Hammer's The Quiet Ones On Blu-ray August 19th

Hammer's latest The Quiet Ones kind of came and went it seems, but luckily those of you, like me, who missed out on this one will be able to check it out on Digital HD August 5th, and it'll be available to purchase on Blu-ray and DVD August 19th. Take a look at the unfortunately uninspired cover below.

  
When a crazed university professor (Harris) and his team of students set out to cure a disturbed patient, the unthinkable happens. Trusting in their leader and his motives, Brian (Claflin) and his fellow students find themselves far from help...and all too close to a sinister force they never suspected.

Blu-ray special features include:
· "Welcome to the Experiment: Making The Quiet Ones" Documentary
· "Manifesting Evil: Visual Effects" Featurette
· Audio Commentary with Director John Pogue & Producer Tobin Armbrust
· Deleted Scenes
· Gag Reel

I hate to be one of those guys who bitches about a movie cover, but really, why not use the poster below? It's beautiful and classy, the cover they've chosen looks like any number of low rent turds you find 20 pages deep while browsing Netflix's horror selection, the kind you skip past without even reading the title.

Countess Dracula Coming From Synapse May 6th

Synapse just announced May 6th as the release date for their Blu-ray release of Countess Dracula. I guess this makes the old MGM Vampire Lovers/Countess Dracula disc pretty obsolete, doesn't it?

 

 

Fangoria.com:

One of the sexiest bloodlusters in screen history is getting a hi-def upgrade as Synapse Films continues its Hammer Horror Collection with a Blu-ray/DVD combo release of COUNTESS DRACULA. We’ve got the scoop on the specs and the cover art to share.

Synapse releases COUNTESS DRACULA May 6, with the double-disc set retailing for $29.95. Directed by Peter Sasdy, the film stars Ingrid Pitt as Hungarian countess Elisabeth Nádasdy, who believes she can stop the ravages of aging by bathing in the blood of young women. Presented in 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen (1080p on the Blu-ray), COUNTESS DRACULA will be accompanied by:

• Audio commentary by Pitt, Sasdy, screenwriter Jeremy Paul and author Jonathan Sothcott
• “Immortal Countess: The Cinematic Life of Ingrid Pitt” featurette
• Archival audio interview with Pitt
• Still gallery
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible cover artwork

The Quiet Ones - Coming From Hammer Studios April 25th

 
The official trailer for Hammer's latest film The Quiet Ones has made its way online today, and the film will make its way to theaters April 25th.

I know Hammer has produced a few movies since reforming (The Woman in Black, Let Me In, & Wake Wood), but I still get really excited seeing that Hammer logo in front of movies again. It's awesome.



Inspired by true events,The Quiet Ones tells the story of an unorthodox professor (Harris) who uses controversial methods and leads his best students off the grid to take part in a dangerous experiment: to create a poltergeist. Based on the theory that paranormal activity is caused by human negative energy, the rogue scientists perform a series of tests on a young patient, pushing her to the edge of sanity. As frightening occurrences begin to take place with shocking and gruesome consequences, the group quickly realizes they have triggered a force more terrifying and evil than they ever could have imagined.

Random thought: The Quiet Ones could potentially be a great name for a Goth band.

Dracula Prince of Darkness US Blu-ray From Millennium

Here's another classic Horror title set to release this Fall, which will surely be the most expensive few months we Horror fans have ever seen. I think I've personally got about $600 worth of stuff to pick up already and the announcements just keep coming.

Directed by Terence Fisher and starring the iconic Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley and Andrew Keir, Millennium's Collector's Edition of Dracula: Prince of Darkness marks the first time that horror fans in the US will be able to enjoy the film on Blu-ray. 

Millennium is also planning to release several other Hammer Films on Blu-ray later this year including Quartermass and the Pit, The Plague of the Zombies and The Devil Rides Out.

Special Features:

• Audio commentary with Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Suzan Farmer and Francis Matthews
• Exclusive still gallery (NEVER BEFORE RELEASED!)
• Restored original trailer
• Dracula: Prince of Darkness restoration comparison
• Super 8MM behind-the-scenes footage
• Brand new documentary- "Back to Black"
• World of Hammer Episode: "Hammer Stars: Christopher Lee"
• Printed Memorabilia perfect for every classic Hammer fan out there

The Vampire Lovers - Scream Factory Blu-ray Review

THE VAMPIRE LOVERS

If you dare...taste the deadly passion of the blood-nymphs!

Year: 1970

Director: Roy Ward Baker

Writer: Tudor Gates
Starring: Ingrid Pitt, Madeline Smith, Peter Cushing

Buy it on Amazon

"A female vampire with lesbian tendencies ravages the young girls and townsfolk of a peaceful hamlet in eighteenth century Europe who, years earlier, killed off her fellow vampires. A rousing hunt for the vampiress ensues as a group of men follow her bloody trail of terror through the countryside. Adapted from J. Sheridan LeFanu's novella "Carmilla," The Vampire Lovers stars Ingrid Pitt, George Cole and Peter Cushing."

