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Second Christopher Lee Blu-ray Collection from Severin Includes Five Underseen Gems

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A brand new collection of Christopher Lee movies is headed to Blu-ray from Severin Films, the company announcing The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection 2 today.

Here’s the complete rundown for the 5-film, 7-disc Blu-ray/CD set…

“To celebrate the centennial of the legendary actor, Eurocrypt Collection 2 presents five of the most unexpected, underrated and underseen films of the iconic actor’s European career.

“Immediately following HORROR OF DRACULA, Lee reprised the role in the quirky 1959 Italian comedy UNCLE WAS A VAMPIRE. Lee speaks fluent German opposite Klaus Kinski for the crazed 1962 krimi SECRET OF THE RED ORCHID. In the 1974 UK psycho-thriller DARK PLACES, Lee toplines a cast that includes Joan Collins, Herbert Lom and Jane Birkin.

“Lee’s final performance as The Count in the 1976 French comedy DRACULA AND SON can at last be seen in its superior Director’s Cut, while the ultra-rare 1988 Dutch drama MURDER STORY brings Lee into the sex shoppes of Amsterdam. Each film has been remastered from original negative materials with over 15 total hours of trailers, commentaries, alternate cuts, vintage interviews and new featurettes, plus the DRACULA AND SON soundtrack and an all-new 100-page book by Lee biographer Jonathan Rigby.”

Disc 1: Uncle Was a Vampire (1959)

Shortly after HORROR OF DRACULA, Christopher Lee accepted an offer from producer Mario Cecchi Gori – whose 200+ films would include Argento’s OPERA and Oscar® nominee IL POSTINO – to make his first Italian film and reprise his star-making role: His Carpathian domicile bought by developers, Baron Roderico (Lee in full Hammer/Dracula mode) flees to the ancestral castle owned by his impoverished nephew (diminutive ’50s comedy star Renato Rascel). But when the nephew sells this castle to luxury hoteliers, Uncle Prince of Darkness must withstand obnoxious tourists, bikini beauties and his own bloodsucking bellhop relative. Sylva Koscina (HERCULES) and Susanne Loret (ATOM AGE VAMPIRE) co-star in this sexy spoof directed by Steno (famed for his films with Italian comic Totò), featuring the Uncut Theatrical Version scanned in 2K from the dupe negative and Alternate TV Version sourced from the broadcast tape master.

Disc 2: The Secret of the Red Orchid (1962)

Christopher Lee stars – speaking fluent German – in this off-the-wall 1962 krimi filmed in Hamburg and based on the Edgar Wallace novel When The Gangs Came To London. As rival Chicago mobsters – led by Klaus Kinski as ‘Pretty Boy Steve’ – unleash a spree of extortion, machine gun mayhem and murder across England, Scotland Yard summons a cunning FBI agent (Lee) to end the escalating gang war.  Adrian Hoven (MARK OF THE DEVIL, CASTLE OF THE CREEPING FLESH), and Marisa Mell (DANGER: DIABOLIK) co-star in this “entertaining riff on the classic gangster genre” (Krimi Film), now scanned in 2K from the dupe negative and presented with its English and German-language tracks for the first time ever in America.

Disc 3: Dark Places (1974)

Christopher Lee toplines a cast that includes Joan Collins, Herbert Lom and Jane Birkin in the 1974 UK production – directed by Don Sharp of RASPUTIN: THE MAD MONK and PSYCHOMANIA fame – that’s equal parts ‘old dark house’ supernatural shocker and Amicus-style all-star fun: When the former administrator of an asylum (Robert Hardy, aka ‘Cornelius Fudge’ of the HARRY POTTER films) inherits the crumbling estate of an elderly inmate, he’ll unlock a nightmare of lust, larceny, insanity and several murders grisly enough to warrant an ‘X’ certification from the BBFC. Jean Marsh (THE CHANGELING, RETURN TO OZ) co-stars in this “overlooked entry amid the ‘70s Anglo-horror cycle” (Moria Reviews), now scanned uncut in 4K from an internegative recently discovered in a London lab vault.

