Night of the Sorcerers

1973, Spain, Directed by Amando De Ossorio
Colour, Running Time: 85 minutes
Review Source: DVD, R1, BCI Eclipse/Deimos; Video: 1.33:1, Audio: DD Mono

Somewhere in the more primitive regions of Africa decades ago a female missionary worker is captured and has her clothes (literally) whipped off in a bizarre voodoo ritual, before she is taken advantage of and decapitated. Her rescuers are moments too late despite arriving on the scene to slaughter the voodoo sorcerers like dirty pigs. Oddly, the woman's head, now boasting fangs, returns to life after having been separated from the body... In the present day a group of not-quite likely zoologists stop to camp near the same area. An expert on voodoo tradition (including the aforementioned tale retold within the prologue) warns the bunch about risks, but this mainly falls on deaf ears of course (otherwise there'd be no fun to be had!). Overly enthusiastic with a focus ring one of the girls heads off to investigate the local legends and is caught by the woman who was slain decades earlier and soon succumbs to the same fate as the dead sorcerers have awoken to curse the land. And that woman too becomes a vampiric harbinger of doom, again despite the removal of her head. The camp's numbers are going down one at a time as the slow moving voodoo-raised blood-drinking women increase their's.

The director himself needs no introduction to the Euro horror fiend - the Spaniard was responsible for the four Blind Dead films around the same period, and while that series was slightly different in tone, the enjoyment levels here are not too far removed. The expedition is made up of an entertaining variety of nutters, from the daddy's-girl who won't lift a damn finger to help because her father is funding the whole trip, the camera button hammering babe who's even snapping pictures of nearby wildlife when the Land Rover she's a passenger in is bouncing up and down over the rough terrain (must have produced some zany examples of motion blur), and the hard-assed leader played by Euro regular Jack Taylor, etc. One of the most consistently amusing elements of Euro horror is the approach to characterisation in these stories, and the oblivious manner in which these oddball American-wannabees are portrayed on screen by actors/actresses who probably didn't know what the hell was going on half the time. It's certainly no different here. The film mixes up a number of ideas to create its unique take on horror, most notably vampirism, zombies, and voodoo, and De Ossorio lets his imagination roam a little, adding to the mix some sex and nudity plus a few dollops of gore. There is also an air of creepiness combined with eroticism that you don't witness every day in the undead women that prance through the jungle almost ecstatically going about their killing business. Not superb, not even particularly great as cinema goes, but likable and one to re-watch.

The long defunct BCI Eclipse/Deimos label released this on DVD in 2007 and superseding the rumoured Japanese VHS with a slightly different cut this is the best way to watch Night of the Sorcerers, and that may remain to be the case forever in the future of decreasing returns on published media. Probably presented as an open-matte image (that is, the full 35mm frame opened up without the 1.85:1 top/bottom matting that may have occurred during theatrical projection) the image was scanned from negatives producing something colourful and, for Standard Definition, reasonably detailed. Quite nice to look at overall. These DVD producers were always as thoughtful as possible and with the audio you get a choice of Spanish or English dubs, and a good standard of English subtitles is there as an option. Extras are understandably limited: alternate clothed sequences (thankfully the film itself contains the 'unclothed' shots), stills (including some nice posters), and trailers, plus liner notes present in the box. I lament the loss of this company quite highly, and that's why - this film being I think the only one of this line of editions that I never picked up at the time - I forked out £20 to get this and complete my collection. Compared to the Laser Disc days this is not much I know, but way more than I'm willing to pay for a DVD nowadays as HD is generally a much more desirable way to watch a film. Anyway, the people who this film is likely to appeal to will already know who they are.

Nightmare City

1980, Italy/Spain, Directed by Umberto Lenzi
Colour, Running Time: 92 minutes
Review Source: DVD, R2, Anchor Bay; Video: Anamorphic 2.35:1, Audio: DD Stereo

