Peter Jackson‘s most recent film is a World War I documentary called They Shall Not Grow Old. Known for his films such as Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, the brilliant filmmaker got his start in the genre we love so dear, horror. Lucky for us, while making They Shall Not Grow Jackson found the inspiration to return to his horror roots.
He’s now on a mission to digitally restore his horror films Bad Taste, the disturbing puppet film Meet the Feebles, the gore-filled Braindead (aka Dead Alive), and Heavenly Creatures. Using the power of his Weta Digital VFX studio, which he built while making the Lord of the Rings franchise, he will add new life to his horror films in 4K. Each will also get a fresh new audio update. Did I mention each will also get a snazzy new documentary that will come with the box set?
I’ve decided to go back and do this to my old films – the first four I made, which I never released. Jackso told THR. “I’ve done some tests on Braindead [his third film] where we took the 16mm negative and put it through our World War I restoration pipeline – and shit, it looks fantastic!”
To make They Shall Not Grow Old Jackson’s team went through over 600 hours of archive footage. After the video was colorized professional lip readers went through the silent footage before actors gave their voice to the soldiers in the film. The documentary left many amazed during its screening at Cannes. The film is headed to Blu-ray and DVD on December 10th.
Jackson served as producer for The Mortal Engines which is now playing in theaters.
Here’s a look back at Peter Jackson’s horror hits.
