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2,740 signatures
GOAL: 10,000
Petition closes April 30, 2014!
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We the Undersigned ask Warner Bros to please Release their Classic Hammer Horror Titles on Blu-Ray!
Hammer Horror Films are a vital part of, not only the horror entertainment genre, but of Britain’s cinematic legacy. The 7 Hammer titles that Warner Bros holds represent the best and most important titles in Hammer’s significant output and should be urgently released in the new high definition medium, fully restored for optimum quality! The titles are:
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968)
Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)
Titles that have already been released on blu-ray in the UK by Lionsgate:
Horror of Dracula (1958)
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Mummy (1959)
Help spread the word!
Our goal is to reach 10,000 signatures by April 30, 2014!
This petition is sponsored by Diabolique Magazine and DVD Drive-In
Why THESE Hammer Titles are Important
In 1957, a tiny film studio on the banks of the Thames River in England changed the horror genre forever. Hammer Film Productions did not invent the Gothic horror film, but their technicians, artisans and actors certainly perfected it. The Curse of Frankenstein, Hammer’s first Gothic horror film featuring their classic team—stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, director Terence Fisher, composer James Bernard and art director Bernard Robinson—was released in the United States by Warner Bros to spectacular box office results. It was the first Frankenstein film in color, and the first to feature Hammer’s signature style: lavish period detail, a bold sexual element and far more gore than audiences were accustomed to at the time.
Hammer quickly became a household name around the world and the company still thrives today; their 2012 theatrical release The Woman In Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe, became the most successful British horror film in more than twenty years. In the United Kingdom, three classic Hammer titles have been released on blu-ray during the past year: The Curse of Frankenstein; Dracula (1958), known in the US as Horror of Dracula; and The Mummy (1959), all of which have been filled with extras and have been extremely well-received. None of them have been announced for release in the US by Warner Bros, who own the American rights.
There are four other classic Hammer horror films to which Warner Bros own the American distribution rights that have not been released on blu-ray anywhere. They are: Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) and Dracula A.D. 1972. In my recent books The Hammer Vampire and The Hammer Frankenstein, I have pointed out why these films are important, not just to the horror genre but to the history of cinema itself.
Directed by Academy Award-winning cinematographer Freddie Francis (The Elephant Man, 1980), Dracula Has Risen From the Grave was the most financially successful of the seven Hammer classics in which Christopher Lee starred as Count Dracula. Warner Bros’ advertising campaign in the U.S. capitalized on the sexual angle of the film (in France it was called Dracula and the Women) to huge box office success. Visually, it is one of the most stylish of all Hammer horrors and, in Francis’ skilled hands, Dracula Has Risen From the Grave becomes a religious allegory in which the title character ends up impaled on a huge golden cross.
Terence Fisher’s Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed is the most nihilistic film in the entire Hammer Frankenstein saga. The fifth film in the series, it reflects the pessimism of the times and the changing morals of that era. The film has no heroes and the character of Baron Frankenstein himself (Peter Cushing) has never been more ruthless or psychopathic. This dark classic has been rightly called by more than one critic “Hammer’s finest Frankenstein film!”
Peter Sasdy’s Taste the Blood of Dracula is another film very much of its era in which Count Dracula’s revenge becomes a metaphor for teenage rebellion against an older generation whose hypocritical moral values no longer have any relevance. Perhaps the most “adult” of Lee’s Dracula films, it features excellent performances by Lee, Linda Hayden, Ralph Bates, Geoffrey Keen, John Carson and others.
Dracula A.D. 1972 carries the teenage rebellion theme even further; Lee’s Dracula is now reborn in contemporary times thanks to a black mass performed by some thrill-seeking London youths. But who is the most dangerous to society, Count Dracula or the pot-smoking “heroes?” Co-starring Bond girl Caroline Munro (The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977) and Stephanie Beacham (star of TV’s The Colbys and Dynasty), Dracula A.D. 1972 is a bona fide cult classic.
All seven of the above-mentioned films cry out to be restored on blu-ray so that a new generation of fans (as well as the older generation!) can appreciate the thrills, color and style of Hammer horror at its best. They are not only a huge part of the history of Hammer Film Productions, they are an important part of the history of Warner Bros as well.
~ By Bruce G. Hallenbeck
Bruce G. Hallenbeck is a Rondo Award-winning author of such books as Comedy-Horror Films, The Hammer Vampire, Hammer Fantasy and Sci-Fi, and The Hammer Frankenstein, and has been writing cover stories for Little Shoppe of Horrors since 1981.
