Brides of Dracula, The (Blu-ray) (1960)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror	Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1960
Running Time	85:30
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Terence Fisher
Studio Distributor	Shock Entertainment	Starring	Peter Cushing Yvonne Monlaur David Peel Martita Hunt Fred Johnson Henry Oscar Mona Washbourne Miles Malleson
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Malcolm Williamson

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Linear PCM 48/24 2.0 mono (2304Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.00:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Marianne (Yvonne Monlaur) is on her way to a teaching position at a school for ladies in Transylvania when her coachman is paid by a mysterious man to abandon her at a small village inn. The innkeeper and his wife know what is happening; they are afraid and try to get Marianne away but before they can a coach arrives carrying the Baroness Meinster (Martita Hunt) who invites Marianne to spend the night at her nearby castle. Marianne agrees and during the night discovers the Baroness’ son, the young, blonde and very handsome Baron Meinster (David Peel), shackled by his mother with a silver chain. Marianne frees the Baron; of course he is a vampire and his release starts a series of deadly events as the Baron seeks young women to feed upon and Marianne as his bride. Luckily, vampire hunter Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) has already been summoned by the village Cure (Fred Johnson) and is on the Baron’s trail.

     The Brides of Dracula was Hammer’s follow up to their successful 1958 film Dracula (which in the US was called Horror of Dracula to distinguish it from the 1931 Bela Lugosi film). The Brides of Dracula has the same director, Terence Fisher, and cinematographer, Jack Asher, as the earlier film as well as Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, but the Dracula of the first film Christopher Lee declined to reprise the role so rather than cast someone else as Dracula the vampire becomes the young and blonde Baron Meinster, in which role David Peel does a decent job without setting the house on fire. Yvonne Monlaur is also not particularly charismatic but Peter Cushing is solid and some of the bit parts are very entertaining, including Freda Jackson as the Baroness’ servant, Henry Oscar and Mona Washbourne as the proprietors of the school for ladies while Miles Malleson has a whale of a time as a doctor.

     The Brides of Dracula is a great example of the horror films Hammer was turning out in the 60s. Director Terence Fisher and cinematographer Jack Asher know what they are doing so The Brides of Dracula is well made and atmospheric with some tense moments while, after 50 years, the film still looks fabulous with rich colours, great production values and costumes and sets which are detailed and elaborate. The Brides of Dracula looks anything but cheap, except for the dodgy looking bats, and it is still, over 50 years after being made, a very entertaining and rewarding film to watch. Dracula, what Dracula?

Video

     According to the IMDb The Brides of Dracula was shot in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Universal released the film in America and this Blu-ray preserves the Universal 2.0:1 aspect ratio. While some slight information is lost at the top and bottom of the frame this is not a problem as the screen captures provided by the DVDBeaver site here show. The Blu-ray is in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     As noted in the plot summary above, The Brides of Dracula looks marvellous. I did not see any marks or scratches and the costumes and sets are lavish and finely detailed. Colours are deep and natural, without that modern digital glossy look, and while there was grain evident it was well controlled. Blacks and shadow detail are fine, skin tones natural while brightness and contrast are consistent.

     There are no subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio is English LPCM 2.0 mono at 2304 Kbps.

     Dialogue is always clear and effects such as thunder and galloping horses have a nice resonance, while a ticking clock in one scene nicely added to the creation of tension. The original score by Malcolm Williamson in the manner of 1960s horror films can be somewhat strident and lavish. There is no surround or subwoofer use.

     I noticed no hiss or distortion.

     Lip synchronisation was off on some occasions.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Theatrical Trailer (1:01)

     The only other Blu-ray of The Brides of Dracula at present is the Region Free UK release which includes as extras a making of (31:07) and stills gallery as well as the film’s trailer we have. The extras would give this release the advantage.

     Hammer horror cult classic The Brides of Dracula makes a welcome appearance on Blu-ray. The film looks marvellous and remains, after over 50 years, entertaining and fun to watch. I had a great time and fans of Hammer or English 1960s horror should not hesitate. It misses out on Dracula, of course, but also the making of available in the UK which, perhaps in this case, is a greater loss.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall