It’s World Dracula Day, and to celebrate we’ve got some exciting news from legendary British horror studio Hammer Films, as we’re excited to exclusively reveal that Terence Fisher’s 1958 vampire masterpiece Dracula has been resurrected in a landmark new restoration that hits home entertainment this October, in its most complete form ever presented – just in time for Halloween.
Painstakingly restored in 4K by Hammer and Silver Salt Studios from the best original archival materials sourced from around the world, this new edition of Dracula reinstates footage that was believed lost for more than six decades and was previously seen only by audiences attending the film’s original Japanese theatrical release in 1958. The recovered material has never been released before in the UK or US, and has never appeared on home entertainment in any territory. Simply put, unless you happened to be in Japan in 1958, you’ve never seen Dracula as Fisher intended – until now.
UK horror fans will also get to experience the definitive Dracula on the big screen, as the horror hits theaters across the nation this Halloween season. The below trailer teases a little of what we can expect from the vamp classic’s fresh coat of paint:
Starring the equally inimitable duo of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, in what was only the second on-screen pairing of legendary horror icons, Dracula cemented the archetypal screen image of both the bloodsucker, fangs ‘n’ all, and Professor Van Helsing as a fearless, intelligent and relentlessly driven vampire hunter respectively. Written by Jimmy Sangster, Dracula is based on the classic Bram Stoker novel, telling the story of Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen) as he falls prey to the cryptic Count.
Upon its original 1958 release, Dracula’s intense violence, heightened sensuality and striking use of color (the first vampire movie ever to be shot in such a way) proved so provocative that it was deemed too shocking for audiences.
John Gore, CEO of Hammer Films and Executive Chairman of John Gore Studios, has the following to say of the new restoration:
“Bringing Dracula back to audiences in 4K goes far beyond a piece of film restoration work. This is the recovery of a piece of British film history that audiences believed had been lost forever. Seeing Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing together again in such extraordinary detail is a reminder of just how powerful this film remains nearly seventy years after its original release.”
Find out more about Hammer’s Dracula home entertainment and theatrical release via the official website right here.
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