Hammer Films: The Ultimate Collection

Ten-disc set includes: The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)After escaping a date with the guillotine, Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) sets up a new lab and creates a body from cadaver parts to house the brain of his hunchbacked assistant. Unfortunately, a head injury turns the Baron's latest "synthetic man" into a murderous monster who cannot control his rage. This creepy, surprisingly compassionate entry in the Hammer series features Francis Matthews, Lionel Jeffries, and Michael Gwynne as the creature. 90 min. C/Rtg: NR The Snorkel (1958)Paul Decker (Peter Van Eyck) thought he'd been ingeniously clever in fatally gassing his wife and staging it to look like suicide. His teenage stepdaughter (Mandy Miller), though, has her doubts... and the more she digs, the more he seeks an opening for a repeat performance. Effective Hammer thriller co-stars Betta St. John, Grégoire Aslan, William Franklyn. 74 min. BW/Rtg: NR The Camp on Blood Island (1958)At an isolated POW internment camp in Malaya, the sadistic Japanese commandant has openly vowed to slaughter all occupants in the event of his country's surrender. With news of Allied victory imminent, a British officer (Andre Morell) acts to suppress the information from his captors, and to arm the prisoners for the inevitable. Lurid Hammer offering co-stars Carl Mohner, Walter Fitzgerald, Edward Underdown; Val Guest directs. 81 min. BW/Rtg: NR Yesterday's Enemy (1959)When his detachment is cut off deep in the jungles of WWII-torn Burma, a British officer (Stanley Baker) goes to shocking and barbarous lengths to extract Japanese intel from a captured informer... and then faces long odds in his quest to spare his men similar mercy from the occupying forces. Harrowing war story from Val Guest co-stars Leo McKern, Guy Rolfe, Gordon Jackson. 95 min. BW/Rtg: NR The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)Hammer Films' pulls the old switcheroo on the Robert Louis Stevenson story, featuring Dr. Jekyll as a bearded, not-too handsome fellow and Mr. Hyde as a slick, good-looking charmer with a murderous way with the ladies. Paul Massie, Dawn Addams, Christopher Lee star; Terence Fisher directs. 88 min. C/Rtg: NR Never Take Candy From a Stranger (1960)Having just relocated his family from Britain to take a principal's position in a small Canadian town, an educator (Patrick Allen) is appalled to learn that his 9-year-old daughter had been enticed to dance naked for a respected local elder (Felix Aylmer). The repercussions they meet in pursuing justice fuel this stunning and surprising drama from Hammer. Gwen Watford, Niall MacGinnis, Bill Nagy co-star. 81 min. BW/Rtg: NR The Stranglers of Bombay (1960)A 19th-century military officer (Guy Rolfe) working for the British East India Company tries to stem the tide of criminality plaguing Bombay, tracing a series of thefts and murders to a cult of evildoers known as the Thuggee. The soldier eventually infiltrates the gang and places his own life at risk. Hammer Films thriller co-stars Jan Holden, Andrew Cruickshank; directed by Terence Fisher. 76 min. BW/Rtg: NR The Terror of the Tongs (1961)Hong Kong, 1910: After his daughter was murdered by tong members looking to cover their tracks, British mariner Jackson Sale (Geoffrey Toone) vowed to smash their operations... but is there a traitor amongst his small circle of allies feeding information to the ruthless ringleader Chun King (Christopher Lee)? Hammer and tongs adventure-literally-co-stars Yvonne Monlaur, Marne Maitland, Brian Worth. 76 min. C/Rtg: NR Cash On Demand (1961)A dictatorial bank branch manager (Peter Cushing) was used to getting his way with his cowed employees. His imperious facade won't last, though, when a visiting "underwriter" (André Morell) reveals himself as a criminal mastermind... and the stunned supervisor is expected to help empty the vault if he wants to see his wife and son alive. Effective little thriller from Hammer co-stars Richard Vernon, Norman Bird. 80 min. BW/Rtg: NR Scream of Fear (1961)Spine-tingling tale of suspense and murder, starring Susan Strasberg as Penny Appleby, a wheelchair-bound young woman who travels to her father's Riviera estate only to be told he's away on business. However, Penny's soon afflicted with multiple, inexplicable visions of his corpse. Is she losing her mind, or is there a sinister agenda at work? Effective shocker from Hammer co-stars Ann Todd, Christopher Lee, and Robert Lewis. 