The box is the first time Universal have released any of their Hammer properties themselves (KISS OF THE VAMPIRE was released previously through Image Entertainmet), and contains a number of previously unavailable pictures. The set contains anamorphic widescreen prints of each of the films, and rumours are circulating about extras (though this does seem unlikely at present).

The complete list: NIGHT CREATURES (CAPTAIN CLEGG); KISS OF THE VAMPIRE; PHANTOM OF THE OPERA; PARANOIAC; NIGHTMARE; BRIDES OF DRACULA; EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN; CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF

A must have for Hammer fans the world over. We'll bring you more information nearer release including a guide to the best place to pre-order your copy (wait til August is my advice!).

HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY is drawing to a close, with the final couple of parts airing this week and next. All five of Douglas Adams brilliant novels have now been adapted, and Simon Jones (Arthur Dent) will be saying goodbye for good. The preview copies I listened to were excellent, with Douglas own inimitable voice clearly present. The complete radio series will shortly be avaiable on CD from BBC Worldwide. I'll be posting links etc for that soon.

DIXON OF DOCK GREEN. Whilst Val Guest painted his bleak view of Manchester for Hammer with HELL IS A CITY, Jack Warner played Dixon on BBC tv for some 20 years. The character has been ressurrected for BBC Radio 4 in a new 6 part series, which also stars future Doctor Who, David Tennant. The series starts tomorrow, and alongside bicycle thefts there promises to be some more explosive storylines...

To listen to any of these go along to www.bbc.co.uk/radio4

If you've been lucky enough to see the DRACULA A TALE OF UNDYING LOVE play touring the UK, you'll know that a great new version of the Bram Stoker novel is preparing for a West End run at a future date. We popped along to a performance a couple of weeks ago and will be sharing our thoughts. We also chatted at length with former Doctor Who, and current Van Helsing, COLIN BAKER. Colin talked to us about the play, the relationship between Van Helsing and the dreaded Count, Doctor Who old and new, and Hammer horror! We'd hoped to bring the interview to you a while ago, but the transcription took a little longer than foreseen. Should be ready soon.

We have a few other interviews on the way, and our report from Bradford's Fantastic Films Festival. There's also news on this autumns' Festival of Fantastic Films in Manchester.

COMPETITION. Don't forget our current competition to win one of the excellent dvds of HOUSE OF WAX starring Vincent Price, and remember the dvd also includes the original MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM.

And plenty more. Expect more features to be added, and expanding coverage of cult film and tv starting July. If you have any thoughts please email me at info@avalard.com with "Hammer Site" marked in your subject line.

Richard Bremmer takes the mantle of the dark Count himself, with Van Helsing played by former Doctor Who star Colin Baker.

Further information can be obtained from the touring company's website, or by going to the special Dracula Tour website www.scareyouwitless.com

Complete pre-West End tour dates are below:-

The festival promises the usual blend of old and new, with the festival running from 3pm on Friday 20th May to about 11pm on Sunday 22nd May.

Amongst the screenings this year are an Exorcist retrospective, The Matrix Trilogy on IMAX, George A Romero's Dawn of the Dead, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Saving Star Wars, a short film series, and a special screening of a new print of Night of the Demon alongside the launch of the new making-of book by Tony Earnshaw, and published by Tomahawk Press.

We'll be featuring the festival during the next few weeks, and will be in attendance at the festival. Its a great event, and a pleasant departure from all the London based events. The north of England doesn't see enough of these.

For full details including complete schedule click on the banner below:-

The competition closes midnight (GMT) 30th April 2005, so you only have a few days left. Good luck.

Born John Lewis Ernest Mills on February 22nd 1908 the son of a teacher, he worked briefly as a clerk before coming to the theatre in 1929. He made his cinematic debut in 1932 and over the next thirty years made a name for himself as a military type appearing in over 100 films during his career. He also had a flair for comedy, which was seldom seen. His pictures include In Which We Serve (1942), We Dive At Dawn (1943), Ice Cold in Alex (1958), Tiger Bay (1959), the latter one of several pictures with his daughter Hayley Mills.

During the last twenty years his appearances became fewer, as his health wained and his eyesight deteriorated. He still managed a number of notable cameos including Martin Chuzzlewit (1994 tv), Hamlet (1996), Bean (1997). Bright Young Things (2003), and in the short Lights2 (2005). He completed an autobiography in 1981, and toured for a while in the 1990s with his own one-man show.

