the series is making the series part of an elite class of weekly programming and I can fully understand its popularity. This Blu-ray boxset is a fantastic way of catching up on the show before the start of season 5.

THE WALKING DEAD Season 4 is available HERE

Holliston: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray Review)

USA/2013
Directed By: Adam Gree, Sean Becker
Written By: Sean Becker
Starring: Adam Green, Joe Lynch, Corri English
Region A
Release Date: April 8, 2014

The Show
If you aren't familiar with HOLLISTON here is a brief rundown - The horror themed sitcom was created by Adam Green (director of Hatchet, Frozen)  and stars Green as "Adam" and Joe Lynch as "Joe", roommates who work together at a public access TV station and dream of being successful horror filmmakers. The other main characters of the show are Dee Snyder as "Lance Rockett" who is the public access station manager and moonlights as an 80s metal cover band singer. Corrie English is "Corri" Adam's ex-girlfriend and Laura Ortiz is "Larua", Joe's girlfriend. The principal cast is rounded out with Dave Brockie (R.I.P.) as his GWAR persona "Oderus Urungus" who is Adam's imaginary best friend that lives in his closet and gives him advice.

Season 2 really ramped up the guest stars that horror fans will be sure to recognize. From Kane Hodder playing a depressed version of himself because of his exclusion from Freddy vs. Jason, in what is my favorite episode of the series, to Danielle Harris and Sid Haig among many others. The season revolves around Adam and Joe trying to get their slasher film "Shinpads" released and dealing with the various obstacles in their way from The Blob attacking the town, to zombies and maniacal pre-teens. HOLLISTON is a tongue-in-cheek love letter to horror movies, constantly breaking the fourth wall and giving the viewers something to smile about or laugh at.

The 10 episode season (11 if you count the Christmas special from in between seasons 1 and 2) is geared for horror fans, but sitcom fans in general will find that the nature of the show which also lovingly pokes fun at the sitcom format makes for an entertaining show. The show has been described as "Evil Dead 2 mixed with The Big Bang Theory". That is a comparison I can support if only The Big Bang Theory had any clue on the pop culture jokes they were using. Adam Green lives and makes horror movies so his jokes and references are spot on.

The Audio & Video
Image Entertainment gives HOLLISTON season 2 the Blu-ray treatment with a damn fine looking and sounding release. The digital photography looks great with the anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1 transfer. Colors are vibrant, skin tones natural and detail levels are incredibly strong. The DTS-HD 5.1 audio track sounds awesome as well. The mix is full and robust, with the soundtrack and dialogue mixing very nicely. 

The Extras
A pretty full lineup of special features is included on the season 2 Blu-ray including:
-Cast commentary tracks
-Deleted Scenes
-Behind The Scenes featurette
-Blooper reel
-Table Read w/ the cast
-Music video selection

The Bottom Line
HOLLISTON may not see a season 3 with the recent and untimely death of Dave Brockie but if it closes with just the 2 seasons it will be a sad, yet almost fitting way to end our time with the characters. This Blu-ray release is a damn fine showcase of the series and could prove to be the definitive release of the young series. 

HOLLISTON Season 2 is available HERE

Monsters: The Complete Series (DVD Review) - E One Entertainment

USA/1988-1991
Directed By: Various
Written By: Various
Starring: Various
Color/1548 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1
Release Date: March 18, 2014

The Series
Television has long been a popular home for the horror genre. From the beloved Tales From The Crypt, to Masters Of Horror and its disastrous big network offshoot Fear Itself to Freddy's Nightmares and even prime time series like The X-Files, horror always seems to have a home on TV for better or worse. In the late 1980s, perhaps at the peak of horror on television came MONSTERS. This anthology series would feature a different episode each week with no linking characters or plots. The opening of the show brought us into the living room of a seemingly typical suburban family getting ready to sit down together for "family hour" and watch their favorite show, MONSTERS. The only thing is that this family is made up of deformed beasts and cyclops!

When we get to the episode we're treated to everything from zombies to dragons, aliens and possession. Can you imagine something else? It is probably somewhere in the series. The episodes run about 22 minutes each without their commercials and often feature a comical take on horror or a certain moral. Many notable names spent a bit of time on the set of an episode of MONSTERS from Steve Buscemi and Linda Blair to John Saxon and Pam Grier, Meat Loaf and David Spade. Almost every episode has a very recognizable name. Special effects in the series were decent and though may not have aged particularly well at all times they did good work with the budget a TV show offered up. In the first episode of the series there is a giant prosthetic fat suit on display which sets the bar for special effects in the series.

