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RE: Hammer Horror - 3/12/2009 3:51:23 PM

Snake-Eyes

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Joined: 1/10/2005
From: ZONE 2

My late Mother was a HUGE fan of the Hammer Horrors and we used to stay up late and watch them on Saturday Nights. The two that I remember the most are -

THE CREEPING FLESH scared the living piss outta me when I was a kid! I liked the little twist at the end as well.

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Post #: 91

RE: Hammer Horror - 3/12/2009 8:03:45 PM

evil bill

Posts: 6557
Joined: 19/7/2006
From: mordor/ uk

quote:

ORIGINAL: Snake-Eyes

My late Mother was a HUGE fan of the Hammer Horrors and we used to stay up late and watch them on Saturday Nights. The two that I remember the most are -

THE CREEPING FLESH scared the living piss outta me when I was a kid! I liked the little twist at the end as well.

Two classics there mate and what a mum,very like mine who used to allow me as a kid,to stay up late and watch the Friday night horror double bill on BBC1,back in the 70's,god i feel old when i say that.

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Post #: 92

RE: Hammer Horror - 3/12/2009 8:10:03 PM

Dr Lenera

Posts: 3444
Joined: 19/10/2005

My parents never let me do that, I would either sneak downstairs when they'd gone to bad or wait till I stayed with my grandad, he didn't care how late I stayed up till!

I don't think those two movies were actually made by Hammer, but they're very much in that style. Yes The Creeping Flesh terrified me when I was young, especially the last 20 minutes, crikey! Need to see it again, don't think it's on DVD.

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Post #: 93

RE: Hammer Horror - 3/12/2009 8:20:02 PM

paul.mccluskey

Posts: 4941
Joined: 15/4/2007
From: Port Glasgow, Scotland, UK

quote:

ORIGINAL: Snake-Eyes

My late Mother was a HUGE fan of the Hammer Horrors and we used to stay up late and watch them on Saturday Nights. The two that I remember the most are -

THE CREEPING FLESH scared the living piss outta me when I was a kid!� I liked the little twist at the end as well.

These weren't Hammer films, but The Creeping Flesh is a classic.

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Post #: 94

RE: Hammer Horror - 3/12/2009 8:37:55 PM

Snake-Eyes

Posts: 9970
Joined: 1/10/2005
From: ZONE 2

Oops. Quite right folks, they were not Hammer Productions but you can forgive the confusion I hope - they are very similar in style. Dr. Lenera, you're right, they are not available on DVD - Damn! y'know there is another film from this era that young Snake-Eyes really enjoyed that, until recently, I also thought was a Hammer feature but it wasn't -

I saw this again recently and one of the scariest things about this flick were the devil-chick's wierd-ass eyebrows!

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Post #: 95

RE: Hammer Horror - 4/12/2009 6:55:30 PM

evil bill

Posts: 6557
Joined: 19/7/2006
From: mordor/ uk

Decided to dig this out last night and give it a fresh viewing,as i was dead tired i've kept this review short(puns intended

).
Young workers are dying because of a mysterious epidemic in a little village in Cornwall. Doctor Thompson is helpless and asks professor James Forbes for help. The professor and his daughter Sylvia travel to Thomson. Terrible things happen soon, beyond imagination or reality. Dead people are seen near an old, unused mine. Late people seem to live suddenly. Professor Forbes presumes that black magic is involved and someone has extraordinary power. He doesn't know how close he is: the dead become alive because of a magic voodoo-ritual, and so they must serve their master as mindless zombies. A great Hammer zombie flick, with a decent cast, pretty gruesome special effects, good atmosphere(as you'd expect from Hammer).Not in the same league as, say, The Beyond or Zombies,but it did breath life into the Zombie genre,leading to the classic's i've mentioned,and George A Romeros take on the Zombie genre.So it deserves to be viewed as a mile stone in Zombie movies,with it's themes of colonialism,exploitation and tyranny that Romero and Fulci also added to the mix.Small fact,it was shot back to back with The Repitle,using the same sets.7/10

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Post #: 96

RE: Hammer Horror - 4/12/2009 7:53:29 PM

matty_b

Posts: 12839
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From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.