His Quatermass was the fourth tv incarnation in as many series, some 22 years after Andre Morell had taken on the mantle in Quatermass and the Pit. The fourth serial from Nigel Kneale was originally planned for Hammer Films following on from their own version of Pit in 1967. Several years of delays saw it move to a television serial, which was in turn passed on by the BBC before being made as a four hour serial by Euston films (released as a 100 minute film in the USA).

In Quatermass the elderly professor is a tired man, his triumphs long behind him, searching in vain for his granddaughter who has joined the new age children group. Mills imbued the role with dignity and sobriety, leading to a climax of self-sacrifice. Whilst viewing figures weren't great Mills was fondly remembered.

In 1984 Mills took the role of Doctor Watson in Kevin (son of Freddie) Francis' Sherlock Holmes film, The Masks of Death, alongside Peter Cushing reprising the role of Sherlock Holmes he had previously adopted for Hammer and the BBC.

Mills was knighted in 1976, and died on Saturday 23rd April 2005, at his home in Berkshire following a short bought of pnemonia.

Jason Flemying starred as Professor Quatermass, with future Doctor Who David Tennant and League of Gentlemen performer Mark Gatiss, and Isla Blair amongst the support.

Bootleg copies have already been showing up on ebay, but the BBC is planning to release the serial on DVD at a later date (possibly this year), including behind the scenes material.

As part of BBC4's TV On Trial season, the channel plans to screen its first live tv drama in over 50 years. The original Quatermass Experiment was broadcast over six weeks in 1953 and starred Reginald Tate at the Professor . Scripted by Nigel Kneale, Hammer would adapt it the following year as The Quatermass Xperiment, directed by Val Guest and starring Brian Donlevy.

The original series proved essential viewing (the only two episodes of which were recorded, are featured on the dvd set being released next month -see story below), and two tv sequels followed during the 1950s, Quatermass II (1955), Quatermass and the Pit (1957) - the latter starring Andre Morell. Hammer adapted Quatermass 2 in 1956, again with Brian Donlevy in the lead, but it would be 1967 before Andrew Keir would star in the final adaptation (this time in colour) of Quatermass and the Pit.

Attempts to bring a fourth in the series to the cinema through Hammer in 1970 stalled. It would be 1979 before the Professor returned, this time in a bleak apocalyptic vision (Referred to as either Quatermass or The Quatermass Conclusion). The four hour ITV series (released as a 100 min movie in the US) starred John Mills, and would prove to be the finale to the run.

Andrew Keir returned to the role in the mid 1990s on BBC Radio, in the Quatermass Memoirs.

The new adaptation from the BBC will last two hours, and will be filmed at a disused Ministry of Defence base in Colsham, Surrey. The serial has been adapted by Richard Fell (The Alan Clark Diaries). Kneale is acting as a consultant. We'll have more information on this closer to broadcast.

The 2005 cast have just been announced:-

Jason Flemyng - Professor Bernard Quatermass
Andy Tiernan - Caroon
David Tennant - Bricoe
Mark Gatiss - Paterson
Isla Blair - Blaker
Andrew Bower - Fullalove
Indira Varma - Judith

The drama is being directed by Sam Miller (This Life, Quite Ugly One Morning, Elephant Juice, and Among Giants). Nigel Kneale has collaborated on the script as a consultant.

Witching Time, the first in the run of 13 episodes went out last night (5th March) at 11pm. The series continues next Saturday.

Only Quatermass and the Pit, starring Hammer's own Andre Morelle, has been previously available, in a cut version. This will see the first uncut release of the cult sci-fi classic. Each of the episodes has been digitally remastered by the Restoration Team responsible for work on the BBC's Doctor Who range. Full details of the work including screen shots are available at www.restoration-team.co.uk

The serials would all be adapted by Hammer, and were largely responsible for financing the horror pictures at the start. Essential viewing in the 1950s, Nigel Kneale's tales of the Rocket Patrol Group paved the way for modern science fiction. Meanwhile, DD Home Entertianment's release of Nigel Kneale's 1984 has been delayed indefinately.

The set retails at £29.99. You can pre-order your copy now with our affiliates for only £17.99 (with free UK post and packaging)! Click here to order now.

We are currently awaiting confirmation of details, but it looks likely that the disc will be available from 2nd May. More as we get it.

