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BIOGRAPHIES - FILM / VIDEO GUIDES - GENERAL REFERENCES - HAMMER STUDIOS

PSYCHO-BABBLE - SPECIAL INTERESTS

HAMMER FILMS & RELATED TITLES
(Just click on the book cover to get to the review)

THE ART OF HAMMER: POSTER FROM THE ARCHIVE OF HAMMER FILMS
By Marcus Hearn
Published by Titan Books, 192 pages.

For any fan of Hammer Films, or fans of movie posters, as cliché as this sounds, this book really is a must. This coffee table size book is filled with beautiful images from Hammer movies from the '50s to their end in the late '70s. They display a mixture of posters from around the world, from British quads, American 1-sheets, Spanish, Polish, and many others that will make any poster collector just drool.
This book will show you a time when not only were posters an art form, but were made sometimes before any film had been shot, or even a word had been written in a script. These posters were created from a title and used to help sell a movie that hadn't been made yet. So it was so important that these images just jumped off the paper and made people want to see them. That is the big difference between then and now. For the low cost of this book, it is a volume that you can go back to time and time again and admire real poster artwork. Maybe some day, we'll see that again.

GREASEPAINT AND GORE: THE HAMMER MONSTERS OF ROY ASHTON
By Bruce Sachs and Russell Wall
Published by Tomahawk Press, 167 pages.

This is another one of those books that is a must for fans of Hammer films, and for those who are interested in makeup effects. Roy Ashton had created the look of some of Hammer's most famous monsters. Such as THE REPTILE, the walking dead from PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, and Ollie Reed's extraordinary makeup for CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF.

This book is filled with early sketches of Ashton's work, tons of photos, and also very interesting stories on how he did some of the work. It also has notes by the actors, directors, and other people he had to work with.

When one realizes what the makeup artist had to do back "in the old days", with no real money or time for that matter, it makes me even more amazed at some of the stuff they came up with.

This book was published in England, and I picked up at a convention, so I don't remember what the price was. I'm guessing it's around $30. While that is a bit steep for an oversized paperback, it's truly worth the money.

HAMMER FILMS: AN EXHAUSTIVE FILMOGRAPHY
By Tom Johnson & Deborah Del Vecchio
Published by McFarland & Company, Inc., 1996. 410 pages.

If you are a fan of Hammer films, this is an essential book for your collection. To say this is a "must have" is an understatement. The book lists every Hammer film, but also has the cast and crew listings, a short synopsis, original reviews, and all sorts of behind the scenes information about the making of the film, and about the people who were making them. There's also a section on the featurettes Hammer made, as well as Hammer on television.

While the price is a bit high, I couldn't recommend the book enough. Anytime I'm researching something about Hammer Studios, this is the first book that I pull out.

HAMMER GLAMOUR
By Marcus Hearn
Published by Titan Books, 2009. 160 pages.

    One of the things that Hammer was known for was the lovely ladies that filled their movies. This book is a celebration of those women. While this isn't the cheesecake type of book that most would have thought (and probably hoped), but it's an excellent mini-bio book of many of the beautiful women that appeared in their films. From the more well known names like Ingrid Pitt and Veronica Carlson, to even the more lesser known names like Diane Clare, were given a little bio about them, their careers, and their life. Of course the book is filled with tons of amazing photos of these gorgeous women.
    So the bottom line is that if you are a fan of Hammer Films, you might already have this book. If not, you will want to pick it up. Because once you pick it up, you will buy it.
    The book retails for just under $30, but you can find it on Amazon for just under $20. Great book for a great price.

HAMMER, HOUSE OF HORROR: BEHIND THE SCREAMS
By Howard Maxford
Published by The Overlook Press, 1996. 192 pages

This is another book that gives the history behind Hammer Studios. While it is no where near as detailed as the book by Denis Meikle, it does offer some interesting reading.

One of the best highlights of this book is the information in the back of the book. First they have the Hammer chronology, listing which films were made in each year. Then they have Hammer's Who's Who, which lists not only the main people behind Hammer, such as the actors and directors, but those others who also contributed, such as the composers, writers, makeup artist, and cinematographers. It then also has a filmography that lists the film, year, running time, cast & crew, and a brief synopsis. It also has plenty of black & white photos, some of the films and some behind the scenes shots, as well as some great color shots.

This book is a bit pricey for what you get. But it is a nice edition to your Hammer book collection. I would definitely get the two above volumes first before this one, although this one is probably a little bit more readily available at such places as Borders and Barnes & Noble.

HAMMER FILMS - A LIFE IN PICTURES
by Wayne Kinsey
Published by Tomahawk Press, 2008. 240 Pages.

Being a huge Hammer fan, I knew this was a book I was going to add to my collection eventually. Luckily for me, it was given to me as a recent birthday gift. And what better gift could a movie fan ask for? This book is a filled with over 600 photos covering the history of Hammer Films. There's candid shots, on the set production stills, promo shots, and much more. In these pages, you'll see shots of actors like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Oliver Reed, Ingrid Pitt, the Collinson twins, directors like Freddie Francis and Terence Fisher, and many more. Most are in black and white, but there are a few full color shots, all showing the beauty of these films and the people that made them.

The book is a bit pricey at the $54.99 retail price. But if you get it through Amazon, it's only about $35. Still not cheap, but it will save you $20. This book is only limited to 2500 copies, which is another reason for the high price. Plus, for a big film fan, this book is great just to page through, looking at all of these great films. If you're in the mood for a Hammer film but can't decide which one to watch, just a few minutes paging through this book is an easy way to help decide.

