Celebrate 60 Years Of Hammer Horror
Readers of Movies in Focus will know that I have a huge appreciation for Hammer Horror movies. The films from the British horror studio have a style of their own and they dripped with a wonderful gothic atmosphere. Hammer’s first horror film was the 1957 release, The Curse of Frankenstein and it kicked-off the studio’s near 20 year run of fright pics.
That first film was 60 years ago – and to commemorate this anniversary, Studiocanal and Park Circus, in conjunction with FrightFest, Scalarama will be releasing brand new restorations of eight classic Hammer Horror titles at cinemas and on DVD/Blu-ray double play.
The eight films offer a mix of Hammer classics including Scars of Dracula, Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb, Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde,Horror Of Frankenstein, Fear In The Night, Straight On Till Morning, Demons Of The Mind and Hammer’s last horror film of the 20th Century, To The Devil A Daughter.
On Sunday 27 August 2017, FrightFest will host the restoration premieres of Demons Of The Mind and Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb at London’s Prince Charles Cinema and on 19 September 2017 (which would have been the birthday of Hammer producer/screenwriter Anthony Hinds) Scalarama presents ‘Hammer Day’, with screenings across the UK of all eight restored Hammer films, in conjunction with Park Circus.
Studiocanal will release the newly restored films as Doubleplay editions on 23 October 2017. This first wave will include Blood From The Mommy’s Tomb, Demons Of The Mind, Fear In The Night and Scars of Dracula. On 13 November 2017, a second wave of releases will include Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Straight On ‘Til Morning, To The Devil A Daughter, Horror Of Frankenstein. The extra features are to be confirmed – but I expect that there will be plenty!
