. . . DVD - Drive-In has some information up . . .

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/

. . . while this is certainly good news, I hope they figure out a title for a set that includes THE CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND (1957) and THE DAMNED (1961) one of these days . . .

We knew this was pretty much a guarantee, but this is cause for celebration all the same.

For those who can't wait and need an early glimpse...


Barbara Shelly makes You Tube positively petrifying!

Good news indeed!

It's already being listed by Amazon.

no MANIAC or HYSTERIA? I've seen the letterboxed MANIAC and it looks great. Never seen HYSTERIA though (Columbia did put that one out, right). Seems like an interesting set would have been made from the three black and white thrillers and another from the three color films. Or all six in one set.

How about the Best for Last set? At least in regards to THE DAMNED.

If sales are good, I imagine that Sony could include The Damned and some of the other titles mentioned here as part of an "Icons Of Suspense" set.

MGM released HYSTERIA theatrically and on VHS. It's probably with Warners now.

It will be great to finally get SCREAM OF FEAR on DVD as well as a watcheable presentation of JEKYLL (the vhs release was quite bad). I like GORGON and MUMMY is ok. I want THE MANIAC and THE DAMNED, too, but at least we're getting some of these. We're talking Sony so this is pretty remarkable overall.

It's all Groovy! B)

Would have liked to see THE DAMNED, ...but hey.

The Future's so bright ... B)

SCREAM OF FEAR is probably the best of the Hammer "PSYCHO-inspired" films.

It will be great to finally see a (hopefully) mint print of TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL. I don't expect that it will be the full uncut version, however. Isn't the British version longer? The old Columbia VHS was indeed horrendous, the worst I ever saw from a major studio.

John - apparently the US theatrical version called House of Fright was trimmed to 80m (but i've never seen this print).

The version released on US VHS under its original UK title The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll in the 1980's I think and which i have a copy of (also referred to in video watchdog) runs the full length - about 87m. Unfortunately, its the US dubbed version with words such as Hell, Bitch and Damn redubbed as Hades, Witch and Darn to placate the MPAA. It also has a blatant censor cut in the bedroom scene between Hyde and his mistress so may have even been a TV print. There may be other cuts as well since the UK BBFC made several cuts to the film and it is not clear whether the cut or uncut version was sent to the US (after redubbing).

I believe the US dubbed version has also played on UK TV but I've never seen it on UK TV so can't confirm. Since the rights to this film appear to rest with Sony now and not Hammer its unclear whether the original UK version will ever see the light of day again although I would guess that prints of it exist somewhere a la Stranglers of Bombay (does the BFI have one?).

I would hope that Sony would release the UK version but I would guess that they hold the negative of the US version only and it is this that will be released. The good news is that at least it will be a decent print in the correct aspect ratio.

Last I heard the restored version of JEKYLL that Sony has ready is still the redubbed version, not sure about other cuts. Unless they do some serious digging that's what we'll get.
It's great that these are coming out, and if they get commentaries ect , even better.

It'd be nice to have a Chris Lee commentary for some of these. Like the other Icons box set this features three of his performances.

Jekyll features probably his most offbeat Hammer role as a lothario and all round cad. He also thinks very highly of Taste of Fear.

John - thanks for confirming what I suspected about the Sony print of Jekyll. They seem to have the US release versions only in their vaults and not the original UK versions. Hence I think their Stranglers print suffered from MPAA cuts not BBFC cuts. But, at least we are getting decent prints in their correct aspect ratios. I thought the prints of Tongs and Blood River were very good compared to what i'd seen before (haven't viewed the others properly yet).

Sony may have found an uncut JEKYLL, but I am pretty sure that the theatrical print the struck a few years ago is the reworked version. They are aware of the situation at least. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
The blurb at DVD Drive annoncing these states they will indeed have commentaries, which is most edifying.

Although I imagine Lee would be too much the gentleman to say much, I'd love to hear him sound off on the relationship between Susan Strasberg and her mother.

I've got a recording of a BBC1 broadcast of the film, from March 1991.

It's been leaked over at the Classic Horror Film Boards that this set will have no extras, save for the trailers to the films. This sounds initially disappointing, but the reasons given seemed understandable enough:

No Commentaries Or Shorts On Sony Hammer Horror Set

The real value of this set is four high-def mastered and widescreen enhanced transfers taken from the negatives, at a bargain price. I'm still happy. And if Sony can take the money they saved and spend it on better box and menu art, all the better.


...and speaking of which, here's Sony over at Amazon, asking which of three possible covers is the best:

Sony wants your Hammer Horror vote!

I also like PARANOIAC.

I voted for Option 3 - can't believe Option 2 has the most votes. It only features one film on the cover.

I voted for 3 also. :) It was 6% behind at the time. :( It'd be nice if they posted the vote tallies in addition to the percentages.

#3 is in the lead, by a hair. "4 Spine-Tingling Horror Masterpieces" has the nicest ring to it. And it would ring even nicer if they replaced Jekyll & Hyde with Cushing & Lee.

I voted for #2 - that's the one that has the most impact, and the one most likely to tempt casual punters, I think.

Have to go with #2 as well. The others look too jumbled to me.

I was over at amazon (checking out the DRIVE-IN CULT CLASSICS 2) and I noticed that they have Icons of Horror: Hammer Films up for pre-order. And it looks like #2 won the day:



Whatever complaints one might have against it, it's still better than the abysmal cover for Icons of Adventure.