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The traditional horror film was dead in the early 50’s killed by the nuclear age as sure as if it had a stake driven through its heart. Sure there were a few exceptions but most of them were bad. Hammer films rode to the rescue with a mixture of costume melodrama, horror and bright, vivid blood. Hammer had always been a bit player when it came to releases throughout most of the world dominated as it was by the major U.S. studios but with the release of “Curse of Frankenstein” in 1957 the studio had found its niche. This terrific collection of (mostly) classic Hammer films from the early to mid-60’s found the studio in fine form. Two of these classic Hammer films “Brides of Dracula” and “Curse of the Werewolf” have long been sought after by horror film fans who grew up on “Creature Features” type shows during the 70’s and both make their DVD debut. ***

“Brides of Dracula” doesn’t feature Dracula at all. Instead, the title is a hook nothing more. This focuses on vampire killer Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) and his attempt to rid a town of the scourge of vampirism. A handsome young man Baron Meinster (David Peel) has been unwittingly released by a young French teacher (Yvonne Monlaur). In a clever variation on most vampire tales (with a script originally written by Jimmy Sangster but revised by two other writers and director Terence Fisher), the film builds upon the atmosphere of dread created visually by Fisher. In a surprising and brilliant move Van Helsing is played finally portrayed as the hero who, if not as pretty looking as Meinster, is dashing, energetic and brave. Clearly this portrayal of Van Helsing provided the template for the much maligned “Van Helsing” that Stephen Sommers directed earlier in 2005. ***

”Curse of the Werewolf” doesn’t take “The Wolf Man” or “Werewolf of London” and remake it; instead Hammer’s John Elder (producer Anthony Hinds’ writing nom de plume) adapts Guy Endore’s novel “The Werewolf of Paris” and injects plenty of new ideas into what could easily have been a dog of a story. Leon (a very young Oliver Reed) is cursed from birth; his deaf mute mother was raped by an insane prisoner and died after giving birth. He was born on Christmas Day and begins to demonstrate predatory tendencies at a young age disappearing into the night. Well directed by Fisher, it’s the only worthwhile film that addresses this horror legend from Hammer. ***

”The Phantom of the Opera” retells the classic story with Herbert Lom in the title role. While this version has the shortcoming of a low budget (particularly compared to Universal’s grand 1943 version starring Claude Rains), the emphasis here is on the horror aspects of the story more than the opera elements that made “Opera” a popular favorite and Academy Award winner in 1943. ---

The extras are nonexistent and we don’t even get the original theatrical trailers that Warner has put on their Hammer releases. The packaging is nicely designed however with images drawn from the original lobby cards and the accordion style case is housed in a cardboard sleeve with clear plastic on the cover featuring images from “Brides of Dracula” and “Curse of the Werewolf”. Why not license “Peter Cushing-Himself?” or at least excerpts from this 90 minute interview? It’s not available on DVD and would have been a natural for this set as well as for Hammer film fans. Universal could have licensed episodes of the ”Hammer House of Horror” (which Anchor Bay did in lieu of creating featurettes on their Hammer releases for this set as well. Again, it would have been more expensive and I wonder if anyone at the Universal marketing department bothered to do any market research on the cult following these films have. I can understand why Universal did (they reasoned that fans would buy these anyway) but it makes the purchase extra special and does bolster the reputation of the company. ---