The Man Who Could Cheat Death

Blu-ray, Region B

Anton Diffring gives a chilling performance as a monstrous doctor seeking immortality in Jimmy Sangster and Terence Fisher’s visually sumptuous shocker, The Man Who Could Cheat Death, one of the initial run of 1950s Gothics that made Hammer a worldwide byword for horror.

With strong support from Hazel Court and Christopher Lee, The Man Who Could Cheat Death has been painstakingly restored by Hammer from the original film negatives and includes optional, originally censored scenes thought lost for years.

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.

This Edition comprises:

• Four iterations of The Man Who Could Cheat Death across two aspect ratios (1.37:1 as-filmed, 1.66:1 UK 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.

The disc features:

• A comprehensive series of new and archive commentaries across the four iterations with contributions and critical perspectives from Lizbeth Myles, Paul Cornell, Kim Newman, Stephen Jones, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Lauren Barnett and John Hamilton.
• A new programme with Hammer expert Wayne Kinsey, discussing the making of this classic Gothic horror.
• A restoration featurette.
• Original censor Card, UK trailer, clapperboard and alternative burning shot.
• Extensive image gallery of stills and publicity material.