First uncut 4K Dracula (1958) to screen in UK Oct

A fully restored 4K version of the 1958 gothic horror classic "Dracula," also known as "Horror of Dracula," will be released in UK cinemas and on home entertainment platforms this October. The restoration marks the first time in over six decades that audiences will see the film in its most complete form, reinstating footage that had been cut by censors and distributors following its original release.

The lost material, which runs for approximately three minutes, was recently discovered in a Warner Bros. storage facility near Los Angeles International Airport. It includes scenes deemed too violent and sexually suggestive for audiences in the late 1950s, most notably the film's original, more gruesome ending. This uncut version had previously only been screened widely in Japan.

John Gore, CEO of Hammer Films and John Gore Studios, which now owns the Hammer label, described the project as the recovery of a piece of British film history that audiences believed had been lost forever. He explained that contemporary reports detailed audience members fainting during screenings, particularly when Christopher Lee's Count Dracula attacked victims with fangs dripping with blood. "It was the...