Its Exclusive! This April 4th looks set to be a bumper day for Hammer fans, with at least three Hammer titles out on the same day. Although we are still awaiting confirmation of extras for the discs, we can at least present cover art for the forthcoming UK Region 2 releases of Stolen Face and Four Sided Triangle. Whilst the latter has previously been available in the US on the Anchor Bay label, Stolen Face is receiving a global debut. Alongside these dvds, DD are also releasing Mask of Dust on dvd for the first time, as well as the UK debut of Spaceways previously only available from Image Entertainment in the US. The dvds are accompanied by a selection of Hammer short films.

Stolen Face was released in 1952, and was directed by Terence Fisher, in one of his first assignments for the company. Lizabeth Scott plays a dual role in this vaguely sci-fi tale about a woman whose appearance is altered to look like another woman, in an attempt at seduction. The tight little thriller also features Andre Morell and Richard Wattis (Sykes, The Abominable Snowman).

We can also confirm, that the Stolen Face (1952) dvd will also include the film Danger List from 1957. Danger List is a 22 minute short from Hammer, starring the delectable Honor Blackman (The Avengers, To the Devil A Daughter) as a nurse attempting to retrieve a lethal medicine from her patients. This short film has been previously unavailable on the legitimate domestic market.

Four Sided Triangle (1952) is a similarly themed sci-fi flick, concerning duplication and twisted love-triangles. The cast includes Barbara Payton, and John Van Eyssen. Another Fisher-helmed piece, which hints at the direction Hammer would take with the Frankenstein franchise.

The Four Sided Triangle dvd will contain similar material - to be confirmed. We can now confirm the rest of the extra material. This disc will include the short subject The Right Person (1955). A half-hour thriller set in Copenhagen concerning NAZI wealth. The disc will also include three gallerys of early Hammer images. Whilst the Hammer short documentary Copenhagen was rumoured to be set for release on this slate of releases, it is now probable that the film will not be included owing to problems with the master material.

Also set for release in this slate is Hammer's first foray into science fiction proper, Spaceways (1953). The 75 minute piece starring Howard Dugg and Eva Bartok was released by Image in the US several years ago. Rather stagey, but important in terms of the origins of British cinematic sf, and for Hammer's future (preceeding Quatermass, and directed by Terence Fisher - Hammer's then favourite director-for-hire). The DD disc is set to include the short Operation Universe (1959), an half-hour colour scope film directed by Peter Bryan about British scientists and the atomic way.

Finally, and from what we can gather - the last of the DD Hammer titles for the meantime, is the never before released on domestic format, Mask of Dust (1954), another Terence Fisher picture of some 80 mins duration, and essentially the first British film centred around racing cars. The film itself features newsreel footage of actual races. As supplemental material the dvd includes original Movietone news reports: BRM Wins at Goodwood; Motor Racing (the 1955 British Grand Prix); Thank You, Stirling (career retrospective).

Each of the dvds will include the usual 24 page booklet by Marcus Hearn and Jonathan Rigby, including poster art, and rare stills.

When the dvds are available to order, we will include the links for online purchase here and on the main page.

Recommended retail price is £12.99, but you can pre-prder now for £9.99 by clicking here.

We'll bring you fuller information in the weeks to come. For more on LSOH, visit their website:- www.littleshoppeofhorrors.com

The announcement states (republished from ScreenDaily.com website):-

In a move underlining the growing market for quality, low-budget horror, British production and financing outfit Random Harvest is starting a new Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Company, Harvest Pictures III, with Hammer Films and LA-based Stan Winston Productions.

Harvest Pictures III will back new horror films from Hammer, Stan Winston and Four Horsemen Films (Random Harvest’s genre arm.)

Several projects are already in advanced development, among them The Cottage (Four Horsemen Films) written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams, Drowning (Four Horsemen Films), Earth Requiem (Stan Winston Productions), Perfect Sight (Hammer Films) and The Beetle (Hammer Films).

"There’s a real appetite for low-budget horror, particularly on DVD," Random Harvest’s M-D Alistair MacLean-Clark told ScreenDaily.com.

"This is about making movies like Saw and Cabin Fever, targeted at 16 to 24 year olds, and re-inventing the Hammer brand for the 21st Century."

With the Harvest III backing, the first new Hammer horror film to shoot in 30 years is likely to be in production by the early summer. "Horror is a perennial favourite and horror movies have an exceptionally long shelf-life," Hammer chairman Larry Chrisfield commented. "Hammer is the leading brand in the field."

