In my early teens I went with groups of friends to see certain films. In May 2007, the company name was sold to a consortium headed by Dutch media tycoon John de Mol, who announced plans to spend some $50 million (£25m) on new horror films. These three films are: Running alongside production of their 1960s gothic horror films, Hammer made a series of what were known as "mini-Hitchcocks" mostly scripted by Jimmy Sangster, and directed by Freddie Francis and Seth Holt. Towards the end of 1951, the one-year lease on Down Place expired and with its growing success Hammer looked towards more conventional studio-based productions. During this period, two young American filmmakers, Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky, who later established Hammer's rival Amicus, submitted to a.a.p. The Evil of Frankenstein stars Cushing but due to an agreement made with Universal to more closely pastiche their version of the Frankenstein story, it re-tells the Baron's history in flashbacks that bear no resemblance to the two earlier Hammer Frankenstein films, and portrays the Baron with a very different personality, resulting in a film which permanently breaks the chronological continuation of the series. [51] Critics who specialise in cult films, like Kim Newman, have praised Hammer Horror more fully, enjoying their atmosphere, craftsmanship and occasional camp appeal. [17] In 1953 the first of Hammer's science fiction films, Four Sided Triangle and Spaceways, were released. Notable examples were: Hammer made a number of swashbucklers, including: Hammer had some success with films set in the British Empire, such as: On 29 May 1968, Hammer was awarded the Queen's Award to Industry in recognition of their contribution to the British economy. (The Encyclopedia of British Film characterized the remake as "about as witless and charmless as could be conceived".)[42]. Dracula was an enormous success, breaking box-office records in the U.K., the U.S. (where it was released as Horror of Dracula), Canada, and across the world. Principal photography for The Mummy began on 23 February 1959 and lasted until 16 April 1959. They eventually entered talks with Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) Of her career in horror movies, she said in an interview in 2011: “When I first started doing Hammer, all the so-called classic actors looked down on the horror film. In A History of Horror, Mark Gatiss remarked that Hammer's earlier films were taken seriously at the time, in comparison to the trademark camp appeal of their later works. Many of these involved classic horror characters such as Baron Victor Frankenstein, Count Dracula, and the Mummy, which Hammer reintroduced to audiences by filming them in vivid colour for the first time. They play out a 1950s reverie of contagion, lust and post-Suez anxiety. After a few quiet years, the film The Lodge had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 25 January 2019. These low-budget suspense thrillers, often in black-and-white, were made in the mould of Les Diaboliques (1955), although more often compared to the later Psycho. [40] Hammer was not the same without him; it responded to the new reality by bringing in new writers and directors, testing new characters, and attempting to rejuvenate their vampire and Frankenstein films with new approaches to familiar material. Plans were made to shoot the film in Eastmancolor – a decision which caused worry at the BBFC. Hammer Film: Blood of the Mummy’s Tomb (1971) [8] During this time Hinds met Spanish émigré Enrique Carreras, a former cinema owner, and on 10 May 1935 they formed the film distribution company Exclusive Films, operating from an office at 60-66 National House, Wardour Street. Shelley was best known for appearing in Hammer horror movies. The series was first aired on ABC from September 26, 1968 to January 30, 1969, prior to broadcast in the UK on ITV during 1969. They absolutely ooze with beautiful, vivid artistry, akin to Guillermo Del Toro. Lee speaks at least one line taken from Bram Stoker in every Dracula film he appeared in, except for Dracula: Prince of Darkness in which the Count does not talk at all (Lee claimed repeatedly he was appalled by his dialogue in that film and refused to speak it, but Jimmy Sangster rebutted that no dialogue was written for the character). serial. During the production of Dick Barton Strikes Back (1948), it became apparent that the company could save a considerable amount of money by shooting in country houses instead of studios. Peter Sasdy. 