Hammer Films

A classic British studio that made many of the most memorable horror films of the late fifties and sixties; I’ve only recently discovered how great Hammer’s films could be. Movies like The Devil Rides Out and The Brides of Dracula are enormous fun and I look forward to watching more; any recommendations for me as to which Hammer films I should watch?

I watched Taste/Scream Of Fear last week for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it.

First entries in Dracula and Frankenstein series are excellent.

Fear In The Night from the early 70’s is not a bad one. Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Ralph Bates and the lovely Judy Geeson star.

A few favorites off the top of my head: Scream of Fear, Horror of Dracula, Captain Kronos and Twins of Evil.

Call me crazy but I actually prefer the Amicus pictures over the Hammer. But among the hammer’s I’ll recommend most of the Dracula films, Twins of Evil, Plague of the Zombies, Hound of the Baskervilles.

quatermass and the pit, The Vampire Lovers, these are the damned, Curse of the werewolf, frankenstein must be destroyed, The Mummy,twins of evil, dracula prince of darkness, Vampire Circus, and the best of all the first Dracula film are the best of the Hammer bunch in my opinion John.

I found Horror Express quite nice, you can try it.

Thanks for the recommendations - I am watching Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) at the moment, and it is tremendous fun, strikingly shot and wonderfully atmospheric.

Later this year, I’m ssure you’ll be pleased to know, a bunch of Hammer films are getting released on Double Play (that is, Blu-Ray and DVD). They are: Dracula: Prince of Darkness on 5[sup]th[/sup] March, The Reptile and The Plague of the Zombies on 7[sup]th[/sup] May and Rasputin the Mad Monk, The Mummy’s Shroud and The Devil Rides Out later this year.

I guess here is an another film for my watchlist. :wink:

After the first one I think this is my favourite of the Hammer Draculas. has some very nice touches. On the whole, of their gothic horrors I prefer the Frankensteins to the Draculas. The first two are excellent, as is Frankenstein Must be Destroyed. Frankly John, if you have only just discovered the pleasures of Hammer you are in for a treat as there are loads of very enjoyable films for you to discover along with some very corny schlock (which can of course be just as much fun).

Col. Mortimer’s comments re Amicus is also very valid. They were Hammer’s biggest rival and put out some excellent stuff, especially their portmanteau films with 4 or 5 short stories in one.

I would also recommend their psycho thrillers. They made a bunch of black and white ones in the early sixties (The Nanny in your box set would qualify in this category as would Taste of Fear recommended by Yodlaf) and made a bunch more in the seventies in colour. I thoroughly enjoy all of them. The black and white ones have a nice stark quality about them and the colour ones have breasts. What more could you ask for? Oh, and while we’re on the subject, their Lesbian vampire flicks from the early seventies are also well worth a visit.

Truth be told I can’t think of many Hammers I haven’t enjoyed to some extent or another, even the genuinely bad ones, so any list of recommendations from me is likely to be very long and unwieldy but, to start with, you shouldn’t go past the two films Brian Clemens did for Hammer. Captain Kronos and Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde. Both are a lot of fun and the latter is a work of genius (in a bonkers high camp sort of way).

I forgot one: The Quatermass X-Periment from 1955. Classic Sci-Fi/Horror. I’m pretty sure John Carpenter got a lot of ideas for The Thing from it.

@ Thanks for the suggestions Phil - they’re much appreciated. I have seen clips from Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde and it’s high on my list of films to buy next, as our most of the Frankensteins and Dracula Hammer films. What are the Mummy and Werewolf films by Hammer like?

