Hammer Horror - Blu-ray Forum

almy · 09-07-2007, 11:16 PM

Every once in a while, HOME THEATRE MAGAZINE has an on-line interview with various studio officials in which you can ask questions about forthcoming releases etc. I recall that about a year ago, reps from Warners said that they hoped to release some of the more famous Hammer horror films in HiDef but I've never seen it mentioned again. I'd love to get BluRay versions of two favorites from my childhood - CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HORROR OF DRACULA. I believe those were the first two films in which Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing worked together. Has anyone heard of Hammer films coming out in HiDef?

Rob71 · 09-07-2007, 11:40 PM

I've heard the rumors, not much more. I loved both of those,also The Mummy was pretty cool. Go to Hammerfilms.com. It says they just bought 295 of the old movies and plan to start production on new ones soon. It sound like its pretty early in the planning stage now though, so who knows.

EricJ · 09-08-2007, 12:00 AM

So, did Warner buy Anchor Bay's Hammer collection, or just part of it?--

And if part, should we keep hoping for Starz/Anchor's diehard support someday giving us a Blu-ray "Quatermass & the Pit"?

N8DOGG · 04-18-2010, 09:44 PM

There needs to be a major effort in getting a lot of these films restored and rocketed to Blu! I'm sure they would look absolutely spectacular. Hell, they were gorgeous on DVD and TV.

I would spend my Saturday afternoons, as a kid on my Grandma's couch, watching tons of Hammer films on Detroit's WXON Thriller Double-Feature. A lot of my favorites included the great Christopher lee and Peter Cushing, although my absolute favorite had neither.

I've sold a lot of my DVDs in anticipation of their releases on Blu, but I will never let go of my Hammer titles until their Blu superiors are in my hands!

HAMMER HORROR FOREVER!!!!!!!!!

sskclickgeneral · 04-18-2010, 09:48 PM

i would buy them instantly. ANy classic horror at this point

AKORIS · 04-18-2010, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by N8DOGG

There needs to be a major effort in getting a lot of these films restored and rocketed to Blu! I'm sure they would look absolutely spectacular. Hell, they were gorgeous on DVD and TV.

I would spend my Saturday afternoons, as a kid on my Grandma's couch, watching tons of Hammer films on Detroit's WXON Thriller Double-Feature. A lot of my favorites included the great Christopher lee and Peter Cushing, although my absolute favorite had neither.

I've sold a lot of my DVDs in anticipation of their releases on Blu, but I will never let go of my Hammer titles until their Blu superiors are in my hands!

HAMMER HORROR FOREVER!!!!!!!!!

+1000

Beaner666 · 04-18-2010, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricJ

So, did Warner buy Anchor Bay's Hammer collection, or just part of it?--

And if part, should we keep hoping for Starz/Anchor's diehard support someday giving us a Blu-ray "Quatermass & the Pit"?

Warner has always owned those two particular titles, at least in recent history for North America. Unfortunately in the USA Hammer's films are spread over several different home video companies so we will never see a definitive box set. I know Warner Bros, Sony, Universal and Anchor Bay all have rights to certain titles for Region 1 DVD/Region A Blu-Ray. The UK had a pretty good box set, but sadly we will probably never see something like that in the USA.

Skorpius · 04-18-2010, 10:15 PM

Hopefully Synapse will do right and release Vampire Circus, Twins of Evil, and Hands of the Ripper on Blu as they said might happen. And don't forget Severin and their forthcoming releases of non-Hammers Horror Express and The House that Dripped Blood.

N8DOGG · 04-19-2010, 12:08 AM

The one that hooked me...

N8DOGG · 04-19-2010, 03:08 AM

...or maybe this is what hooked me!

demoni · 04-19-2010, 07:35 AM

We need To The Devil A Daughter on Blu-ray!

Wdm81 · 04-19-2010, 02:08 PM

I love the hammer horror films. The dracula films were always my favourite, even though the second one kinda sucked and the latter ones where they jumped forward to the modern 70's where pretty cheesy and campy - i still love them

jlynn33 · 04-19-2010, 03:08 PM

EVERY Hammer film deserves a blu release! My personal favs are the Dr. Phibes films. I went to Hammerfilms.com and did not see anything about them purchasing 295 films, anybody have a link?

