The company will serve as exclusive distributor across all media in the US and Canada for the iconic UK-based catalogue, which includes the work of ‘vampire erotica’ guru Jean Rollin.

Kino Lorber will release up to 35 remastered films in 2012 through its new Redemption platform, servicing DVD, Blu-ray and all digital and VOD followed by broadcast.

A marketing campaign is being devised to familiarise fans with the brand, which includes French filmmaker Rollin’s erotic vampire films such as The Nude Vampire and The Iron Rose, as well as Wes Craven’s original The Hills Have Eyes: Part 2.

The company will also make available key titles for repertory theatrical and midnight screenings with HD masters newly transferred and restored from 35mm negatives.

“Having access to the original negatives of a director like Jean Rollin, who is ripe for critical reappraisal, is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for a DVD and Blu-ray producer like me,” said Kino Lorber vp Bret Wood, who curated the Rollin series and manages the Redemption brand.

“The Rollin collection is an ideal brand extension for our company, well known for great German horror and sci-fi classics going back to the silent era,” Kino Lorber president and CEO Richard Lorber added.

“Along with our restorations of Metropolis and Nosferatu, under our Redemption label we’ll bring something new to our fans we believe they’ll eagerly embrace. No cinephile or horror buff can resist Rollin’s signature works of ‘vampire-erotica’ with his inimitable style that crosses Corman with Cocteau.”