“Over the past two years we have been working up a slate of new movies and we are delighted to join forces with Random Harvest and Stan Winston Studios to bring these projects to the big screen."

Stan Winston, a doyen of creature and visual effects whose credits range from Aliens to Terminator, won’t simply be developing his own movies with Harvest Pictures III backing. His technicians and artists at Stan Winston Studios will also be working on Four Horsemen and Hammer projects.

Since being set up in 1999, Random Harvest has raised over $33.9m (£18m) through two earlier EIS schemes, two Section 48 Funds and a Sale and Leaseback Fund.

Of course. this isn't the first time we have heard of a Hammer renaissance, and such claims have continued since the mid 1980s when the Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense aired. Let's take the last decade or so for example:

In 1993 Hammer signed a production deal with Warner Bros in the US. The four-year deal proposed a number of remakes including The Quatermass Xperiment, Stolen Face, Scream of Fear, 44 one-hour tv episodes called The Haunted House of Hammer, and other films including The Day the Earth Caught Fire (remake of the Val Guest classic), The House on the Strand, Children of the Wolf and Vlad the Impaler, The Hideous Whisper, The Devil's Own and Psychic Detective (the latter for tv).

By 1995 the Warner deal was turning sour. Variety reported in 1995 that Hammer had aquired the rights to The Lodger, a new book about Jack the Ripper, and by September Quatermass and the Pit and The Devil Rides Out had been added to the list of remakes alongside Vlad Dracul (Vlad the Impaler has been floating around since the 1970s).

In 2000 Hammer was bought from Roy Skeggs by a multi-media conglomerate. A period of reassesment of the company's properties started. A temporary flurry of activity on the official site began. It would be May 2001 before we heard anything else. Hammer Entertainment Ltd (the parent company of Hammer Films Ltd and Hammer Film Productions Ltd) and FirstSight Films Ltd announced a slate of six films. FirstSight members had been behind the television series Shakleton and Longitude.

Then another two years of nothing, before an announcement in August 2003 (and seemingly the last time, up to now that the official site was updated), that Hammer had entered a deal with Pictures In Paradise (PiP), an Australian company. They proposed a slate of "up to six horror movies over a period of five years... [with] strong potential in other media, especially DVD."

Each time, the company has stated its desire (with the exception of the Warner deal, which proposed a remake of Quatermass with a $40 million budget - around £50 million at today's prices) for modestly budgeted horror films aimed at the youth market. The current proposal suggests the success of the likes of Shaun of the Dead, and The Grudge as incentive.

Hammer fans, don't hold your breath. This is not the first time our hopes have been dashed, and whilst Stan Winston has had a great deal of success, many of his films have been straight to video (the Arkoff remakes - Creature Features series released by Columbia Tristar). Examination of the publicly available company accounts from the last decade suggest that Hammer's real asset is its existing library and film master material. Beyond that, the only thing left to exploit is the name. The last of the real players from the Hammer brand is Christopher Lee, himself no longer a young man, in his 80s, and hardly a guaranteed box office draw as he once was (Lord of the Rings and Star Wars franchises are not relying on him alone). The rest of the crew have retired or past on. The company is in completely new hands. The company itself has not produced a new piece of fiction since 1983.

Hammer Entertainment Ltd is a company still carrying the burden of previously aquired debts. Its name provides good copy for papers, gets journalists and fans nostalgic, but has so far failed to deliver the goods. I wish that things were different, like most of the fans, I would love to see a real Hammer film, but the identity has been eroded constantly over the years. I believe in telling a different story here, one that reasons and balances the evidence.

Untill Hammer contact me to tell me otherwise, we will continue to be cautious here at the Unofficial Site.

Please send all thoughts and correspondence on the matter to hammer@avalard.com or via the details on the contact page.

Robert
editor of HH : the UNofficial Hammer Films Site

German distributors, Anolis, have provided a string of 20 Hammer films (with more to come), in their Hammer Edition. Beautifully packaged, complete with original English audio and German, as well as optional German subtitles, original English prints, and a wealth of extras (commentaries, interviews etc). Plus, all region 2, Pal format. Providing a much needed alternative to the now difficult to obtain Anchor Bay releases from the US, without the need for a multi-region player.

And of course, several of their titles have not yet been released on dvd in the UK (or US).

November saw the last in their initial run of 20 Hammer titles. More are lined up for this year. We are running a larger overview and reviews in the coming weeks.