Love The Plague of the Zombies and Blood on Satan's Claw is awesome too.

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Post #: 97

RE: Hammer Horror - 9/12/2009 11:59:43 PM

Dr Lenera

Posts: 3444
Joined: 19/10/2005

Dr Simon Helder is arrested for doing medical research not unlike that done by Victor Frankenstein and is thrown into a lunatic asylum. He soon discovers that the asylum is secretly being ran by Frankenstein who is still pursusing his depraved research. The two men set out to create a new being, the body of an ape-like strong man with the hands of a craftsman and the brain of a brilliant scientist. Unsurprisingly, it all starts to go wrong.....

This was one of Hammer's last movies. The company's films had not been very successful at the box office for a couple of years, with Hammer's style of horror seeming very outdated. After some interesting experiments such as Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter and Demons Of The Mind, Hammer decided to return to the subject of their first big success which had been the classic Curse Of Frankenstein in 1957, hoping that Terence Fisher and some more of that film's crew, plus the great Peter Cushing as Dr Frankenstein, would enable another big hit. Sadly it wasn't to be.

That's not surprising, since Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell is really quite a disappointment, especially considering how good some of the earlier films in the series [such as Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed] had been. It comes across as being pretty much a tired rehash of The Revenge Of Frankenstein and the afore-mentioned Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. This wouldn't be too bad if the film was fun, but it's not really, it's very pedestrian and lacking in tension. The none-too-convincing asylum setting enables a morbid atmosphere that's quite compelling, and Anthony Hinds' script has the odd memorable sick touch [at one point Frankenstein decided he wants to mate the monster with a mute girl], but it really seems like the once brilliant Fisher, who made lots of Hammer's classics in the late 50s and 60s, had lost his touch.

To atone for this, the film throws in some black humour which does kind of work, such as an operation scene where Frankenstein, his hands useless, grips an artery with his teeth. There's also a considerable amount of gore, with lots of spurting blood and graphic [though very unconvincing!] brain surgery, in fact this film was much cut at the time and even now is hard to find totally uncut. Some people hate the monster but I think he's effectively horrible looking.

Peter Cushing is still superb as Frankenstein, every one of his performances in the role is slightly different, and here he convincingly but quite calmely becomes more insane as the film progresses. The final scene, where the camera seems to be showing Frankenstein going about his work in his laboratory and then pans back to reveal the bars in the window, showing he's become a prisoner in his own asylumn, is well chosen and slightly poignant. Overall though, this is a weak, lacklustre finale to an interesting series and shows that Hammer was probably right to stop when it did.
5/10

< Message edited by Dr Lenera -- 25/6/2010 2:51:42 PM >

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Post #: 98

RE: Hammer Horror - 14/1/2010 11:27:52 AM

evil bill

Posts: 6557
Joined: 19/7/2006
From: mordor/ uk

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dr Lenera

FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL
Dr Simon Helder is arrested for doing medical research not unlike that done by Victor Frankenstein and is thrown into a lunatic asylum. He soon discovers that the asylum is secretly being ran by Frankenstein who is still pursusing his depraved research. The two men set out to create a new being, the body of an ape-like strong man with the hands of a craftsman and the brain of a brilliant scientist. Unsurprisingly, it all starts to go wrong.....

This was one of Hammer's last movies. The company's films had not been very successful at the box office for a couple of years, with Hammer's style of horror seeming very outdated. After some interesting experiments such as Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter and Demons Of The Mind, Hammer decided to return to the subject of their first big success which had been the classic Curse Of Frankenstein in 1957, hoping that Terence Fisher and some more of that film's crew, plus the great Peter Cushing as Dr Frankenstein, would enable another big hit. Sadly it wasn't to be.