Ace Reporter Dean Miller is sent on an assignment to interview an influential politician upon his arrival at the airport. Miller is immediately aware of a ‘situation’ unfolding as he reaches the airport with his cameraman - there is indeed a plane soaring in to land but it’s not responding to communication of any kind and, possibly worse, it’s an unmarked military aircraft. The army are called in due to the potential security issue and everyone gathers there waiting - machine guns or cameras at hand - as the plane comes to a halt on the runway. Omniscient minutes pass with no sign of activity, until the door opens and out pour a horde of crazed disfigured men - crazed and armed to the hilt. All hell breaks loose as they go about slaughtering virtually everyone in the vicinity - army gunfire proves useless and before long there are scores of bloody, motionless bodies littering the runway. Miller manages to get out alive to head for the TV station with the intention of alerting the public to avoid any lethal delays. Interrupting an important dance show that’s being aired (‘It’s All Music’!) he bags himself about a minute of broadcast time before the boss realises his schedule has gone to shat, and switches the busybody newsman off the air. His efforts were in vain either way as there is a sudden disturbance down on the dance floor - the mutants have invaded the building, ripping apart the dancers (at last granting them a modicum of dignity…) leaving Miller to escape once again as the army try to regain control of the situation - the massacre would appear to be progressing across the city as the horde of creatures show no mercy in their unstoppable motiveless destruction.

People think that the Running Dead phenomenon started with the likes of 28 Days Later or Dawn of the Dead '04, but it started right here back in 1980 with a vengeance. This film makes up its own rules from the beginning and, despite being influenced heavily by Romero’s second Dead outing, it adds its own spin on the proceedings to craft something that continues to stand out from the rest of the Italian zombie movies that spewed forth from around 1979 onwards. These indestructible monsters have absolutely zero motive, other than to perhaps drink blood but that seems almost like a footnote in the wake of the surrounding madness. The creatures are downright ugly with their rotting putty-mass faces and strange camera poses, but they stop at nothing in the onslaught - all humans can do is fight and die, or retreat, or scream like ninnies as their clothes are ripped off in the case of the some of the dancers. Miller (Mexican actor Hugo Stiglitz) manages to get away from the airport (his assistant stands there shooting film, blissfully ignorant to the threat - with cameramen the job comes first!) and subsequently the TV station to collect his wife so they can leave the city behind as civilisation crumbles. This movie is an almighty ‘SIT ON IT' to critics as it obstinately lies beyond conventional criticism - you can stand there pointlessly outlining its abundant cinematic problems, or you relax your brain and have a great time wallowing in the insanity that jumps off the screen. In that sense, it’s not a ‘good’ film, but you almost can’t help but have a good time as you witness the spectacle: that gob-smackingly ridiculous It’s All Music dance show that has to be seen to be believed (where the cameramen have stone faces and laboratory coats); the female dancers when attacked routinely ending up with their breasts exposed; the doctor who greets an intruder to his surgery not with questions, but by throwing his scalpel across the room into the sod's body; the army colonel delivering his rather non-specific militaristic instructions (Plan H, Plan B, etc.); the list goes on and on. The TV station was probably only written in because Romero had done the same a couple of years earlier, and the conclusion would have been a cliché in any other film, but the sheer audacity somehow gets Lenzi and co. off the hook. Miller and his wife’s journey turns out to be pretty cool, while the final sequence depicting them on the run before climbing a roller coaster structure to get away from hordes of creatures is actually rousing. An apt symbol if ever there was one. Taken on its own unbelievably unhinged terms, Nightmare City is a bit of a winner. Groovy electronic music score too.

Anchor Bay’s UK DVD was a blessing for fans such as myself. Previously I’d only seen Incubo Sulla Città Contaminata (or City of The Walking Dead, etc) on video cassette. VTC released it in the early eighties; good looking for video but cropped at the sides and censored to hell. There have since been a number of uncut DVDs released around the world: for example, EC Entertainment (non-anamorphic 2.35:1, with trailers, stills gallery), Italian Shock (containing gallery, trailer, interview, commentary, plus the entire soundtrack as a separate entity), a rough one from Laser Paradise (with non-removable Japanese subtitles!), and a US Anchor Bay disc that’s virtually identical to the British release. As far as extras are concerned the Italian Shock disc wins out, but transfer-wise the Anchor Bay discs are probably the victors - the film looks stupendous and is a joy to witness from start to finish. The film is dubbed in English but this seems to suit the oddball nature of the production, adding to the enjoyment somewhat. Check it out if you’re feeling brave, but switch off the synapses and get the beers in for maximum effect.

