The Brides Of Dracula (Blu-ray + DVD) [1960]

Great hammer film brilliant cast with Peter Cushing and the lovely yvonne monlaur and David peel plays a great vampire the blu ray picture is sharp and clear has if it was made yesterday well recommended

Hammer's The Brides of Dracula (1960) was the first sequel their 1958 classic Horror of Dracula, and again stars Peter Cushing as ace vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing. Christopher Lee's Count Dracula is absent this time, for reasons nobody has ever really confirmed; depending on which rumours you believe, he asked for too much money, turned the film down to avoid typecasting, or might not have been asked to appear at all. However, Lee isn't really missed in a movie that instead features the little-known actor David Peel as Baron Meinster, a blood-sucking mummy's boy with a taste for farm girls and French schoolteachers... One of the few Hammer horror movies to divide the opinion of fans, The Brides of Dracula has in its favour some really magnificent set designs, great photography, an unusual score from Malcolm Williamson, and top-notch performances from Cushing, Peel, and veteran actresses Martita Hunt and Freda Jackson. However, many commentators (amongst them one of the credited screenwriters, Jimmy Sangster) have drawn attention to the film's choppy narrative and various plot inconsistencies and contrivances, and the somewhat weak performance of the female lead, Yvonne Monlaur. Those criticisms do hold water, but they are scarcely noticeable once you are actually watching the movie; this is a dream-like, gothic fairytale, and one of director Terence Fisher's very best films.

Brides of Dracula was the first of Hammer's many sequels to their breakthrough hit, and it's not just the best of the series but one of their very best pictures. There's no Christopher Lee this time round - in fact, there's no Dracula at all - but there's a lot of imagination at play here in a beautifully plotted story that sees Peter Cushing's Van Helsing coming up against David Peel's Baron Meinster, a follower of Dracula's vampire cult, after Yvonne Monlaur's schoolteacher ill-advisedly releases him from the shackles his not-as-mad-as-she-looks mother keeps him in. There's a lot going on beneath the stylish surface here - a psychiatrist could probably have a field day with the curious relationship between Peel and Martita Hunt ("We pray for death, both of us. At least, I hope he prays"), not to mention Van Helsing's visible discomfort in the company of women - but it never overwhelms the plot, and there's no shortage of memorable scenes, from the professor treating a rather nasty bite he just got to the servant silently offering pointers to a newly created vampire on its first outing as one of the undead. Reuniting most of the behind-the-cameras talent from their first Dracula film and throwing in a rather splendid climax in a burning windmill, this is definitely one of Hammer's finest hours. Sadly, though one of their best looking pictures, like Warner Home Video's overcopped release of the first Hammer Dracula, the UK DVD of Brides is also a bit of a disappointment - no extras and in the wrong ratio. It's a problem that's carried over in Final Cut's UK Blu-ray, which uses Universal's 2:1 widescreen transfer from their Hammer Horror Series [DVD] [1964] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC ], marring an otherwise decent release that also includes a new 31-minute making of documentary, stills gallery and trailer.

This was the first Hammer film I ever saw. I'd been trying to find it on DVD for ages after seeing it on numerous occasions on Sky and well worth the wait!! This is British cinema at it's creepiest and atmospheric, an absolute masterpiece with a fantastic pace. It's all too easy in this day and age to be cynical and laugh at these films but it says something when nearly 50 years on this film is given the recognition it deserves and is finally released to buy. If you love vintage old horror films, it really doesn't get much better than this. All the characters are great but one man has to be singled out and that is the legend which is Peter Cushing, one of this country's greatest actors, as the formiddable Van Helsing. As another reviewer quoted, 'Who is it who is not afraid?' , 'Only God has no fear!' Genius!!

one of the first Hammer Dracula film's, one of the best, but for some reason not quite as familiar as Christopher Lee, but it is a well worthwhile classic, a vintage great that had become quite a rare title, but fortunately it has become available again for a reasonable price, it's got the brilliant Peter Cushing and also a hypnotising performance from David Peel as Baron Meinster, why he never played the vampire role again, i'll never understand?!....it's a veritable Hammer classic at it's best, a vintage gothic masterpiece, when horror was an art, everything that horror should be today, but isn't sadly, nowaday's it seem's to be just violence, sadistic and vicious, gratuitous for the sake of it, apart from the Brit's & Europe, they seem to have forgotten the art of the horror film...long live Hammer, Amicus, Kobalt, Tigon and all the other classic's!

Un des bons films des productions de la Hammer Horror Movie la seule chose le titre est en français sur la pochette mais le film est en anglais avec des sous-titres en français. Mais c'est un film a possédé pour sa collection de films personnelle. De plus la nouvelle édition de 2017 les dvd est pal mais le blu-ray est toute région.

Looks terrific in high definition

BEELDKWALITEIT SUPER SCHERP !!!!!

Conte onirique des ténèbres aux images resplendissantes de beauté, aux couleurs éclatantes, bariolées mais chaudes,aux décors somptueux,à la mise en scène maîtrisée par la main d'un des chefs de file pour la Hammer: comme dans "Le cauchemar de Dracula'' Terence Fisher se révèle encore une fois être un grand magicien poète. Ici pas d'affreux Dracula mais un beau jeune homme pour charmer ces dames. Et ce même jeune homme est retenu prisonnier dans un château fastueux par sa mère qui craint donc le pire avec un fils vampire! Mais la belle Yvonne Monlaur,invitée au château par la mère,tombera sous le charme de celui qui était retenu prisonnier par une chaîne scellée au mur et dont l'extrémité était un gros anneau fermé à clé à sa cheville. Car la belle aura dérobé la clé pour délivrer son charmeur lequel charmeur sera allé par la suite jusqu'à sucer le sang de sa propre mère qui aura élevé son fils d'une manière bien trop laxiste! On ne peut penser évidemment qu'à ces théories célèbres d'un Freud. La fin du film est remarquable lorsque le jeune vampire dans un moulin verra son visage détruit par de l'eau bénite puis, quand il bondira hors de ce moulin en flammes , le Dr. Van Helsing actionnera les ailes du moulin de manière à ce qu'elles forment par leurs ombres une croix sous la lumière de la pleine lune, à la nuit tombée , sur ce vampire. L'interprétation (d'un homme froid et déterminé) de Peter Cushing est encore et toujours des plus brillantes et tout le reste de la distribution est à la hauteur. Ce film a plus de cinquante ans mais il reflète , par sa poésie , une certaine société qui espérait en un monde meilleur et au bonheur (autant en emporte le vent?...) VOST ici avec des bonus dont un entretien avec Jean-François RAUGER. Billy.

The Brides of Dracula is a vampire classic...one of the best vampire movies ever made if you like your vampire movies in the classic/gothic mode....although Count Dracula is not in this movie Baron Meinster(imho) is just as terrorizing and even more supernatural......Baron Meinster is one of those Hammer Films creations that really works in this movie...he isn't Dracula, but who cares?.....I think he's even more terrorizing than Chris Lees Dracula...and the movie says he is a disciple of Dracula too....the possible insinuation here is that the good Baron has taken on the mantle of leadership of the undead in Dracula's absence...buy this movie and you won't regret it....great production values, great direction, great sets great acting, and a very unusual quality soundtrack too...a can't miss.