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And don't forget: they also dropped the news that Satanic Rites of Dracula would be getting its first uncut UK release (also 16:9, which AB's disc wasn't) this year. Then quietly buried that news, as the announcement was a little...premature...
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So in addition to the Quartermass BD, there's more on the way in the UK:
http://hammerfilms.com/news/article/...lu-ray-and-dvd
":Nine Hammer titles come to UK Blu-ray and DVD in September. On September 19th, Studio Canal release Quatermass And The Pit in fully-restored HD on Blu-ray (in the film's original aspect ratio of 1.66:1).
Also, Icon release the following titles on September 12th:
"The Dick Barton Trilogy" (Secret Agent, Strikes Back & At Bay) [all 1.33:1 OAR]
"The Quatermass Double Bill" (The Quatermass Experiment & Quatermass 2) [both 1.33:1 OAR; NB: the print used is titled "The Quatermass Experiment"]
X The Unknown [1.33:1 OAR]
The Abominable Snowman [2.35:1 aka "Hammerscope" OAR]
Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter [1.66:1 OAR]
Cover art at the link above.Rock! Shock! Pop!Comment
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Right, well, for those who do want to stay up to date, there it is.Rock! Shock! Pop!Comment
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These kind of slipped under my radar.
Today Warner Archive releases Hysteria and Moon Two Zero on MOD/DVD-R.
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WARNER ARCHIVES commented on a post I made asking them if they were going to release WHEN DINOSAURS RULED TH EARTH. They replied, eventually, and intact, but no date has been set.
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I was lucky enough to get the double feature with Moon Zero Two before it got yanked. They could easily recycle the transfer and put it back in print, as it looked pretty good.Rock! Shock! Pop!Comment
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OK, now this is pretty fantastic news.
The BFI restored the US print of Horror Of Dracula a few years ago, but now an HD telecine has been done of some recently discovered extended footage that apparantly only ever saw the light of day in Japanese cinemas ages ago.
The article ends with this note:
"Hammer hope to make these resurrected scenes available as part of a future UK release of Dracula."Rock! Shock! Pop!Comment
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Quote: There is also extra audio of Dracula groaning during this scene.
Damn you George Lucas.Comment
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A while back, Hammer posted (in their Twitter feed) the words "Dracula 1080p!" -- this is obviously what they were hinting at.
It's a good time to be a Hammer fan, as there appears to be a lot of interesting things in the works (and I saw a hint dropped somewhere that The Devil Rides Out might be the next Optimum BD in the pipeline).
Remind me to do some "off the beaten track" Hammer reviews for Halloween for the troops... ;)Comment
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I'd be all over Devil Rides Out on BD, and To The Devil A Daughter too. Would make a great double feature. Most of them are so well shot that they'd really benefit from the upgrade I think.Rock! Shock! Pop!Comment
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Hammer's DRACULA: Explicit 'Japanese Version' Discovered!
HAMMER FILMS WEBSITE
Marcus Hearn reports on a remarkable discovery by an enterprising Hammer fan
In 2007 Hammer and the BFI collaborated on a restoration of Dracula that resulted in the creation of a new HD master of the classic film. The version that was restored was the American print, which is slightly longer than the British version, but the re-master has the original title card added to the beginning (the US version of the film carried the title Horror Of Dracula).
However, for many years historians have pointed to the fact that an even longer, more explicit, version of the film played in Japanese cinemas in 1958. Up until now, efforts to locate the mythical 'Japanese version' of Dracula have been fruitless, but it seems that writer and cartoonist Simon Rowson has succeeded where everyone else failed.
Simon, who lives in Tokyo with his Japanese wife, was prompted to begin investigating on behalf of the British Horror Forum in early 2010. “My friend and fellow Hammer fan Stuart Hall suggested I should look for the missing footage,†says Simon. “That's when my wife Michiko started to help me in trying to find the most likely depository for foreign film stock in Japan. We were pointed towards the archive of the National Film Center just outside Tokyo, and quickly established (thanks to Michiko's excellent interpreting skills) that the Center's print of Dracula was partially destroyed in a fire in 1984. The first five reels were gone, but reels 6, 7, 8 and 9 - the last 36 minutes of the film - survived.â€
After a year of negotiation, and some good luck, Simon was finally able to view reels 8 and 9 on the 9th March. They revealed something remarkable. “I was able to positively identify two extended scenes,†he says. “The first is Dracula's attack on Mina while Van Helsing and Holmwood are standing guard outside the latter's home. Having now re-run this scene many times on my British DVD, I think that the most obvious difference is the last shot of Dracula pushing Mina back onto the bed just prior to the sudden cut to the screeching owl outside.
“On the normal UK/US print we just glimpse Dracula's shoulder moving downwards before the cut, but on the Japanese print there is a shot from a completely different angle which clearly shows Christopher Lee's mouth wide open and his fangs fully exposed as he moves forward to bite Melissa Stribling's neck - then it cuts to the owl as usual.â€
Even more exciting was Simon's discovery of a complete version of the film's iconic disintegration scene. “As many people have speculated in the past, there is indeed an additional few seconds where, after Dracula is forced back into the sunlight by Van Helsing and raises his left hand to protect his face, we see the real actor - not a dummy - claw at his forehead and drag his hand down to his chin, peeling away his burnt skin in the process. There is also extra audio of Dracula groaning during this scene and an extra reaction shot from Peter Cushing.â€
Sadly, Simon's discovery was followed by the terrible earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan just 48 hours later. The National Film Center was relatively unaffected, but the situation remained serious for many.
Hammer began a conversation with the National Film Center, and in due course the four reels were transferred to tape and sent to London.
On the 14th September, Hammer reviewed an HD telecine transfer of all four reels; both of the scenes to which Simon Rowson refers are indeed present. Hammer hope to make these resurrected scenes available as part of a future UK release of Dracula.
Postscript from Hammer:
Hammer would like to express its warmest thanks to Simon Rowson, Marcus Hearn, the National Film Center at The National Museum Of Modern Art, Tokyo, and IMAGICA Corp, Tokyo for their roles in recovering this footage.
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And... merged. Shawn the search function is your friend.Rock! Shock! Pop!Comment
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Yeah, but THAT news deserves it's OWN thread. I have never been a fan of HAMMER's DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN movies, but if this ever hits state side DVD, I'll probably buy it. Gonna try, again, to sit through it, when it comes on next month.
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PS: For those across the internerd that started making wild suppositions about the local Vampire Lovers BD (like: Shock didn't have the licence etc etc wank wank wank) -- I just received news that they've arrived at the warehouse and will be shipping next week. Online community of little faith...pffft...Comment
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WARNER ARCHIVES just made this post regarding the news of the explicit Japanese footage of Hammer's DRACULA being found: "There have been plans for some time to revisit the key Hammer titles for Blu-ray, especially DRACULA. It is likely our archivists will be investigating the issue of extended scenes for that purpose."
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