Upcoming Jean Rollin/Redemption Blu-rays, Round 3

Redemption and Kino Lorber are (after Requiem For a Vampire and Rape of the Vampire have been released) putting out Blu-ray Discs of another couple of Rollin films in August, one of his better ones, and one of his lesser (you can probably guess which is which): The Living Dead Girl, a 1982 artfully poetic take on walking death, and one of his later pieces Two Orphan Vampires.  I couldn't quite get into the latter although Shriek Show's DVD wasn't especially good (aside from the ropey image, there were problems selecting the French language audio on the players I tried, and the alternative English dub is god-awful!).  Perhaps a HD re-evaluation may help; I'll probably get both discs.  I have to say I love what Redemption are now doing with these films, and the prolific nature of the releases is perfect, particularly compared to the other collectors' favourites who are releasing stuff pretty slowly on Blu-ray (e.g. Blue Underground, Synapse, Shout, etc).  Whilst I don't believe Redemption ever really did the best they could with DVD, they've suddenly and surprisingly embraced the Blu-ray format.

Just before that in July we can expect The Blood Beast Terror (a 1968 creature feature with Peter Cushing) and Burke and Hare (the 1972 Armitage film of course rather than the more recent re-telling with Simon Pegg and Gollum as the titular characters...).  One more film of interest coming our way around the same time as the aforementioned titles is Black Magic Rites (previously also released as The Reincarnation of Isabel), a completely insane occult exploitation nuthouse from the lovable Renato Polselli.  There is also word that we will be in the salivating possession of the following BD products in the not-too-distant: Virgin Among The Living Dead (Jess Franco - hopefully the proper version without the stupid wandering dead Rollin inserts, or perhaps both common versions branched), Female Vampire (Jess Franco), Exorcism (probably Demoniac - er, Franco again!), Frightmare, Die Screaming Marianne (both Pete Walker), Lisa and the Devil, plus - FFS! - Black Sunday/Mask of Satan!  Please, God of Exploitation, let the latter have an Italian language track!  I'm in for a year of drunken nights in by the looks of it...

The Strange World of Coffin Joe

1968, Brazil, Directed by José Mojica Marins
B&W, Running Time: 82 minutes
Review Source: DVD, R2, Anchor Bay; Video: 1.33:1, Audio: DD Mono

Adopting a portmanteou style The Strange World... (AKA O Estranho Mundo de Zé do Caixão) is not really a sequel to This Night I'll Possess... but it does feature 'Coffin Joe' opening the narration in a familiar pseudo philosophical fashion, and when he does finally appear within the film itself (in the final chapter) he's not really playing the same character. That's not to say that this film is without the sadistic edge that we've come to expect... The first chapter - The Dollmaker - sort of apes The Twilight Zone in tone. Three deadbeats listen in on a conversation down the pub where an ageing dollmaker is muttering about having a fortune in the house. Later on they follow him back to where he and his four nubile young daughters manufacture dolls (rather crap looking ones, but dolls nonetheless) for a living. They break in and, threatening the old artist, cause him to collapse clutching his heart. Then the young criminals spot the four daughters in bed in the next room; needless to say, in conjunction with a certain degree of salivation, they decide to head in there and have a bit more fun... The next story, Obsession or Perversion depending on where you get your translation, is pretty much a silent movie. A hunchbacked balloon-seller develops an infatuation with a woman who gets murdered at her own wedding by another, presumably jealous, knife-wielding female (talk about a big-day spoiler). Not letting a little thing like death get in the way of his desires he later breaks into her tomb, strips her off, and molests the body, probably acknowledging that this is the only way he's ever gonna get a hot (or cold in this case) babe. The final tale, Ideology, stars Marins as a professor who speaks about the godless world he believes in, and his theories on the reality of human existence. To make his point he captures a young couple where he subjects them first to horrors experienced by others, and then to horrors experienced by themselves (presumably this now having some context for them...), pushing the girl to a point where she reaches such a level of desperation she is driven by her own instincts to drink the blood of her dying partner.

As with the preceding films by Marins, there is an undeniable air of maliciousness and venom surrounding this film. Each tale becomes more uncompromising than the last, the first being the most - if one can use this word speaking about Joe - commercial of the three. Quite a creepy little tale with an atmosphere of doom as the soundtrack vibrates with constant thunderous noises of the winds and skies outside the morbid little house where most of the action takes place. The second tale must have been the most explicit suggestion of necrophilia ever seen in cinema at that point. It had been touched on before, the most enticing example being The Terror of Dr Hichcock (which I'd dearly love a Blu-ray of), but not quite as obviously as here in Strange World. Very slow and too long for its content (the 'seduction' scene goes on for a hell of a sleep-inducing time), the tale again has an unusual tone that compensates for its shortcomings, which is generally in the acting department. The third story brings us into more familar Coffin Joe territory, although his performance here is much more controlled and sedate. That doesn't mean to say it's much less horrific - the things the young couple, and we the viewers, witness are graphic and downright nasty (one scene had me in a state of surprise that it even got past the BBFC). A man is stretched on the rack before having his flesh devoured whilst still alive by a horde of lepers followed by a caged girl rejecting the advances of men before being burned with acid, the traumatic event causing her to kiss the feet of one of them. The torture of the couple concludes with such profundity it must have been on a Martyrs type plane of its day. Marins does raise some interesting ideas amidst his conquests to shock.

