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Lock the doors. Light the candles. The Monster lives again…and it wants to hang on your walls!

Apollo Gallery will release The Curse of Frankenstein prints – the company’s first collaboration with Hammer Films – tomorrow, April 24, at 12Pm Et.

Sterling Hundley conjures Victor Frankenstein’s obsession in 24×36 screen prints. The standard version is limited to 95 for £49.99 (approx $65), while variant featuring gold metallic inks is limited to 75 for £54.99 (approx $70).

Sarah Sumeray brings her signature pop style to deliver a modern gothic vision. The 13×19 fine art giclee print is an edition of 75 for £26.99 (approx $35).

In the 1957 British adaptation of Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein, a scientist’s attempt to create life unleashes a bloodthirsty monster.

Terence Fisher directs from a script by Jimmy Sangster. It stars Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart, and Christopher Lee as The Creature.

The post ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ Prints by Sterling Hundley & Sarah Sumeray On Sale...

This article contains spoilers for "Sinners."

Part of what's made vampires such impactful movie monsters for the better part of the past century is seeing how these bloodsuckers have evolved in tandem with the medium they've thrived in. Their cinematic immortality serves as preserved legends for the next wave of filmmakers to not only learn from, but expand upon. You can glean so much from the creative gap between Carl Theodor Dreyer's "Vampyr" and Terence Fisher's "Horror of Dracula," as much as you can the stretch between Kathryn Bigelow's "Near Dark" and Ana Lily Amirpour's "A Girl Walk Home Alone at Night." Even "Nosferatu" most recently had a visual conversation about its shared legacy between F.W. Murnau and Robert Eggers.

It's safe to say that any conversation about the most prolific vampire movies of the 2020s would be nigh impossible without the inclusion of Ryan Coogler's "Sinners.

The vampire subgenre has been at the forefront of horror for over 100 years, and the myths of undead creatures living off of human blood go back countless years further. The best vampire movies ever made are, mostly, incredibly varied. There’s a whole lot of great “Dracula” movies out there, sure, but also art-house nightmares, mainstream action movies, silly comedies, Neo-westerns, heartwarming romances and more. And if you ask us, these are the very, very best.

(Film Arts Guild) “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” (1922)

F.W. Murnau’s eerie silent classic is 100 years old, and it still has the power to shock and horrify. Telling an extremely plagiarized version of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” – Stoker’s estate successfully sued, and nearly had every single copy of “Nosferatu” destroyed – the film stars Max Schreck as the verminous Count Orlok, who moves from his haunted castle to Germany, and brings a supernatural plague along with him.

This May, horror and thriller fans looking for prestige chills should turn their gaze to Studiocanal Presents, as the premium streaming service rolls out a curation packed with dread-laced treasures and dark genre delights. From satanic rituals in the English countryside to mind-bending psychological twists, the platform’s latest additions lean deeper into the shadows — and viewers are all the better for it.

Leading the charge is The Devil Rides Out (1968), one of the crown jewels of Hammer Horror’s golden era. Directed by Terence Fisher and adapted from Dennis Wheatley’s occult bestseller, the film stars a commanding Christopher Lee in a rare heroic role, battling a devil-worshipping cult hellbent on claiming new souls. With lavish gothic visuals and a sense of real menace, it remains one of Hammer’s most enduring and atmospheric works. Charles Gray, later of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, delivers a memorably sinister turn...

Hammer Films is set to breathe new life into one of its earliest science fiction ventures with the upcoming 4K release of Four Sided Triangle. A lesser-known but quietly pivotal entry in the studio’s expansive back catalogue, the 1953 film returns on 31st March 2025 in a meticulously restored Limited Collector’s Edition, reaffirming Hammer’s commitment to restoring and celebrating its genre-defining heritage.

Directed by Terence Fisher, who would later become a lynchpin of Hammer’s horror success with Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein, Four Sided Triangle marks one of the studio’s earliest forays into science-horror. At the centre of its bizarre premise is a love triangle made more complex by science itself. Two scientists develop a machine capable of duplicating matter and use it to clone the woman they both love. But as with all morally murky experiments, things do not go to plan. Featuring Barbara Payton,...

These legendary Dracula movies prove the vampire legend never gets old.

I saw Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu” over the weekend. Now, as you may know, this isn’t usually my kind of movie. I’m not a hardcore horror fan and I was a little nervous about seeing the film after watching the trailer. But I read Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” about ten years ago and remember loving it. And I had heard good things about this remake, so I rolled the dice and saw the movie. My honest opinion? It’s freaking awesome. The cinematography is brilliant, the character work is impressive, and Bill Skarsgård does an incredible job as Count Orlok (renamed from Count Dracula) – specifically his voice work. I have never heard anything quite like it. So, high off that intense but highly satisfying film, here are my top 7 favorite Dracula movies you can stream right now.

Top...

