FSK 18 horror new in home cinema: almost 6 hours of gruesome cult with the first major ‘Star Wars’ villain

Before Darth Vader became one of the most famous villains in cinema history thanks to an iconic twist and tough lightsaber duels, he was strictly speaking one thing: the imposing henchman of the villains in ‘Star Wars’ – Grand Moff Tarkin, commander of the Death Star. So was it Peter Cushingwho gave the first villain appearance in the “Star Wars” franchise.

But Cushing left a great legacy not only in blockbuster cinema, but also in horror: he was one of the regular actors of the legendary British genre house Hammer Films. On November 24, 2023, the “Peter Cushing Deluxe Collection,” a 354-minute set, will be released on Blu-ray:

The set includes the films “Embryo of evil“, “Frankenstein’s Curse“, “Dracula needs fresh blood” And “Crypt of the vampires“. These great productions have all already been released individually in home theaters, but some only as limited and expensive media books.

Horror, Hammer and Cushing fans have not yet been able to get all four films in regular stores as cheaply as they can with the Deluxe Collection. While ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ has always been rated for ages 16 and over in Germany, ‘Dracula Needs Fresh Blood’ was rated for ages 18 and over for years. He is also 16 now.

‘Crypt of the Vampires’, on the other hand, is one of those strange cases where the American child protection organization had bigger problems with the depiction of violence than the British one – which is why vampire horror was only available in short form for a long time on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The German Blu-ray, on the other hand, contains the uncensored long version with a 16 release.

The fact that the Deluxe Collection has an FSK rating of 18 is ultimately thanks to “Embryo of Evil”: For decades, the ambiguous shocker about a woman who believes she has been raped by a ghost was only sold in Germany with the SPIO/JK seal. The film now has an 18th release – theoretically also in unabridged form. All movie fans who like to split hairs should still be informed that the German Blu-ray is not, strictly speaking, completely uncut:

A few seconds of footage are missing in four places – but this is not violence or erotic censorship, which was done in favor of the FSK release. The background is much more banal: the German VHS release of the film was based on a slightly damaged copy, which causes the film to skip briefly on the four points mentioned.

The Blu-ray uses a significantly better picture master, but the scissors were used (in favor of picture-sound sync). You can see how subtle these cuts are Read.

These are the films from the Deluxe Collection

In ‘Embryo of Evil’, director Roy Ward Baker tells the story of landowner Charles Fengriffen (Ian Ogilvy), who belongs to a long line of cursed people. His wife Catherine (Stephanie Beacham) suffers from this: From her wedding night onwards, she is haunted by uneasy feelings and scary dreams. She is soon convinced that a ghost has abused her. Dr. Paus (Cushing) investigates…

In “Crypt of the Vampires,” which has homoerotic undertones and overtones, Cushing again plays the Austrian General von Spieldorf under Baker. He and his family take in Marcilla (Ingrid Pitt), who recently moved to the area. She befriends Laura (Pippa Steel), the general’s niece, in an unusually fast and intense way. When Laura discovers inexplicable wounds on her breasts, the general calls in a vampire hunter, because prevention is better than cure…

In “Dracula Needs Fresh Blood,” however, Cushing is a vampire hunter himself – and not just any vampire, but the legendary Van Helsing, who hunts down vampire lord Dracula (Christopher Lee) in 1970s London. The script by Doctor Who author Don Houghton, directed by Alan Gibson, wildly combines vampire horror, occult thrillers, science fiction and political thrillers – which made the film infamous: it was considered a box office flop in 1973 and was long seen as a stain on Hammer’s work. But like many other hammer flops, he now has a loyal cult fanbase thanks to his wild, creative ideas. How much irony there is in this love is in the eye of the beholder.

‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ ultimately has a classic status, completely free of irony: The new adaptation, directed by Terence Fisher, stars Cushing as Baron Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as his monstrous creature. Legend has it that the acting greats became good friends by complaining about the script together.

Despite their criticism, the film was a huge success in 1957 and continues to have an impact today. This is partly due to the sappy, mushy disgusting effects and the shabby, naturalistic direction – it’s one of those films that immediately makes you want to clean your own four walls. And if that’s not enough praise: One of the film’s many fans is director legend Martin Scorsese, who once raved about it in the horror documentary ‘Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood!’