Each of the dvds costs 15 Euros, (around £9.99), from our German affiliate shop. Its easy enough to get around without the use of a translator, and well-worth it. The cover art below is for the titles released on 4th November 2004 - The Lost Continent, Quatermass II, and Quatermass and the Pit. Click on the pictures to be taken to our affiliates to purchase now...

The Series stars Mark Gatiss from the League of Gentlemen, as Professor Nebulous, the leader of a secret governmental unit called KENT, and is written by Graham Duff, who previously scripted the Hammer/Amicus/Tigon spoof anthology series for BBC 2, with Steve Coogan, Dr Terrible's House of Horrible.

Nebulous has been referred to by some critics as "Carry On Quatermass" and has more than a few nods to the popular 1950s series, adapted by Hammer, and to the BBCs Doctor Who.

We'll be publishing a review this week, with Graham, as well as reviews of the series, which I have been finding very funny.

To find out more, or listen again go to: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/nebulous.shtml

Links for purchase are on the main page, in the release schedule column. More on this soon.

Also from DD next month, is the dvd only release of the complete World of Hammer tv series. A thirteen part compilation series narrated by Oliver Reed. Often used in individual instalements as dvd filler material, this will offer fans the first chance to collect the complete series in one volume. And the first time that the entire series is released. Anchor Bay's release on video a few years ago, was missing three episodes. More on this soon.

The dvd is ready to order now, by clicking here.

PRESS RELEASE

DVD RELEASE 17 JANUARY 2005

Warner Home Video brings another Hammer classic to DVD for the first time with the release of The Devil Ship Pirates on 17 January 2005. Available to buy for £15.99, Christopher Lee puts in a typically powerful performance as the cut-throat Captain Robeles in this swashbuckling costume drama.

July 1588: In the English Channel the British Fleet has been battling for two days against the mighty Spanish Armada. Badly damaged, with half their crews killed, the ships of Spain battle their way on up the Channel. And in the thickest part of the fighting is one of the smallest Spanish ships - the licensed privateer 'Diablo'. Robeles, the pirate captain of the Diablo, puts in for repairs and convinces the local villagers that the English fleet has been defeated....

Despite not being from their usual horror genre, The Devil Ship Pirates contains all the trademark Hammer themes: the weak-minded local landowner, subdued villagers led to salvation by a headstrong youngster and not forgetting the obligatory buxom wench! This film marks the Hammer debut of Assistant Director Bert Batt whose future credits would include Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, while Director Don Sharp would make two further films for Hammer - The Kiss Of The Vampire and Rasputin The Mad Monk. The Devil Ship Pirates also stars Hammer regulars Suzan Farmer and Michael Ripper.

SYNOPSIS
Badly damaged during an engagement in the English Channel with the British fleet, Captain Robeles (Lee) decides to sail his small privateer Diablo to a remote coastal village in England for supplies and repairs. Informing the villagers that the Spanish Armada has defeated the British Navy, the ruthless Robeles and his band of pirates terrorise the village into submission, abusing the women and plundering their homes. When some of the women are taken hostage the villages can take the abuse no longer and revolt, determined to rid themselves of the pirates at any cost.

A bastion of British film-making for decades, Hammer films helped to launch the careers of such celebrated British actors as Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Bela Lugosi, Oliver Reed and of course Christopher Lee himself.

Over the last three years Warner Home Video has released fourteen Hammer productions on DVD including Rasputin The Mad Monk, The Curse Of Frankenstein and Quatermass And The Pit.

Cert: PG (tbc); 82 mins; Audio: Mono; Aspect Ratio: 4x3

A Review of the model is now available here.

Winners are:

Anthony Stubenrauch, England
Dafydd Jones, North Wales
Ed Davis, New York, USA
Mark Gibbin, England
Bill S., Belgium

We'll bring you all the latest on this in the coming weeks. With the first set due around January (though, we stress this is subject to change), we should have a review ready in December.

Exciting news for Hammer fans, as both this and Journey to the Unknown have evaded many collections for years.

Click here for The Fog review
Click here for The Howling review

Click here for details.

I've seen both dvds, and the sets are stunning. Full review is due early next week, and we will be running a competition from Monday to win five sets of the dvds. Stay tuned. In the meantime, specs are below:

Keith Topping's book A Vault of Horror, "chronicles the films which shaped his childhood, taking a wry and often irreverent look at their triumphs and failings, their cast and crew, their continuity blunders and their impact on the genre as a whole. Illustrated with many rare photographs, this is one film guide guaranteed to raise a smile as we take you back to the terrors of yesteryear."

