A plea to MGM to release Hammer Horror on DVD

To:  MGM Home Video, DVD Division

MGM has made great strides in gaining the admiration of horror movie fans recently with their Midnight Movie line of dvds. This is a plea that you go one step further and begin releasing the Hammer Films in your ownership.

The English film studio, Hammer Films, made a name for themselves in the late fifties with revolutionary reworkings of classic horror themes, and remained at the forefront of horror cinema for the next two decades, indelibly stamping their name forever on the gothic horror genre. During this time, they produced several classic films, some of which MGM now holds the home video rights to. MGM has already expressed an interest in releasing The Vampire Lovers and The Hounds of the Baskervilles to dvd in 2002; this is a promising start, but there are several more titles that we are concerned about.

First and foremost on the list is Twins of Evil, that legendary film presenting Peter Cushing in one of his finest performances as a fanatically righteous witchfinder, the beautiful Mary and Madeleine Collinson, and Damien Thomas as the sinister Count Karnstein. It is reported that upon Twins of Evil's initial release in America, the MPAA made 34 separate cuts to the film, shortening it by 5 minutes and 36 seconds. Please restore this footage to the film for release on dvd. The dvd format provides for the addition of supplemental material. Unfortunately, the great Peter Cushing has been gone from us for some time, but the Collinson twins and Damien Thomas are all very much still with us, and frequently make public appearances supporting Hammer Films in general, and Twins of Evil in particular. With such a history of accessibility, we feel these actors could, and should, be approached for the purpose of contributing to the dvd release by providing a commentary track and perhaps other material. If MGM were to act upon these recommendations, this would be a very special release of Twins of Evil indeed.

In addition to Twins of Evil, all of the Hammer films in MGM's possession are classics that deserve representation on dvd. We, the undersigned, petition MGM Home Video to release the following films to dvd, fully uncut, with anamorphic transfers in their original aspect ratios in those cases where the films were shot in anything other than the Acadamy ratio of 1.37:1, before we all rot in our graves, as so many unfortunate Hammer victims.

Hands of the Ripper
The Quatermass Experiment
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Ten Seconds to Hell
The Vampire Lovers
Countess Dracula
Twins of Evil
Vampire Circus

Thank you very much for your attention and consideration in this matter

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The A plea to MGM to release Hammer Horror on DVD Petition to MGM Home Video, DVD Division was created by Hammer Horror fans and written by Ben Motley.  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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