Universal Announces Hammer Horror set (1 Viewer)

[Larry Sutliff]

It will be nice to see BRIDES OF DRACULA and KISS OF THE VAMPIRE in nice new transfers, and it will be really nice to see NIGHT CREATURES again for the first time in years! That film was a Saturday afternoon staple in the late seventies, and I can't wait to reacquaint myself with it.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

What all does Columbia own? I know Revenge of Frankenstein is out, but I don't know of anything else.

 

[John Hodson]

From www.zetaminor.com :

The Universal announcement release leaves Columbia Tristar as the only major company not to have extensively exploited their Hammer holdings. The studio owns three very Hammer horror titles (The Gorgon, The Two Faces of Doctor Jekyll and The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb), as well as a slew of non-horror films (including the studio's Robin Hood films, the sublime Cash on Demand, their controversial war films, and non-PC colonial adventure stories like The Stranglers of Bombay). Other unreleased Hammer horror films include Dracula AD 72 (an odd omission apparently owned by Warner Home Video - perhaps there are specific rights problems?) and Paramount's relatively minor The Man Who Could Cheat Death.

 

[Robert Holloway]

The Man Who Could Cheat Death was one of my childhood faves

Cash on Demand is also quite excellent

Grrrr, so many $$$
Rob

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Columbia also owns Hammer's TERROR OF THE TONGS (1961), starring Christopher Lee, sort of a warm-up for his later Amicus FU MANCHU pictures, minus the mad science.

 

[Amy Mormino]

I remember that Warners said they would were looking into releasing more Hammer product in the future. I know there's still Dracula A.D. 72 to be released, a silly movie that I really enjoy, but does Warner's have any other Hammer movies?

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

CASH ON DEMAND is my most wanted Hammer title on DVD. It has never been released on any video format anywhere. I've got a VHS dub from a British television broadcast. This film is the closest we'll ever get to see Peter Cushing play Ebeneezer Scrooge, as Mr. Fordyce, the cold stuffy bank manager, is of quite similar temperament. Perhaps my favorite performance from him, right up there with Emmanuel Hildern in THE CREEPING FLESH and Sherlock Holmes in HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959). Andre Morell is also excellent as Colonel Gore-Hepburn, the bank's insurance company representative who has a few surprises in store for Mr. Fordyce. I can't recommend this brilliantly-played character piece highly enough; it's criminally unknown and compellling as hell. One of my all-time faves.

 

[AlanBrom]

Aside from DRACULA AD 1972, Warner also owns MOON ZERO TWO, SHE, CRESCENDO, HYSTERIA and WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH.

 

[pitchman]

I will DEFINITELY be picking this up!

BTW, who owns the rights to all of the Quatermass films these days? I thought I recalled reading some time ago about a 2 or 3 film set coming out.

 

[Jay E]

I would also love to see some Amicus titles coming out on DVD, especially the Anthology titles.

I know that Columbia owns Torture Garden. Does anyone know who owns Tales From the Crypt and Vault of Horror? I own the Amicus boxset from the UK, so I already own Dr Terror's House of Horror's, but I also have no idea who owns that here in the US.

 

[Amy Mormino]

I am pretty sure those movies were released by Anchor Bay. Blue Underground, as mentioned before, considered re-releasing them, but has put it off.

Looks like this has turned into a general Hammer DVD thread! It is rather a pity that Universal owns Shadow of the Cat. They probably won't put it in the set and its unlikely to get a release on its own.

Maybe Warners could put out another Hammer film set consisting of their remaining films. Probably not, given their relative obscurity, but I can always dream.

 

[Jim_K]

A couple more Hammer titles which I'd love to have are Twins of Evil & Vampire Circus. I thought Universal had the rights to Twins. If not, who does?

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

I believe Bill Lustig, of Blue Underground, still controls the U.S. rights to QUATERMASS 2 and QUATERMASS & THE PIT (1967, aka FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH), as well as the other Hammer films (now out-of-print) that were released a few years ago by Anchor Bay (X THE UNKNOWN, THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN OF THE HIMALAYAS, DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS, FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, THE REPTILE, PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK, THE LOST CONTINENT, etc).

The rights to THE QUATERMASS X-PERIMENT (1956, aka THE CREEPING UNKNOWN), however, are controlled in the U.S. by MGM (now part of Sony). It was released as one of MGM's "Midnite Movies" a few years ago on VHS, but still no DVD release yet, alas.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Well, that Hammer set is pretty packed already, and with a street date of 9/6, I'm sure it's far too late to add an additional film, at this stage. Here's a possible solution to the problem--

Perhaps Universal could release an assorted collection of 1960s horror films in the near future, with SHADOW OF THE CAT as part of the mix. They control just enough unaffiliated horror material from the era (including 3 William Castle flicks), which wouldn't necessarily fit in a normal "Franchise" collection, to form a single, stand-alone DVD set:

SHADOW OF THE CAT (1961-British)
THE NIGHT WALKER (1964, William Castle)
DARK INTRUDER (1965, only 59 minutes long)
I SAW WHAT YOU DID (1965, William Castle, licensed to Anchor Bay for DVD, but now out-of-print)
ISLAND OF TERROR (1966-British)
LET'S KILL UNCLE (1966, William Castle)
THE PROJECTED MAN (1967-British)
EYE OF THE CAT (1969)

--with the exception of EYE OF THE CAT (102 minutes) and LET'S KILL UNCLE (92 minutes), each of these films is under 90 minutes in length.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

I believe MGM (now part of Sony) currently controls TWINS OF EVIL and VAMPIRE CIRCUS in the U.S., or is/was trying to secure those rights (COUNTESS DRACULA and THE VAMPIRE LOVERS were part of the same package, I think). Ditto another really good 1970s Hammer film, HANDS OF THE RIPPER (1971).

 

[pitchman]

Thank you, Peter. I would really LOVE to see that film again!

 

[RoyM]

It's great to see so many Hammer afficionados here! I too am excited about the Universal boxset, if for no other reason than I can get four more of my most wanted Hammer's (Curse of the Werewolf, Phantom of the Opera, Evil of Frankenstein, Brides of Dracula) in one fell swoop. I already have the OOP Kiss of the Vampire, but will probably be selling that redundant version in anticipation of the box set. I sure hope the other studios get in gear and bring out the other premium Hammer titles as yet unreleased: The Quatermass Xperiment, Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, The Gorgon, Hands of the Ripper, Dracula AD 1972, Twins of Evil, Vampire Circus, Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll. Those would essentially complete my Hammer collection.

I just jumped on the Hammer DVD bandwagon in the last year, and managed to grab almost all of the Anchor Bay disks before (or just after) they went OOP, usually at bargain prices via Ebay. One that I did miss out on was The Satanic Rites of Dracula, which is of course available in several PD releases. For some reason, the AB version of TSROD doesn't seem to turn up very often on Ebay, so I'm wondering are any of the PD alternatives any good? I've heard that some use the same transfer as AB, but many are also full frame, which needless to say I wish to avoid like the plague. Any one here have some insight on this?

 

[AlanP]

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/hammerlugosi05.htm
COVER ART FOR THE NEW HAMMER FILM

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I think quite a few of the SROD discs out there are just ripped from AB's DVD, so they're really outside the bounds of discussion here.

 

[John Hodson]

More Hammer from Warners this October; Dracula A.D. 1972 - see this post