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HOME - INTRO - FEATURES - KRYPTIC ARMY - LINKS - CONTACT HORROR 101: THE A-LIST OF HORROR FILMS AND MONSTER MOVIES VOL 1 FAMOUS QUOTES
"Comparisons
would be pointless. Obviously the technical advances in movie-making since
the…30’s give the latter productions| - Peter Cushing on Hammer’s remake of THE MUMMY -
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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: About the dialog or lack there
of, in DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS: About writing horror pictures: 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. |
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