Hammer Films was founded in 1934, but it took an eleven year hiatus on the way to the ‘50s, the decade when the company entered the era it’s best known for. In 1955, the sci-fi horror film The Quatermass Xperiment became their first major international success, inspiring Hammer to start building toward becoming one of the most popular genre companies of all time. Since this year marks the 90th anniversary of Hammer Films, we decided it was time to put together a list of some of The Best Hammer Horror Movies. Here we go:

Horror Of Dracula (1958)

Sure, this is yet another adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula; a re-telling of the story that any horror watcher will see roughly fifty versions of over the course of their fandom. But director Terence Fisher and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster brought some twists to this one that are not present in others and shuffled some of the characters.

James Wan is one of the most highly respectable names in the horror genre, and for good reason. The Australian filmmaker has made some of the most memorable horror movies as a writer, director, and producer. Over the years, his spine-chilling narratives have beautifully captured audiences’ attention. The Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring movie series are some of his famous works. His entire filmography has done business north of $2 billion at the global box office.

James Wan At A Convention | Via Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore

Wan recently put up his Halloween watch list with a selection of some of his favorite vampire movies.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula A Scene From Bram Stoker’s Dracula | Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures

This movie, released in 1992, is an adaptation of author Bram Stroker’s novel of the same title. Directed by none other than Francis Ford Coppola, the film steers a tad away from the...

Stars: Peter Cushing, Edward Judd, Carole Gray, Eddie Byrne, Sam Kydd, Niall MacGinnis, James Caffrey, Liam Gaffney, Roger Heathcott, Keith Bell | Written by Edward Mann, Al Ramsen | Directed by Terence Fisher

Island of Terror, directed by Terence Fisher, is a 1966 British horror film that stands out for its intriguing premise and unique creature design, though it often pales in comparison to the director’s more iconic work within the Hammer Horror series. While Fisher is best known for his stylish and atmospheric contributions to the genre, including classics like The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958), Island of Terror offers a more subdued and, at times, uneven experience.

Set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, Island of Terror revolves around a group of scientists investigating a series of mysterious deaths linked to an experiment gone awry. The plot is straightforward, but it manages to build a sense of isolation and dread effectively.

The director’s new BFI season championing hidden gems of British film, hot on the heels of his Powell and Pressburger documentary, reveals some of the inspirations of a film-making great and passionate fan

This weekend, the BFI Southbank in London begins a season of films entitled Martin Scorsese Selects Hidden Gems of British Cinema. Among the treats that caught my eye are a terrific Terence Fisher double bill (1948’s To the Public Danger and 1952’s Stolen Face), Roy Ward Baker’s Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971), John Hough’s The Legend of Hell House (1973) and a rare nitrate-print screening of Alberto Cavalcanti’s dark 1942 gem, Went the Day Well?

The fact that a director whose own extraordinary CV includes Taxi Driver (1973), Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Casino (1995), Gangs of New York (2002), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and, just last year, Killers of the Flower Moon should curate...

For decades, Hammer Studios was synonymous with monsters. And heaving breasts. And blood. Their classics “Curse of Frankenstein” and “Horror of Dracula” helped yank iconic movie monsters out of their spooky old castles and into a violent, sensual cinematic era (which also had castles). There was nothing wrong with these iconic boogeymen. They just needed a bit of updating.

Hammer Studios closed its doors in 1979, but the icons persisted. Since the production company came back in the late 2000s, they’ve shied away from the classic creature pantheon, instead releasing what we can generously call a mixed-bag of paranormal potpourri. They’ve made at least one excellent film — Matt Reeves’ “Let Me In,” a surprisingly sturdy remake of Tomas Alfredson’s acclaimed “Let the Right One In” — followed by some respectable (and less-respectable) thrillers, and a smattering of haunted houses.

Now, finally, they have unleashed “Doctor Jekyll,” an old-fashioned monster...

Stars: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Patrick Allen, Jane Merrow, Sarah Lawson, William Lucas, Kenneth Cope, Percy Herbert, Thomas Heathcote | Written by Ronald Liles, Jane Baker, Pip Baker | Directed by Terence Fisher

Night of the Big Heat, directed by Terence Fisher, is a science fiction horror film based on the novel by John Lymington. The story unfolds on the small, isolated island of Fara, which is gripped by an unseasonable and unbearable heatwave. The local innkeeper, Jeff Callum (Patrick Allen), his wife Frankie (Sarah Lawson), and the mysterious scientist Dr. Godfrey Hanson (Christopher Lee) must uncover the source of the unnatural heat. Their investigation leads to a startling discovery: an invasion of extraterrestrial beings generating intense heat to make the environment suitable for their habitation.

Night of the Big Heat combines the atmospheric tension typical of 1960s British horror with the unsettling eeriness of classic science fiction. Terence Fisher, renowned for his work with Hammer Films,...

Amazon Prime Video has taken another big leap into the UK film and TV industry by acquiring the 70-year-old studios where Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is filmed.

Financials were not disclosed on the deal for Bray Film Studios, with the first Amazon production rolling cameras there set to be the second season of the Russo Brothers’ Citadel series in September. Amazon MGM Studios was initially listed as the Bray acquirer, before being switched to Prime Video.