17 episodes of approximately 50 minutes each were produced by Hammer Film Productions and 20th Century Fox Television. ... (3 episodes, 1980) Tom Clegg. This list of who was in The Horror of Hammer can be sorted by any column, but is currently alphabetical and includes photos of who starred in The Horror of Hammer when available. ", "Reborn Hammer Films to Remake Let the Right One In", "Hammer Films Acquires Black List Writer's 'Wake, "Woman in Black film sequel announced by Hammer", https://deadline.com/2019/09/studiocanal-inks-library-deal-with-classic-horror-brand-hammer-films-1202747967, "The devil's work: gothic films at the BFI", "A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss - Q&A with Mark Gatiss", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hammer_Film_Productions&oldid=997126276, Film production companies of the United Kingdom, Articles needing additional references from November 2019, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2019, Articles with French-language sources (fr), Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Seasons of the BBC science fiction series, Much of the dark humour of the BBC comedy series, In 2010, Mark Gatiss devoted a large part of the second episode of his, The British radio dramatist Marty Ross acknowledged a debt to Hammer with regard to his two serials for, In an interview for the new Blu-ray release of, This page was last edited on 30 December 2020, at 03:19. The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974), a co-production with Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers which attempted to combine Hammer's brand of horror with the martial arts film, and To the Devil a Daughter (1976), their third adaptation of a Dennis Wheatley novel, were both quite successful at the U.K. box office, but Hammer were unable to capitalise on them as most of the profits went to other financial backers. 10 Best Hammer Horror Movies The greatest output from a studio that redefined Universal Monsters for a pulp audience. Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. During its most successful years, Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and considerable financial success. The agreement was between Cadogan, a Hammer subsidiary, and Universal. The Mummy (the title used for the remake of The Mummy's Hand, which also incorporated significant story elements from that film's first two sequels, The Mummy's Tomb and The Mummy's Ghost) was made in 1959, The Phantom of the Opera followed in 1962, and Hammer collaborated with William Castle on a remake of The Old Dark House in 1963. Henry Younger, writer/director of The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, and director/producer of The Lost Continent Daniel Radcliffe stars as lawyer Arthur Kipps. The Horror of Hammer cast members have done many other films so be sure to check out the filmographies and individual pages of the stars of The Horror of Hammer. Each episode featured a star, often American, known to US viewers. had not arrived. The Invisible Man was never produced. The Mummy went into general release on 23 October 1959 and broke the box-office records set by Dracula the previous year, both in Great Britain and the U.S. when it was released there in December.[35]. Barbara was born in London and began her career as an actor in the mid-1950s after moving to Italy. This morning the actress passed away after contracting COVID-19, her agent confirmed. Production designer Bernard Robinson and cinematographer Jack Asher were instrumental in creating the lavish look of the early Hammer films, usually on a very restricted budget. were not prepared to back a film made by Rosenberg and Subotsky, who had just one film to their credit. [17] It was Lippert's insistence on an American star in the Hammer films he was to distribute that led to the prevalence of American leads in many of the company's productions during the 1950s. "Altogether this is a horrific film and sometimes a crude film, but by no means an unimpressive piece of melodramatic storytelling" wrote one critic of Dracula in The Times in 1958. Barbara Shelley — the Hammer icon known as "the first leading lady of British horror" — has died. Hammer horror and television actor best known for films such as Dracula: Prince of Darkness Barbara Shelley and Christopher Lee in Dracula: … The house was renamed Bray Studios after the nearby village of Bray and it remained as Hammer's principal base until 1966. 1. This list of the The Horror of Hammer actors’ names (actors in the movie The Horror of Hammer) contains photos of the cast members when available. [24] The use of colour encouraged a previously unseen level of gore. His most recognizable role for the studio was as Count Dracula, but he also portrayed Frankenstein’s monster and the Mummy. The huge box office success of The Curse of Frankenstein led to the inevitable desire for a sequel in The Revenge of Frankenstein, and an attempt to give the Hammer treatment to another horror icon. I have a stronger stomach than the average (for viewing purposes) and perhaps I ought to be reacting more strongly."[20]. The success of The Quatermass Xperiment (1955; The Creeping Unknown in the U.S.) led to two sequels: There were also two Quatermass-style films: Six sequels to The Curse of Frankenstein were released between 1958 and 1974: All starred Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein, except The Horror of Frankenstein (which was not a sequel, but a tongue-in-cheek remake of The Curse of Frankenstein), in which Ralph Bates took the title role. The film was an enormous success, not only in Great Britain, but also in the U.S., where it inspired numerous imitations from, amongst others, Roger Corman and American International Pictures (with their series largely based on Edgar Allan Poe – the so-called "Poe Cycle"). Hammer films had always sold, in part, on their violent and sexual content. Although an agreement was drawn up, it is alleged that the deal was never realised and funding for Dracula eventually came from the National Film Finance Council (£33,000) and the rest from Universal in return for worldwide distribution rights. Shelley as she appeared in 1964 TV series Rupert of Hentzau. THE EXORCIST 4 (2004) Stellan Skarsgard - WTF Happened to the Horror Movie FATALE Clip - "I'm Val By The Way" + Trailer (2020) SOUL Featurette - "Tina Fey Tries Everything" + Trailer (2020) The first spin-off made was Hammer's biggest domestic earner of the 1970s and was popular enough to produce two sequels, Mutiny on the Buses (1972) and Holiday on the Buses (1973), seeing Hammer return to their pre-horror practice of adapting television properties for the cinema as they had once done with PC 49 and Dick Barton. However, only 1/3rd of Hammer films were horror! These latter films were not successful and drew fire not only from critics but from Christopher Lee himself, who refused to appear in any more Dracula films after these. For the next production, Dr Morelle - The Case of the Missing Heiress (another radio adaptation), Hammer rented Dial Close, a 23 bedroom mansion beside the River Thames, at Cookham Dean, Maidenhead. Christopher Lee grew increasingly disillusioned with the direction the character was being taken and with the poor quality of later scripts, although he did improve these slightly himself by adding lines of dialogue from the original novel. Now set in a new Dracula timeline, Peter Cushing appeared in both films, playing Professor Lorrimer Van Helsing, as well as his own grandfather (Lawrence Van Helsing) in the prologue of the first of the two films. The presentation ceremony took place on the steps of the Castle Dracula set at Pinewood Studios, during the filming of Dracula Has Risen from the Grave.[39]. Sangster submitted his script to the BBFC for examination. Blood from the Mummy's Tomb was a modern-day take on Bram Stoker's The Jewel of Seven Stars and featured Valerie Leon as a reincarnated Egyptian princess, rather than a mummy. The film was unexpectedly popular, and led to the popular 1957 sequel Quatermass 2 – again adapted from one of Kneale's television scripts, this time by Kneale and with a budget double that of the original: £92,000. The Curse of Frankenstein. It was for The Last Page that Hammer made a significant appointment when they hired film director Terence Fisher, who played a critical role in the forthcoming horror cycle. Although interested in the script, a.a.p. [30] Peter Cushing again had top-billing, this time as Doctor Van Helsing, whilst Christopher Lee starred as Count Dracula, with direction by Terence Fisher and a set design by Bernard Robinson that was radically different from the Universal adaptation; it was so radical, in fact, that Hammer executives considered paying him off and finding another designer.[31]. This put the project at risk of a copyright infringement lawsuit by Universal. In 1950, Hammer moved again to Gilston Park, a country club in Harlow Essex, which hosted The Black Widow, The Rossiter Case, To Have and to Hold and The Dark Light (all 1950). Having escaped execution and assumed an alias, Baron Frankenstein transplants his deformed underling's brain into a perfect body, but the effectiveness of the process and the secret of his identity soon begin to unravel. The project was handed to Tony Hinds, who was less impressed with the script than Michael Carreras, and whose vision for the film was a simple black-and-white 'quickie' made in three weeks. The series featured a different kind of horror each week, including witches, werewolves, ghosts, devil worship and voodoo, but also included non-supernatural horror themes such as cannibalism, confinement and serial killers. ... (2 episodes, 1980) Alan Gibson. The company tackled other genres, including psychological thrillers, sci-fi, noir and historical epic. See more ideas about hammer films, hammer picture, hammer horror films. There is a great thrill for me in having done Hammer and being known. In 1951, Hammer began shooting at their most fondly-remembered base, Down Place, on the banks of the Thames. 