Hammer Films is bringing Dracula back with a new 4K restoration

Christopher Lee’s unmistakable silhouette on that dark staircase. “I am Dracula.” In 1958, Hammer Films changed horror cinema forever.

Hammer Films resurrects the uncensored Dracula in its most ambitious 4K restoration to date. Deemed too shocking for audiences at the time and previously seen only during the film’s original Japanese theatrical release in 1958, the recovered material has never been released before in full in the UK or US.

In 1958 the legendary British horror studio, Hammer Films, unleashed Lee’s terrifying vampire and blood-thirsty fangs on the world – his unforgettable and frightening performance redefined Dracula in popular culture. Christopher Lee embodies the ultimate Dracula – long cloak, seductive nature, and short sharp predatory fangs.

You can pre-order it here.

Now film fans and horror connoisseurs can come face-to-face with the Count again as the classic film, Dracula, is resurrected this Halloween – and he’s never looked better! Painstakingly restored in 4K from the best original archival materials sourced from around the world and featuring footage believed missing for more than six decades, Dracula is the definitive restoration of one of the most influential horror films ever made and will be released in UK cinemas from 16th October and as a 4K Limited Collector’s Edition Boxset from 26th October.

John Gore, Executive Chairman of Hammer Films and John Gore Studios, says: “Dracula changed horror forever. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing created iconic performances that still define the genre, and this restoration brings audiences closer than ever to the film as it was originally intended to be seen. Seeing the long lost director’s cut finally return to cinemas feels like the right way to celebrate one of Britain’s greatest ever horror films.”

Meticulously restored by Hammer Films and Silver Salt Restoration in collaboration with The Warner Archive Collection, Dracula is back to scare a whole new generation of film fans as director Terence Fisher intended. This is the most complete version UK and US audiences will have seen –it’s the cut the censors tried to bury, blood, gore and all.

In Dracula, Christopher Lee is partnered on screen for the second time with acting legend Peter Cushing (The Curse of Frankenstein) – whose energetic, intelligent and physically capable portrayal of Van Helsing was a major departure from the older, more scholarly stereotype, as well as a memorable performance by Michael Gough (Crucible of Horror) as Arthur Holmwood, whose sister and wife fall victim to the evil king of the undead.

Written by Jimmy Sangster, directed by Fisher, scored by James Bernard, with production design by Bernard Robinson, and effects and matte paintings by Les Bowie, Dracula is a convergence of Hammer’s key creative talents, cementing the studio’s iconic gothic style.

Dracula is in cinemas UK wide from the 16^th October.

The Dracula Limited Collector’s Edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray box set boasts over 15 hours of exclusive extra features, one of which is the Dracula workprint. No other Hammer workprints are known to exist so this is a unique Hammer artefact. This rough, work-in-progress version of the film was the one assembled during post-production and is almost certainly the element that went back and forth between Hammer and the BBFC as they haggled over cuts.

Other Exclusive New Features Include:

• New documentary Proving Them Wrong: The Christopher Lee that people saw in interviews was what he wanted the public to see – but that was not the man himself. Dame Harriet Walter, actor and Lee’s niece, in conversation with Lee’s biographer Jonathan Rigby, discuss their own experiences of this complex man, his life and his ambitions.
• New documentary The Road to Dracula: Tony Dalton, author of Terence Fisher: Master of Gothic Cinema, writer Stephen Laws, Hammer expert and writer Wayne Kinsey and Little Shoppe of Horrors publisher Dick Klemensen examine Terence Fisher’s pre-1957 work and the path he trod that lead him inexorably to Castle Dracula.
• New documentary The Sound of Dracula: James Bernard’s biographer David Huckvale examines the man, his influences, his initial struggles and his relationship with both Hammer and the shadowy figure that followed him from childhood through to his final composed work: Dracula.
• New essay Victim of His Imagination: written in the early 1970s, this Hammer script treatment about Dracula creator Bram Stoker remained unfilmed – until now. Adapted by actor/writer James Swanton, this dramatised reading channels the blood-and-thunder melodrama of a Henry Irving performance, bringing to life a tantalising what-if from Hammer’s archive.
• New commentaries for each version of the film and new programmes on Terence Fisher as auteur, interviews with Janina Faye and Paul Cole (sole surviving actors from the film), Bram Stoker, the female characters of Dracula, Dracula censorship, Syd Pearson model-maker, 8mm versions and much, much more – approximately fifteen hours of additional content, most of it brand-new to this release.
• And more, including a wealth of rare archival materials.

The book features:

• 200-page book featuring brand-new essays on the making of this definitive Hammer horror, Hammer’s design team, the script treatment Victim of His Imagination, a comparison of the final film with the original script and much more.

The Dracula Limited Collector’s Edition includes:

• Seven discs in a stylish digipak: two UHDs and five Blu-rays, with the UHD content duplicated on Blu-ray.
• Five iterations of Dracula: uncensored UK version, UK theatrical version, uncensored US version (Horror of Dracula), US theatrical version, editor’s workprint.
• Brand-new 5.1 mix for both sets of uncensored and theatrical versions of the film alongside the original mono film soundtrack.
• Packaged in a high-end, leather-feel slipcase with debossed foil titling.
• Rigid inner box featuring new artwork by illustrator and artist Robert Sammelin.
• Double-sided poster.
• Eight art cards featuring facsimiles of the original cinema lobby cards.
• 200-page book featuring new articles on the film, cast and crew.
• 60-page comic featuring a reprint of the comic strip from legendary 1970s magazine The House of Hammer.
• English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Japanese subtitles on each version of the film.