"Ultimately Irresistible for Fans"
The latest in Hammer Films' ongoing series of releases of definitive collector's editions of the company's films is the 4K of one of the most influential and important horror films ever made. THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, Hammer's groundbreaking adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel starring Peter Cushing as the Baron and Christopher Lee as his creation has been restored in 4K, and is being released in a six disc limited edition (which will have everything) and in separate 3-disc standard editions in either Blu-ray or UHD formats which will be without 'disc six' and all the extra printed material that comes with the limited set. Seeing as the limited's the one with the most stuff let's take a look at what you get:
Disc One (UHD) and Disc Three (Blu-ray)
These two discs have the same material on them, presenting the film in two aspect ratios 1.66:1 theatrical and 1.37:1 'as filmed', with obviously more picture information available with the latter. Perhaps needless to say the image here is a vast improvement over the previous UK region B Blu-ray release and is quite a bit better than the more recent US region A release, too. Jonathan Rigby and Marcus Hearn's commentary from the original UK Blu release has been ported over to the 1.37:1 version, while the 1.66:1 version has a brand new commentary from Barry Forshaw, Kim Newman and Stephen Jones, which is excellent. Those used to their commentaries won't be surprised to learn that they never stop talking and there's enough new conjecture and observation here to make it worth listening to by even the most obsessive of fans.
Extras on disc one include Beside the Sea which is a charming 50 minutes spent in the company of Hammer expert Wayne Kinsey and actress Madeline Smith as they talk about Peter Cushing's life and career while taking a tour of a (fortunately) sunny Whitstable, including the Cushing museum, the Cushing bench, and the outside of the Cushing house. There's an 8 minute piece on the restoration of the print, an 'alternative eyeball scene' (just over 1 minute) and the UK trailer and censor card.
Disc Two (UHD) and Disc Four (Blu-ray)
These two discs also have the same material with the film presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio and accompanied by two commentaries - Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr's from the US region A 2020 release and a new commentary from Heidi Honeycutt and Toby Roan which, if you're still in the mood for yet more commentary after the other three fact-packed ones, provides something of a more laid back, chatty change of pace.
Recreating the Creature takes us to 'Igor Studios' where Dave Elsey recreates the iconic Phil Leakey creature makeup using the ever-patient James Swanton as his guinea pig. If you're interested in special effects makeup (and its history) this takes its time (35 minutes) and goes through all the stages, with added historical content.
Other extras include Josephine Botting taking about costume designer Molly Arbuthnot (10 minutes), with a follow up piece on Costuming at Hammer (16 minutes). Good or Tuesday is a 40 minute piece in which writers David Pirie, Stephen Laws, Stephen Gallagher, Richard Klemenson and Wayne Kinsey discuss the career of Jimmy Sangster. They're all seasoned pros at this sort of thing and this is a very good piece on a writer who (as they are happy to admit) could be excellent, but not always.
Richard Klemensen returns for Painting with Fine Brushes (12 minutes) in which he shares his memories of, and his audio interview with, DP Jack Asher. Finally, Stephen Volk talks for 24 minutes on Frankenstein the novel, Hammer, the gothic in general and Ken Russells's GOTHIC (which of course he wrote) specifically. Comments on Peter Cushing vs Julian Sands in their willingness to lose their trousers will no doubt raise a smile.
Disc Five (Blu-ray in all sets)
Apart from a new 11 minute interview with third assistant director Hugh Harlow with contributions from Peter Allchorne (dressing and props) and Pauline Wise (secretary) pretty much everything on disc five is archival. This includes the 1997 FoFF interview with Jimmy Sangster by Stephen Laws (24 minutes), Frankenstein Reborn, a 35 minute making of from 2012, Life With Sir - secretary Joyce Broughton's memories of Peter Cushing from 2012 (13 minutes), Richard Klemenson's 2020 piece on Hammer as 'The Resurrection Men' (22 minutes), Sir Christopher Frayling's Hideous Progeny piece on the Gothic from 2020, and composer Christopher Drake talking about James Bernard and Hammer Film music (17 minutes, also 2020). There's also the black and white 8mm cut down of the film.
Disc Six (Blu-ray - Exclusive to the Limited Edition)
Disc six gives us Flesh and Blood, Ted Newsom's excellent 1994 documentary on Hammer that runs a staggering two and a half hours and is narrated by Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in their final collaboration. Harry Nadler's 1994 video record of the Lee / Cushing narration is also on there (48 minutes), as well as out-takes from the recording (21 minutes). The 1958 TV pilot Tales of Frankenstein is on here too with a commentary featuring Newsom, who also appears on the final extra, The Tale of Tales of Frankenstein. As you can see it's a Newsom-heavy disc but that's no bad thing and collectors will no doubt be very happy to have all this material in one place.
Finally, the limited edition comes with a stack of printed material including a 168 page book with new and archival writing, the House of Hammer comic strip adaptation, double sided poster and lobby cards, making it a package that's very difficult to resist even if you have a lot of this stuff from previous releases.
THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN is out in a limited edition 6 disc UHD and Blu-ray set, and in standard three disc UHD (two UHDs and one Blu-ray) and Blu-ray sets on Monday 13th October 2025
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