That's not surprising, since Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell is really quite a disappointment, especially considering how good some of the earlier films in the series [such as Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed] had been. It comes across as being pretty much a tired rehash of The Revenge Of Frankenstein and the afore-mentioned Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. This wouldn't be too bad if the film was fun, but it's not really, it's very pedestrian and lacking in tension. The none-too-convincing asylum setting enables a morbid atmosphere that's quite compelling, and Anthony Hinds' script has the odd memorable sick touch [at one point Frankenstein decided he wants to mate the monster with a mute girl], but it really seems like the once brilliant Fisher, who made lots of Hammer's classics in the late 50s and 60s, had lost his touch.

To atone for this, the film throws in some black humour which does kind of work, such as an operation scene where Frankenstein, his hands useless, grips an artery with his teeth. There's also a considerable amount of gore, with lots of spurting blood and graphic [though very unconvincing!] brain surgery, in fact this film was much cut at the time and even now is hard to find totally uncut. Some people hate the monster but I think he's effectively horrible looking.

Peter Cushing is still superb as Frankenstein, every one of his performances in the role is slightly different, and here he convincingly but quite calmely becomes more insane as the film progresses. The final scene, where the camera seems to be showing Frankenstein going about his work in his laboratory and then pans back to reveal the bars in the window, showing he's become a prisoner in his own asylumn, is well chosen and slightly poignant. Overall though, this is a weak, lacklustre finale to an interesting series and shows that Hammer was probably right to stop when it did.

Excellent review and i agree Hammer had run it's course,still a shame it had gone passed it's sell by date.Maybe if it had of went more into the Thriller market,it might of survived to pick up on the cylce of Horror that came in the 80's,and noe the 00's,with the right scripts and directors of course.

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Post #: 99

RE: Hammer Horror - 14/1/2010 11:11:02 PM

Lazy wolf eyes

Posts: 4086
Joined: 9/9/2006
From: Royston Vasey

quote:

ORIGINAL: Snake-Eyes

Oops. Quite right folks, they were not Hammer Productions but you can forgive the confusion I hope - they are very similar in style. Dr. Lenera, you're right, they are not available on DVD - Damn! y'know there is another film from this era that young Snake-Eyes really enjoyed that, until recently, I also thought was a Hammer feature but it wasn't -

I saw this again recently and one of the scariest things about this flick were the devil-chick's wierd-ass eyebrows!

Have you got the Tigon boxset, Snake-eyes? I highly recommend listening to the League of Gentlemen commentary. They are pretty obsessed with her eyebrows too!

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Post #: 100

RE: Hammer Horror - 21/6/2010 2:54:39 PM

Dr Lenera

Posts: 3444
Joined: 19/10/2005

Well it's been a while since I looked at a Hammer film, and I'm on a bit of a werewolf thing at the moment, so here's

In late 19th century Spain, a begger becomes the unwitting guest of the evil Marquis and after being humiliated is thrown into jail. When a servant girl also winds up in the jail because she refused the Marquis, the beggar rapes her. After killing the beggar and the Marquis, she flees into the forest and dies giving birth. The child, Leon, is brought up in a poor village and although he kills a few animals on a couple of nights, he grows into a seemingly nornal young man. However, his romance with the daughter of a nobleman is in trouble and one day Leon goes to a brothel and can't control the beast within....

If asked what is the best werewolf movie, most opt for An American Werewolf In London or The Howling, with the original The Wolf Man also taking a fair number of votes. I don't think many would pick this Hammer offering, which surprisingly, considering the number of Dracula and Frankenstein movies they made, was their only werewolf film. It was later partially remade by Tyburn in 1974 as The Legend Of The Werewolf and that was certainly an enjoyable lycanthrope outing, but The Curse Of The Werewolf is in my opinion an underrated classic and deserves to be far better known.

Very loosely based on Guy Endore's novel The Werewolf Of Paris, it may disappoint those expecting spectacular transformations or tons of gore, and instead it goes for a more sober, intelligent approach. In chronicling the story of a werewolf from birth to death, the film almost resembles something like a Greek tragedy and,despite it's hour and a half running time, has an almost epic feel. This is helped by the Spanish sets used, although this was actually because Hammer had built them for a film about the Marquis De Sade and couldn't get it off the ground due to the censor's objections.