[quote=“John Welles, post:13, topic:2962”]@ Thanks for the suggestions Phil - they’re much appreciated. I have seen clips from Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde and it’s high on my list of films to buy next, as our most of the Frankensteins and Dracula Hammer films. What are the Mummy and Werewolf films by Hammer like?[/quote]i am a great horror fan as you may know John but i am not fond of " Mummy" films as they are very samey and boring but
the best of these films in my opinion is the 1959 Hammer version with Christopher Lee making an imposing Mummy.
" Curse Of the Werewolf" is certainly worth a look with Oliver Reed in a very early role and very sympathetic and tragic as the
cursed victim who just wants to settle down with a girl. As mentioned the two black and white " Quatermass" films with Brian Donlevy
are good, and the second one is very under rated. I am the opposite of Phil, i like the Dracula’s better than the Frankenstein films although
i agree " Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed " and " Curse Of Frankenstein " are good. The Hammer films i dislike are “the Reptile” and the infamously
bad " Lust For A Vampire" which is a pity as it’s part of the " Karnstein" trilogy with" the Vampire Lovers" and " Twins Of Evil" both of which are
worth seeing. hope that helps. they may seem a bit dated but most of them are still easily watchable.

[quote=“man with a name, post:14, topic:2962”]i am a great horror fan as you may know John but i am not fond of " Mummy" films as they are very samey and boring but
the best of these films in my opinion is the 1959 Hammer version with Christopher Lee making an imposing Mummy.
" Curse Of the Werewolf" is certainly worth a look with Oliver Reed in a very early role and very sympathetic and tragic as the
cursed victim who just wants to settle down with a girl. As mentioned the two black and white " Quatermass" films with Brian Donlevy
are good, and the second one is very under rated. I am the opposite of Phil, i like the Dracula’s better than the Frankenstein films although
i agree " Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed " and " Curse Of Frankenstein " are good. The Hammer films i dislike are “the Reptile” and the infamously
bad " Lust For A Vampire" which is a pity as it’s part of the " Karnstein" trilogy with" the Vampire Lovers" and " Twins Of Evil" both of which are
worth seeing. hope that helps. they may seem a bit dated but most of them are still easily watchable.[/quote]

I would agree that the first Mummy film, with Christopher Lee, is the best of them although the teenage boy in me still enjoys watching Valerie Leon in the last one (Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb) despite it not being very good. The Werewolf does benefit from having Olly Reed and is a decent effort if a little dated now. In fact Olly made a few films for Hammer and most are well worth a look. My favourites being The Damned and Paranoiac.

[quote=“Phil H, post:15, topic:2962”]I would agree that the first Mummy film, with Christopher Lee, is the best of them although the teenage boy in me still enjoys watching Valerie Leon in the last one (Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb) despite it not being very good. The Werewolf does benefit from having Olly Reed and is a decent effort if a little dated now. In fact Olly made a few films for Hammer and most are well worth a look. My favourites being The Damned and Paranoiac.[/quote] yup i would agree Phil " These Are the Damned" is good, saw it again recently, looks a bit dated but is still passable.

I am currently watching maverick director Seth Holt’s The Nanny. Bette Davis completely dominates the film of course, but the child actors are excellent and it is all shot in immaculate black and white by the great Harry Waxman. Hammer regular Jimmy Sangster produced and wrote the script.

The infamously bad " Lust For A Vampire" which is a pity as it’s part of the " Karnstein" trilogy with" the Vampire Lovers" and " Twins Of Evil" both of which are
worth seeing.<

True it doesn’t it doesn’t fit in the with other two of the “trilogy”, but if you’re in the mood for a cheesy vampire flick with topless school girls giving each other massages it gets 5/5 :slight_smile:

I watched practically the entire studio’s output plus some Amicus productions ones all last Fall/early Winter. After I was convinced I had seen all of the best Spaghetti Westerns I delved into these. The Devil Rides Out is also one of my favourites. It’s good to hear other people from the forum are into this stuff too. I really liked all of the Frankenstein ones and most of the Dracula ones. The Plague of the Zombies and the Reptile were both good and you may notice they have the same cast and locations. Both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee contributed a massive amount of work into these a lot of these films. Another favourite of mine is The Mummy. It’s a fun genre to get into but it’s not as much fun for repeat viewings as the Spaghetti Westerns are.

[quote=“Mickey13, post:8, topic:2962”]I found Horror Express quite nice, you can try it.[/quote]It’s not a Hammer film :wink: