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Hammer Horror Studios

"Hammer Horror" Film Productions were the best! We no longer have cheap and fun B movies like this anymore and it is sad.

It also kept a great repertoire of classically trained British actors and actresses- Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Basil Rathbone, Oliver Reed, Jeremy Brett, Andre Morrell, Michael Gough, John Pertwee, Denholm Elliott, Alec McCowen, David Prowse, and, of course Ingrid Pitt

What is your favorite Hammer Film Productions movie? Who is your favorite Hammer Horror actor/actress?

by Anonymousreply 73January 3, 2023 8:51 PM

Jeremy Brett was hot

by Anonymousreply 1June 25, 2022 5:00 PM

Loved the first Dracula with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Saw it on the Elvira Creature Feature as a kid and was petrified.. The scene where Lee closes the door on a trapped Harker is still terrifying. Watch it now in my dotage as sort of comfort food.

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by Anonymousreply 2June 25, 2022 5:01 PM

R2 Yes that is the best film of them all

by Anonymousreply 3June 25, 2022 5:02 PM

I have these in my DVD collection! Fun popcorn movies. Love the vintage stuff. Especially anything with Oliver Reed. (Yes, I know he was a jerk in real life, but I love his acting in horror films.)

by Anonymousreply 4June 25, 2022 5:05 PM

The Vampire Lovers is one of my favorites. I adored Ingrid Pitt

by Anonymousreply 5June 25, 2022 5:05 PM

Hammer!

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by Anonymousreply 6June 25, 2022 5:05 PM

The Nanny starring Bette D.

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by Anonymousreply 7June 25, 2022 5:09 PM

It’s a form of cosy horror that doesn’t exist anymore. They were more atmosphere driven than plot driven.

by Anonymousreply 8June 25, 2022 5:10 PM

R4 Yeah, Reed dated a girl when she was 15, he was 42. They stayed together until he died, but a crazy story.

R8 Agreed, They had a good repertoire of bit players. More of a 9 to 5 job. Stable employment for actors. And they were having a great time.

by Anonymousreply 9June 25, 2022 5:16 PM

Charles Gray was good too

by Anonymousreply 10June 25, 2022 5:52 PM

There was a station that would do marathons of Hammer films around Halloween time that I looked forward too but I can’t remember the station’s name now.

I discovered Peter Cushing through these film’s, they were campy fun.

by Anonymousreply 11June 25, 2022 7:08 PM

I was about 9 or 10 when my parents dropped my and my sister off at the movies to watch the double feature of Vampire Circus and Countess Dracula.

Scared the fuck out of me and I had to sleep with the hallway light on for years.

As an adult, I watched Countess Dracula again. It was so hokey. I decided never to watch Vampire Circus again. I’d rather keep of memory of being terrified when I was a kid.

by Anonymousreply 12June 25, 2022 7:49 PM

One thing I appreciated was how visually attractive these films were. Almost relaxing to look at even though the subject matter was creepy. I went through a period a few years back where I would watch them every Saturday. A nice change from the hideously ugly found footage horror films that infested theaters from about 2005 to 2014.

by Anonymousreply 13June 25, 2022 8:15 PM

The Medusa Touch (1978)-

Richard Burton, Lee Remick, Lino Ventura, Harry Andrews, Derek Jacobi, Alan Badel, Glenda Jackson, Jeremy Brett, and Sir Michael Hordern.

by Anonymousreply 14June 26, 2022 2:48 PM

R14--Gordon Jackson. Not Glenda.

Very different.

by Anonymousreply 15June 26, 2022 3:18 PM

Medusa Touch was a Hammer film?

by Anonymousreply 16June 26, 2022 3:19 PM

R15 Typo! Sorry! Who was Gordon Jackson?

by Anonymousreply 17June 26, 2022 3:24 PM

R17, Mr Hudson

by Anonymousreply 18June 26, 2022 3:39 PM

I loved Dracula, Prince of Darkness where Barbara Shelley goes from uptight British frau to lesbian vampire. The woman playing the quasi-Mina Harker role (Ian McShane's ex-wife, BTW) had this glorious blond wig piled with curls, which is what I suspect Dracula was *really* after.

Peter Cushing actually made a very credible Sherlock Holmes in "Hound of the Baskervilles"; I'm kind of surprised he never played that role again

by Anonymousreply 19July 8, 2022 8:28 PM

Many of the good Hammer Films can be credited to director Terence Fisher

by Anonymousreply 20July 8, 2022 8:34 PM

hammer horror

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by Anonymousreply 21July 8, 2022 8:39 PM

I always liked "Plague of the Zombies". Plus, I'm not sure it's a Hammer film, but "The Return of Count Yorga" was a favorite of mine. There's a great pic from it in Denis Gifford's "History of Horror Films" with two arms and hands sticking out of a grave.

by Anonymousreply 22July 8, 2022 8:54 PM

I love the way they frequently started with an innocent maiden walking through what I called the Hammer forest, then meeting her end in a "horrifying" way. Roll titles. Her funeral. Something wicked is among us.

by Anonymousreply 23July 8, 2022 8:57 PM

I loved Michael Gough. Don't remember the title but it starred Christopher Lee.

by Anonymousreply 24July 8, 2022 9:31 PM

There's one about a witch who is the headmistress of a school? I won't give away the ending, except that she meets a deserved end. I'd like to find it again.

by Anonymousreply 25July 8, 2022 10:26 PM

I wish more modern horror films would be a made in the style of hammer films. Does anyone want to name some recent films that are reminiscent of that style? I'll start with The Awakening with Rebecca Hall. It was released several years ago.

by Anonymousreply 26July 8, 2022 10:51 PM

R26 I love The Awakening! I think it is so good!

by Anonymousreply 27July 8, 2022 10:52 PM

R27 I greatly enjoyed it too. It really reminded me so much of the beautiful and atmospheric 60s/ 70s hammer films.

by Anonymousreply 28July 8, 2022 10:54 PM

R25, Sounds like it could be Suspiria, but that's not a Hammer film, but then there is a Hammer film called The Witches with a similar plot line.

by Anonymousreply 29July 8, 2022 10:59 PM

Michael Gough was the best

by Anonymousreply 30July 8, 2022 11:05 PM

Vampire Circus holds up better than Countess Dracula R12, which is fairly dull and boring. It's biggest assets were they got to use the sets from Anne of the Thousand Days and the handsome Sandor Eles is the hero. Vampire Circus is the opposite to boring, with almost too much going on.

The first one I saw, at about ten, was Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, which gave me two types of tingling: one fear-based and another when Barry Andrews took his shirt off. He was a handsome British actor who was also in Blood on Satan's Claw, produced by Tigon, a competitor to Hammer and Amicus. Along with The Wicker Man and Witchfinder General, Blood ... is considered one of the foundations of the folk-horror genre.

As for favourite Hammer: probably The Vampire Lovers, which contains a bit of everything that made Hammer what it was.

by Anonymousreply 31July 8, 2022 11:05 PM

I prefer Universal.

by Anonymousreply 32July 8, 2022 11:11 PM

I don't think Basil Rathbone ever appeared in a Hammer, OP. He did do horror for Universal and AIP.

by Anonymousreply 33July 8, 2022 11:12 PM

COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE is definitely not a Hammer film. It was a very cheaply made indie horror film for AIP.

MEDUSA TOUCH was also not Hammer.

My faves are:

HORROR OF DRACULA, BRIDES OF DRACULA, THE DEVIL'S BRIDE, FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED , TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA

by Anonymousreply 34July 8, 2022 11:16 PM

Yeah R34, that's so with Count Yorga and its sequel. At the time I found them scarier than the Hammer films, which as I grew older I didn't find very frightening. I think what made the Yorga films scary beyond the jump scares and just the thought of vampires existing was being set in modern times whereas the Hammers had a Gothic Victorian setting, making them feel more fairytale-ish. I also liked Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, most of the Draculas, and Hands of the Ripper.

Remember how in the early 70s there was also a spate of black magic/Satanist films from the US like Brotherhood of Satan and Rave With the Devil. It was a good time for horror films.

by Anonymousreply 35July 8, 2022 11:25 PM

Christopher Lee's lustful performance in Dracula, Prince of Darkness me a bit of a woody.

by Anonymousreply 36July 8, 2022 11:28 PM

* Race With the Devil. It might be fun to rave with the Devil but he'd probably beat you in a race.

by Anonymousreply 37July 8, 2022 11:28 PM

For the intellectual set, Joseph Losey's THE DAMNED (63). Oliver Reed as a Teddy Boy! Otherwise, it's almost impossible to describe the premise.

by Anonymousreply 38July 8, 2022 11:29 PM

My faves:

Countess Dracula

Dracula A.D. 1972

Die! Die! My Darling

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed

The Gorgon

Fear In The Night

by Anonymousreply 39July 8, 2022 11:32 PM

My favourites are Horror of Dracula, Brides of Dracula and The Revenge of Frankenstein.

by Anonymousreply 40July 9, 2022 7:33 AM

Universal was furious that Hammer was remaking what Universal regarded as their films. It sued to stop the Hammer series but since the source material was in the public domain, it had no case.

Universal then claimed a copyright on the look and make up of their monsters, Karloff's Frankenstein especially. The courts agreed and Hammer had to go out of its way to ensure their monsters didn't resemble Universal's.

At the time, Hammer was criticized for the look of their monsters but it had no choice but to be very different.

by Anonymousreply 41July 9, 2022 11:14 AM

Damn you guys have put me in the mood for a Hammer film! YouTube here I come! Any links to full movies you recommend?

by Anonymousreply 42July 9, 2022 11:45 AM

Kiss of the Vampire is on you tube. Says it's The Vampire Lovers but it's not. Those sneaky undead. Vampire Lovers used to be on you tube but seems to have disappeared. There's also The House That Dripped Blood (one of the Amicus portmanteau films) with Ingrid Pitt and Chris Lee and both Blood on Satan's Claw and Witchfinder General.

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by Anonymousreply 43July 9, 2022 11:54 AM

It was great fun to watch them in a theater, with collective shivers and screaming. You can't have that at home on the small screen.

by Anonymousreply 44July 9, 2022 12:11 PM

Here in my hometown in Australia they often had a double bill on Sunday nights of a couple of Hammer horrors or other 70s horror films. A few were R-rated so I had to wait until years later to see them (Lust for a Vampire and Twins of Evil come to mind) but if they were M-rated I could go. One time they must have run a little longer than usual and we missed the last bus home. I lived furthest from town so my friends peeled off one by one till I was walking by myself. The last stretch had a park on one side and just wasteland on the other and my walk soon turned into a jog and then a full on sprint up the road and down the back lane, till I burst, panting, through the back door.

Watching them now they are not very scary and their appeal lies more in the skills of their technicians and excellent character actors. Hammer really did manage to achieve a lush look and an atmospheric feel on very small budgets.

by Anonymousreply 45July 9, 2022 12:34 PM

Didn't Hammer basically save the British film industry in the 60s from the past war funk? The next wave to revive it further were the Angry Young Men and their writing and cinema, wasn't it?

by Anonymousreply 46July 9, 2022 1:09 PM

R46 1960's British cinema consisted of two different genres:

Long epic FILMS that are greatly scored, greatly acted, and as slow as Christmas.

or

Hammer Horror Studios productions with classically trained actors that are having a blast.

by Anonymousreply 47July 9, 2022 4:52 PM

R33 Basil Rathbone was in The Comedy of Terrors with Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff. That might not be a Hammer Horror Studios production, but it was pretty close. It was a hoot at least.

by Anonymousreply 48July 9, 2022 4:55 PM

Yeah r47 no one watching those other tedious turgid turds, and Hammer came along to save the industry.

by Anonymousreply 49July 9, 2022 5:08 PM

The second Count Yorga movie (from 1971) was inspired by the Manson murders. The most famous scene is the one where his (female) vampire acolytes invade a home and kill the occupants.

by Anonymousreply 50July 9, 2022 5:11 PM

R49 I was watching them LOL

by Anonymousreply 51July 9, 2022 5:28 PM

Hammer and the Carry On films got the industry out of its death throes.

by Anonymousreply 52July 9, 2022 5:33 PM

R50, yes the opening sequence is inspired by the Manson Murders and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. One interesting aspect is that the character who discovers the victims is deaf and let's out this long series of silent screams. The rest of the film doesn't quite live up to the opening but it's better than the first YORGA movie.

THE DAMNED (called THESE ARE THE DAMNED in the U.S.) is fascinating mostly for the 2nd half and a great helicopter shot at the end. But the first part with Oliver Reed as a local tough is pretty dumb, especially that awful "Black leather, black leather, rock, rock, rock" song.

Ingrid Pitt's voice was dubbed for COUNTESS DRACULA as director Peter Sasdy felt her accent was too thick. She was furious and never spoke to him again (I'm sure he was heartbroken...not). As someone else noted above, it's not a good movie.

by Anonymousreply 53July 9, 2022 7:03 PM

The two Blacula movies also have a strong Hammer atmosphere, even though they’re considered typical blaxploitation pieces..

by Anonymousreply 54July 10, 2022 12:57 PM

I saw “The Horror of Dracula” on tv when I was about 7 (my parents weren’t exactly of the helicopter variety.)

I remember being already terrified when van Helsing had just arrived at Dracula’s peaceful and idyllic looking castle. What probably frightened me was simply the suggestion that the castle was a seductive facade for something monstrous.

by Anonymousreply 55July 10, 2022 1:05 PM

[quote] Hammer Horror Studios productions with classically trained actors that are having a blast

R47 What does 'blast' mean? Is it a fancy word for a fortnightly wage?

by Anonymousreply 56July 10, 2022 1:39 PM

Jeremy Brett didn't appear in any cheap and nasty trash from Hammer.

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by Anonymousreply 57July 10, 2022 1:44 PM

Vampire Circus (quite a few good-looking men in it) and Demons of the Mind.

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by Anonymousreply 58July 10, 2022 5:08 PM

I had SUCH a crush on Anthony Higgins when I first saw Vampire Circus as a kid. So dark and handsome.

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by Anonymousreply 59July 10, 2022 5:32 PM

[quote] I had SUCH a crush on Anthony Higgins

He has a Russian fan site with LOTs of pictures showing how his face has matured over the last half-century.

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by Anonymousreply 60July 11, 2022 1:09 AM

Hammer produced trash.

I know the British like to support the underdog but trash is trash.

by Anonymousreply 61July 11, 2022 2:17 AM

Mr OP sounds like the Wikipedia troll who cuts and pastes from Wikipedia and then adds some incorrect information.

So Rathbone wasn't employed by the Hammer Corporation but was Michael Gough and Denholm Elliott?

I didn't think Denholm Elliott would dip in his toe into Hammer's stinky adolescent rubbish.

by Anonymousreply 62July 11, 2022 2:25 AM

I opened this expecting an Armie Hammer thread. This is much better!

by Anonymousreply 63July 11, 2022 2:27 AM

[quote] Hammer and the Carry On films got the industry out of its death throes.

R52 The industry has been slumping since the mid-1920s.

Parliament legislated for 'Quota Quickies' in 1927.

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by Anonymousreply 64July 11, 2022 2:29 AM

Is it true that the Hammer Company is still in existence?

by Anonymousreply 65July 11, 2022 2:31 AM

R12 Vampire Circus was terrifying. I, too, saw it at the movies as a child. The vampires in it had extra-long teeth!

by Anonymousreply 66July 11, 2022 3:09 AM

[quote]I didn't think Denholm Elliott would dip in his toe into Hammer's stinky adolescent rubbish.

I mean he dipped his wick in any old dirty hole he could, hence his ultimate fate...

by Anonymousreply 67July 11, 2022 3:14 AM

This thread is making me happy, I love listening to y’all talk about old movies. I love Hammer but I can never keep them straight, they’ve all kind of mashed up into one movie in my head, they would re-use the sets and costumes of course to save money so it’s not all my fault! I love the Hammer vibe and will put one in when I want that but I actually don’t think they made anything as scary as AIP did with their Vincent Price movies. Those Poe movies legit freak me out

by Anonymousreply 68July 11, 2022 3:20 AM

I was wrong. Sad-faced Denholm Elliott did appear in cheap Hammer rubbish.

I bet he felt humiliated what with his Shakespearean experience gone to waste.

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by Anonymousreply 69July 11, 2022 4:16 AM

Denholm Elliot was also in The House That Dripped Blood (1971) with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Jon Petwee, Tom Adams, Joss Ackland, Jonathan Lynn, and Miss Ingrid Pitt.

by Anonymousreply 70July 16, 2022 5:09 PM

I don't think it was a Hammer film, but perhaps you can help me identify a vampire film. A wealthy woman returns to an English village to reclaim the family manor. She is the perfect lady of the manor. She throws a Fete for the towns enjoyment, etc. However, people start to get "sick" including the protagonist's boyfriend. The entire film is pretty much a standard vampire film with genders reversed: female vampire and protagonist, male victim. It has one of those "is she really dead" type endings.

by Anonymousreply 71July 16, 2022 8:19 PM

R71 I am not sure. Maybe The Brides of Dracula

by Anonymousreply 72January 3, 2023 8:48 PM

I don't watch cheap and nasty B movies with creaky cardboard sets and creaky ham actors creeping around making themselves look ridiculous.

by Anonymousreply 73January 3, 2023 8:51 PM
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