HAMMER FILMS: THE UNSUNG HEROES - THE TEAM BEHIND THE LEGEND
By Wayne Kinsey
Published by Tomahawk Press, 2010. 484 pages

Can there ever bee TOO many books on Hammer Films? I think not. Especially when they are like this one. So many books have been written about the films that Hammer made or on a few of their stars. But what about all the little people, as they say. The ones that were responsible for making the films look and sound like they did. All the people behind the scenes, whether it was an assistant director, in the wardrobe department, or even the ones working in continuity. These people are all part of the reason that these films are what they are. And now, thanks to Hammer scholar Wayne Kinsey, he is shedding light on all of these nameless people.

This book really is a who's who of Hammer Films. The book is broken down into different categories such as Writers, Directors, Camera crew, Sound, Editing, and more. With each person, Kinsey gives us their background, the Hammer Films they worked on, and what they did. For die hard fans of movies, these are the people that should be remembered just as much as their stars. And thanks to Kinsey, these special people are going to be remembered for years to come.

We couldn't recommend this book enough. If you are the slightest fan of Hammer films, then this is going to be a fascinating read, but I guarantee will have you seeking out other films in their catalog. And then the next thing you know, you will be another die hard Hammer aficionado.

A HISTORY OF HORRORS: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE HOUSE OF HAMMER
By Denis Meikle
Published by The Scarecrow Press Inc., 1996. 420 pages.

If you wish to know the real story behind the studio that dripped blood, this is the only book you need to read. This tells all the stories about how Hammer Studios came about, the dealings with the British Censor Board, many different aspects of the studio, all the way to the downfall of the British studio. This book contains input from quite a few of the major players at Hammer, from those that worked in front of the camera, as well as behind it. It really goes into quite a lot of detail at how these films got made, and the people responsible for getting them made.

It also contains a filmography, listing the cast & crew. It also contains a few great black & white photos. There have been a few books out there giving the story behind the famous "Studio that Dripped Blood", but this is the best one that we have come across so far. There's plenty of stories and information in here that I guarantee that you have not heard before.

HOUSE OF HAMMER: THE COMPLETE HAMMER FILMS STORY
Edited by Allen Eyles, Robert Adkinson, Nicholas Fry, & Jack Hunter
Published by Creation Books. 1995 (Originally published in 1973). 176 pages.

This book has been re-issued more times that I can remember. Each time it comes out, the last third of the book has something different in it, from detailed filmographies and indexes for Hammer films, to a section on vampire cinema.

In any case, if you're really looking for the story behind Hammer, once again, you need to find Denis Meikle book listed above. But this is a quick read and does give a little bit of background of the famous studio.

The book is filled with photos, mostly black and white. Some of these are in fair condition, and some of them are pretty good. There are also quite a few ad mats and poster art, with six color pages of some poster art, some from unmade films like MISTRESS OF THE SEAS.

This book is also pretty easy to find. I wouldn't run right and buy it, though. It's a bit pricey for what you're getting. You're better off saving your money for one of the books listed above.

INSIDE HAMMER
By Jimmy Sangster
Published by Reynolds & Hearn, 2001. 160 pages.

Sangster had already written autobiography, DO YOU WANT IT GOOD OR TUESDAY, which was very interesting. With this book, Sangster sticks to really what he’s famous for, and that is working with Hammer Studios. Sangster covers every film that he worked on with the famous studio; from his first film DICK BARTON STRIKES BACK as a lowly assistant to his last film FEAR IN THE NIGHT as writer, producer and director. Here are some my favorite parts of the book:

About bringing back Frankenstein back from the dead:
Hammer had sold the sequel to CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, then called THE BLOOD OF FRANKENSTEIN, on the poster alone. When Sangster was giving the job of writing it, he told Jimmy Carreras, the head of Hammer, that he was worried about writing it since he had killed the Baron off in the first movie. Carreras’ reply was, “You’ll think of something,” as he was ushering out of his office.

About the dialog or lack there of, in DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS:
Sangster talks about the controversy about Dracula not having any dialog in the movie. Christopher Lee has stated that he refused to speak the lines he was given. Sangster said that in the original HORROR OF DRACULA, the character only had a few lines in the beginning of the movie since no one knew that he was a vampire at the time. “But once his true colors were revealed he never opened his mouth again. This time, we know exactly who he is when he first appears. He is Count Dracula, king of the vampires. And vampires don’t chat. So I didn’t write him any dialog.”

About writing horror pictures:
While talking about the film CRESCENDO which Sangster re-wrote, he quotes from Alfred Shaughnessy’s autobiography, a fellow screenwriter who originally wrote the screenplay, about writing this movie. Shaughnessy said that he wrote it against his better judgment…”when money was short and I had to accept whatever was on offer to pay the rent. Some writers call this ‘whoring’.” Sangster replies “I was a writer too. I always called it making a living.”

I really enjoyed reading this book. While Sangster admits that his memory is fading fast, he still remembers and reveals some great stories about his days working for the famous studios, including having to avoid the advances from Bette Davis on a couple of different occasions. It also is interesting to read about how the movie industry worked back then, when a movie finally comes out, the screenwriter might already be working on his second or third script after that one, and not even see it. It comes highly recommended for fans of Hammer studios, horror fans in general, or just up-and-coming screenwriters.