Like the film, the DVD (part of a Coffin Joe boxed set) is grimy and not nice to look at! It's arguably perversely satisfying to watch these oddities in this condition and, let's face it, who's going to spend thousands remastering them? The subtitles are again burned in, though not of great grammatical quality - the errors are, however, moderately amusing (think of watching Hong Kong films). Again, we can be thankful that this sort of thought-lost and buried weirdness can be exhumed and brought to us at all.

Upcoming Total Recall (1990) and The Boogens Blu-rays

The classic Arnie sci-fi action movie (one of my personal favourites) Total Recall is being re-released on Blu by Lionsgate in the US (obviously bump-started by the Colin Farrell remake), and it looks like it's at last getting the sort of disc it deserves this time too - this version is dubbed "Mind-Bending Edition" as they've already used up "Special Edition" and "Special Limited Edition" in the past...; the previous Blu-ray featured the ridiculous 'Beyond High Definition' slogan across the front, so I'm wondering if this will be 'Beyond Beyond High Definition'.  Includes commentary by Arnie and Paul Verhoeven (probably the one that was originally recorded for the special edition DVD, the same commentary that Arnie reportedly wanted $50K for...), plus an interview with the director, featurettes on the special effects etc, restoration comparison, trailers, gallery.  Release in the US: end of July.  Even better, I have suspicions that the UK may see a triple play steelbook of this one...

Also on its way from US company Olive Films is something I've heard of in the past but never seen: The Boogens.  A monster movie from 1981, this looks like a low budget B movie that could be some fun.  Being released by the same guys who are bringing the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers our way this could also turn out to be a lavish Blu-ray (it is apparently being struck from a 35mm print).

Demons 2

1988, Italy, Directed by Lamberto Bava
Colour, Running Time: 92 minutes
Review Source: Blu-ray, Region B, Arrow; Video: 1.66:1 1080p 24fps, Audio: LPCM Stereo

Rather than continue the story exactly where Demons left off, the writers of the sequel adopted the novel idea of retelling a very similar story that occurs elsewhere, and using a number of the same actors too. Instead of watching a movie in a theatre the eventual victims of the demon plague here inhabit a high-rise apartment block and whilst passing their time away with various inoffensive activities such has having parties, training in the onsite gym, and keeping the prostitution industry afloat, they have their TVs on in the background whereby an apparently fictitious film portrays the coming of a demon plague… Before long one of the creatures of the onscreen story has supernaturally escaped (almost Videodrome-style) from the TV of an apartment where a crazy party is underway and, as in the first movie, hell breaks loose and the slaughtered partygoers are soon transformed into the bloodthirsty undead. Thus a rampage through the apartment block takes place as its innocent dwellers fall victim to the relentlessly violent monsters.

I’m not sure if choosing to follow the path that the sequel does - almost remaking the first movie - is a good or bad idea. Demons 2 doesn’t work as well as its predecessor, that much is sure, but I don’t think its failings are specifically attributable to the notion of telling almost exactly the same story. It’s certainly fun spotting a couple of the original cast (who were horribly murdered in the first outing, but you can forget logic with these films) show up again to reprise different roles - amusingly with almost identical personalities - and the pace of the story is built up from relaxed to frantic levels, then maintained in a similar fashion. A number of the same crew are also present: Lamberto takes up directorial reins again, Dario Argento returns to produce and write (with Franco Ferrini and Dardano Sacchetti), Gianlorenzo Battaglia is once again responsible for functional cinematography, and special effects maestro Sergio Stivaletti helps out with prosthetics and mechanised creations as before. So why doesn’t Dèmoni 2: L’incubo Ritorna (the subheading translating as The Nightmare Returns) quite do the trick? On first seeing this film around 1991/2 I was fooled into thinking the film works just as well, but multiple viewings bring about the realisation that there are disadvanted areas: Simon Boswell replaces Claudio Simonetti in the music department and whilst his contributions are adequately executed the deliberately non-metal soundtrack choices don’t inject the proceedings with the same energy and chaotic drive (I remember reading an interview with Boswell where he stated that he wanted to move away from metal for the sequel; I think this was a misjudgement on his part personally though I know not all will agree with this point!). Next is the overall gruesomeness, which is substantially reduced compared to Demons. I understand that it was originally intended to be just as gory but was cut down prior to release - again this stripped down violence makes the film feel somewhat anaemic after sitting through the first film, particularly noticeable if watching them in the same evening. If a ‘special edition’ of some kind was to reinstate the excised footage we could be in for a more satisfactory thrill ride. Having said all that there is still a consistent flavour underlying the story that makes it watchable for fans of the first, the special effects that have remained are pretty visceral, and, despite the music itself not lending itself so well to the material, I love the way The Cult’s Rain plays as a backing track to the aftermath of the party massacre. Demons 2 is at least a little bit disappointing, but I guess I still wouldn't be without it (it does make a nice double bill with the first movie, usually as the alcohol has kicked in by the second one).

