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This table is a guide to the availability of Hammer films and TV series on DVD. Not only does it provide a useful checklist to a film's availability, it also compares features if there's more than one version available, and notes if there are significant differences between different versions. Where no disc is available, some indication as to who might hold the rights may be offered, which may give an indication whether or not a future release is likely. Where a film is not available on DVD, VHS or laserdisc availability is indicated. Comments, corrections and additions are most welcome. You can email information to me directly, using the button, left, or contribute it to this thread at Roobarb's DVD Forum. Further research is recommended before purchasing decisions are made. The latest updates are in yellow. |
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HAMMER TV SERIES AND DOCUMENTARIES |
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1958 |
Tales of Frankenstein - TV Pilot US - All Day Entertainment Video scrapbook of Frankenstein-related material, includes The Face in the Tombstone Mirror, the half hour pilot episode for an aborted 1958 Hammer TV series, Tales of Frankenstein. Zeta Minor review This disc was reviewed in Video Watchdog magazine, issue 79:48. US - Alpha Video The pilot episode is being released as a double-bill by Alpha Video in November 2003, under the title Tales of Frankenstein. Presumably the pilot is a public domain title in the US, meaning that anyone who has a copy could release it without license. The disc also includes Roger Corman's The Terror, a more ubiquitous public domain title. The disc is very cheap. |
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1969 |
Journey To The Unknown - TV Series Not available on DVD, and never released on home video. Series is probably owned by Twentieth Century Fox. Hasn't been broadcast for many years (1989, in this part of the UK), but copies of all episodes are known to circulate amongst fans. The series is comprised of seventeen fifty-odd minute episodes: The New People, Somewhere In A Crowd, Matakitas Is Coming, Jane Brown's Body, Do Me A Favour And Kill Me, Poor Butterfly, The Madison Equation, Girl of My Dreams, The Last Visitor, Eve, The Indian Spirit Guide, The Killing Bottle, Stranger in the Family, The Beckoning Fair One, One On An Island, Paper Dolls and Miss Belle. |
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1980 |
Hammer House of Horror - TV Series UK - Carlton Home Entertainment Impressive picture quality from Carlton, who used new telecine transfers. No extras. English HoH subtitles available. US - A&E Home Video No extras. Relatively poor quality. The discs doe not have English closed captions or subtitles. This set was reviewed in Video Watchdog magazine, issue 84:36. New Zealand - Magna Pacific No extras. Seems to be a clone of Carlton's UK version. Australia - ? Probably a clone of Carlton's UK version. Japan The series has been released on DVD in Japan. Germany - Koch Media Available as Hammer House of Horror - Gefrier-Schocker-Box |
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1984 |
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense - TV Series Episode Guide in Microsoft Word format UK - DD Video (Verified as Region 2 only) The series was released by DD Video in 2005, on two three-disc sets. A Complete Series box set was released the following year. Volume 1 features six episodes (Czech Mate, The Sweet Scent of Death, A Distant Scream, The Late Nancy Irving, In Possession and Black Carrion), as well as bonus interviews with contributors John Hough (30m), Val Guest (15m) and John Peacock (15m), and photo' galleries. Volume 2 features seven episodes (Last Video and Testament, Mark of the Devil, The Corvini Inheritance, Paint Me A Murder, Child's Play, And The Wall Came Tumbling Down and Tennis Court), as well as interviews with John Peacock ( 7m) and Val Guest (8m) and photo' galleries. As with many DD Video Hammer discs, both sets feature a worthwhile booklet of "Viewing Notes". With the demise of DD Video, all three sets have gone out of print, and now command premium prices. The series was previously available on VHS in the UK as a range of tapes priced for the rental market, on the defunct Brent Walker label. |
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1987 |
Hammer - The Studio That Dripped Blood Fifty-minute BBC Documentary. Not available on DVD. |
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1994 |
Flesh and Blood - The Hammer Heritage of Horror Documentary about the studio, includes exclusive interviews, and some poignant footage of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee's last meeting. It was screened by the BBC in August 1984 in two fifty-minute parts. Peter Cushing died in the week between the two instalments, and the second part was followed by a moving, three-minute tribute montage, prepared by the BBC. A report on the recording of this documentary can be found in Video Watchdog issue 23:4. US - Image Entertainment The VHS edition, from Anchor Bay (99'32"), was reviewed in Video Watchdog issue 54:15. Australia - MRA This new disc features a slightly different edit to the one shown by the BBC. It also has an odd edit about fifty minutes in, which appears to be a few seconds from a different programme! The disc comes with a lavishly-illustrated 36-page booklet. The disc apparently has a poor audio mix. Japan - [Distributor Unknown] A DVD is available from Japan, in English with Japanese subtitles. |
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1996 |
The Many Faces of Christopher Lee An hour-long interview with Christopher Lee, talking about his wide-ranging career. Made for video, and released in the UK on VHS by Lumiere. Extracts from the interview appeared on Encore's Hammer laserdisc box set (extracts relating to The Devil Rides Out and Dracula - Prince of Darkness). (The third film in the laserdisc box set was Quatermass and the Pit). Not currently available. The rights are probably now held by Studio Canal Plus. |
