Hammer's Icons of Suspense in 2010

[X-human]

From Sony's blog (does Sony post drunken party picks of itself too?):Next year, look for another Icons release when we gear up for the Icons of Suspense, the third in our effort to bring forward the great Hammer films in the Columbia library. The titles in this next set will include such masterpieces as Stop Me Before I Kill, Cash on Demand, Never Take Candy from a Stranger, Maniac, The Snorkel, and the great Joseph Losey-directed These Are the Damned. As with the previous Hammer releases, we are dedicated to providing the longest, most original restored versions of these films possible.http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/columbiaclassics/blog/2009/08/icons-and-icons.html

I'm up for it, what the hell.

[Harry Warden]

Very cool!! Count me in.

[AndresG]

Great news, can't wait for this!

[satans-sadists]

Haven't seen any of these, but more Hammer is always welcome.

[Erick H.]

Great news,always happy to see more Hammer available.

[maybrick]

I'm about a decade past the point where I was a Hammer completist, but this is nice. :)

[BroodingHope]

I've not seen or heard of any of these, but I've not been disappointed with any of the Icons sets. I can't wait for this!

[Chad]

I'm about a decade past the point where I was a Hammer completist, but this is nice. :)

I'm a completest newbie so this will be a welcome addition to my collection. But damn does it ever require some patience when acquiring Hammer titles on R1 DVD!

[Richard--W]

When this set comes out it should just about fill up the two shelves devoted to my collection of Hammer DVD's. Also includes a couple of VHS's. The only DVD's I'm missing are the Quatermass films.

Richard

[acp35]

Love The Snorkel. This is a must have for me.

[Shock Waves]

I'm gonna get it just for These are The Damned...

[TheCoroner]

Sounds interesting!

[X-human]

I'm hearing April 6th but I can't find any ironclad confirmation.

[dave13]

i dig the icons series, really do. but its frustrating sometimes. i mean if they could pull off such a fantastic collection of supplements for the icons of adventure collection, why do all the others (which usually have films i'm more interested in) get no frills treatment? oh well. whatever the case, i hope they keep releasing them.

oh...i forgot about the toho sci-fi set. that had some nice supplements as well, from what i've read. maybe they're going to make a habit of it going forward?

[X-human]

Sony has a poll up on their Columbia Classics (http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/columbiaclassics/) page. It's under "In Production" on the main page. Kinda hard to spot as there's no graphics, you have to click links to see each cover. I like the phone one because of it's use of colors, but feel the knife one is probably the best design overall.

Here's the press release:Icons of Suspense: Hammer Films

Probably one of the best-known companies releasing horror films, Hammer Film Productions was the pre-eminent producer of gothic and lusty favorites such as The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula Has Risen from His Grave, Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, The Horror of Dracula, The Vampire Lovers, Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll…among many others, which still maintain a cult status today. Among Hammer’s voluminous output in the 50’s and 60’s were a number of excellent, albeit lesser known, suspense films directed by the likes of Val Guest, Joseph Losey and Michael Carreras.

Hammer titles released by Columbia Pictures have been the subject of previous DVD releases (Icons of Adventure and Icons of Horror sets), and now these stylish black and white Hammer suspense films are set to go to DVD in the upcoming box set, Icons of Suspense (due out in 2010). One well-known issue with films from this period, and for Hammer films in particular, is the fact that they were often censored or edited for either U.S. or international audiences. The restoration work done in order to bring these films to DVD has included the restoration of deleted scenes, and includes the presentation of the longest possible versions.

The films in this set include Never Take Candy from a Stranger (the UK release title was Never Take Sweets from a Stranger), The Snorkel, Maniac, Cash on Demand, Stop Me Before I Kill! (UK title The Full Treatment) and the long-awaited release of Joseph Losey’s These Are The Damned (UK The Damned). All six of these films feature stark black and white cinematography, and most are Cinemascope titles that will be presented in their original widescreen theatrical aspect ratio.

Familiar actors and directors from Hammer grace these films, but Peter Cushing turns in one of his best performances ever, in Cash On Demand. Cushing is the fussy bank manager who is forced to ally himself with a bank robber in this tense story, based on a play. The original film version was cut by nearly 11 minutes, because audiences found it difficult to sympathize with Cushing’s character. The restored footage makes this film even more tense and surprising. Be sure to keep your eye out for this collection!

I'm looking forward most to Cushing's outings, so to hear Cash on Demand has 11 more minutes of him is superb.

[dave13]

personally the noose art appealed to me the most, although apparently im in the minority. the knife and phone arts appear to be neck and neck.

[maybrick]

personally the noose art appealed to me the most, although apparently im in the minority. the knife and phone arts appear to be neck and neck.

I also like that one the best. It's a pity that the most of run-of-the-mill boring cover is in the lead. How typical.