By When I worked at a video store in the 90s, I always enjoyed the VHS Hammer releases from Anchor Bay — plastic clamshells, notes on the interior sleeve, and some extras at the end of the tape. I still have quite a few of them for nostalgia’s sake, and I sometimes wear an onion on my belt (that was the style at the time). Well, now that Hammer is making a comeback, it’s time for gramps to update some of his collection.
StudioCanal, Anolis Entertainment in Germany, and a number of other groups are doing a massive HD restoration of more than 30 Hammer films. The first Blu-Ray will be Dracula: Prince of Darkness, while will be released in the UK in March. Other titles getting an HD treatment will include The Curse of Frankenstein, The Mummy (1959), Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, and Rasputin the Mad Monk. The releases will feature a number of documentary extras produced by Marcus Hearn, author of The Hammer Vault.
There is also a newly restored, uncut version of Dracula (1958), which make its world premiere on February 18th at the Vault festival in London. Hammer has launched a restoration blog to keep people up to date with all these happenings.
After the cut, I’ve included original trailers for four of the Hammer movies being restored — Dracula: Prince of Darkness, The Reptile, The Plague of the Zombies, and The Devil Rides Out. Time to change my onion.
[Via Twitch, Hammer Restoration Blog]Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
The Reptile (1966)
The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
The Devil Rides Out (1968)
