Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38474 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-01-13
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 175 minutes

Customer Reviews

Great deal with some little flaws...
The 4 star rating is for the quality and presentation of the DVDs, not the movies themselves. I am a huge Hammer fan and I am building up a collection. These seemed like a deal I couldn't pass up, so I will pour out the facts about this new set so you can make an informed opinion. For reviews of their plotlines, actors and the rest, it would be best to look up these movies by their seperate titles or at the links given below by this website.

The good news about the DVDs:
*Two movies at a good price!
*Chris Lee (and others) commentary on Prince of Darkness!
*Large nice quality poster postcards inside of both films! They have the chapter stops on the other side of them.
*5 minutes of Behind The Scenes footage on Prince of Darkness with commentary by Chris Lee (and others!)
*House of Hammer short called "Dracula and the Undead," mainly clips from Hammer films with vampires in them but very cool, never seen a scene from Vampire Circus, so now I want to check that out!

*Both movies are gloriously uncut!

The Bad News:
*Widescreen ratio is smaller than average, which is disappointing. More so on Prince of Darkness...I think Satanic Rites was bigger, more the standard letterbox form.
*Films tend to jump a little. I have no idea if this is the original print of the film, the DVD or my player...or a bit of all three. It doesn't happen often enough for me to really complain about it since I have VHS versions of these which are much worse as far as film quality. Scenes "skip" a 1/3 second or so, such as in Prince when the woman gets out of the carriage. Happens about 5-6 times in the whole set.
*Hammer extra on Satanic Rites is the same "Dracula and the Undead" on the other DVD. So you get the same show twice. I guess that is ok if you are lending one of the DVDs out...but I would think they could have put on another House of Hammer.
*Holders for the DVDs tend to smack into each other and since they are both double sided DVDs (not one sided,) I worry about them getting scratched. They do come off the center without much effort, compared to the Midnite Movie ones you basically have to pry off, almost breaking the DVD in the process!

Overall, a good effort. 4 Stars. Could have been 5 if there had been commentary on both films, no jumping of the frames and two different Hammer specials. But for the price, you really can't beat it. I would highly recommend this for anyone wanting to get a taste (heh) of what Christopher Lee's Dracula character is like and wonderful insights into the world of Hammer Films.

Warning!!!
For owners of high-definition televisions, be warned that this is merely presented in widescreen format and NOT anamorphic widescreen format.

Because this is out of print, some private sellers are asking for exorberant amounts for this. Be forewarned. I purchased it from a seller who offered it at a reasonable rate. I'm trying to complete my Hammer Films collection and "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" is a must. (I'm not a big fan of the "Satanic Rites of Dracula," but it's nice to have that, as well.) But I thought it was enhanced for widescreen televisions before I bought it and I was wrong.

I give this four stars because Anchor Bay didn't offer these films in anamorphic widescreen. While that is very disappointing, I'm still happy to own it.

More Bang For The Buck
Prince Of Darkness is technically the third Hammer Dracula film, the second being Brides Of Dracula. This seems to play out a bit like a direct sequel to Horror Of Dracula considering the film begins with the finale of that film. Ten years after Van Helsing put the kabash on Dracula, the community is still living in fear, so much in fact that it's now standard practice at funerals to pound a wooden stake through the corpse, bite marks or not. Four sightseeing travellers come through Dracula's old stomping grounds and are warned to stay away from his castle, so naturally this is where they end up. They're lured there by a Dracula disciple who plans to use them for both Dracula's resurrection and lunch. After Drac comes back, and wipes out one of the couples, a deadly game of bat and mouse ensues as the remaining couple try to destroy Dracula with the help of a vampire killing priest. Good stuff. Lee once again turns in a heavy performance without uttering a word(but hissing and yelling once in a while). Not as good as the first film and Van Helsing's presence is missed, but a very good Hammer flick nonetheless.
Satanic Rites is the last we'd ever see of Lee as Hammer's Dracula. Folks are split on this one. Dracula's still in early 70s London, but it's quite different from Dracula A.D. 1972. No hippy kids, no Stoneground, no "far outs", "groovies", "dig the music kids" or running from the "fuzz". It deals with Dracula(who apparently has been resurrected yet again, but we really don't know how this time) running a big operation that plans on manufacuring a virus that'll bring about a second Black Plague on the earth. Apparently Dracula's tired of his existance and wants to go out with a bang. Guess who's on board to stop him? Van Helsing's back too, and he's gonna save the entire world by whippin' some vampire ass with the help of the police inspector from the previous film as well as his grandaughter(this time played by Joanna Lumley). Satanic Rites has a bit more blood and breasts than the early films. It isn't fantastic, but I certainly wouldn't say it's as bad as some try to make it out to be. It's certainly better than alot of the vampire crap on the new release wall of your local video store, that's for sure. And of course both Lee and Cushing excellent and keep it interesting.