Disc 4 & 5: Dracula and Son – Director’s Cut (1976) and U.S. Version (1979)

For his tenth and final screen appearance as Dracula, Christopher Lee starred – speaking fluent French – in this slyly ingenious 1976 horror comedy based on a novel by Claude Klotz (THE HAIRDRESSER’S HUSBAND) and directed by Academy Award® nominee Édouard Molinaro (LA CAGE AUX FOLLES). But when the U.S. distributor re-cut and dubbed the film into a broad parody, it was deservedly met with universal disdain. Molinaro’s Director’s Cut can now be experienced for the first time ever in America, lovingly restored in 4K from the original negative with both French & English audio tracks. Bernard Menez (DAY FOR NIGHT), Marie-Hélène Breillat (LAST TANGO IN PARIS) and future writer/director Catherine Breillat (ANATOMY OF HELL) co-star in this “charming satire” (The Christopher Lee Filmography) featuring a sumptuous score by Vladimir Cosma (DIVA) and loaded with vintage & new Special Features.

Disc 6: Dracula and Son Soundtrack

Disc 7: Murder Story (1989)

In the lone feature film written & directed by ‘80s music video hitmakers Eddie Arno & Markus Innocenti, Christopher Lee delivers a sly performance as a famous mystery novelist whose mentoring of an aspiring young writer (Alexis Denisof of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER/ANGEL) will lead them both into an Amsterdam-based web of pornography, arson and a global conspiracy of cold-blooded murder. Bruce Boa (THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, FULL METAL JACKET) co-stars in this 1989 Dutch/British thriller produced by Tom Reeve (DOG SOLDIERS), now scanned in 4K from the original negative. As a bonus, Rod Taylor, Valerie Perrine and Lee star in the ultra-rare 1989 Swedish/Canadian giallo MASK OF MURDER, sourced from the best existing master.

For full special features information and to pre-order your copy, head over to Severin’s online shop. This one will cost you $95, and it’s expected to begin shipping May 31, 2022.

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

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‘Lisa Frankenstein’ Shambles Onto Blu-ray in April With Audio Commentary and Deleted Scenes

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lisa frankenstein trailer 2

The horror-comedy Lisa Frankenstein is headed home to physical media, with the film zombie-walking its way onto DVD and Blu-ray from Universal on April 9, 2024.

Directed by Zelda Williams and written by Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body), Lisa Frankenstein will also be available for a lower price on Digital beginning March 29.

Special Features include:

  • Audio commentary by director Zelda Williams
  • An Electric Connection featurette
  • Resurrecting the ‘80s featurette
  • A Dark Comedy Duo featurette
  • 5 deleted scenes
  • Gag reel

Meagan Navarro wrote in her review for Bloody Disgusting,” Billed as a coming-of-rage tale, Lisa Frankenstein instead offers a celebration of outcasts and weirdos.”

“It makes for a sugary sweet, almost wholesome effort held together by a trio of infectiously winsome performances,” Meagan’s review continued. She added, “As a celebration of teen girls and outcasts who just want to be loved, Lisa Frankenstein ultimately charms.”

Kathryn Newton (Freaky) and Cole Sprouse (“Riverdale”) lead the cast for Focus Features, and the new film is rated “PG-13” for “bloody images and sexual material.”

Carla Gugino (The Fall of the House of Usher), Liza Soberano (Alone/Together), Joe Chrest (Stranger Things) and Henry Eikenberry (The Crowded Room) also star.

[Related] ‘Lisa Frankenstein’ and ‘Jennifer’s Body’: A Match Made in Hot Pink Heaven

In Lisa Frankenstein, “Set in 1989, the film follows an unpopular high schooler who accidentally re-animates a handsome Victorian corpse during a lightning storm and starts to rebuild him into the man of her dreams using the broken tanning bed in her garage.”

Here’s the full official plot synopsis: “A coming of RAGE love story about a misunderstood teenager and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse. After a set of playfully horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness… and a few missing body parts along the way.”

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