81 min. C/Rtg: NR Stop Me Before I Kill! (1961)Since sustaining a head injury, race car driver Alan Colby (Ronald Lewis) had been tormented by mood swings-and by violent fantasies where he disposed of his wife Denise (Diane Cilento). He turned to a sympathetic psychiatrist (Claude Dauphin) for help... but will there be bloody proof that the doctor's declaration of cure was premature? Val Guest's nifty thriller co-stars Françoise Rosay. AKA: "The Full Treatment," "The Treatment." 120 min. BW/Rtg: NR The Pirates of Blood River (1962)Exiled to a penal colony for adultery, young Huguenot Jonathon Standing (Kerwin Mathews) wanted nothing more than to return home. Unfortunately, Standing's wish was granted by invading pirate Captain LaRoche (Christopher Lee) and his hordes, who want to be led to the village's fabulous stores of treasure. Thrilling seafaring saga from Hammer co-stars Glenn Corbett, Marla Landi, and Oliver Reed. 87 min. C/Rtg: NR These Are The Damned (1962)On the run from a biker gang on the South British coast, an American tourist (Macdonald Carey) seeks shelter in a military compound. He comes upon a colony of 11-year-old children, raised in isolation and under the constant surveillance of a government researcher (Alexander Knox)... but after he resolves to help them from their plight, he'll learn the uncanny truth of why they were shut away from the world. Joseph Losey's sci-fi stunner also stars Oliver Reed, Viveca Lindfors, Shirley Anne Field. 87 min. BW/Rtg: NR The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1963)In 1900 Egypt, three European archeologists (Ronald Howard, Jack Gwillim, Bernard Rebel) unearth the mummy of an ancient Egyptian prince and the remains become the main attraction in a sleazy touring London sideshow. Soon, the malevolent mummy (Dickie Owen) is resurrected and sets out on a rampage of murder and vengeance. With Fred Clark, Jeanne Roland. 81 min. C/Rtg: NR The Old Dark House (1963)In William Castle's spin on the J.B. Priestley novel, Tom Penderel (Tom Poston), an American car salesman living in England, gets a strange invitation to spend the weekend at the spooky old Femm Estate. When the members of the eccentric Femm family start getting picked off one by one, Tom must find the killer and stop him before he winds up next on the hit list. Robert Morley, Janette Scott co-star in this comic horror tale. 86 min. C/Rtg: NR Maniac (1963)While idling through the South of France, American artist Jeff Farrell (Kerwin Mathews) finds himself charmed by young Annette Beynat (Liliane Brousse)... but ultimately seduced by her barkeep stepmother Eve (Nadia Gray). The smitten drifter agrees to aid a scheme to spring Eve's husband from the insane asylum where he'd been sent for the blowtorch torture/murder of Annette's rapist... a decision he'll have multiple causes to regret. Thriller from Hammer co-stars Donald Houston, George Pastell, Norman Bird. 87 min. BW/Rtg: NR The Gorgon (1964)Following the pronouncement of guilt of the deceased Bruno Heitz for the mysterious murder of his young expectant lover, his professor father (Michael Goodliffe) and brother (Richard Pasco) set out to prove a mythological monster is actually to blame. And that monster-Megaera (Prudence Hyman) the Gorgon, with snakes in her hair and the ability to turn gazers to stone-haunts the residents of a small village in 1910 Germany. Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Barbara Shelley co-star. 83 min. C/Rtg: NR The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964)Limping away from a disastrous skirmish with the British fleet, a privateer vessel put