I just came across the Dracula: 4 Film Favorites, which includes four Hammer Dracula films. The thing is, it's not the first four, it's the first, fouth, fifth and seventh films. Is this an issue where different studios own the rights to different entries in the series?

EDIT: I've compiled a list of what I've been able to find as to how to get each Dracula film on DVD

• Horror of Dracula:
  In-Print (WB): Horror of Dracula; Horror Classics Collection; Dracula: 4 Film Favorites
• Brides of Dracula:
  In-Print (Universal): The Hammer Horror Series
• Dracula, Prince of Darkness:
  In-Print (Anchor Bay): Amazon DVD-R release
  Out-of-Print (Anchor Bay): Dracula, Prince of Darkness; Double Feature with The Satanic Rites of Dracula
• Dracula Has Risen from the Grave:
  In-Print (WB): Dracula Has Risen from the Grave; Horror Classics Collection; Dracula: 4 Film Favorites
• Taste the Blood of Dracula:
  In-Print (WB): Taste the Blood of Dracula; Horror Classics Collection; Double Feature with The Curse of Frankenstein; Dracula: 4 Film Favorites
• Scars of Dracula:
  Out-of-Print (Anchor Bay): Scars of Dracula
• Dracula AD 1972:
  In-Print (WB): Dracula AD 1972; Dracula: 4 Film Favorites
• The Satanic Rites of Dracula
  In-Print: Various budget DVDs
  Out-of-Print (Anchor Bay): The Satanic Rites of Dracula, Double Feature with Dracula, Prince of Darkness
• The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
  In-Print (Anchor Bay): Amazon DVD-R release
  Out-of-Print (Anchor Bay): The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires; Double Feature with Frankenstein Created Woman

Yes, that's exactly the situation.

Warner has the US rights to Horror of Dracula, Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, Taste the Blood of Dracula and Dracula A.D. 1972.

Universal has The Brides of Dracula.

Anchor Bay licensed (from Studio Canal?) Dracula, Prince of Darkness, Scars of Dracula, The Satanic Rites of Dracula and The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (which are all OOP.)

OK, thanx, that's what I thought. In looking around, I did a cheat sheet which I put in my top post in case anyone wants to know what DVDs these movies are on.

question, what of the films had a recent full HD restoration/transfer that had a one off showing in the theatres in the UK, I think, last year?

Horror of Dracula (well, Dracula over there) -- it should have been the BFI's restored version.

I just ordered the Dracula: 4 Film Favorites from amazon yesterday.

What about The Satanic Rites of Dracula which is available on Alpha Video how is the quality on that issue?

...and it looked bloody marvellous.

it wasn't? so what was the point of transferring an incomplete cut of the film? what's the running time of the BFI restored version?

It was -- if it's the same screenings you're thinking of (late October into early November), then they used the BFI's print.

oh oh, sorry... I misread your original comment.

Wow had no idea I had the complete Hammer Dracula films. Didn't know some had gone out of print.

Why hasn't BFI put out a restored Horror of Dracula disc yet?

The Alpha version looks like dog crap, plus it's not anamorphic. Completely washed out with plenty of print damage. For whatever reason, a few companies have got it in their heads that this title has somehow slipped into the public domain. The Anchor Bay version isn't the cleanest print you'll ever see but at least it's widescreen, the colors are pretty good and there are some extras. This one is non-anamorphic as well. I'd also compare running times, as the Anchor Bay is uncut at 87 minutes, even though the packaging lists it at 85.

Oh, and all the Anchor Bay Hammer films are officially out of print. Doesn't mean you can't easily find some of these, but you can remove the question mark regarding the 7 Golden Vampires. It would appear that Amazon is doing some burn-on-demand for a limited selection of the Anchor Bay Hammers if that works for you.

Looking at this thread, it's also encouraging that most of the Hammer vampire films have been or are available on region 1 though MGM' s remasters of TWINS OF EVIL and VAMPIRE CIRCUS are still doomed never to be released:

Saving the Midnite Movies: The Saga Continues...

I'm pretty certain that the rights to the UK Home Video release still lie in Warners hands (who, TBH, did most of that restoration work anyway...)

Got to agree. It made it worth watching again. Must have taken a fairly long time on the restore though

I was going to say the same thing but wasn't 100% sure if that was true, a similiar problem with say 'The Devils' whereas the BFI could very easily produce a Special edition, but is prevented by licencing from Warners.

Updated my first post based on your comments. It's just a little weird, a couple places list the Frankenstein Created Woman/The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires double feature as still in print, but not all places do.

I wouldn't sweat that. A lot of retailers don't bother listing a title as OOP until they get around to reordering and find they can't. As long as they have product on the shelf, they don't bother to check. I can guarantee that particular set hasn't been pressed in years. Actually, all those Anchor Bay Hammer double features were simply repackages of leftover single disc stock. They simply packaged both discs in one keepcase and printed new covers.

I bought a used copy of this a couple weeks ago at a local independent music/movie retailer. Really enjoyed Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (despite it's cheesiness in some parts). Haven't watched FCW yet though.

I just found and bought this Out-of-Print (Anchor Bay): Dracula, Prince of Darkness; Double Feature with The Satanic Rites of Dracula at Borders for $14.65 !

I'm just happy that the entire set is available on DVD at all

The problem with some of the early Anchor Bay discs is they were not, unfortunately, anamorphic. I've since weeded them out of my collection and bought the British PAL import box THE ULTIMATE HAMMER COLLECTION on Amazon UK for a whopping $50-ish bucks (at the time) for 21 films all anamorphic and looking swell. And the set included some things not available stateside, like SHE and the longer British cut of ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.

I'd love to see something like that stateside. just can't do the pal speedup