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Dom Robinson reviews 
- Cert:
- Cat.no: KK 41006
- Running time: 148 minutes
- Year: 1965
- Pressing: 2001
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 30
- Sound: Mono
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: None
- Fullscreen: 4:3
- 16:9-Enhanced: No
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £9.99
- Extras: None
Hector’s House was before my time but this French production dubbed into English is still a curiosity and tells the tale of Hector the dog, Zsazsa the cat and Kiki the frog, in another of the excellent series of Kult Kidz compilation DVDs for under a tenner.
I don’t know how many episodes were originally created but this DVD combines a massive 30 into one release including :
- The Mysterious Visit: Something falls into Hector’s pond. We know it’s Kiki’s hat but he doesn’t and it perplexes him.
- Good Morning Frog: Hector’s question is answered by the arrival of his little green next door neighbour, coming back to claim her treasured possession, although the threat of extreme violence on Hector’s part gives her a fright.
- The Three Christmas Trees: Lo and behold, all three members of the cast have contributed to the triple miracle that is now on show in their garden.
- Jealousy: Hector shows off when Zsazsa gets out her flash brolly.
- Hector Never Forgets: Hector goes to do the shopping and makes a right pig’s ear of it when he doesn’t remember to get any of the items Zsazsa and Kiki specifically asked for – and that’s just the start of his troubles.
The episodes included are :
1. A Mysterious Visit
2. Good Morning Frog
3. A Strange Stranger
4. The Three Christmas Trees
5. The Marvellous Invention
6. Silence is Golden
7. A Song at Night
8. Hector is Too Late
9. The Brave Fireman
10. The Bell 11. Operation Survival
12. The Letterbox
13. A Good Remedy
14. The Quarrel
15. Treetop Kiki
16. Photography
17. The Weather Forecaster
18. The Botanist
19. The Soap
20. The Sweater 21. Piggy Bank
22. The Well
23. Deep Sheep
24. The Kennel
25. The Funnel
26. Jealousy
27. Playing Tag
28. The Thistles
29. Happy Returns
30. Hector Never Forgets
As you’d expect, the programme is shot in standard 4:3. There’s occasional print dropouts, but on the whole this near-40-year-old series looks surprisingly good. I was unable to determine the average bitrate, but it is free of artifacts.
The sound is clear too with Hector’s deep voice and the posh Zsazsa, but it won’t tax your speakers given that it only lends itself to basic dialogue.
Sadly there are no extras or subtitles, but the chaptering is fine with one for each of the 30 episodes. The menus have some animation with sound and the sub-menus contain brief noises from each of the cast members.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
0 OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.