Amazon, which already leases production facilities at the UK’s Shepperton Studios, will make TV series and feature films for streamer Prime Video from the site in Berkshire – around 26 miles away from Central London. The acquisition includes approximately 53,600 square feet of sound stage space across five stages, 77,400 square feet of workshops, 39,400 square feet of office, 182,900 square feet of backlot, and 156,000 square feet of parking space.

Prime Video made the second...

Amazon Prime Video is acquiring Bray Film Studios, the U.K. studio complex where The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power shot its second season.

The vast production site is located in Water Oakley, Berkshire, 26 miles from central London, and is set to become the U.K. “creative home” for Amazon MGM Studios. Other productions that have been shot at Bray include the likes of Rocketman, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Angel Has Fallen, The King’s Man, Amazon series Citadel, BBC show Dracula, and BBC series Bodyguard.

“The acquisition includes approximately 53,600 square feet of soundstage space across five stages, 77,400 square feet of workshops, 39,400 square feet of office, 182,900 square feet of backlot, and 156,000 square feet of parking space,” Amazon said on Monday. “Bray has previously supported Amazon MGM Studios productions with sound stages, offices, and production facilities, starting in January 2022, when it became the production home for the...

The monster slayer, Van Helsing, will be making his way to television as it was recently announced that a new series is in development for CBS.

Per Deadline, British novelist Jonathan Lee will be writting the upcoming series, with Elementary creator Rob Doherty set to executive produce alongside Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman. The upcoming series, "is a contemporary take on the monster hunter Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, who uses his uniquely inquisitive mind working alongside his ex, relentless FBI special agent Mina Harker, to solve New York Citys most harrowing cases," according to the official logline.

Related Van Helsing Greatly Altered Three of Its Classic Monsters - But Only Perfected One

Van Helsing was a horror thrill ride from start to finish while changing many aspects of its monsters. But only one truly benefited from the changes.

Van Helsing has made many appearances throughout the history of both film and television.

Severin Films Goes Goth On June 4th With Danza MacAbra Volume 3: The Spanish Gothic Collection: "Coming June 4th! Danza MacAbra Volume 3: The Spanish Gothic Collection is the latest in our acclaimed series of Gothic Horror Blu-ray box sets and the first to focus on Spain’s tradition of Gothic Horror, which – particularly during the Franco dictatorship – was characterized by daring concepts, lush visuals, extreme sexuality, and a startling aestheic all its own. These four classic shockers from the 1970s represent the genre at its most audacious: In Necrophagous, the debut feature by writer/director Miguel Madrid, a fractured family in a crumbling castle conceals a grisly graveyard secret. The anthology film Cake Of Blood – never previously available outside of Spain – presents a quartet of supernatural tales by four young filmmakers. Hammer Films director John Gilling brings his inimitable style to the occult thriller in Cross Of The Devil.

"Abigail" is hitting theaters this weekend, bringing audiences a new vampire film to sink their teeth into. With that in mind, we're turning to the granddaddy of all vampires, Dracula! There are a lot of Dracula movies. Too many to Count, in fact (pun intended). Dracula has been to space ("Dracula 3000"). Dracula has turned out to be Judas Iscariot ("Dracula 2000"). Dracula has been to the Old West ("Billy the Kid Versus Dracula").

Hell, Dracula has been with us more or less since horror movies began (with the unauthorized adaptation "Nosferatu"). With that in mind, it's probably impossible to make a comprehensive list of every Dracula movie. So we're not even going to try to do that. Instead, we're going to list the five best Dracula movies, ranked. With so many Drac-centric flicks out there, any list like this is bound to be controversial. If your personal favorite Dracula movie didn't make the list,...

When I first saw the title of this, I naturally thought of the song by the same name that became a huge if not ‘Monster Hit’ for Bobby “Boris” Pickett at the height of the fifties and sixties monster craze. The picture takes the theme of sixties creature features and creates a bloody at times gore-filled Anthology of stories to shock, offend and make you go ‘ok’.

The Monster Mash (2022) directed by Kevin Losani and Richard Terrasi succeeds admirably with engaging pulp-like stories whose endings you can see a mile or kilometre off depending on your country. The difference is the work is so lovingly done, with fun, practical effects, at times over-the-top acting that fits and just a little tinge of naughty offence.

The film opens with outstanding titles harkening back to Saturday morning horror cartoons that were never quite frightening. An on-camera host Dr Freudstein (Michael Gentile) and his not-so-able hunchbacked,...

There are a lot of "Frankenstein" movies. There's even one in theaters right now: "Lisa Frankenstein," a fun 80s-set horror-comedy-romance brew (read /Film's review here).

One could even say the story of "Frankenstein" birthed the horror genre as we know it today, both in literature (thanks to Mary Shelley's "Modern Prometheus") and in film. James Whale's 1931 "Frankenstein," arriving on the heels of "Dracula," cemented the age of Universal Horror and proved that monsters could be crowd-pleasers.

Countless sequels and remakes later, everyone knows the basics of the story. Dr. Frankenstein (first name usually Victor) sets out to create life in a reanimated corpse. The result is a Creature, unpleasant to the eye, and soon Frankenstein experiences the wrath of his Monster. Was Frankenstein's Monster born destructive or made that way by his creator rejecting him? Interpretations differ, but the message endures: don't play God (or become a parent...