Latest Signatures
2,740
Andrea Bianchini
Modena
Italy
Mar 14, 2014
2,739
Dennis Williams II
Mar 14, 2014
2,738
Jeff Rich
Bakersfield
United States
Mar 14, 2014
2,737
Brian Mallard
Jackson
Please release on blue ray!
Mar 14, 2014
2,736
steve Jarrell
Dawsonville
United States
Mar 14, 2014
2,735
Brando Tarazon
Los Angeles
United States
Please release Hammer films in blu-ray so I can die in peace.
Mar 14, 2014
2,734
Eduardo Noda
Mar 14, 2014
2,733
Shane May
Duluth
USA
Mar 14, 2014
2,732
Mark Aurelius
North Aurora
usa
would love to see them all on blu ray. would buy them.
Mar 14, 2014
2,731
Mark O'Connor
Minneapolis
USA
I would really like to see The Abominable Snowman (1957) released again.
Mar 14, 2014
2,730
Justin Giallo
Please release these horror classics on Bluray with bells & whistles!
Mar 14, 2014
2,729
Rebekah Dirnfeld
Chatsworth
Mar 14, 2014
2,728
Mike Styles
Mar 14, 2014
2,727
marc karger
wetter
germany
Mar 14, 2014
2,726
Chris Suess
Portland
USA
I really enjoy the Hammer Classics....it would be nice to own them on Bluray.
Mar 14, 2014
2,725
Kristinn Rudolphsson
Akureyri
Iceland
A must have on Blu-ray
Mar 14, 2014
2,724
Bobby Briggs
Toms River
United States
please do this, i love Hammer Horror
Mar 14, 2014
2,723
William Armstrong
Pawtucket
USA
I grew up watching Hammer's horror movies and would love to have the best quality available to watch them now on blue ray DVD's.
Mar 14, 2014
2,722
justin reed
west hamlin
usa
Mar 14, 2014
2,721
david feeley
portland
usa
Mar 14, 2014
2,720
Saraj Barr
Vancouver
Canada
Mar 14, 2014
2,719
Shaun Sjolin
Houston
So many great titles that deserve better treatment
Mar 14, 2014
2,718
Gary Raiche
Canada
Mar 14, 2014
2,717
Bill Hollister
Mar 14, 2014
2,716
George Myers
Bronx
United States
Christopher Lee played golf with Ian Fleming.
Mar 14, 2014
2,715
jesse chandler
Mar 14, 2014
2,714
larry ackerman
newman
Mar 14, 2014
2,713
Gary Krammes
Richmond
USA
Mar 14, 2014
2,712
Josh Dunford
Mar 14, 2014
2,711
Daniel Ondrey
Mar 14, 2014
2,710
Paco Chavez
D.F.
Mexico
Mar 14, 2014
2,709
Jimbo B
Turlock
Mar 14, 2014
2,708
J Petitte
USA
Mar 14, 2014
2,707
Barry Ybarra
Los Angeles
United States
Mar 14, 2014
2,706
Melissa Lojewski
Lubbock
USA
Mar 14, 2014
2,705
rodrigo diaz ricci
quilpué
chile
Mar 14, 2014
2,704
Jeff Elrod
Chamblee
United States
Mar 14, 2014
2,703
Daniel Blake
Mar 14, 2014
2,702
Gareth Barnes
cardiff
wales
Please please please release them
Mar 14, 2014
2,701
fabiano canani
Antwerp
Mar 14, 2014
2,700
Bob Frank
Oshkosh
Usa
Mar 14, 2014
2,699
Beth Moore
Fridley
United States
About time...
Mar 14, 2014
2,698
alan futterweit
montevideo
Uruguay
FUCKEERSSSSS
Mar 14, 2014
2,697
richard panzer panzer
hampstead
United States
Mar 14, 2014
2,696
Jyrki Hirvonen
Mar 14, 2014
2,695
Mark Baker
Ilkeston
United Kingdom
Mar 14, 2014
2,694
Rodney Ritchey
Winter Park
United States
Mar 14, 2014
2,693
Dirk Binder
Mar 14, 2014
2,692
Rogerio Saladino
São Paulo
Brazil
Mar 14, 2014
2,691
Erik Erickson
I've not seen a ton of Hammer Horror, but the several I have we're awesome but I'd only buy more if they were on bluray
Mar 14, 2014
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The post Sign the Petition to ask Warner Bros to release their Classic Hammer Horror Titles on Blu-Ray! appeared first on Diabolique Magazine.