Blu-Moon · 04-19-2010, 03:09 PM

I saw 'Curse' and 'Horror' first-run, when I was growing up in the 1950s. They remain, to this day, two of my all-time favorites in the Horror genre. These classic movies need to be on Blu, period!

Blu-Moon · 04-19-2010, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlynn33

EVERY Hammer film deserves a blu release! My personal favs are the Dr. Phibes films. I went to Hammerfilms.com and did not see anything about them purchasing 295 films, anybody have a link?

I have both Dr. Phibes movies on DVD, and I would love to see them released on Blu-ray! I met Vincent Price many years ago, and he said that the role of Anton Phibes was probably the most fun he ever had making a movie.

Teazle · 04-19-2010, 03:33 PM

Are these "Hammer horror"??? -- They do advertise Cushing and Lee ...

Severin don't specifically say Blu-ray but (skip to last sentence) say they've done hi-def transfers ...

i thought they did a nice job on the BD of Hardware and the original Inglorious Bastards. Screwballs and Eagles not so much though I picked them up anyway.

http://www.severin-films.com/news/

Quote:

04/13/10
CUSHING & LEE 70s HORROR CLASSICS COMING SOON

Since their awe-inspiring collaboration in Hammer’s groundbreaking The Curse Of Frankenstein in 1957, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were destined to join the privileged ranks of cinema’s great horror stars alongside Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price and Lon Chaney. Severin Films will be paying tribute to their macabre celluloid partnership by giving the Special Edition treatment to not one but two of their finest fright flicks: Horror Express and The House That Dripped Blood.

Horror Express, also starring Kojak himself Telly Savalas, was written and produced in Spain by McCarthy era blacklistees to make use of a train purchased for director Eugenio Martin’s previous movie, Pancho Villa. The unlikely result was a masterwork of early 70s Euro-horror packed with wit, atmosphere and brainsucking, eye draining, Cossack maiming bloodshed. The House That Dripped Blood is one of the great Amicus anthology films featuring a smorgasbord of cult talent: Jon “Dr. Who” Pertwee, Ingrid ”Countess Dracula” Pitt, Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland and Geoffrey Bayldon in a quartet of gruesome tales penned by PSYCHO-scribe Robert Bloch.

Expect new hi-def transfers to present these terrifying gems as you’ve never seen them before. Details on our astounding roster of special features to follow.

N8DOGG · 04-19-2010, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blu-Moon

I saw 'Curse' and 'Horror' first-run, when I was growing up in the 1950s. They remain, to this day, two of my all-time favorites in the Horror genre. These classic movies need to be on Blu, period!

I still think Horror of Dracula has one of the greatest climatic endings of all time! WHAT A CLASSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the blob · 04-19-2010, 03:54 PM

Those aren't Hammers but just as good. The best DVD of Horror Express has been OOP for years and fetching big money so that's a welcome release! The House That Dripped Blood is one of the Amicus highlights but the old DVD from Lionsgate is decent. I would absolutely love these to be on BD also. Here's hoping.

The Dr Phibes movies are both AIP titles and both in the MGM catalogue so god knows what will ever happen to them and who will end up owning them. Seeing as MGM haven't even released some of their classic horrors on DVD and screwed the Midnite Movies series I have my serious doubts as to whether titles like these will ever make it to BD.

I'm definitely hoping for some Hammers though. If they don't come from the U.S. then maybe Optimum will release some in the UK and make them region free.

My highest wants list in no order would be

Brides Of Dracula
Dracula Prince Of Darkness
Quatermass Xperiment
Quatermass II
Quatermass and the Pit
Abominable Snowman
Plague Of The Zombies
The Devil Rides Out
Twins Of Evil
Vampire Circus
Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires
Curse Of The Werewolf

but I'll take every Hammer Horror/Sci-Fi movie ever made with open arms!

Clark Kent · 04-19-2010, 04:01 PM

I wish all the Hammer films made it to Blu-ray. While not a Hammer film, Count Yorga would also be great to have in 1080p.

Mr. Cinema · 04-19-2010, 04:57 PM

I would love all the classic Hammer titles with Lee and Cushing. The rights to these are all over the place, but WB owns many of the classics like Curse of Frankenstein, among others. They seem to be the only studio interested in releasing older films. I hope we get a few of these around Halloween this year, but I haven't heard any info about any of these being prepared for BD release.

