MovieChat Forums > The Brides of Dracula (1960) Discussion > Another defective DVD set from Universal

Another defective DVD set from Universal

posted 19 years ago by BijouBob8mm
15 replies | jump to latest

I've had so many incidents where I've bought a DVD set from Universal where the film locks up, breaks down into multi-colored dots, etc., and have read so many product reviews of Universal DVD sets that indicate I'm not alone in finding a total lack of quality control. So it was with no surprise I read reviews of the recently-released Hammer DVD set having playback problems. Sure enough, BRIDES OF DRACULA froze up in one set, while CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF skipped on a second set.

[–] cbulkin 19 years ago

I'm on my second Hammer Horror Series - The Franchise Collection DVD set and so far both have had the same problems - skipping and freezing. The set is totally unplayable. I had the same problem with Universal's Legacy Collection set for The Mummy.

The problem seems to exist only on the double sided discs. The single sided discs play fine.

Buyer beware - if it's Universal title and it's a double sided disc, don't buy it.

[–] BijouBob8mm 19 years ago

It seems like several studios use the double-sided DVDs to cut corners (but not necessarily consumer costs). Given what it actually costs to make a DVD, these could be single-sided and still be reasonably priced. Warner Bros. uses double-sided DVDs for some of their releases of TV titles, yet single-sided DVDs for other series. No rhyme or reason for how they decide which format to use seems apparent.

Just read a review of the Hammer DVD set that said, based on online comments, it seems to hold the record for customer complaints over defective DVDs.

[–] psychotronicbeatnik 19 years ago

Somehow Netflix manages to get single sided DVDs from these sets with 2 movies on a side. The menu still tells you to flip the disc over to see the other two movies - of course that's impossible, but it does prove they weren't remastered, simply duplicated as one-sided discs. I just watched the one for Brides and Curse and it was gorgeous, but it seems unfair to me that the single sided discs are not offered to the public. I've been holding off on buying this set because of all the problems I've heard about. I couldn't resist buying the new Kolchak the Night Stalker set which is another dual-sided set from Universal, but hopefully it wont have these problems. Arrgh, what a hassle.

[–] Joel_Goodsen 19 years ago

Yeah, my Curse of the Werewolf has a skip when young Leon is in the bed after his first werewolf episode. It skips back to the beginning of the movie.

[–] BijouBob8mm 19 years ago

As many complaints as I've been reading about in magazines and online for the set, maybe if Universal gets swamped with defective returns, they'll finally get the message.

[–] YelBard1 19 years ago

Burn the movies that you bought this set for onto seperate disks thts what i did and all movies Play perfect

[–] evansharkfan 19 years ago

I just got the set and it works perfectly so far. Ive watched 4 out of 8 movies with no skipping or mess ups.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] taylorje 18 years ago

The problem might be your DVD player. I had to finally buy a new one as many of my DVD's kept skipping and freezing, but played perfectly on my computer. I just watched "Brides of Dracula", bought with the Hammer Horror Films set, and it played perfectly.

[–] jquirk-1 18 years ago

I agree tayloreje. I had trouble with some of my DVDs more than a year ago when I had a cheap Apex model. When I bought a new HD TV about 16 months ago, I also upgraded to a higher-end Sony DVD player. All of the DVDs that gave me problems before suddenly played fine on the higher end DVD player. I've heard many complaints about Universal DVDs, but I must say I was able to view all of the films from this set with no problems whatsoever. Other Universal collections people have complained about include "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," "Columbo: Season Three," and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents Season One."

Again, I have all of those collections and have experienced no playback problems. I really believe that more than 90 percent of the playback problems can be attributed to cheaply made DVD players.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] ron-kwongwah 18 years ago

I TOTALLY AGREE . I HAVE 3 MULTI REGION DVD PLAYERS AND THEY ALL LOCKED UP ON AT LEAST ONE OF THESE DISCS IN THE SET.CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF LOCKED UP AND SO DID KISS OF THE VAMPIRE. THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN IS COMPLETELY UNPLAYABLE AFTER SCENE 3.IN FUTURE ILL HAVE TO STICK TO VHS.WHAT A PITY AFTER WAITING ALL THESE YEARS!

[–] todmichel 18 years ago

You are right, there are problems in playing these DVDs in most of the players.
And furthermore, there is also an image ratio problem. The ratio for "The Brides of Dracula" is perfect (1.66), in 16.9 but with black bands on left and right. But the ratio of "Curse of the Werewolf" is erroneous, with image missing above and below.

[–] Woodyanders 17 years ago

I've watched five films in the box set and so far they have all played perfectly from start to finish.

Nobody does W.C. Fields singing "Mama Told Me Not to Come" better than Paul Frees.

[–] 17 years ago

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