I greatly looked forward to the ‘sequel’ rebirth of Hammer Horror into today’s age. It is important to note that those of us who delighted in the Halcyon days of Hammer Studios with the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, Sherlock Holmes, The Reptile, The Gorgon, and many others stalking around opulent yet budget-conscious sets with blood, gore, and low-cut necklines may be in for a bit of shock. Those types of films meaning the ‘Old’ Hammer Studios formula do not work for audiences of today. That is why Joe Stephenson Directed Doctor Jekyll (2023) is pivotal to the new ‘John Gore’ era of horror filmmaking, to that end it does not disappoint new and old on many fronts.

This picture is an underplayed subversive delight of duality on many levels. The level of decadency each person has on one another no matter how different they seem. Many cast themselves...

Welcome to the Hammer Factory. This month we dissect The Mummy’s Shroud (1967).

While Hammer Studios has been in business since 1934, it was between 1955 and 1979 that it towered as one of the premier sources of edgy, gothic horror. On top of ushering the famous monsters of Universal’s horror heyday back into the public eye, resurrecting the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy in vivid color, the studio invited performers like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt and so many more to step into the genre limelight. Spanning a library housing over 300 films, Hammer Studios is a key part of horror history that until recently has been far too difficult to track down.

In late 2018, Shout Factory’s Scream Factory line began to focus on bringing Hammer’s titles to disc in the US, finally making many of the studio’s underseen gems available in packages that offered great visuals...

Grab your garlic, sharpen your stakes, and put on your best evening cape, dear readers, for we're about to embark on a nocturnal journey through the top 10 best Dracula adaptations of all time. From the silent era's creepy classics to the modern-day binge-worthy series, we've got a coffin-full of cinematic treats for you!

Here are our picks for the best Dracula movies of all time!

Universal 10. Van Helsing (2004)

In Van Helsing, Hugh Jackman hunts vampires, and Richard Roxburgh's Dracula is no exception. This action-packed film is like a monster mash-up party, and everyone's invited! Critics may have hissed, but the box office numbers don't lie. It's a guilty pleasure for those who like their Dracula with a side of werewolves and Frankenstein's monster. A rollercoaster ride of action, Van Helsing is a modern take on classic monsters.

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Hammer Film Productions 9. Dracula: Prince Of Darkness...

By the middle of the 1950s, gothic horror was dead. Modern-set films dealing with nuclear war, radioactive fallout, and the Red Scare filled American theaters with giant bugs and body snatchers. England’s Hammer Studios was no different, releasing successful films like The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) and X the Unknown (1956), which were firmly rooted in these science fiction-based fears. In 1957, however, they took a gamble and single-handedly resurrected the gothic monster movie with The Curse of Frankenstein, which became an international hit. The following year they outdid themselves by resurrecting the King of Vampires. Horror of Dracula (simply titled Dracula in England) completely redefined the character, and indeed the entire vampire subgenre, for a generation, and its influence would echo through the decades to come.

By 1958, Tod Browning’s Dracula, with Bela Lugosi in the starring role, had become deeply ingrained in popular culture. The 1957 debut of Shock Theater, the package...

The Blood Beast Terror

Blu-ray

Kino Lorber

1968 / 1.85: 1 / 88 Min.

Starring Peter Cushing, Wanda Ventham, Robert Flemyng

Written by Peter Bryan

Directed by Vernon Sewell

A serene British countryside is rocked by a series of brutal murders with a common thread; each victim has been mutilated and drained of their blood. All eyes are on a nearby university and its resident eccentric, the mysterious Dr. Mallinger, an entomologist with a fascination for Death’s-head moths. His daughter Clare shares his interests but her concerns are more personal than academic—Clare is a shapeshifter, transformed into a deadly butterfly when her blood is up and romance is in the air.

Directed by Vernon Sewell, this not so thrilling thriller features Robert Flemyng as Mallinger, and Wanda Ventham as Clare, whose blank-faced beauty suggests an otherworldly nature or a general lack of enthusiasm for the project—if it’s the latter she’s...

Hammer Horror: the name rings so ubiquitously in the realms of cinema, and especially around Halloween. Hearing the name, you’re likely to picture one of a number of the British studio’s releases between the 1950s and early 1970s which boasted decadent set design and an intensity of fear and playfulness. A studio of progressive storytelling compared to other offerings of the time, in Hammer’s horror subdivision could be found Technicolor horror (and its subgenres), often sexually and socially provocative, taking classical source material and turning it on its head. Seen as vulgar to the critics, audiences loved the low-budget thrills of Hammer Horror as a refreshing alternative to Hollywood, with two actors in particular becoming distinct heroes of the cycle, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.But what are the sounds behind the horror? The wonder of movie soundtracks can be put on best display in the horror genre,...