The film is quite leisurely paced and it's over half way through before we see any werewolf action. The creature's brief rampage through a town and climactic prison escape and demise are well staged and exciting, but that's about it for werewolf footage, although the werewolf makeup to my eyes betters Universal's and is probably the best until The Howling, there isn't even a proper transformation for us to enjoy. The film instead concentrates more on plot and in particular the tragic elements of the story. Much of the emotional centre comes from Leon's touching romance with Christina, the woman who may save him, although this could have maybe benefitted from a bit more time being devoted to it, for instance I would have liked to have seem how they actually met. There are times where the film's ambition appears to have been a bit restricted by things such as the budget and the need to remain within the paramaters of a Hammer horror, but it does a rather different feel from normal throughout.

Oliver Reed, in one of several roles for Hammer and his biggest, well portrays the doomed Leon and is a really convincing, strong werewolf, though one critic of the time famously said that things woul have been scarier if the werewolf had turned into Oliver Reed! My favourite performance though is that by Anthony Dawson as the really decadent, perverse Marquis, who picks scabs from his face! The Curse Of The Werewolf is not, as already said, a bloody film, but was still heavily cut on initial release, with scenes such as the beggar raping the servant girl and the first werewolf killing in the brothel considered too strong for the time, plus the BBFC had just passed Peeping Tom which caused a great deal of controversy. Of course even the full version is very tame now! Still, despite lacking in pace, this is a very well thought through Hammer outing from beginning to end.
8/10

< Message edited by Dr Lenera -- 25/6/2010 2:53:21 PM >

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Post #: 101

RE: Hammer Horror - 21/6/2010 3:40:29 PM

elab49

Posts: 51553
Joined: 1/10/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dr Lenera

Oliver Reed, in one of several roles for Hammer and his biggest, well portrays the doomed Leon and is a really convincing, strong werewolf, though one critic of the time famously said that things woul have been scarier if the werewolf had turned into Oliver Reed!

Fabulous line - and so easy to see where it came from.

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Post #: 102

RE: Hammer Horror - 21/6/2010 5:48:25 PM

evil bill

Posts: 6557
Joined: 19/7/2006
From: mordor/ uk

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dr Lenera

Well it's been a while since I looked at a Hammer film, and I'm on a bit of a werewolf thing at the moment, so here's

In late 19th century Spain, a begger becomes the unwitting guest of the evil Marquis and after being humiliated is thrown into jail. When a servant girl also winds up in the jail because she refused the Marquis, the beggar rapes her. After killing the beggar and the Marquis, she flees into the forest and dies giving birth. The child, Leon, is brought up in a poor village and although he kills a few animals on a couple of nights, he grows into a seemingly nornal young man. However, his romance with the daughter of a nobleman is in trouble and one day Leon goes to a brothel and can't control the beast within....

If asked what is the best werewolf movie, most opt for An American Werewolf In London or The Howling, with the original The Wolf Man also taking a fair number of votes. I don't think many would pick this Hammer offering, which surprisingly, considering the number of Dracula and Frankenstein movies they made, was their only werewolf film. It was later partially remade by Tyburn in 1974 as The Legend Of The Werewolf and that was certainly an enjoyable lycanthrope outing, but The Curse Of The Werewolf is in my opinion an underrated classic and deserves to be far better known.

Very loosely based on Guy Endore's novel The Werewolf Of Paris, it may disappoint those expecting spectacular transformations or tons of gore, and instead it goes for a more sober, intelligent approach. In chronicling the story of a werewolf from birth to death, the film almost resembles something like a Greek tragedy and,despite it's hour and a half running time, has an almost epic feel. This is helped by the Spanish sets used, although this was actually because Hammer had built them for a film about the Marquis De Sade and couldn't get it off the ground due to the censor's objections.

The film is quite leisurely paced and it's over half way through before we see any werewolf action. The creature's brief rampage through a town and climactic prison escape and demise are well staged and exciting, but that's about it for werewolf footage, although the werewolf makeup to my eyes betters Universal's and is probably the best until The Howling, there isn't even a proper transformation for us to enjoy. The film instead concentrates more on plot and in particular the tragic elements of the story. Much of the emotional centre comes from Leon's touching romance with Christina, the woman who may save him, although this could have maybe benefitted from a bit more time being devoted to it, for instance I would have liked to have seem how they actually met. There are times where the film's ambition appears to have been a bit restricted by things such as the budget and the need to remain within the paramaters of a Hammer horror, but it does a rather different feel from normal throughout.