Whilst I never owned the Anchor Bay (2001) and Starz (2007) issues of Demons 2, the old UK Divid2000 DVD looked smooth enough despite a low bitrate and some digital problems but the audio was one of the worst transfer jobs I’ve ever heard: levels were all over the place and sounds frequently so muffled even a sudden and aggravated swivel of the volume knob barely helped - I don’t think the film sounded that bad on videotape. So aside from a surprisingly comprehensive presence of extras the presentation of the film itself was a major letdown. Thankfully Arrow have issued a new HD transfer blowing all this out of the stratosphere - resolution of detail and colour are way superior, while the audio tracks (English or Italian language, with English subtitles as an option) are much more balanced. Clearly the English track was not the best on a technical level (indeed, the Italian segment I sampled was a touch sharper), however, there is no rushing for the volume knob as was the case with the UK DVD. It does make the film somewhat more enjoyable. Extras on the new Blu-ray include an audio commentary of sorts, a history of Italian horror (with Luigi Cozzi - really quite limited if you know even a reasonable amount about the sub-genre, although a nice introduction for newcomers), and a featurette on the special effects magician Sergio Stivaletti. As with the first film, you can buy this in a beautiful steelbook containing both films on Blu-ray, a booklet, and a postcard, or you can buy them individually in standard packaging that contains a poster and mini comic. Either way it's an essential buy for Italian horror lovers.

Demons

1985, Italy, Directed by Lamberto Bava
Colour, Running Time: 88 minutes
Review Source: Blu-ray, Region B, Arrow; Video: 1.66:1 1080p 24fps, Audio: LPCM Stereo

If you want artistic intellectualism, cultured dialogue, or existential relevance in your movies, don’t come to Lamberto Bava. Despite his dad being a bit of an auteur in the cult genres, a flamboyant technician with a great sense of aesthetics along with the raw talent to innovate in his efforts in the creation of unique shots, Lamberto took up the directorial reigns to knock out bloodshed movies that would appeal almost exclusively to the lower cerebral functions. That’s not (necessarily) a bad thing. Demons begins with a young woman (who’s on her way home from work or university presumably) receiving a complementary ticket to see a movie. Tagging her friend along they both head off to the cinema where a reasonable size audience has gathered to watch the mysterious film, which turns out to be a horror story about Nostradamus’ apparent prediction of a demonic plague becoming a reality. Some of the viewers are perplexed when certain events in the movie begin to mirror what’s happening in the theatre and suddenly there is an outbreak of demonic possession outside of the film. All hell breaks loose in the cinema as people are ripped apart, subsequently transforming into the very monsters that killed them, while others flee in panic only to find that the exits have been blocked - as death and mayhem escalate it would appear that there is no escape for the dwindling survivors.