Curse of the Werewolf is my favorite, but unfortunately, Universal owns the video rights to that.

09-07-2007, 11:16 PM	#1
almy Active Member Member since:Aug 2007	Hammer Horror Every once in a while, HOME THEATRE MAGAZINE has an on-line interview with various studio officials in which you can ask questions about forthcoming releases etc. I recall that about a year ago, reps from Warners said that they hoped to release some of the more famous Hammer horror films in HiDef but I've never seen it mentioned again. I'd love to get BluRay versions of two favorites from my childhood - CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HORROR OF DRACULA. I believe those were the first two films in which Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing worked together. Has anyone heard of Hammer films coming out in HiDef?

04-18-2010, 10:15 PM	#8
Skorpius Active Member Top contributor Member since:Mar 2010 4K collection:94 Blu-ray collection:2209 DVD collection:811 iTunes collection:8	Hopefully Synapse will do right and release Vampire Circus, Twins of Evil, and Hands of the Ripper on Blu as they said might happen. And don't forget Severin and their forthcoming releases of non-Hammers Horror Express and The House that Dripped Blood. Last edited by Skorpius; 04-19-2010 at 05:31 AM.

04-19-2010, 03:09 PM	#14
Blu-Moon Active Member Member since:Mar 2009	I saw 'Curse' and 'Horror' first-run, when I was growing up in the 1950s. They remain, to this day, two of my all-time favorites in the Horror genre. These classic movies need to be on Blu, period! Last edited by Blu-Moon; 04-19-2010 at 03:11 PM.

04-19-2010, 03:33 PM	#16
Teazle Power Member Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Canada Blu-ray reviews:1	Severin: "New hi-def transfers" Are these "Hammer horror"??? -- They do advertise Cushing and Lee ... Severin don't specifically say Blu-ray but (skip to last sentence) say they've done hi-def transfers ... i thought they did a nice job on the BD of Hardware and the original Inglorious Bastards. Screwballs and Eagles not so much though I picked them up anyway. http://www.severin-films.com/news/ Quote: 04/13/10 CUSHING & LEE 70s HORROR CLASSICS COMING SOON Since their awe-inspiring collaboration in Hammer’s groundbreaking The Curse Of Frankenstein in 1957, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were destined to join the privileged ranks of cinema’s great horror stars alongside Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price and Lon Chaney. Severin Films will be paying tribute to their macabre celluloid partnership by giving the Special Edition treatment to not one but two of their finest fright flicks: Horror Express and The House That Dripped Blood. Horror Express, also starring Kojak himself Telly Savalas, was written and produced in Spain by McCarthy era blacklistees to make use of a train purchased for director Eugenio Martin’s previous movie, Pancho Villa. The unlikely result was a masterwork of early 70s Euro-horror packed with wit, atmosphere and brainsucking, eye draining, Cossack maiming bloodshed. The House That Dripped Blood is one of the great Amicus anthology films featuring a smorgasbord of cult talent: Jon “Dr. Who” Pertwee, Ingrid ”Countess Dracula” Pitt, Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland and Geoffrey Bayldon in a quartet of gruesome tales penned by PSYCHO-scribe Robert Bloch. Expect new hi-def transfers to present these terrifying gems as you’ve never seen them before. Details on our astounding roster of special features to follow.

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09-07-2007, 11:40 PM	#2
Rob71 Blu-ray Knight Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Florida Home Theater Gallery:13 Blu-ray collection:295 Trading Score:5	I've heard the rumors, not much more. I loved both of those,also The Mummy was pretty cool. Go to Hammerfilms.com. It says they just bought 295 of the old movies and plan to start production on new ones soon. It sound like its pretty early in the planning stage now though, so who knows.

09-08-2007, 12:00 AM	#3
EricJ Banned Member since:Jul 2007 Location:The Paradise of New England Blu-ray collection:6	So, did Warner buy Anchor Bay's Hammer collection, or just part of it?-- And if part, should we keep hoping for Starz/Anchor's diehard support someday giving us a Blu-ray "Quatermass & the Pit"?