Since the debut of DVD almost two decades ago fans have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of MONSTERS. As other landmark films and series got announced and released, and subsequently re-released (and re-released over and over in some cases) fans kept asking for this campy piece of 1980s horror TV history. Year after year passed, DVD wishlists got smaller and turned into Blu-ray wishlists but finally, finally MONSTERS is here. It is complete, all 72 episodes spread across 9 discs. If you've been a patient boy, waiting, waiting, waiting, go get it now! If you're new to the series rest assured that if you're a fan of campy and cheesy horror that is fun to throw back a few beers to you will fully enjoy MONSTERS.

The Audio & Video
CBS and E One Entertainment deliver MONSTERS on to DVD with a re-mastered 4:3 full frame aspect ratio, maintaining their OAR from TV exhibition. The re-mastered episodes look better than they ever have in syndication on the Chiller network and perhaps better than they did during their original run. The audio is a 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo track that sounds just as good as it likely ever did on TV. 

The Extras
Bare bones.

The Bottom Line
Horror fans have been clamoring for this release for over a decade and it is finally here and ready for you to relive the cheesy goodness. Sit down with a candy critter and enjoy your favorite show!

MONSTERS: THE COMPLETE SERIES is available HERE

The Twilight Zone Complete Series - RLJ / Image Entertainment

Few television series have had the impact and staying power that came from a little Sci-Fi series in 1959 known as THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Hosted and narrated by it's own creator, Rod Serling, the series ran for 5 seasons until 1964, totaling 156 episodes, eventually spawning a re-boot in 1985 which ran for 2 seasons and another in 2002 which ran for a single season. In 1983 there was even a feature film simply titled Twilight Zone: The Movie. The series has been referenced and parodied by dozens, perhaps hundreds of other television series and films over the years. The impact the series has had on pop culture would be hard to measure, but it goes without saying that it is great.

The series brought us into future worlds and alien worlds, we got to see robots and martians, the supernatural and doomsday, the mad and the macabre. THE TWILIGHT ZONE featured many current stars and future stars that hadn't become household names including but certainly not limited to Buster Keaton, Charles Bronson, Dennis Hopper, Carol Burnett, Martin Landau, Ron Howard, Elizabeth Montgomery and many more. The list truly goes on and on. Each episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE brought us something new, something exciting, the anthology format made it easy to follow as each week was separate from every other episode.

 Image and RLJ Entertainment provided me with their DVD release of season 1 to preview and spread the word to all you loyal followers on their new release of each season and the complete series sets. I must say that they did an excellent job with these new discs. The picture and sound quality of each of the 36 episodes from season 1 were on point. The source material were in great condition and the digital transfer did them justice. Prints are clean without wiping away detail and digitalizing everything. It looks like we're watching a pristine presentation of the series in its original syndication. The audio is also excellent with a clean track free of any annoying Rice Krispies (snap, crackle, pop).

THE TWILIGHT ZONE isn't going anywhere anytime soon, it will remain an entertaining and important series for decades to come and the new box set from RLJ/IMAGE make sure viewers have an opportunity to add this classic series to their collection.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE COMPLETE SERIES was released on November 19th and is available HERE

CHILLER The Complete Series (DVD Review)

England/1995
Directed By: Bob Mahoney, Lawrence Gordon Clark, Rob Walker
Written By: Stephen Gallagher, Anthony Horowitz, Glenn Chandler
Starring: Nigel Havers, Martin Clunes, Sophie Ward
Color/265 Minutes/Not Rated


The Film
CHILLER was a short lived horror anthology series in the UK that originally aired in the Spring of 1995. Horror has a grand tradition of horror anthologies both feature length film and syndicated for television. From Tales From The Crypt to Creepshow and more recently Masters Of Horror and American Horror Story this genre loves one-off stories blanketed under a single series title. While CHILLER won't go down in history as being as good or memorable as some of the more popular series it does offer up some solid stories.