Coming April 30th from Shout! Factory's Scream Factory line is the Blu-ray debut of The Vampire Lovers, the 1970 Hammer film directed by Roy Ward Baker which stars the beautiful Madeline Smith, Ingrid Pitt and the not quite as beautiful Peter Cushing. Cushing in a Hammer vampire film, what?! This was originally released by MGM in 2003 under their beloved Midnite Movies line, paired up as a double feature with Countess Dracula. Despite the fact that I own the MGM DVD - and have since 2003, this was actually my first viewing of The Vampire Lovers.

Ingrid Pitt - November 21st 1937 - November 23rd 2010

Very sad day for fans of classic British horror cinema as I just heard we have lost the legendary Polish actress Ingrid Pitt (born Ingoushka Petrov). Known best for her roles in The Vampire Lovers, Countess Dracula, and The House That Dripped Blood. For more info click below.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/nov/23/hammer-horror-ingrid-pitt-dies

House of Hammer Magazine 8-13

Here are 6 more issues of House of Hammer Magazine. Featuring comic adaptations of several classics like Plague of the Zombies, Curse of the Werewolf and The Gorgon, among others. I've gotta say I love the many Frankensteins, young and old, featured on the cover of issue 12. That would make for a cool shirt. See:

I'd also love to see an updated painting, featuring everyone to ever play a Frankenstein monster. Blackenstein, Herman Munster, Frank N. Stein from the old Monster Squad show, the Little Person Frankenstein from Full Moon's The Creeps, the Frankenstein that versed Dracula in Dracula vs. Frankenstein... I mean everybody. It would be a pretty huge painting, I think about 600 different guys have portrayed some kind of variation of Frankenstein's monster over the years. If only I could paint....

Macabre Movie Poster Madness - The Hammer Edition

Today, I thought we'd take a look a some Hammer posters. This set is a little one-sided, 80% Dracula, 20% Frank. Rasputin and The Reptile will just have to wait.

Dracula Has Risen From The Grave - This poster is way to cutesy and makes it seem like a wacky comedy - it would've been a great Love At First Bite poster - but something about this poster intrigues me. I think it's the pink band-aids. Yeah, that'll work.

Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell - The top half of this image was featured on my site's most popular banner. In fact, posting this one makes me kinda miss that banner. I lost the original file when I made the old blogger to new blogger transition, but I think I might have to do it over.

The Satanic Rites of Dracula - This stunning Japanese (see, told you they were good) poster would have to be in my top 5 favorite pieces of Hammer artwork. In fact I am in the middle of making a DVD cover using this poster. If it turns out okay, I'm sure I'll probably feature it here at some point.

Dracula AD 1972 - Another brilliant Japaneser here. When I become loaded (in the rich sense, not like drunk loaded) these two are essential purchases for me.

Dracula AD 1972 - Yes, another Drac AD72 poster - titled Dracula 73 on the poster.

I hope everyone is enjoying the new year so far. Things have been okay for me this first week. But I have had two sad losses so far. 1) Taco Bell is no longer making the Volcano Taco. Just as soon as they'd introduced this delightful red-shelled monstrosity to me they've taken it away. This not 3 months after I discover my favorite chips of all time - Fiery Habanero Doritos - have been taken off the market due to poor sales. It's a bad time to be a fan of hot.

2)My Zune has officially bitten the dust. I got a refurbished first generation model on Woot.com for $80. I loved the big bulky brown bastard. I even stuck up for it when people asked "what the hell is that thing, some kind of wallet?" But I'm looking at it right now, completely in pieces after an ill-advised attempt to repair it myself. I knew it was totally dead before I actually opened it up. Otherwise I wouldn't have actually done it. I tried the "open it up, look for something that came uplugged" approach. If it works with my car, why not my Zune? Oh well, I got 15 months out of it, not bad for a refurbished, out of date MP3 player.

As you might've noticed with the semi-frequent posting, I'm trying to get this site up and running properly again. I'm trying to post more, and different kind of stuff to keep the site interesting. I've even got a few little projects for the site I'm working on:
A Double Feature cover song compilation
A New Werewolf compilation (bands who play songs named after movie titles)
An attempt at a Podcast (Idea swiped from Cosmobells) -

The first two things should've been done some time ago, but I'm a slacker, so they are still in the "being worked on" phase. The Podcast, not going too well. I've gotten like 30 minutes, but I'm not happy with it. I like the song choices, not too obvious, but not pretentiously obscure. But it's just not going together too well. I don't know if I'll actually finish this thing up.