Legend (formerly Horror Channel) have announced their lineup of titles for the month of November. There are a number of contemporary titles in the mix next month - The Golem, Ghosts of War and Nomads - but we're drawn to the number of classic titles in the program.    Viewers will be able to catch classics like The Blob and Terence Fisher's The Mummy that starred legends Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee and Sci-fi horror classic The Sorcerers starring Boris Karloff.   And here is a slice of my childhood that I have not revisited in some time. Season three of Knight Rider the series that launched the Hoff's career is coming next month.    Everything you need to know about Legend's programming next month is in the...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 "Dracula" was promoted as a faithful adaptation of the 1897 novel, down to its full title "Bram Stoker's Dracula." Don't think for a moment this means the movie is a stuffy stage reading, concerned only with literally adapting the text. No, Coppola's rendition of Stoker is one of the most visually audacious films of its decade.

Mini-documentary "In Camera: The Naïve Visual Effects of Dracula" explores how Coppola and his team used entirely in-camera special effects, resulting in a film as tactile as it is lavish. Coppola explains this choice was motivated by period accuracy:

"Given that the book 'Dracula' was written around 1900, being the same date as the birth of the cinema... coming out of magicians and illusions and basically magic tricks, I thought would not only make the film entirely in a false place, in a studio, but I would only use effects...

Many actors have played Count Dracula over the years, but who is the best? My vote goes to Max Schreck in "Nosferatu." His is a truly nightmarish creature, feral and pestilent, stripped to the barest vestige of humanity after centuries of scuttling around in the shadows. Sure, his character is called "Count Orlok," but that name change and other tweaks didn't fool anybody, resulting in a lawsuit from Bram Stoker's estate that almost wiped the film from existence.

But with most movie fans, you have a two-way tussle between Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee. Lugosi's classic Universal monster is regal and intense, with a hypnotic gaze and a much-imitated accent. Crucially, though, he just isn't very scary.

Lee played the Count in Terence Fisher's racy 1958 Hammer adaptation of "Dracula," pairing him with Peter Cushing as his adversary, Van Helsing. He portrayed the vampire as a lustful, ferocious predator,...

Director John Carpenter has directed some of the most iconic horror films of all time. In fact, his 1978 feature “Halloween” is as synonymous with the spooky season as trick or treating. But what movies is Carpenter planning to watch this Halloween?

Le Cinema Club, a curated streaming platform that screens one movie a week for free recently saw the Master of Horror send them a list of his five favorite horror films and it’s a rogue’s gallery of some of the best in the genre.

The list is comprised of Terence Fisher’s 1959 version of “The Mummy” starring Peter Cushing, William Friedkin’s 1973 possession feature “The Exorcist,” Dario Argento’s “Suspiria” from 1977, James Whale’s 1931 classic “Frankenstein,” and Tobe Hooper’s 1974 film, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

Carpenter has talked about his love for “The Exorcist” before, saying in a previous interview that “You know what’s scary about...

Hammer Horror: Four Gothic Horror Films

Blu ray – All Region

Imprint

1971-72

Starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, Eric Porter

Cinematography by Kenneth Talbot, Dick Bush

Directed by Peter Sasdy, John Hough, Robert Young

In December of 1959, Hammer Studios released a bit of Yuletide cheer called The Stranglers from Bombay, a censor-baiting melodrama highlighted by severed limbs and Marie Devereux’s cleavage. The studio would spend the next decade expanding upon those themes and wore the inevitable X Certificates like badges of honor. But as an ancient reprobate said, “Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough” and by the seventies the bad boys of Bray seemed positively sedate. Though the power to shock had waned, Hammer was still a thriving business—there were two Dracula films produced in 1970 alone. Still, no one could blame them for shaking things up—Anthony Hinds, the studio’s guiding light,...

The EuroCrypt of Christopher Lee

Blu ray – Region Free

Severin Films

1962-72

Starring Christopher Lee, Thorley Walters, Karin Dor

Cinematography by Ernst W. Kalinke, Angelo Baistrocchi

Directed by Terence Fisher, Harald Reinl

While Hammer Studios depended on bosoms and blood to rejuvenate a listless horror industry, their new contract player had some high octane ideas of his own. His name was Christopher Lee and though the hulking actor towered above the crew and co-stars, he proved shockingly agile as the newborn creature in 1957’s The Curse of Frankenstein. No matter how hospitable or well-tailored, his Dracula was a clear and present danger—fleet of foot and supernaturally strong. And in 1959’s The Mummy, he turned the slow-moving immortal into an Olympian killing machine, outpacing his victims like an undead Usain Bolt.

Making the scene just as the sixties were racing into view, Lee’s express lane monsters ignored musty gothic...

Once an upstart and now a company to contend with, Britain’s Indicator continues their series of Hammer Studio releases with Hammer Volume Six: Night Shadows, a purely generic subtitle fit for any horror film, Hammer or otherwise. What isn’t generic is Indicator’s winning formula—top notch image quality and boatloads of extra materials including documentaries, commentaries, image galleries—the works. The films in their latest set are already available stateside in more than adequate Blu ray versions—but Indicator’s work prevails on the sheer magnitude and quality of their content.