4. In 1980, Hammer Films created an anthology series for British television, Hammer House of Horror. Hammer's horror films featured many actors who appeared repeatedly in a number of movies, forming an informal "Hammer repertory company". A legal agreement between Hammer and Universal was not completed until 31 March 1958 – after the film had been shot – and was 80 pages long. This wiki is about Hammer horror films. As production began on Quatermass 2, Hammer started to look for another U.S. partner willing to invest in and handle the American promotion of new product. Work began almost immediately on the first film, The Public Life of Henry the Ninth at the MGM/ATP studios, with filming concluding on 2 January 1935. She has been featured in more than 100 films and TV series. You can use the actors in this list to create a new list, re-rank it to fit your views, then share it on Facebook, Twitter or any other social networks you belong to. In this film, it was bright red, and the camera lingered on it. In a break from their cinema format, these self-contained episodes featured plot twists which usually saw the protagonists fall into the hands of that episode's horror at the end. The house, virtually derelict, required substantial work, but it did not have the construction restrictions that had prevented Hammer from customising previous homes. 3. The company began shooting a new horror/thriller film in Donegal in 2008, backed by the Irish Film Board. Barbara Shelley, best known for her numerous appearances in Hammer Horror titles across the 1950s and 1960s, has died. Although the novel by Mary Shelley was long since in the public domain, Anthony Hinds was unsure about the story, as Subotsky's script adhered closely to the plot of the 1939 Universal film Son of Frankenstein, featuring a second-generation Baron Frankenstein emulating his father, the original monster-maker. Hammer Films had commercial success with some atypical output during this period, with film versions of several British TV situation comedies, most notably the ITV series On the Buses (1971). They featured a cast as diverse as Peter Cushing, Brian Cox, David Carradine, Stephanie Beacham, Diana Dors and even Pierce Brosnan. This series of mystery thrillers, which all had twist endings, comprised: In addition to these were more traditional thrillers such as: Hammer had some success with films set in (or with strong connections to) the prehistoric/ancient world, including: Hammer made several war films over the years: Hammer were less well known for their comedies, but they made a number in the 1950s and early 1960s, returning to the genre in the 1970s: Hammer occasionally made science fiction movies. [2] Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies, as well as, in later years, television series. The actress was best-known for the Hammer Horror films as well as Doctor Who. All were to be filmed in colour at Bray Studios, by the same team responsible for The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula. The actress was the star of 1950s and 1960s Hammer Horror films … For the song by Kate Bush, see, For a complete list of films by Hammer Film Productions, see. Establishing the fanged vampire in popular culture, Lee also introduced a dark, brooding sexuality to the character. Hammer Horror Edit. The actress died from underlying conditions on … With the agreement in place, Hammer's executives had their pick of Universal International's horror icons and chose to remake The Invisible Man, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Mummy's Hand. The Satanic Rites of Dracula, then called Dracula is Dead... and Well and Living in London, indulged the turn toward self-parody suggested by the title, with some humour appearing in the script, undercutting any sense of horror. See Kinsey (2005) p.86, Universal itself was having financial difficulties at the time. In August 1949, complaints from locals about noise during night filming forced Hammer to leave Dial Close and move into another mansion, Oakley Court, also on the banks of the Thames between Windsor and Maidenhead. The first output under the new owners is Beyond the Rave, a contemporary vampire story which premièred free online, exclusively, on Myspace in April 2008 as a 20 x 4 min. The contract meant that Lippert Pictures and Exclusive effectively exchanged products for distribution on their respective sides of the Atlantic – beginning in 1951 with The Last Page and ending with 1955's Women Without Men (a.k.a. In November 1934 William Hinds, a comedian and businessman, registered his film company, Hammer Productions Ltd.[5][6] It was housed in a three-room office suite at Imperial House, Regent Street, London. Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby was a successful example of psychological horror, while Bonnie and Clyde and The Wild Bunch exposed mainstream audiences to more explicit gore, and were more expertly staged than Hammer films. We must have a great deal more restraint, and much more done by onlookers' reactions instead of by shots of 'pulsating obscenity', hideous scars, hideous sightless faces, etc, etc.

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