The man who killed to live! Hammer Films has announced that a wonderfully twisted tale of vanity and immortality, The Man Who Could Cheat Death will be released as a brand-new 4K restored Limited Collector’s Edition on February 22, 2027 and is available to pre-order now.
Anton Diffring (Where Eagles Dare) gives a chilling lead performance as a monstrous doctor seeking immortality in screenwriter Jimmy Sangster and director Terence Fisher’s visually sumptuous shocker, The Man Who Could Cheat Death, one of the 1950s Gothics that made Hammer Films a worldwide byword for horror.
With strong support from Hazel Court (The Curse of Frankenstein) and the legendary Christopher Lee (Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein), The Man Who Could Cheat Death has been painstakingly restored by Hammer in 4K from the original film negatives and includes optional, originally censored scenes thought lost for years.
Watch a brand new trailer for the film in the player below:
A doctor and dilettante, Georges Bonner’s sculptures are the talk of Belle Époque Parisian society. But Bonner hides a grisly secret: he is over a century old and a serial murderer, kept artificially young by harvesting glands from his unfortunate victims.
Reuniting two of Hammer’s defining creative forces at the heart of the studio’s Gothic legacy, the partnership of Fisher (The Curse of Frankenstein, Spaceways, Four Sided Triangle, Stolen Face) and Sangster (The Curse of Frankenstein, X the Unknown) delivers a disturbing nightmare of murder and bodily horror all in glorious Technicolor.
Now over six-decades since its original release, 1959’s The Man Who Could Cheat Death Limited Collector’s Edition sees the film available for the first time on UHD in the UK. It’s released with an exceptional range of recent and archival material including a curated programme of commentaries, interviews, and fantastic behind the scenes insights from interviews with Court and Sangster, a look at Roy Ashton’s annotated shooting script, to an exploration of the film’s place in Hammer’s Gothic history. There’s also a brand-new programme with Hammer expert Wayne Kinsey discussing the making of this classic Gothic horror.
The Limited Collector’s Edition of the film includes:
- A leather-feel slipcase with debossed foil titling, housing a stylish digipak containing four discs: two UHDs and two Blu-rays, with content duplicated on both formats.
- Rigid inner box featuring new artwork by illustrator and artist Lucas Peverill.
- Double-sided poster of original one-sheets and 8 art cards.
- Book featuring reproduction of British master make-up artist Roy Ashton’s annotated copy of the original shooting script.
- Six iterations of The Man Who Could Cheat Death across three aspect ratios (1.37:1 as filmed, 1.66:1 UK theatrical and 1.85:1 US theatrical) featuring both censored and uncensored scenes.
- Brand-new 5.1 mix for each version of the film alongside the original mono film soundtrack.
- English, French, Italian, Spanish and German subtitles on each version of the film.
There’s a host of exciting features:
- A comprehensive series of new and archive commentaries across the six iterations with contributions and critical perspectives from Lizbeth Myles, Paul Cornell, Kim Newman, Stephen Jones, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Lauren Barnett, John Hamilton, Professor Lucy Bolton, Pamela Hutchinson, Constantine Nasr and Dr. Steve Haberman.
- A new programme with Hammer expert Wayne Kinsey, discussing the making of this classic Gothic horror.
- A Hideous Concoction: an archive featurette featuring actor and horror expert Jonathan Rigby, who discusses the film and source play.
- The Man Who Could Direct Death: an archive featurette with film historian and BFI curator Vic Pratt, who discusses the film’s director, Terence Fisher.
- The Man Who Can Chat Death: an archive interview with Hugh Harlow, a Hammer mainstay and third AD on the film.
- Court in Session: an archive featurette with film historian Melanie Williams, who discusses actor Hazel Court.
- Hazel Court 1999 interview: a candid interview with Hazel Court in front of a live audience at Manchester’s Festival of Fantastic Films.
- Hammer Convention Panel 1999: in addition to the FoFF interview, Hazel Court also appeared on a panel chaired by Wayne Kinsey and featuring writer Jimmy Sangster and award-winning director Freddie Francis.
- A restoration featurette.
- Original censor Card, UK trailer, clapperboard and alternative burning shot.
- Extensive image gallery of stills and publicity material.
The Man Who Could Cheat Death Limited Collector’s Edition will be available as a 4-disc 4K UHD and Blu-ray set that delivers exceptional clarity, contrast, and sound. It’s a must-have for Hammer and horror film fans.
Pre-order The Man Who Could Cheat Death Limited Collector’s Edition now from the Hammer Films store.