04-18-2010, 09:44 PM	#4
N8DOGG Expert Member Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Sep 2009 Location:Detroit Rock City Home Theater Gallery:12 4K collection:479 Blu-ray collection:3069	There needs to be a major effort in getting a lot of these films restored and rocketed to Blu! I'm sure they would look absolutely spectacular. Hell, they were gorgeous on DVD and TV. I would spend my Saturday afternoons, as a kid on my Grandma's couch, watching tons of Hammer films on Detroit's WXON Thriller Double-Feature. A lot of my favorites included the great Christopher lee and Peter Cushing, although my absolute favorite had neither. I've sold a lot of my DVDs in anticipation of their releases on Blu, but I will never let go of my Hammer titles until their Blu superiors are in my hands! HAMMER HORROR FOREVER!!!!!!!!!

04-18-2010, 09:48 PM	#5
sskclickgeneral Active Member Member since:Jan 2010 Location:Freehold, NJ Blu-ray collection:223 Trading Score:1	i would buy them instantly. ANy classic horror at this point

04-19-2010, 12:08 AM	#9
N8DOGG Expert Member Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Sep 2009 Location:Detroit Rock City Home Theater Gallery:12 4K collection:479 Blu-ray collection:3069	The one that hooked me...

04-19-2010, 03:08 AM	#10
N8DOGG Expert Member Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:Sep 2009 Location:Detroit Rock City Home Theater Gallery:12 4K collection:479 Blu-ray collection:3069	...or maybe this is what hooked me!

04-19-2010, 07:35 AM	#11
demoni Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jul 2007 Blu-ray reviews:1	We need To The Devil A Daughter on Blu-ray!

04-19-2010, 02:08 PM	#12
Wdm81 Special Member Member since:Mar 2009 Location:Canada 4K collection:5 Blu-ray collection:864 DVD collection:85 Blu-ray reviews: 6	I love the hammer horror films. The dracula films were always my favourite, even though the second one kinda sucked and the latter ones where they jumped forward to the modern 70's where pretty cheesy and campy - i still love them

04-19-2010, 03:08 PM	#13
jlynn33 Active Member Top contributor Member since:Apr 2007 Location:Paducah,Ky 4K collection:158 Blu-ray collection:1201 DVD collection:1258	EVERY Hammer film deserves a blu release! My personal favs are the Dr. Phibes films. I went to Hammerfilms.com and did not see anything about them purchasing 295 films, anybody have a link?

04-19-2010, 03:54 PM	#18
the blob Power Member Top contributor Member since:Dec 2009 Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Trading Score:1	Those aren't Hammers but just as good. The best DVD of Horror Express has been OOP for years and fetching big money so that's a welcome release! The House That Dripped Blood is one of the Amicus highlights but the old DVD from Lionsgate is decent. I would absolutely love these to be on BD also. Here's hoping. The Dr Phibes movies are both AIP titles and both in the MGM catalogue so god knows what will ever happen to them and who will end up owning them. Seeing as MGM haven't even released some of their classic horrors on DVD and screwed the Midnite Movies series I have my serious doubts as to whether titles like these will ever make it to BD. I'm definitely hoping for some Hammers though. If they don't come from the U.S. then maybe Optimum will release some in the UK and make them region free. My highest wants list in no order would be Brides Of Dracula Dracula Prince Of Darkness Quatermass Xperiment Quatermass II Quatermass and the Pit Abominable Snowman Plague Of The Zombies The Devil Rides Out Twins Of Evil Vampire Circus Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires Curse Of The Werewolf but I'll take every Hammer Horror/Sci-Fi movie ever made with open arms!

04-19-2010, 04:01 PM	#19
Clark Kent Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:Oct 2007 Location:Metropolis Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:184	I wish all the Hammer films made it to Blu-ray. While not a Hammer film, Count Yorga would also be great to have in 1080p.

04-19-2010, 04:57 PM	#20
Mr. Cinema Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jan 2008 Location:NC 4K collection:34 Blu-ray collection:35 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:85	I would love all the classic Hammer titles with Lee and Cushing. The rights to these are all over the place, but WB owns many of the classics like Curse of Frankenstein, among others. They seem to be the only studio interested in releasing older films. I hope we get a few of these around Halloween this year, but I haven't heard any info about any of these being prepared for BD release. Curse of the Werewolf is my favorite, but unfortunately, Universal owns the video rights to that.

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