It’s a big week for Hammer Films, since the recently-resuscitated brand will be releasing a new film, The Woman in Black, on Friday. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, it’s the first Gothic horror to come from the studio since the 70’s. (To date, the new Hammer films have been a mixed bag. The Resident, starring Hilary Swank, was a disappointment. Wake Wood was intriguing, if not entirely successful. Let Me In was superb.) I’m hesitant but hopeful about their latest. The New York Times has a piece about Hammer’s comeback here.
The film is being released just after Hammer announced they will be releasing Blu-Ray special editions of their classic films, including Dracula (1958), The Mummy (1959), The Plague of the Zombies (1966), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), The Reptile (1966), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), Slave Girls (1967), The Vengeance of She (1968), The Lost Continent (1968), Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974), and many more not yet announced. Recently an intrepid Hammer buff in Japan tracked down an uncut version of Dracula in a Japanese film archive (with a more graphic death scene for Christopher Lee at the film’s finale); this will be included on the restored edition of Dracula, and Hammer is encouraging fans to contribute any other rare materials they might have. More information here.
Hammer fans should also take note that the just-published art book Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm, a collection by the artist best known for his retro character design for Batman: The Animated Series, features many pages of Hammer-themed artwork, including the Vampire Lovers-inspired cover he produced for Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine, plus eye-popping work inspired by The Curse of Frankenstein, Lust for a Vampire, and more.
Finally, here’s my own Hammer-themed iPhone case. I designed it using the website CaseMate. Head over and make your own, and they’ll ship the finished product within a week or two.
