Formed in 1934, Britain's Hammer Films is probably the most recognizable company when it comes to horror. Hitting their stride in the late 1950's due to their reinvention of the Dracula and Frankenstein characters, Hammer continued to produce numerous genre fare before their final production, 1976's To The Devil A Daughter. Using a lot of the same actors, writers, and directors; Hammer has earned its now legendary status and it's easy to pinpoint one of their productions due to the fact they were usually set pre-1900, had rich production design, and usually starred either Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing. The Man Who Could Cheat Death is such a film as it contains Lee in a side role, is set in Paris during the year 1890, and is helmed by Hammer veteran Terence Fisher - which is why I was so surprised, upon receiving Legend Film's DVD, that I had never heard of the film.

Based on the Barre Lyndon play, "The Man on Half Moon Street" things open on a Jack the Ripper inspired vibe showing a cloaked figure preying on a woman amongst the dark streets of Paris. From there we're introduced to Dr. Georges Bonner (Anton Diffring), who's become quite rich specializing in medicine and also enjoys doing a little bit of sculpting on the side. However, there's something wrong with him as he's suffering from rapid aging which not only has the tendency to tint his skin green but also the ability to melt people's faces with a clasped hand - which one of his models finds out first hand.

Seems out good doctor is the ripe age of one-hundred-and-four but doesn't look a day over forty thanks to a serum he's created that staves off the grim reaper. But things are about to get more complicated as former flame Janine (Hazel Court) has come back into his life (though, really, she's simply the 'dame' for the film's many soap opera feeling dramatic moments) and fellow surgeon Pierre (Lee) is becoming a little bit suspicious of his cohort. This leads to a finale that has Janine locked away, a gland implant, and a most typical Hammer final shot of fire consuming everything.

While The Man Who Could Cheat Death isn't the most exciting of the Hammer films I've seen, it's certainly one of the more obscure ones. As adapted by busy screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, Lyndon's play comes across as a mad scientist yarn but one that's filled with almost too many dry moments of melodrama and, apart from a few attempts at thrills that are accompanied by a swelling musical score, not a lot really goes on during the flicks fairly brief 83 minute running time. It's this slower-pace that shows its origins as a stage play but I never really found myself getting bored and thought this was a perfectly acceptable late 50's horror effort that's interesting just for doing something difficult in a decade that was rife with atomic bomb created creature features.

In the lead role Diffring does tend to over-exaggerate his character but he perfectly fits the role due to his fairly odd-looking features and bright blue eyes. Meanwhile, Lee gets to appear in one of his rare non-villain roles and brings his usual class to it. And while Court is really only here for love interest purposes she's a delight to look at considering she's super cute and shows off a fair bit of cleavage.

If you're a Hammer fan or just interested in seeing a good chunk of their productions there are better options out there than this. That doesn't mean you should write it off as it works well enough and you have to give Legend credit for raiding Paramount's back catalogue and giving this the light of day on disc - let's just hope they continue to bring us similar unknown films in the near future. (Chris Hartley, 1/19/10)

Directed By: Terence Fisher.
Written By: Jimmy Sangster.

Starring: Anton Diffring, Hazel Court, Christopher Lee, Arnold Marle.

Picture Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: The transfer here does start off a bit grainy and scattered with specks but it does calm down and delivers a perfectly fine picture for a film just over fifty-years-old.

Extras: As with almost all Legend discs taken from Paramount's catalogue there's no extras present at all - which is fine considering the rarity of the film.

Visit Legend Films for more info.