Hammer Films one and only Captain Kronos is back – and he’s never looked this good.
Hammer Films are unleashing the first-ever 4K restoration of the cult vampire slayer classic written and directed by Brian Clemens, the first in a series of special Hammer restoration releases. (We’re told Hammer’s Quatermass films will follow this).
Celebrate 50 years of Captain Kronos with a jaw-dropping, limited-edition five-disc set, featuring two UHDs, three Blu-rays, and exclusive collector’s goodies, like original 1970s poster reprints – and a reprint of the Captain Kronos “sequel” strips featured in the first three issues of The House of Hammer magazine, written by the late Steve Moore, drawn by the late Ian Gibson, and edited by Dez Skinn.
Dez tells downthetubes that the strip has been reformatted to “manga size”, to suit the size of the release format.
Brian Clemens himself was, apparently, not keen on the comic strip sequel, telling an audience at a BFI event that he complained about the use of the characters and the strip’s plot. It’s reportedly the reason only one story was published, along with an adaptation of the film later in House of Hammer’s run.
• Captain Kronos Collector’s Limited Edition is available to preorder here from Hammer Films
COLLECTION DETAILS
This limited collector’s edition comprises:
- Five discs in a stylish digipak: two UHDs and three Blu-rays, with the content duplicated across both formats
- Three iterations of Captain Kronos: the widescreen 1.66:1 UK Theatrical Version, the fullscreen 1.37:1 As-Filmed Version and the widescreen 1.85:1 US Theatrical Version
- Brand-new Dolby Atmos and 5.1 mixes for each version alongside the original mono film soundtrack
- English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Japanese subtitles on each version of the film
- Packaged in a high-end, leather-feel slipcase with debossed red foil titling
- Rigid inner box featuring new artwork by cult favourite artist Graham Humphreys
- Double-sided poster of the original UK and US one-sheets
- Eight art cards featuring facsimiles of the original US cinema lobby cards
- 136 page booklet featuring interviews, articles and reproductions of original paperwork
- 100 page comic featuring a reprint of the Kronos strips from legendary 1970s magazine The House of Hammer
The discs feature:
- “The House of Clemens”: a brand-new 59-minute documentary looking at Brian Clemens and his body of work, with contributions from his family, friends and colleagues
- New 2024 introduction by Caroline Munro on 1.66:1 UK Theatrical Version
- New 2024 commentary featuring Caroline Munro and Sam & George Clemens on 1.66:1 UK Theatrical Version
- New 2024 introduction by Sam & George Clemens on 1.37:1 As-Filmed Version
- Archive 2011 commentary featuring Brian Clemens, Caroline Munro, Shane Briant, John Carson and Marcus Hearn on 1.37:1 As-Filmed Version
- Archive 2011 commentary featuring Brian Clemens, Director of Photography Ian Wilson and Marcus Hearn on 1.37:1 As-Filmed Version
- Archive 2013 introduction by Brian Clemens on 1.85:1 US Theatrical Version
- Archive 2020 commentary featuring film historian Bruce G. Hallenbeck on 1.85:1 US Theatrical Version
- Archive 2003 commentary featuring Brian Clemens, Caroline Munro and Jonathan Sothcott on 1.85:1 US Theatrical Version
- Original UK Theatrical Trailer
- Original Foreign Theatrical Trailer
- Original US Theatrical Trailer
- Original UK Censor Card
- Original US Radio Spots
- Original Textless Titles and Backgrounds
- Kronos Returns: archive featurette on the 2008 reunion of cast and crew
- Brian Clemens 1991 interview from the Festival of Fantastic Films archive
- Brian Clemens 2000 interview from the Festival of Fantastic Films archive
- Horst Janson 2010 interview from the Festival of Fantastic Films archive
- Lois Daine 2017 interview from the James McCabe archive
- Anything Goes: Hammer Horror in the 1970s – 2020 featurette featuring Kim Newman and Stephen Jones
- Extensive stills gallery including many rare behind-the-scenes pictures and featuring music from Laurie Johnson’s outstanding score
The booklet features:
- New article on the making of Captain Kronos by actor and author Bruce G. Hallenbeck
- Archive interviews with Horst Janson, Caroline Munro, Laurie Johnson, John Cater, Lisa Collings and William Hobbs, courtesy of Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine
- New article examining why Kronos never made it to a franchise by film historian Laura Mayne
- New article on Laurie Johnson by Movie Music International’s John Mansell
- Archive Brian Clemens interview from a 1974 edition of Monster Times
- Archive review of Captain Kronos from 1974 by Video Watchdog’s Tim Lucas
- New article examining the film’s UK cinema distribution by Steve Rogers
- Reproduction pressbook, call sheet and US PR material
• Captain Kronos Collector’s Limited Edition is available to preorder here from Hammer Films
- About the Author
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Collections, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Film, Other Worlds
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