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N/A |
US - All Day Entertainment Wonderful collection of more than fifty Hammer trailers, and two bonus promotional featurettes, for When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth and Dracula AD 72. The disc does not have English closed captions or subtitles. Zeta Minor review. This disc was reviewed in Video Watchdog magazine, issue 79:48. Australia A disc which appears to be the equivalent of the US version is available in Australia. |
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N/A |
US - Anchor Bay Entertainment This promotional disc was given away with purchases from Anchor Bay's Hammer Collection titles. It contains twenty Hammer trailers. Copies of the disc were later added to initial copies of Anchor Bay's Blood From The Mummy's Tomb DVD. The disc does not have English closed captions or subtitles. |
| 1990 |
Half-assed "documentary" series, using clips linked by narration by Curse of the Werewolf star Oliver Reed. Originally planned as a series of twenty-six episodes, but eventually cut down to thirteen. UK - DD Video (Verified as Region 2 only) DD Video's two-disc set features all thirteen episodes, in their original 4:3 format. It could be looked upon as an essential purchase, if only because it makes a lot of the early Anchor Bay discs obsolete! US - Anchor Bay Anchor Bay released ten episodes on VHS in the US, and twelve episodes were subsequently released on DVD as bonus features on their early Hammer Collection discs. Anchor Bay ill-advisedly presented some episodes in anamorphic 4:3 format (i.e.: "windowboxed" with black bars at the top and sides, with the intention of keeping the content of a particular disc in a uniform format). Hammer Stars: Christopher Lee is on the US Rasputin The Mad Monk DVD Dracula and the Undead is on the US Satanic Rites of Dracula DVD and the German Dracula - Prince of Darkness disc. The Curse of Frankenstein is on the UK and Japanese Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell DVDs, the US Four Sided Triangle DVD and the US and German Frankenstein Created Woman DVDs. Lands Before Time is on the US Prehistoric Women, The Viking Queen, Vengeance of She and Lost Continent DVDs. It's also on the German Vengeance of She disc. Mummies, Werewolves and the Living Dead is on the US Plague of the Zombies and The Mummy's Shroud DVDs Hammer is on the US DVD of The Devil Rides Out Hammer Stars: Peter Cushing is on the UK and US Abominable Snowman DVDs Sci-Fi is on the UK and US X-The Unknown DVDs, and the US Quatermass 2 and Quatermass and the Pit DVDs. It's also on the German Quatermass Xperiment disc. Chriller is on the US Shatter DVD] Vamp is on the US DVD of The Reptile and the UK Captain Kronos DVD Wicked Women is on the US DVD of The Witches Costumers is on the German Men of Sherwood Forest DVD, and the Dutch disc of The Reptile. The only episode that Anchor Bay has not released is: Trials of War. |
| 2004 |
Greasepaint and Gore This disc features two seventy-five minute documentaries, focusing on the work of Hammer make-up artists Phil Leakey and Roy Ashton. It uses extensive interview footage with Leakey, as the basis for the documentary about him, as well as clips from (public domain) Hammer trailers, and interviews with fellow cast and crew members. The Ashton documentary does not have an interview as its backbone, so relies more on reminiscences from his colleagues. Interview subjects include Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, James Sangster and Val Guest. The disc is in NTSC format, and is Region 0 coded. The disc is available from the production company's website, Tomahawk Films. |
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Label Links: USA - Anchor Bay Entertainment, VCI Entertainment, Legend Films Germany - Anolis Entertainment, Koch Media Holland - Paradiso Filmed Entertainment UK - Tomahawk Films, Network, Optimum Acknowledgements: The comprehensive Hammer filmography used as the basis for this guide was adapted from Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes' fine book The Hammer Story [Titan Books, revised edition - 2007, ISBN: 978-1845761851 (Hardback - UK / Hardback US)] Further information was taken from the Hammer fan magazines The House That Hammer Built, Dark Terrors and the invaluable Little Shop of Horrors (formerly The Hammer Journal), and from the hallowed pages of Video Watchdog magazine. Additional censorship information came from The Dark Side magazine's Choice Cuts column, written by the peerless Brad Stevens, Shivers magazine's Video Reviews column, edited by Stephen Foster, and directly from the BBFC. Further recommended books about Hammer and other British horror films: Hammer Films: The Elstree Studios Years by Wayne Kinsey [US Softcover / UK Softcover] Hammer Films: The Bray Studios Years by Wayne Kinsey [US Softcover / UK Softcover] English Gothic - A Century of Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby [US Softcover / UK Hardback] A New Heritage of Horror - The English Gothic Cinema by David Pirie [US Softcover / UK Softcover] The Peter Cushing Companion by David Miller [UK Softcover / US Softcover] Christopher Lee - The Authorised Screen History by Jonathan Rigby [UK Softcover / US Softcover] A Thing of Unspeakable Horror - The History of Hammer Films by Sinclair McKay [UK Hardback / UK Softcover / US Hardback] With thanks to: Colin at DD Video, Candy at Optimum Home Entertainment, Julie at Publicity Overload, Steven and Matt at Peter Noble PR, Andrew at Tomahawk Media, David Miller
Witold
Tietze, Ed Parsons, Martin Marshall, John Hodson, saltysam, Brett
Cameron, Andreas Dadlik, Ross Gowland, Chris
E., Ceri Laing, Jon Older, Al Samujh, John R Servalan66, Mark Rollie,
Richard Zahn, Noel McCarthy, Colin Cutler, Steve Andrews, Timothy Farr, Clemens Williges,
M. Meakin, René Vincent, Glenn Erickson, Peter Osteried, Matt C, Scott
Miles, Richard
Gregory, Chris Workman, John Carter, Uwe Sommerlad, Mark Meakin, René Vincent, Duncan
Taylor, Bruce Campbell, Justin Key and the denizens of the
Mobius Home Video Forum. |