Horror of Dracula, starring Christopher Lee, set for a re-release this fall, with censored scenes restored

Today is World Dracula Day, so it's fitting that we're able to share some news pertaining to everyone's favorite fanged monster.

A fully restored 4K version of the 1958 Hammer classic, Horror of Dracula, starring Christopher Lee as the caped fiend, is set for a re-release into cinemas this fall, just in time for Halloween. This is according to what John Gore, owner of the Hammer Horror Films label, told Deadline. Hammer now falls under the umbrella of the recently formed John Gore Studios.

Additionally, a physical media release is also planned, though the date has yet to be determined. Gore told Deadline that the footage cut by censors and distributors in 1958 was recently discovered in a Warner Bros. warehouse. Like other Hammer staples, Horror of Dracula is well-known for its vibrant blood and gore. Newspaper reports during the time of its release said that women and a few men fainted during screenings, especially when Lee's famed character lunged at the necks of victims. These scenes were deemed too gory, and the movie was the first full color production of a Dracula film. Even today, the scenes that were kept in the movie are still quite memorable.

“It was the fangs that scared them,” Gore told Deadline. “People were screaming, which was the point." The film's director, Terence Fisher, utilizing a script penned by Jimmy Sangster, wanted gore, and thus, Hammer introduced Dracula's fangs. Prior to Lee's iconic performance, Bela Lugosi best embodied Dracula, playing the Count in several Universal Monster movies, though he didn't flash fangs to the extent that Lee's version did.

Additionally, Gore told Deadline that when he acquired Hammer three years ago, he really wanted to honor the legacy, especially of their classic monster movies. "We managed to get the uncut original Christopher Lee Dracula. So we've just been remastering that now. So there's like three minutes missing. Hammer's business was based on the censor. Getting that X-rated certificate was crucial to marketing, but they could only go so far because the censors didn't like what they saw- all that blood- and the film had just over three minutes deleted."

Gore added that Warner Bros. has a massive storage unit near LAX, where they keep everything from the 1920s onward, and that's where the uncensored footage was discovered. He added that other than some of the gore, there's a scene in which Lee's Dracula descends upon a woman, about to bite her, and some of the sexual connotation was trimmed, along with the ending and how Dracula dies. The censors initially deemed Dracula's destruction as too gruesome.

Besides Lee, the movie also stars Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing. Cushing starred in a number of Hammer films, and Lee would take up the cape again for several sequels to Horror of Dracula. Additionally, Gore told Deadline that he's looking at Hammer's entire classic catalogue to see what else they could do with it and what else can be restored.

The 4K restoration of Horror of Dracula, with the restored deleted scenes, will release in theaters closer to Halloween. There's no word yet on when the physical media will be released. Stay tuned!

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