Hammer Volume Six: Night Shadows

Blu ray – Region B

Indicator

Starring Barbara Shelley, Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Jennie Linden

Cinematography by Arthur Grant, John Wilcox

Directed by John Gilling, Peter Graham Scott, Terence Fisher, Freddie Francis

The Shadow of the Cat – 1961

Directed by John Gilling

Starring André Morell and Barbara Shelley

Cat lovers of all stripes...

“From Dracula to Jedi master, Bond villain to a Metal god, Christopher Lee’s 70-year career was rich, varied and often, pretty weird.”

—The Guardian

The Eurocrypt Of Christopher Lee Blu-ray Collection is now available from Severin. The set can be ordered directly from Severin Here.

8 Blu-ray Collection Featuring 5 Classic European Films, A TV Anthology, Disc Of Rare Interviews + Book & Soundtrack CD

He remains one of the most beloved horror/fantasy icons in US/UK pop culture history, but Christopher Lee delivered several of the most compelling, acclaimed and bizarre performances of his entire career in 1960s Europe. The Eurocrypt Of Christopher Lee brings together five of these Lee classics – the 1964 gothic shocker Crypt Of The Vampire; the 1964 cult hit Castle Of The Living Dead co-starring an unknown Donald Sutherland; 1962’s celebrated Sherlock Holmes And The Deadly Necklace; 1967’s lurid favorite The Torture Chamber Of Dr. Sadism and the rarely-seen...

The man with eyebrows that can kill! Not really, but that’s the impression given by the poster illustration. The Baker/Berman producing team gave their Hammer/Terence Fisher imitation a decent production — good color, autopsy-grade gore, female victims in low-cut gowns — but neither Jimmy Sangster’s script nor the flat direction bring it to life. Donald Wolfit is the resurrected mad doctor stealing transfusion blood and committing murders with the help of his deformed servant Victor Maddern but the highlight is the strong performance from favorite scream queen Barbara Shelley. Artus’ fancy special edition Blu is Region A friendly, although the DVD is Pal and all the extras are French-only.

Blood of the Vampire

Blu-ray + DVD

Artus Films

1958 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 87 min. / Le Sang du Vampire / Street Date April 6, 2021 / Available from Amazon.fr / 29.99 €

Starring: Donald Wolfit, Vincent Ball, Barbara Shelley, Victor Maddern, William Devlin, Andrew Faulds, John Le Mesurier, Bryan Coleman,...

Severin continues to impress with their incredible box set releases and their latest announcement was an instant pre-order for me: a collection of five remastered Christopher Lee movies and a rarely seen, Christopher Lee-hosted, anthology horror TV series:

(Los Angeles, CA) On May 25th, Severin Films is releasing a box set of buried gems from one of cinema’s most seminal figures - Sir Christopher Lee. He remains one of the most beloved horror/fantasy icons in US/UK pop culture history, but Christopher Lee delivered several of the most compelling, acclaimed and bizarre performances of his entire career in 1960s Europe. The Eurocrypt Of Christopher Lee brings together five of these Lee classics - the 1964 gothic shocker Crypt Of The Vampire; the 1964 cult hit Castle Of The Living Dead co-starring an unknown Donald Sutherland; 1962's celebrated Sherlock Holmes And The Deadly Necklace; 1967's lurid favorite The Torture Chamber Of Dr.

During a three-hour discussion on a recent episode of “The Empire Film Podcast,” Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino revealed the existence of their makeshift quarantine movie club over the last 9 months. As Wright explained, “It’s nice. We’ve kept in touch in a sort of way that cinephiles do. It’s been one of the very few blessings of this [pandemic], the chance to disappear down a rabbit hole with the hours indoors that we have.” Tarantino added, “Edgar is more social than I am. It’s a big deal that I’ve been talking to him these past 9 months.”

A bulk of the film club was curated by none other than Martin Scorsese, who sent Wright a recommendation list of nearly 50 British films that Scorsese considers personal favorites. In the five months Wright spent in lockdown before resuming production on “Last Night in Soho” — and before he received the...

Barbara Shelley, an acclaimed British horror movie actress, has died at age 88 after contracting Covid-19.

Shelley’s agent, Thomas Bowington, told the U.K.’s press association that the actress spent two weeks in the hospital before Christmastime battling coronavirus. He added, “it’s most likely Covid is going to come up on the death certificate.”

Shelley was best known for her roles in classic horror films produced by London-based Hammer Film Productions (better known as Hammer Horror), including “The Gorgon,” “The Pit” and “Quatermass.”

She also starred alongside Christopher Lee in the 1966 movie “Dracula: Prince of Darkness,” directed by Terence Fisher. With that role, Shelley helped launch Hammer Horror’s productions into the pop culture lexicon and came to be known as the “Queen of Hammer.”

In 1984, Shelley joined the 21st season of BBC’s intergalactic sci-fi series “Dr. Who,” playing the role of Sorasta in the show’s “Planet of Fire” serial.

The House of Hammer was dilapidated and run down by the turn of the ‘70s; a modern purview had wormed its way into horror’s darkened crevices and Hammer had no choice but to adapt or perish. Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974), a grimy, bloody affair that was Frank’s last hurrah with the venerable house and Peter Cushing’s final bow as the Baron, is proof that even the final throes of their cinematic empire was filled with malevolent mirth.

