Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood [Original recording remastered, Soundtrack]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 9, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Soundtrack
• Label: Silva America
• ASIN: B000063IUP
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,365 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Hammer & Silva...raises the hair on the back of your neck", April 9, 2002

By 

J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood (Audio CD)

Silva Screen takes us on tour through the castles of Transylvania with a collection of
outstanding scores from James Bernard on Disc One ~ "DRACULA" (1958)..."KISS OF
THE VAMPIRE" (1964)..."DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS"
(1966)..."FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN" (1967)..."THE DEVIL RIDES OUT"
(1968)..."DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE" (1968)..."THE SCARS OF
DRACULA" (1970)..."TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA" (1970)...even though the
blood doesn't flow as easily in "KISS OF THE VAMPIRE", the score from Bernard is
seductive, sensual to say the least for "creatures of the night", masked ball scene blends
atmospheric trance-masquerade themes, intoxicating main title is hauntingly mesmerizing with
"VAMPIRE RHAPSODY", just listen to the piano solo from our character in the film Carl
Ravna (Barry Warren), son of Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman) along with daughter Sabena Ravna
(Jacqueline Wallis), a cult of vampires in early 20th century Bavarian, praying on a young
honeymoon couple...Bernard's rhapsody captures the listeners heart and BLOOD!

Let's look at Disc Two with the other Hammer themes and their composers ~ "THE
ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN" (1957-Humphrey Searle)..."QUATERMASS II"
(1957-James Bernard)..."CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF" (1960-Benjamin
Frankel)..."CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB" (1964-Carlo Martelli)..."SHE"
(1965-James Bernard)..."ONE MILLION YEARS B.C." (1966-Mario
Nascimbene)..."WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH" (1969-Mario
Nascimbene)..."HANDS OF THE RIPPER" (1971-Christopher Gunning)..."VAMPIRE
CIRCUS" (1971-David Whitaker)..."VAMPIRE HUNTER" (2000-James
Bernard)...difficult as it may be, there is a stand out ~ "THE CURSE OF THE
WEREWOLF", fine direction from Terence Fisher (director) with an outstanding cast Oliver
Reed (Leon-the Werewolf), Clifford Evans (Alfredo), Yvonne Romain (Servant Girl) and
Catherine Feller (Christina), Hammer's departure from the old stereotype of the beast is
refreshing, Reed's performance as the tormented sole, from man to wolf is touching, the score
by Ben Frankel is tense building at it's best, to say the least, setting the tone and mood for the
transformation with counterpoints is stimulating, inclusive orchestration development for what
lies ahead during a full moon.

Without a doubt the highlight pick hands down is "SHE", composer James Bernard gives of
himself without question, the SUITE takes the orchestra into lilting melodic exercises with
percussion chiming in, the harmonies are hypnotic blends of textured fabric, listen as The
Westminster Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Alwyn display stirring strings and
a solo harp run the scales in "THE ETERNAL FLAME AND THE DESTRUCTION OF
SHE", hold-fast arrangement has haunting echoes of Bernard's constant theme, with a final
beat from a drum in the percussion section.

Must make mention the cast of players that made this possible ~ The Philharmonia Orchestra,
The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, The Westminster Philharmonic Orchestra ~ and
their various conductors Kenneth Alwyn, Paul Bateman, Nic Raine and Neil
Richardson...supported by the illustrious staff from Silva Screen Records LTD ~ Reynold da
Silva (executive producer), David Stoner (associate producer), Gareth Williams (Dolby
Surround/HDCD Mastering) and of course James Fitzpatrick (compilation producer), who
has the knack of developing quality in every Silva Screen release...similar to "A History Of
Horror:From Nosferatu To The Sixth Sense" (SSD-1111/2CD Set), guaranteed to raise the
hair on the back of your neck!

Total Time: Disc One 68:01 on 14 Tracks & Disc Two 68:46 on 14 Tracks ~ Silva Screen
Records SSD-357 ~ (2002)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for performance, 4 stars due to omissions, August 28, 2006

By 

tjguitar - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood (Audio CD)

Why doesn't this get a perfect five stars?

Simple reason.

The producers at Silva, for wahtever reason, decided to cut down their SHE suites and Hands of the Ripper suites.

On the previous Hammer releases, "Draculas - Classic Horror Films", released in 1993, recorded in 1989, they had seven additional minutes of "Hands of the Ripper" that could have been included on this set.

Additionally, The Devil Rides Out: Film Music of James Bernard, released in 1997, recorded in 1995 and 1996 had about a minute more of additional music from SHE, PLUS about seven minutes worth of suites from Quatermass and X: The Unknown.

Both discs in this new re-issue round out at around 68 minutes, so there was room for some of these omissions.

Silva Screen gets big kudos for a reissuing these recordeings in the remastered HDCD format, but I don't understand these omissions. In fact, one of the tracks included, "Vampire Hunter" isn't even from a Hammer film, and its the only recording on this collection not on previous Silva CD's.

Again, 5 stars for the performances, the 1989 performances with Neil Richardson and the Philharmonia are fantastic. (Dracula, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, Taste the Blood of Dracula, Hands of the Ripper, Vampire Circus.)

Additionally, The Westminster Philharmonic under the baton of Kenneth Alwyn do an excellent job as usual (Kiss of the Vampire, Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, She, THe Abominable Snowman, Quatermass II and Curse of the Werewolf.) Finally, the City of Prague Philharmonic, who get a bad rap more often than they deserve round out hte album and IMHO, deliver the goods, under the trusty batons of Paul Bateman (Scars of Dracula, Frankenstein Created Woman, additionally, Bateman also plays the piano solo on Kiss of the Vampire.) and Nic Raine (The Devil Rides Out, One Million Years BC, When Dinosuars Ruled the Earth, Creatures The World Forgot, The Vampire Hunter)

I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could.

Much thanks to producers David Wishart, Eric Tomlinson and James Fitzpatrick and recording engineers Mike Ross-Trevor, John Luard Timperley and Jan Holzner for contributing to these fine historical film music recordings.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars James Bernard and more, October 9, 2008

By 

Stuart Paine (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood (Audio CD)

For those of you who might be wondering, there is only one cue which is on the playlists of both this album, HAMMER: THE STUDIO THAT DRIPPED BLOOD, and THE BEST OF HAMMER HORROR.

Track 11, disc 1 here (from THE DEVIL RIDES OUT) is the same as track 3 of that other collection. Also, the "Romance" from TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, which is a highlight of tracks 6, 7 and 9, disc 1, is the same melody as the other album's track 14. The rest of the music is different.

Disc 1: James Bernard is the star here and the only composer represented. His music is brutal and unforgettable. The second DEVIL RIDES OUT track, with its batteries of percussion and bold dissonance, is a progenitor of Wojciech ("Voy-chek") Kilar's BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA.

Disc 2 is less satisfying (sorry, Nascimbene has never done a thing for me), but the several Bernard selections, Martelli's CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB and the romantic piano "Vampire Rhapsody" from KISS OF THE VAMPIRE are strong. It's also very nice to have something from THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN by Humphrey Searle, whose concert music is dense and not so easy to get into but who's done some memorable scores, notably this one and THE HAUNTING.

Silva's miking of these orchestras is not close, so the sound lacks the bite of some of the original recordings. This is often a problem with classical orchestras doing film music. However, these are talented ensembles. The tempi are appropriate; the music sounds very good overall and it's a LOT of music.

TT: over 136 minutes