Get Ready To Get Hammered in High-Def

On the heels of the classic British film studio's recent resurrection (their press release touting Let Me In as their return to active status would like you to forget an earlier attempt), several companies including Pinewood, Anolis, and American studios Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Brothers and Paramount are pulling together to restore and release some thirty titles from the Hammer library on HD. The first project, Dracula, Prince of Darkness, hits the UK in March.

The studio is also launching a blog where viewers can track the restoration progress.

This is great news for a library that's currently in a sad state of neglect; the stateside DVD editions of the studio's heavy hitters (Horror of Dracula, Curse of Frankenstein, and The Mummy) leave much room for improvement, while some of the studio's less well-known offerings (a favorite of mine is The Abominable Snowman) have been out of print for some time. With thirty titles coming down the pike, fans can look forward to discovering such lesser-known nuggets as Rasputin, The Mad Monk and The Devil Rides Out. But for most of us, this will mean double-dipping on the favorites you already own. Personally, I'm stoked for Oliver Reed's sexy silver-haired werewolf in high-def.