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MichaelB wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 14, 2020 3:02 pm

Only I'm not putting forward a thesis
(...)
You can certainly characterise volume 2 as "the black-and-white thriller one", volume 3 as "the Asian one", volume 4 as "the horror one" and volume 5 as "the adventure one" without too much controversy.

Only I was not referring to you putting forward a thesis, but rather to my own choice of Volume 1 to illustrate my point, which you described as "not a particularly good example"; I agreed that my selection suited my purposes, but as I mentioned in the following post I could just as well have used Volume 4, and even others, to various extents.

I also said criteria can be adjusted to make up one’s preferred taxonomy or categories, a point playfully demonstrated in your last post.

To be clear, I was not criticising the make-up of the box set, but rather was just making a judgement, personal and subjective without a doubt.

Reservations regarding the choice of titles and speculation about the possibility of an all-Columbia or an all-Region Free set were made by other posters.

All in all, these are minor points. The most important thing is that these films are brought back in excellent editions, with a lot of bonus material that helps put them into context and – in some cases at least – to appreciate them more. This one might go some way towards a reassessment of Gilling’s reputation.

As of the timestamp of this post, Hammer Volume 1 is now 67 copies away from going OOP.

I just noticed Volume 4 is sold out at Amazon UK, I don't imagine it's close to being OOP this soon though

I understand it's been a pretty fast seller (not too surprisingly), but it's not on the OOP watch list yet.

Volume 1, on the other hand, is now below 50 copies remaining.

MichaelB wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 30, 2020 5:35 pm

I understand it's been a pretty fast seller (not too surprisingly), but it's not on the OOP watch list yet.

What factors do you believe made it an unsurprising fast seller? The selection of titles, the overall package (it's the most stacked Hammer box set yet), the popularity of the Hammer sets in general, or interest in one or two titles in particular in this volume. It's probably a combination of all four, to various degrees, with the last one being the major one in my view (I would suggest that finally making available The Damned in a worthy video edition, and perhaps also Taste of Fear, was a deciding aspect for many buyers).

You've just answered your own question.

MichaelB wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2020 11:51 am

You've just answered your own question.

I certainly do not presume that everyone would agree with my opinion of what is the main reason for this being a fast seller, an opinion I conclude you seem to agree with. There are probably others who would think the selection of titles is the major one for example.

Probably also helps that Amazon was offering it at a deeper discount than usual

swo17 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2020 2:05 pm

Probably also helps that Amazon was offering it at a deeper discount than usual

Now that is a very relevant piece of info; I had not noticed that. It must indeed have been a major reason for the box set to go out of stock (although I suppose Amazon will restock it since it is not OOP).

Not by a ton, mind you but enough that I almost pulled the trigger a few times

The fantastic restoration of one of Terence Fisher’s greatest films, Revenge of Frankenstein, must’ve contributed also.

That and Losey’s The Damned (also in a good resto) decided for me very quickly,

I think that word of mouth on the excellence of the series must have helped, too - as when a band finally breaks through, and their next album sells massively on day-one release.

Final specs for Hammer Volume 5:

Visa to Canton



The Pirates of Blood River



The Scarlet Blade



The Brigand of Kandahar

The Pirates of Blood Beaver.
The Beaver of Kandahar.

Powerhouse has just twelve copies of Hammer Volume 1 currently in stock, and when they're gone, they're gone.

Beaver to Canton.

I wonder what a theoretical volume 6 might include. The Studio Canal connection insures, at the very least, an interest in The Nanny and The Anniversary starring Bette Davis.

I'd love to get Hell is a City from Indicator as well, which is with SC.

I imagine the tough part moving forward is trying to put together thematically sensible sets, as they have before. I've seen some suggesting that She / Vengeance of She / Prehistoric Women / The Lost Continent could be a reasonable upcoming set, while we know Indicator has The Ugly Duckling to place into some set.

Don’t forget Viking Queen!

What are the chances of getting some Hammer Noir films? I used to have some DVDs back in the days. A quick search brings back some of the names like Deadly Game (1954), The Unholy Four (1954), Bad Blonde (1953), A Stolen Face (1952), Blackout (1954), Heat Wave (1954), Terror Street (1953), Wings of Danger (1952), Paid To Kill (1954), The Black Glove, and A Race For Life (1954), which I would like to revisit.

I don’t think those are Sony like the other Noirish Hammer titles already released, since VCI put them out stateside

No, they're owned by Hammer outright (they were made before they were successful enough to strike distribution deals with Hollywood majors), and I'm not aware of any extant HD masters.

Any recommendations for which cut of The Damned to watch first?

The longest version with the original UK title The Damned. The UK theatrical cut on disc two is a historical curiosity, but in no way should be prioritised.

Ok, thanks!