Released at home in May with an American rollout in June, Hell received better notices than one might expect, or it at least found some interest; the injection of overt viscera into the somewhat staid stable told the world that Hammer was putting classical in the rearview to embrace the contemporary. It was also more than enough to kill the series, if not Hammer itself (at least not...

Hammer’s first color Gothic horror show recovers its charnel house luster in the Wac’s ambitious ‘surprise’ restoration. The severed heads and Peter Cushing’s blood-smeared costumes are back to their crimson best again, and with the improved image Terence Fisher’s taut direction really grabs us, extracting maximum impact from Jimmy Sangster’s ‘did you see that?’ shock moments. The show seemed incredibly graphic and violent in 1964 so it must have been a jaw-dropper for audiences of 1957 — our parents can’t have known what their kiddies were watching. The Warner Archive Collection really delivers for collectors — the extras here are as thorough as those offered by the ‘usual suspect’ boutique outfits that fixate on classic horror.

The Curse of Frankenstein

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1957 / Color / 1:66 widescreen, 1:85 widescreen, and 1:37 Academy / Two-Disc Special Edition / 82 min. / Street Date December 15 (or maybe 1?), 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Peter Cushing,...

November 10th looks to be an extremely busy day for home media releases, as we have a ton of horror and sci-fi headed home this Tuesday. Two of this writer’s favorite films of 2020 are being released this week—Bill & Ted Face the Music and Spontaneous—and if you’re looking for some classic genre offerings, Scream Factory is keeping busy with a terrifying trifecta of releases: Brides of Dracula: Collector’s Edition, War of the Colossal Beast, and How to Make a Monster.

Giallo fans will want to pick up Cult Epic’s Blu-ray for Death Laid an Egg on Tuesday, and Kino Lorber is showing some love to Play Misty for Me, too. Arrow Video is also doing a few re-releases this week, including American Horror Project: Volume One and The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast, and if you somehow haven’t had a chance to check it out on Shudder yet,...

Scream Factory continues to celebrate vintage Hammer horror films with their November 10th release of The Brides of Dracula on a Collector's Edition Blu-ray, and we've been provided with the full list of special features, including a new audio commentary.

We have the official press release with complete details below, and in case you missed it, read Scott Drebit's Drive-In Dust Offs entry on Brides of Dracula!

From the Press Release: This fall, brace yourself for the long-awaited Hammer cult film classic arrives on Blu-ray. On November 10, 2020, Scream Factory is excited to present the highly sought-after classic The Brides Of Dracula Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Directed by Terence Fisher (The Curse of Frankenstein) and produced by Anthony Hinds (The Phantom of the Opera), this chilling horror classic stars Peter Cushing (Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope), Freda Jackson (Clash of the Titans), Martita Hunt (Great Expectations), and Yvonne Monlaur...

The Phantom of the Opera

Blu ray

1962 / 84 min. / 1:85:1, 1:66:1, 1:33:1

Starring Herbert Lom, Heather Sears, Michael Gough

Cinematography by Arthur Grant

Directed by Terence Fisher

Hammer Studios made their mark by viewing Universal’s classic horror films through a contemporary lens—which for the late 50’s and early 60’s meant more explicit sex and violence—albeit sex and violence served up with baroquely beautiful cinematography and Byzantine art direction—like Roger Corman they offered “brilliance on a budget”. If the artists at Hammer felt intimidated by Universal’s shadow it never showed—but there was noticeable excitement when their 1962 adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera was announced with a production floated by plenty of money, a full blown operatic score, and Cary Grant in the lead. It never happened that way, of course.

What did happen was this: the 11th-hour exit of their fickle star...

Any time we at Cinema Retro might feel self-congratulatory about staying in print for sixteen years, we're immediately humbled by the fact that Dick Klemensen has been publishing Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine since 1972. You read that right...1972, the same year it seemed like a good idea to re-elect Richard Nixon in the biggest landslide in American history and Marlon Brando regained his mojo as The Godfather. Since then, Dick's magazine has been the gold standard for coverage of everything and anything to do with the Hammer films horror classics. The vast majority of every issue is dedicated to Hammer and yet he never gets repetitive. Dick started to reach out to the Hammer stars, directors, producers and technicians in the early 1970s and thus acquired a priceless archive of their stories and memories during an era in which most critics didn't take the films seriously. Dick's latest issue features...

Mubi's retrospective Out of this World: The Cinema of Rita Azevedo Gomes is showing July – September, 2020.Above: The Portuguese WomanIt's staggering how complete the cinema of Rita Azevedo Gomes is already in her first film, a feature no less: O Som da Terra a Tremer (1990) is an explosion of feeling and thought and invention carried by the profoundest of knowledge about cinema and the arts. Thus, it is most lamentable that it took another two decades plus for her to be recognized by international film culture at its most general level, with A Woman’s Revenge (2012), a work refined and lean, almost minimalist, très Portuguese à la Oliveira, thus similar to other films, other auteurs from Europe's western-most nation—and therefore welcome with open arms at all the places usually deemed right.While one can easily say that in the end it all worked out, one has to immediately...

