Blu-Ray Review: Hammer's Dracula
rating:5
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Hammer's massive global restoration project has yielded some impressive offerings but their latest project may be their most important. Terence Fisher's 1958 classic Dracula is now fully restored in High Definition and is available on Blu-ray and DVD for the first time. The plot is simple. Jonathan Harker takes employment with Count Dracula, in the guise of a librarian for his vast library. Harker is actually a vampire hunter on a mission to kill Dracula. However, when he is bested and becomes one of the walking dead himself, Dracula targets those closest to him. Dr. Van Helsing is tasked to defeat Dracula once and for all. This sets in motion a battle against time to find the lair of the evil Count before it is too late. This three disc set by Lionsgate includes two versions on the Blu-ray disc of the feature: the 2007 British Film Institute's restoration and the 2012 Hammer restoration. Along with a host of extras over two DVDs. The added scenes on the 2012 Hammer restoration come from rediscovered material in Tokyos National Film Centre vaults. These add to the original Hammer vision of the film, and until now have been unavailable and not seen in the UK. Marcus Hearn, expert historian and author of The Hammer Vault and who was heavily involved with this process explains the two major scenes that were added, "There are two sequences that are going to appear radically different to people who are familiar with Dracula. We are going to see a different version of Draculas seduction of Mina. This was never seen outside of Japan. It is much longer, and much more erotically charged. The scene that most people are excited about however is the scene at the end. We are going to see a longer and gorier version of Draculas disintegration. When Van Helsing pulls down the curtain to draw sunlight onto Dracula. In this version, Dracula tears the flesh from his own face and you can also see the skeletal leg and arms of Dracula." Hammer have re-integrated and restored this footage into the British Film Institute's 2007 restoration, along with other restored previously deleted footage for this edition. The cut that Lionsgate have released is longest version that exists of this film. It runs at 82 minutes, and it looks gorgeous. The newly restored material sits very well within this classic and makes for a more rounded viewing experience. The film itself still boasts incredible performances from Peter Cushing and a young Christopher Lee. The commanding presence of Lee will still envelope any viewer, and proves that he could breathe life into the Count unlike any other. It is not hard to see why most believe this to be the definitive performance of his career. The haunting cinematography and set design are delightful, as is the tight screenplay of this film. Although it does take liberties from Stokers Gothic novel. The source material is cut down with a keen eye to create something much more concrete and fluid. The two key elements of Hammer Horror are sex and death. This version embodies both to present a more graphic, gory and satisfying Dracula tale. One that is 55 years in the waiting. Extras Moving on to plethora of extras within the set. The film commentary is conduced by Jonathan Rigby and Marcus Hearn. There are four interesting featurettes on the Blu-ray. Dracula Reborne that examines how Dracula introduced the erotic to the Hammer formula and began their partnership with Universal. A look at the previous BFI restoration, and re-insertion of the cut footage sourced from Japan which Hammer added last year in Resurrecting Dracula. And Censoring Dracula is a piece that outlines the various changes that were forced upon the original release by the British Board of Film Classification. The Demon Lover featurette is the last to be included on the disc. There is also the full unedited discovered Japanese footage included in the set, as are photos, film art and many more extras. This is a must have for Hammer and Dracula fans alike. It is a true service to one of the most important British films ever made. Dracula on Blu-ray was released on March 18th, 2013 by Hammer Films and Lionsgate.