Hammer Studios
Having not released a feature for over thirty years, Hammer returned with gusto in 2010. Following on from the DVD release of online serial Beyond The Rave, Hammer released its first theatrical feature of the 21st century in October 2010 with Let Me In, the eagerly-anticipated and critically-acclaimed adaptation of Swedish vampire tale Let The Right One In.
The Resident and Wake Wood followed early 2011, with an adaptation of internationally-lauded ghost story The Woman In Black starring Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe due for international theatrical release from February 2012.
By Lila Smith,
Ben carnet
and
Mollie vigo
Notable Actors of Hammer Studios:
Ralph Bates – Taste the Blood of Dracula, The Horror of Frankenstein, Lust for a Vampire, and DR Jekyll and Sister Hyde
Peter Cushin – Star Wars – Not Hammer! (Grand Moff Tarkin), The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Hammer Heritage of Horror (Documentary)
Christopher Lee – Star Wars – Not Hammer! (Count Duku), Dracula, Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (Documentary)
Veronica Carlson – Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, The Horror of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
Jennifer Daniel - The Kiss of the Vampire, The Reptile, Rumpole of the Bailey
Monsters
January 2000 marked a major change for the company as it entered the 21st century. Chairman Roy Skeggs, who had been with the company since the 1960s, resigned and handed the business over to a private investment consortium which included advertising guru Charles Saatchi.
1994 also saw the broadcast on the BBC of a two-part documentary on Hammer - Flesh And Blood. It would mark the end of Hammer's long association with Peter Cushing, who died not long after completing work on the project.
2007 marked fifty years of Hammer horror, with various events to mark the occasion, including a restoration by the BFI of Hammer's original Dracula.
With the arrival of Beyond The Rave, and filming on The Resident underway Hammer had made not only its first dramatic production in nearly twenty-five years, but a welcome return to horror. With further plans for both film and television having been announced, Hammer had truly risen from the grave...
Themes in horror films mostly revolved around bringing to life the audiences nightmares and hidden fears, which are often about monsters or simply the unknown. These elements are often shown by putting monsters or aliens into normal life, merging fantasy with reality.
Often the issues are portrayed through gore, torture and pain. However stories about the supernatural can be developed with very little/ to no action, simply make a presence known.
Death and rebirth of Hammer
Difficulties faced by the studio
History
in the 1970s Michael Carreras rejoined the company , but the British film industry was already beginning to suffer financially as the arrival of colour television contributed to a decline in box office revenues.
But by the middle of the decade the game was up. Gothic horror was out of fashion, and Hammer couldn't find backers for production. To the Devil A Daughter, the company's last horror film of the 20th century, was in spectacular departure from the well-worn recipe.
Although no longer a force in horror cinema, Hammer discovered another outlet for horror product - television.
Three years later, Hammer House Of Mystery And Suspense couldn't live up to its predecessor. Made for the US market, the scripts were watered down by strict requirement of Twentieth
Century Fox, who also extended the required duration of each episode from an hour to 90 minutes only weeks before production.
Sadly, the company was unable to build on this TV production base.
The series, narrated by Oliver Reed, would sit on the shelves until finally being broadcast in 1994.
Hammer films and info
Dracula (1958)
Budget - £81,000
Cinematography – Jack Asher
Editing – Billy Lenny
Music – James Bernard
Originally established in 1934, Hammer Films is most famous for its Gothic horror movies starring Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Dr Frankenstein.
Hammer Films recently relaunched and had phenomenal worldwide success with The Woman In Black starring Daniel Radcliffe.
Launched in 1934, Hammer's first production was The Public Life Of Henry The Ninth and, following a period of inactivity during WW2, the first picture from the newly incorporated Hammer Film Productions Ltd. was 1949's Dr. Morelle: The Case Of The Missing Heiress. The new company's first colour film was The Men Of Sherwood Forest in 1954, and in 1955 the success of The Quatermass Xperiment led to Hammer's move into horror films including The Curse Of Frankenstein in 1957 and Dracula in 1958.
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957):
Directed by Terrance Fisher
Budget - £65,000
Cinematography – Jack Asher
Editing – James Needs
Music – James Bernard
Distributer – Warner Bros.
The Mummy (1959):
Budget – approx. £100,000
Cinematography – Jack Asher
Music – Frank Reizenstein
Someone at the door
Hammer house of horror TV series
The brides of dracula
Taste the blood of dracula
Frankenstein
Beyond the rave
The lady craved excitement
Hell is a city
The Man In Black
The vampire lovers
The 1990s would prove to be one
of the most frustrating periods in
the company's history.
1980s
1970s
1960s
1950s
1990s & 2000s
2010s