Hammer Studios has announced that it is overseeing a global restoration of its film library, with Dracula Prince of Darkness the first title to benefit.

According to their press release, Hammer is teaming up with STUDIOCANAL, Anolis Entertainment (Germany), Pinewood, illuminate Hollywood fka HTV and others to update the films into HD and 3-D. Some production materials are being furnished by Hammer’s original production partners, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures.

2012 will see The Reptile,The Plague of The Zombies, The Devil Rides Out, Rasputin the Mad Monk and The Mummy’s Shroud among the releases, and Hammer also intends to issue “definitive” versions of The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy in the UK.

Interest in Hammer has peaked in recent times, with the upcoming movie The Woman in Black starring Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe, as well as Christopher Fowler’s loving homage in novel form, Hell Train.