As Disney quietly disappears huge swathes of film history into its vaults, I'm going to spend 2020 celebrating Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox Film Corporation's films, what one might call their output if only someone were putting it out.And now they've quietly disappeared William Fox's name from the company: guilty by association with Rupert Murdoch, even though he never associated with him.***Dangerous Crossing was directed by Joseph M. Newman in 1953, not long before the one title he's semi-remembered for, This Island Earth. It seems to have been greenlit as a B-picture to take advantage of the sets built for Fox's Titanic, as it's an ocean voyage mystery.Newlywed Jeanne Crain boards ship with her husband, who promptly vanishes, and nobody will admit to ever having seen him. Of course the plot kernel was used before, by writers Launder and Gilliat for director Hitchcock in The Lady Vanishes.

You got witch-hunting in my vampirism! Yeah? Well, you got vampirism in my witch-hunting! Deliciously combined, Hammer’s Twins of Evil (1971) pits religious fanaticism against vampiric seduction in the third and final film of the Karnstein trilogy, and it’s a fittingly erotic and spirited sendoff.

Released by Rank Film Distributors in the U.K. and Universal Pictures stateside, Twins of Evil was part of a double bill with Hands of the Ripper, and as these things do, brought in the casual viewer looking for a little mayhem to tide them over. Twins of Evil however, still manages to seduce the viewer through muscular filmmaking and solid performances, with the biggest draw being the stunning Collinson sisters, Mary and Madeleine, as our titular characters. They make it one of the most lascivious of the latter day Hammer films; no small feat, that.

We open on Central Europe in the late...

Rip-roaring Oliver Reed’s silver-coated were-beast is one of Hammer Films’ very best screen monsters, which is more than enough reason to sample this colorful 1961 shocker. It was apparently ripped to shreds by the U.K. censors, a horror-crime spared us lucky Americans. The movie has been released more than once on Blu-ray but Shout’s new 4K scan restores it to prime condition. Numerous extras trace its stormy path through the slights and deletions of The Curse of the BBFC.

The Curse of the Werewolf

Blu-ray

Shout! Scream Factory

1961 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date April 21, 2020 / Collector’s Edition / Available from Scream Factory

Starring: Clifford Evans, Oliver Reed, Yvonne Romain, Catherine Feller, Anthony Dawson.

Cinematography: Arthur Grant

Film Editor: Alfred Cox

Original Music: Benjamin Frankel

Written by John Elder (Anthony Hinds) from The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore

Produced by Michael Carreras, Anthony Hinds

Directed by Terence Fisher

When stab comes to gouge,...

Hello, dear readers! We have a brand new batch of Blu-ray and DVD releases coming our way this week, and there are some killer titles that you’re definitely going to want to pick up, including Scream Factory’s Blu-ray release of The Curse of the Werewolf.

We also have some excellent recent titles headed to various formats this week, including Why Don’t You Just Die! (which this writer absolutely loved), Sea Fever (another film I really enjoyed immensely), The Turning, and Party Hard, Die Young.

Other releases for April 21st include Prey, Colour of the Dark, and a brand new Blu-ray for Fatal Attraction.

The Curse of the Werewolf

His beast-blood demanded he Kill ... Kill ... Kill! Directed by legendary horror filmmaker Terence Fisher, this atmospheric tale of terror stars Oliver Reed as the orphan of a maniacal beggar and a mute girl. From his birth to young manhood, he discovers a horrible secret.

Okay, the title The Earth Dies Screaming (1964) may be all the way on the nose at the moment, but that shouldn’t discourage anyone from checking it out. After all, you have Hammer legend Terence Fisher directing a small cast through a post apocalyptic adventure with shiny robot aliens walking around. Sounds dodgy you say? It is! But it’s also only 62 minutes short, and in Fisher’s more than capable hands, becomes a taut little gasser.

Released by Twentieth Century Fox, this British production was hampered by an extremely low budget, at least according to critics; the truth is that The Earth Dies Screaming is a Z grade concept dragged up to a B by the sheer magnitude of Fisher’s talent, and a bigger budget may have erased its unique charm.

We open in the English countryside; things appear tranquil until: a train derails, a plane dovetails into a field,...

Directed by Terence Fisher (The Curse Of Frankenstein) starring Oliver Reed (Burnt Offerings), and based on Guy Endore's novel The Werewolf of Paris, the 1961 Hammer horror film The Curse of the Werewolf is coming to Blu-ray like never before in a new Collector's Edition from Scream Factory, and ahead of its April 21st release, we've been provided with the full list of bonus features and technical specs, including two new audio commentaries and a "4K scan from the interpositive."

We have the official press release with full details on The Curse of the Werewolf Collector's Edition Blu-ray, and to learn more, visit Scream Factory's official website.

Press Release: His beast-blood demanded him Kill ... Kill ... Kill! On April 21, 2020, Scream Factory™ is excited to present the highly sought-after Hammer Film cult classic The Curse Of The Werewolf Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Directed by legendary horror filmmaker Terence Fisher, this horror classic stars...