Hammer to re-release 1958 Dracula in UK with previously lost footage | Dracula 1958

Hammer Films’ horror classic Dracula will be re-released in UK cinemas in October, including footage believed to have been lost for more than six years after it proved too gruesome for audiences.

In the film in 1958 Christopher Lee as Count Dracula and Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing has been fully restored in 4K.

The restoration restores images previously seen only by audiences at the time of the film’s original theatrical release in Japan in 1958.

The returned material, which was found in a Warner Bros warehouse, was never released in the UK or US and was never seen on home entertainment in either region.

The CEO of Hammer Films, John Gore, called it “recovering a piece of British film history that audiences believe has been lost forever”.

Speaking to Deadlineexplained that the auditors and vendors cut the footage after people fainted during the show when Lee’s vampire fell on the victim’s neck, his teeth leaking blood. He said: “It was the teeth that were threatening them. “People were screaming, that’s the point.”

The film changed the landscape of horror cinema, with the famous scene of Lee climbing to the top of a dark staircase and announcing: “I am Dracula”.

His performance redefined the vampire look for generations, introducing the bloodshot eyes, ferocious fangs and striking features, while Cushing delivered what is considered the definitive portrayal of Van Helsing, the fearless, intelligent vampire hunter.

“Think about any Halloween and you see all those ghosts – they’re made by Hammer and Christopher Lee,” Gore said. “It all started when Christopher Lee said ‘I want more teeth and these’, so he came up with something that bit.”

Gore said Bela Lugosi had no teeth when he played Dracula in Tod Browning’s 1931 film, and FW Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu figure “was like a rabbit”, never biting.

The producer wanted to find ways to honor Hammer’s formidable legacy after taking over the reins of the company less than three years ago. “Hammer’s business was focused on lighting,” he said. “Getting the X-rated certificate was very important for the promotion, but it only went so far because the reviewers didn’t like what they saw, all that blood.

“Warner Brothers has a huge warehouse near LAX (Los Angeles airport) that has everything from the 1920s on. There’s like 10 Batmobiles and god knows what.

Some of the images that have been released are “very popular”, Gore continued. “That’s when Christopher Lee goes down to the woman and wants to bite her, it’s very sexual and they had to cut it because it just didn’t seem to fit with vampires.

“So they had to cut back a little bit on the sexiness and then the way they destroy it at the end. They cut it down a lot because they said: ‘It’s too bad’ … All the important points that were removed are now back.”

Dracula was Lee and Cushing’s second on the show after starring in the 1957 film The Curse of Frankenstein. They became one of the most famous rivalries in movie history.

The announcement of the restoration and release was made on World Dracula Day, 26 May, the same day as Cushing’s birthday. Lee’s birthday was 27 May.

The film will also be available for home entertainment.