The first episode of the series is "Prophecy" which starts with a group of friends doing a bit of partying in their van on the way to an old cafe owned by the family of Frannie, one of the girls in the group. After a round on the Ouija board and getting the message that the spirit they talked to wants to prophecize something a woman is struck by a car and killed outside of the cafe. A few years later Frannie begins a relationship with a single father and begins having a series of bizarre dreams and a plague of tragic accidents befall her friends that were in attendance at the seance and it all seems to tie in with her lover's son until she comes to a startling realization. The next episode is called "Toby" and involves a young woman who is in a car wreck which costs her the life of her unborn son and puts her into a coma. After the woman awakens she moves into a new home with her husband next to a crotchety old woman who seems to only care for her cats. It isn't long before the mourning woman believes she is pregnant and is showing the signs of it despite doctors and specialists saying otherwise. The couple try to overcome her sickness until the problems become all too real and familiar. "Here Comes The Mirror Man" rounds out disc one with a story about Gary, a troubled youth avoiding the social workers that want to bring him back into the real world. Gary seems to be a puppet for a mysterious friend of his who pulls the strings and tells Gary what to do which puts the people desperately trying to help him in grave danger.

Disc two features the final two episodes of the series, the first of which is "The Man Who Didn't Believe In Ghosts". This is a classic haunted house story featuring a man who professionally writes about debunking ghost and paranormal stories and his family who have recently moved into a home with a strange caretaker who has an attachment to the house from his past. As the odd occurrences pile up the man has to question his own professional beliefs. The series comes to a close with "Number Six" which is actually number five. In this story there has been a series of child murders going on with few clues and just a couple of patterns to go off of the police and parents of the town have to work together to stop what may be ritualistic Celtic sacrifices. This episode is chock full of kids doing what they do best- being creepy. Each episode opens with a creepy alien type monster with his mouth wide open in a white hallway. It is a pretty chilling visual that sets us up for the actual story at hand. I'm disappointed this monster never made it into an episode of his own. Each story is a bit on the minimalist side of things, letting the story do the work. There isn't a ton of gore or special effects to speak of but thanks to some pretty decent to above average acting (Here Comes The Mirror Man having the best) the stories don't need too much in the way of excess. All of the stories have a similar tone and feel with dreary England locations being used as a natural atmosphere. The series doesn't have any real stinkers but on the opposite side of that coin it doesn't have any that truly stand out from the pack either. I'd say that the final episode would have to be my favorite but they all have similar results as far as I'm concerned.

The Video
CHILLER is presented in its aspect ratio of 1.33:1 preserving the way it looked on TV back in 1995. The material was film on 16mm film and has a certain graininess to it throughout. The source material seems to be in good shape however with dirt and debris having been kept to a minimum. I doubt this looks much better than it did during its original run but it certainly doesn't look any worse.

The Audio
A Dolby 2.0 Mono track gets the audio across very nicely. The mix is balanced well and there is no distractions from pops or hissing.


The Extras
Barebones.

The Bottom Line

Synapse Films brings CHILLER to American audiences for the first time on DVD with a suitable presentation of the episodes. It would have been nice to see some special features on this disc such as an interview with producers or directors to provide some insight into the series and possibly why it was so short lived. Even a brief introduction to each of the five episodes like they did on the Complete Hammer House Of Horror set would have been nice. That said, horror fans will be pleased to be able to see these mid-90s works on disc, likely for the first time and that is the most important thing.

CHILLER THE COMPLETE SERIES is available HERE

The Complete HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR (DVD Review)

England/1980
Directed By: Various
Written By: Various
Starring: Various
Color/702 Minutes/Not Rated

The Film
By 1980 the famed horror studio Hammer had ceased theatrical productions and started an anthology TV series known as HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR. The series ran for 13 one hour episodes that were cut for airing in the US, with the final episode never even making it to American screens. 

"Witching Time" is the first episode of the series. Directed by Don Leaver and originally airing on September 13, 1980, this episode starts out with a sequence that could be taken from any slasher the decade would come to be known for however this is not how the episode would play out. Take a little bith of witchcraft and add in some time travel, nudity and possession and you have a worthy start to this series. Look for Italian genre film favorite Ian McCulloch  to guest star as the doctor. A week later came "The Thirteenth Reunion" helmed by long time Hammer collaborator Peter Sasdy. Look for a familiar British face in Warren Clarke who played one of Alex De Large's droogs in Kubricks A Clockwork Orange. The horrors that high society partake in and get away with are on full display here. Rounding out the first disc in the set is another episode from Peter Sasdy that stars Denholm Elliott, a face fans of Indiana Jones will undoubtedly recognize. In this episode Elliott plays a real estate agent who dreams of murder over and over (and over) until his mind begins to crack under the pressure and dreams become a reality.

