This is apparently ancient news (from February), but I completely missed it. I'm posting it now in case anybody else shares my lack of timeliness. As part of a press release about Warner Bros.'s 85th Birthday, Warner Home Video announced that a new classic horror box set would be forthcoming in the fourth quarter of this year (between October and December).

Karl Freund's 1932 classic The Mummy, featuring Boris Karloff and Zita Johann, will be released in a 2-Disc Special Edition DVD set on July 8th, 2008, as part of the Universal Legacy Series. The set comes out just a month before the theatrical release of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (a sequel to Stephen Sommers' 1999 Mummy remake). According to DVDTimes.co.uk, Freund's original will be presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio with the soundtrack in mono.

Criterion Collection has announced the upcoming release of a two-disc special edition of Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1932 undead opus Vampyr. The film itself will be presented in its original 1.19:1 aspect ratio (pillarboxed) from a new, restored high-definition transfer of the 1998 restoration done by Martin Koerber and the Cineteca di Bologna. An English-text version of the film will be an option, but purists will still be able to watch it with the original German. Additionally, the English subtitles have been retranslated and improved from past releases of the film.

Word came in from Jim Clatterbaugh over on the Classic Horror Film Board (no relation to Classic-Horror.com) that Hazel Court, a actress who added so much to the horror genre in the course of her career, passed on this morning, April 15th, 2008, at the age of 82. Her autobiography, Hazel Court: Horror Queen, was set to make its United States premiere at the Monster Bash convention in June of this year. No word yet on how this sad news affects that.

Myriad Pictures will be rolling out Mother of Tears, the long-awaited third film in Dario Argento's Three Mothers trilogy, in limited release across the United States starting on June 6th. In the film, an art student (Asia Argento) opens an ancient urn that releases a plague of witches. Fangoria.com has the schedule:

June 6

This is only marginally related to the horror genre, but we received new production stills for Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army, coming out July 11, 2008. There's some pretty good stuff in here, so we felt obligated to share.

The official synopsis for the film runs along these lines:

Legend Films, known for releasing excellent restorations of classic horror films in both their original black & white and newly colorized forms, has licensed a number of classic horror and sci-fi titles from Paramount, according to DVD Drive-in. This is great news for horror fans, as up until recently, Paramount has been reluctant to release these "library" films.

Entertainment Weekly has posted an interview with makeup effects wizard Rick Baker on their website, where they discuss the ins and outs of making Benicio del Toro into a werewolf for Universal's remake of their 1941 classic The Wolf Man. Accompanying the interview are two sweet pictures of del Toro in makeup. I have to say, at least they have the look down -- there's a clear lineage from the old school look, but it's been updated to utilize modern sensibilities and techniques.

Click the picture below to open a larger version in a new window.

When we interviewed writer-director Bryan Bertino about The Strangers in July (for an upcoming feature), we were impressed with his grasp on suspense and what made the horror genre tick. When his movie's release date kept getting pushed back, we started to worry that our faith had perhaps been misplaced. However, the trailer has just showed up on Yahoo Movies, and our fears have been dispelled.

Michael Bay's production company Platinum Dunes, responsible for remaking Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror, now turns its attention to Roman Polanski's seminal thriller Rosemary's Baby. According to ShockTillYouDrop.com, they're in talks with Paramount to produce a new version of the 1968 film. Dunes is also busy with remakes of A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Birds, as well as a revisit of the Friday the 13th mythos.