Young Bava had made a small but noticeable mark on the genre world already with the macabre Macabre and the moderately stylish (if overlong) modern giallo Blade in the Dark in the early eighties, and Demons (or Dèmoni in Italy) would pretty much sledgehammer his presence on the scene: whilst it is minimalist in terms of plot development and characterisations (though there are a few feeble attempts at the latter) the movie delivers profoundly on violence, gore, suitably ghastly demons, sheer ruthlessness, etc. Taking a good half hour to get going (where the spectators are generally sitting around watching the onscreen action unfold while telling each other to shut up, or attempting to mate), once the action does kick off it’s like the gates of Hell have opened up. What gives the scenario some impact is the setting: everyone being inexplicably trapped within in a labyrinthine cinema has a cool vibe about it, and one that brings a little bit of a sinister edge with it too - this aspect is underlined in a lovely manner when the viewers realise they are trapped, lose themselves in hysterics and a wide-angled lens camera drifts around the walls: the madness of the situation becomes apparent. Periodic injections of humour also elevate the darker elements of the story, usually in the form of some of the characters’ oddball lines (the black guy has some of the best of these). Of course the film’s crew did boast some respectable talent working alongside Lamberto: acclaimed director (at the time!) Dario Argento both produced the film and wrote the screenplay (with Lamberto and Franco Ferrini) based on a story by Dardano Sacchetti (writer of most of Lucio Fulci’s best films, amongst many others), and Claudio Simonetti wrote a significant portion of the soundtrack, he of course being famous as one of the collaborators and originators of Italian prog-instrumentalists Goblin. Aside from Simonetti’s typically distinctive contributions there’s a great choice of metal tracks granting the bloody action with an enhanced dose of energy, making the movie almost a cinematic celebration of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal era that had reached its summit by the time Demons was released. Saxon’s Everybody Up and Accept’s Fast as a Shark are notable highlights though of course this choice of music won’t suit everyone, however I think it makes good accompaniment to some of the crazy antics of the characters. Stripping genre cinema down to its fundamental constituents Demons is basically a kick-ass, rock n’ roll, gory roller coaster ride.

Previously the ideal way to view the film (outside of a cinema) was via the Anchor Bay US disc, which was released some time around 1999. The dull, non-anamorphic transfer was reasonable for its time though was beginning to appear somewhat antiquated. The accurate aspect ratio was welcome while a dated attempt at creating a 5.1 surround track from old elements brought a touch of weight to the soundtrack, even if the audio was still a little centred at the front side of the soundstage. A commentary from the director (among other people), a featurette and trailer rounded out the DVD package. Jumping forward to 2012 and Arrow lavishly bring the film into the HD era with a seriously impressive Blu-ray. Again framed at 1.66:1 as it should be, image quality is a huge improvement all round - colour, brightness, detail, everything. The print used is an Italian one (i.e. Italian credits and even the original near-halfway break message that appears for about a second or two) and it looks sumptuous to be frank. Audio (choose from either English language, or Italian, with subtitles if desired) varies according to the quality of the recordings but is superior to previous home cinema incarnations. Music is very strong certainly, while the dubbed dialogue is clear enough. Notably there are a couple of small variations compared to the Anchor Bay disc, in particular the vocal dubbing of the perpetually annoyed husband. I also noticed a slight hitch in Billy Idol's White Wedding that I don't think is present in the other version. No real problems though, just be aware that this is a slight variation on what you may be used to. The disc also comes with two audio commentaries and a couple of featurettes, and can be purchased standalone with a comic and poster, or in a limited edition steelbook with Demons 2 present on a separate Blu-ray Disc. This pack also has the Calum Waddell booklet, a fairly readable piece on the two films with Lamberto Bava interview snippets throughout, plus - oddly - a postcard of Cat O' Nine Tails is also in the tin. The steelbook is the option I chose and it's a lovely set despite the couple of omissions noted above - feels like a real collector's item. Overall, Demons gets a release that makes this the worldwide definitive edition to go for, and pleasingly it's a UK release too.

Upcoming Twins of Evil Blu-ray

Those who were pleased with the Synapse double disc (i.e. Blu-ray/DVD) set of Vampire Circus a while ago should be just as happy to discover that similar treatment for the third film in Hammer's Carmilla trilogy, Twins of Evil, is on the horizon (early July) - again a dual format package, this one contains a feature length documentary on the movie, a featurette on props, gallery, deleted scene, trailer, and surprisingly an isolated music and effects audio track.  The film of course stars Peter Cushing as an uncompromising religious fanatic, and the infamous ex-Playboy Collinson twins (from clothed to very unclothed).  It's reported to be a new high definition transfer, region locked to A (which was out of the control of Synapse), and accurately framed at 1.66:1.  It's not a defining Hammer film by any stretch but this package looks really tempting (and not just because the Collinson twins will be in HD...).  Here's the product page at Synapse.  Synapse have also got the rights to put out Hands of the Ripper and Countess Dracula on Blu in the near future, so along with what's happening here in Britain with the current restoration project the future looks bright (red) for Hammer fans.