 Disc 2 gets underway with "Growing Pains" which feels a lot like The Omen through much of the episode. The atmosphere is creepy surrounding the main character, a young boy who was recently adopted. The ending doesn't quite live up to the build. I still found it to be a worthy entry. Have you ever heard how a house can harbor negative emotions or that an inanimate object can be evil? That is the case in "The House That Bled To Death", which has some of my favorite visuals of the entire series and may be the most unforgiving in it's nature. Director Robert Young made his Hammer debut with the underrated Vampire Circus. Here he directs "Charlie Boy", the story of a man and his wife who have inherited the art collection from their dead uncle. Included in which is an African statue similar to a voodoo doll that begins to claim the lives of those surrounding it. This may be among the most brutal of all the episodes. "The Silent Scream" starts out disc number 3 and was directed by Alan Gibson the man responsible for Hammer titles such as Dracula A.D. 1972 (which I love) and The Satanic Rites Of Dracula. While he got to direct Christopher Lee in those two films he gets to direct the other top name for Hammer, Peter Cushing. This episode is very well made, has great performances and excellent tension. There is good reason that this is probably the most well liked episode of the series. The only film in the series to use a traditional horror monster is "Children Of The Full  Moon". This episode is pretty good with it's use of old Hungarian folk lore and a spooky countryside atmosphere. A little more action would have been nice though. Wrapping up the disc is "Carpathian Eagle" a play on the story of Jack The Ripper that has a few twists on and in the story. I found it to be a bit slow and not totally engaging but the payoff is worth it.

The final 4 episodes are split across discs 4 and 5 starting with episode number 10 of the series, "Guardian Of The Abyss". This episode features Satanic cults, black masses, creepy evil antiques... all things I'm a fan of. There is some cool imagery as well that adds even more flare from the devil. All in all an enjoyable episode."Visitor From The Grave" is a bit more psychologically driven and is a decent thriller. Featuring murder, setups, and bodies that won't stay buried this episode spends it's runtime watching the main character descend into madness (again).What starts as an innocent vacation turns into a surreal nightmare where everything that can go wrong, does in "The Two Faces Of Evil". This is an interesting episode from returning director Alan Gibson that twists and turns down a road to doppleganger hell.'The Mark Of Satan" is "the episode that went too far!". The 13th and final episode of the series was never aired for syndication in the US including cable and a run with Elvira home videos and only aired one time during the original run in it's native England. Numerology, Demonology, conspiracies, paranoia, cannibalism and self-mutilation are all on display here in various levels. Is it evil at play or a crazy man's psyche tearing him apart? That is the ultimate question.

The Video
Synapse Films brings us the complete series of HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR in a nice looking 1.33:1 full frame transfer preserving it's original aspect ratio from it's television broadcast. It isn't clear if any restoration work has been done to the film elements but they look well maintained and very clean. Colors and dark levels are strong and flesh tones look natural. There are only a couple of instances where the image gets soft and these instances only last for a few seconds each. Other than that there is nothing to complain about here.

 

The Audio
A 2.0 Mono track is the single audio option but it does the job just fine. The level mixing is done with skill as dialogue never has to compete with each episode's soundtrack. Levels are stable across all 5 discs and all in all the audio on this set is handled very well. 

The Extras
Episode Introductions With Film Historian Shane M. Dallman- Each episode receives an intro from Mr. Dallman that provides a brief insight into the making and history of that episode. Everything from key names in the cast to the censorship the episode received during original syndication is covered. These are optional for the episodes but are great to watch at least the first time you make your way through the set. 

Grave Recollections: A Visit With Kathryn Leigh Scott- This interview spends several minutes with the lead actress from the "Visitor From The Grave" episode as she fondly remembers her time spent with Hammer and in the horror genre. 

Hammer Housekeeping: A Visit With Mia Nadasi- Another interview with an actress from "Visitor From The Grave" who is also married to director Peter Sasdy. She discusses working with her husband and on the series. 

Animated Still Gallery
   

 The Bottom Line 
Synapse Films has put together an attractive 5 disc set in a standard width single Amaray case that presents HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR uncensored with all of the nudity and violence intact. Any fan of Hammer productions, horror anthology series or horror as a whole will enjoy this set. There is enough variation in each episode that there is something for everyone. The extra features are a nice addition even if they leave us wanting more in the way of supplemental material. I have no problem highly recommending this set to everyone.

HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR is available HERE