The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection is being released on May 25th 2021. The nine-disc box-set includes five Movies, an Anthology TV Series, eight Blu-Rays, a CD and an 88 Page Illustrated Book by Lee biographer Jonathan Rigby.
Severin Films blurb: “He remains one of the most beloved horror/fantasy icons in US/UK pop culture history, but Christopher Lee delivered several of the most compelling, acclaimed and bizarre performances of his entire career in 1960s Europe. The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection brings together five of these Lee classics – the 1964 gothic shocker Crypt of the Vampire aka Crypt of Horror; the 1964 cult hit The Castle of the Living Dead co-starring an unknown Donald Sutherland; 1962’s celebrated Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace; 1967’s lurid favourite Torture Chamber of Doctor Sadism aka Castle of the Walking Dead and the rarely-seen 1963 oddity Challenge the Devil – with the 24 surviving episodes of the 1971 Film Polski anthology series Theatre Macabre hosted by Lee, all remastered from original negative materials with over 10 hours of trailers, rare promos, audio commentaries & vintage interviews, plus The Castle of the Living Dead soundtrack and an all-new 88-page book by Lee biographer Jonathan Rigby – “Christopher Lee – The Continental Connection”.
Disc 1: The Castle of the Living Dead
New 4K scan from the Italian negative
Audio commentary by film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
Audio commentary by Kat Ellinger
Interview with producer Paul Maslansky
The Castle of The Mystery Man – Roberto Curti, author of Mavericks of Italian Cinema, on director Warren Kiefer
Disc 2: Challenge the Devil (aka Katarsis)
New 2K scan of the Italian negative
Interview with Roberto Curti, author of Mavericks of Italian Cinema
Interview with actor Giorgio Ardisson over two decades
Trailer
Disc 3: Crypt of the Vampire aka Crypt of Horror
New 2K scan of a fine-grain 35mm master print
Trailer
Disc 4: Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
New 2K scan of the German negative
Audio commentary by film historians Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw
Discs 5 and 6: Theatre Macabre
Christopher Lee hosted this anthology television series originally produced by Film Polski (Knife in the Water, The Tin Drum) in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Boris Karloff’s Thriller. Lee delivers the intro and outro for each half-hour at his imposing and often cheeky best, while the tales themselves – adapted from stories by Poe, Dostoevsky, Ambrose Bierce, Robert Louis Stevenson and Oscar Wilde – are written and/or directed by filmmakers that include Andrzej Zulawski (Possession) and Andrzej Wajda (Man of Iron). Dubbed into English and featuring ‘additional dialogue’ by Jesse Lasky Jr. (7 Women from Hell) with new theme music by Ron Goodwin (Village of the Damned; Frenzy), it has remained largely unseen since its brief airing on American TV in 1971. These twenty-four surviving episodes have now been scanned in 2K from the original negatives
Disc Specs:
Runtime: 610 mins
Audio: English Mono / Closed captions
Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
New 2K scan of the original negatives
Promo with host Christopher Lee
Disc 7: Torture Chamber of Doctor Sadism aka Castle of the Walking Dead
New 4K scan of the original German negative
Audio commentary by film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
Audio interview with actress Karin Dor
Location featurette
German theatrical trailer
Teaser trailer
Die Schlangengrube – Die Burg des Grauens – German Super 8 digest short
Die Schlangengrube des Grafen Dracula – German Super 8 digest short
Poster gallery
Behind-the-scenes still gallery
Restoration Slideshow
Disc 8: Special Features:
Horror!!! – 1964 documentary short by with Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Roger Corman, and Roy Ashton (16 min)
Behind the Mask – New edit of unfinished 1991 documentary in which Christopher Lee remembers Boris Karloff (34 min)
1976 Belgian TV interview with Christopher Lee by Sélim Sasson (52 min)
1976 interview with Christoper Lee by Colin Grimshaw (16 min)
Audio interview with Christopher Lee, accompanied by stills from The Del Valle archive and video introduction with David Del Valle (20 min)
Interview with horror film historian Alan Frank (15 min)
The Crypt Keepers: Making of Crypt of the Vampire with writer Ernesto Gastaldi, assistant director Tonino Valerii, and film historian Fabio Melelli (34 min)
“O Sole Mio / It’s Now Or Never” and “She’ll Fall For Me” – Christopher Lee & Gary Curtis music videos with optional commentary by Gary Curtis
The Invincible Sir Christopher with filmmaker Philippe Mora Recalls
2001 Christopher Lee interview session outtakes (15 min)
2011 University College Dublin Q&A with Christopher Lee
Also included:
Castle of the Living Dead soundtrack CD composed by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino (Chimes at Midnight, Gorgo)
Christopher Lee: The Continental Connection: An 88-page booklet written by Lee biographer Jonathan Rigby (Euro Gothic).
Related:
TERROR IN THE CRYPT aka CRYPT OF THE VAMPIRE (1964) Reviews and Severin Blu-ray box set news
THE CASTLE OF THE LIVING DEAD (1964) Reviews and Severin Blu-ray box set news
CASTLE OF THE WALKING DEAD (1967) Review and Severin Blu-ray box set news
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE DEADLY NECKLACE (1962) Reviews and Severin Blu-ray box set news
Euro Gothic: Classics of Continental Horror Cinema – book, 2016