It will be available as a (400pp approx.) A5 paperback @ £12.99 (UK) and will be fully illustrated with many black and white photographs; the book also includes a 16 page colour section. The book was published on 19th August 2004 in the UK, and in the US and Canada on November 30th.

A Vault of Horror
A Book of 80 Great (and not so great)
British Horror Movies from 1956-1974

by Keith Topping

A Telos Factual Guide

buy now in UK from Amazon
pre-order in US

buy direct from Telos

Read our review here

The documentary was first broadcast on the BBC in August 1994 in two parts, and features the last professional work of Peter Cushing, with the former Hammer star recording his narration alongside Christopher Lee, just a few months before the former's death, between the two broadcast dates. Anchor Bay released the documentary in an edited format on video in the late 1990s.

DVDs have been available in Australia and Japan for some time, but this is the first legitimate dvd release in the US, by Image Entertainment.

CLICK HERE to order for only $13.99

FLESH AND BLOOD : THE HAMMER HERITAGE OF HORROR
Image Entertainment
R1, Colour
$19.99 RRP

However, I've opened this news pages, with everything listed as its posted, with the most recent news and updates on top. Please let me know what you think about the new look (email hammer@avalard.com). I appreciate all the feedback.

Expect further changes in the coming weeks...

Meanwhile, I've also just added another half dozen or so dvd reviews in the reviews section, plenty of horror stuff this week. And loads more to come...

Each of the discs will be available for the knock-down price of £7.99 each, or £15 for two (follow our links for even more discount).

The films are as follows (click on titles for online purchase):

The new issue promises a wealth of information on fan favorites, the Karnstein Trilogy.

For the full run down, exclusive articles which couldn't be included in the print edition, and to order your copy now, go to www.littleshoppeofhorrors.com.

Order The Creeping Flesh

Order Night of the Big Heat

On 2nd August, Warner will be making a surprise release of Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires on dvd in the UK. No further information is available yet, but expect it to be similar to the other releases. This R2 pal dvd will retail at £12.99, and is presented in a 2.40:1 ratio. Links for purchase are on the right.

Click here for Dracula Has Risen From the Grave R2 dvd review

Click here for Taste the Blood of Dracula R2 dvd review

Click here for Bradford Fantastic Films Weekend review (link fixed 1/7)

Click here for I Only Arsked R2 dvd review

Out this month from Columbia Tristar in the US is The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, a brilliant work of homage from actor/writer/director Larry Blamire. It pays tribute to all thats best (and worst) in 1950s and 60s sci-fi B movies. I highly recommend it to all our readers - check out the review for more.

Click here for The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra R1 dvd review

Click here for Monster R1 dvd review

Click here for Aileen : Life and Death of a Serial Killer R1 dvd review

DD sneaked out another Hammer title back in January, the 1973 comdey Nearest and Dearest. The DVD and VHS versions, both retail at £9.99, and are R2 Pal encoded. Click here to order now.

More exciting is the news that on 21st June, the BBC will be releasing three dvds of rare archive footage. Their 1960s Sherlock Holmes adaptations starring Peter Cushing. Previously Hound of the Baskervilles was available for £20 on the specialist label, but all three discs are now retailing at £9.99, with a special box set containing all three discs at £24.99. Each dvd is region 2, pal encoded. This is ultra-rare archive footage. Thought lost forever in the 1980s, this is all that remains (as far as is known) of the Peter Cushing tv series.

To order, click on the title below:-

The Sherlock Holmes Collection (all three discs)
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Sign of Four / The Blue Carbuncle
A Study In Scarlet / The Boscombe Valley Mystery

The films have been made by Tomahawk Media, the company responsible for the excellent Greasepaint and Gore book on Roy Ashton's Hammer work. The DVD is priced at £19.99 and being sold exclusively by Tomahawk. Click here for more details....

The deal will see around six films completed in a five year period, aimed at the low-budget teenage-viewing market. The announcement has been greated in the press with the usual enthusiasm, though cynical Hammer fans have pointed out to a loss of its "Britishness" by effectively rubber stamping a film made by an Australian company, and have pointed to the lack of further development after announcements of co-productions with Warner Bros in 1996, and FirstSight Films in 2001.

We await further news.

Read the full press release here.