Oliver Reed, in one of several roles for Hammer and his biggest, well portrays the doomed Leon and is a really convincing, strong werewolf, though one critic of the time famously said that things woul have been scarier if the werewolf had turned into Oliver Reed! My favourite performance though is that by Anthony Dawson as the really decadent, perverse Marquis, who picks scabs from his face! The Curse Of The Werewolf is not, as already said, a bloody film, but was still heavily cut on initial release, with scenes such as the beggar raping the servant girl and the first werewolf killing in the brothel considered too strong for the time, plus the BBFC had just passed Peeping Tom which caused a great deal of controversy. Of course even the full version is very tame now! Still, despite lacking in pace, this is a very well thought through Hammer outing from beginning to end.
8/10

It's one of my favorite werewolf movies of all time,and as you said very underrated for such a fine Hammer Horror movie.Excellent review that says it all really,and it's one of Oliver Reeds better movies,up there with The Devils,as one of his better acting roles.

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Post #: 103

RE: Hammer Horror - 28/7/2010 7:57:43 PM

paul.mccluskey

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Released on 22nd October. I think this will be a nice companion to The Hammer Story.

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Post #: 104

RE: Hammer Horror - 28/7/2010 8:17:20 PM

evil bill

Posts: 6557
Joined: 19/7/2006
From: mordor/ uk

quote:

ORIGINAL: paul.mccluskey

Released on 22nd October. I think this will be a nice companion to The Hammer Story.

Damn right mate,time i to hit the plastic.

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Post #: 105

RE: Hammer Horror - 29/7/2010 8:42:35 AM

Dr Lenera

Posts: 3444
Joined: 19/10/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: paul.mccluskey

Released on 22nd October. I think this will be a nice companion to The Hammer Story.

And the Hammer Glamour book! Looks great.

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Post #: 106

RE: Hammer Horror - 29/7/2010 5:50:22 PM

sanchia

Posts: 16689
Joined: 3/1/2006
From: Norwich

I've just been enjoying this one today. I found it good adaption.

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Post #: 107

RE: Hammer Horror - 30/7/2010 4:43:22 PM

paul.mccluskey

Posts: 4941
Joined: 15/4/2007
From: Port Glasgow, Scotland, UK

All three due for release on 4th October.

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Post #: 108

RE: Hammer Horror - 31/7/2010 3:57:52 PM

matty_b

Posts: 12839
Joined: 19/10/2005
From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.

Have they just been released? I've been waiting for The Gorgon for ages.

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Post #: 109

RE: Hammer Horror - 21/8/2010 5:09:43 PM

filmscene

Posts: 13
Joined: 21/8/2010

I would be interested to know members favourite Hammer frankenstein films.

My favourite is probably Curse of Frankenstein followed by Frankenstein must be destroyed.
Interesting to compare the idealistic but callous Baron of Curse (1'st outing) with the utterly ruthless & obsessed character he has become in 'must be destroyed' (5th outing). Peter Cushing is incomparable in both - what an actor!

Evil of Frankenstein is always maligned, in my opinion unfairly. I admit to a strong bias as this was the first horror film I ever saw on television & I had nightmares after. Yes, it's a basic story with no continuity with the 2 previous films & it pays dubious homage to the old Universal films (rampaging villagers, unconvincing Karloff style make up, monster in glacier etc) but it moves at a snappy pace, Cushing is superb as is Peter Woodthorpe as the villainous hypnotist..love their scenes together. Also the set design including the elaborate lab, is spectacular. My main gripe is the dodgy back projection scenes of Cushing (obvious stunt double) in a horse & cart near the end.

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Post #: 110

RE: Hammer Horror - 21/8/2010 5:39:16 PM

matty_b

Posts: 12839
Joined: 19/10/2005
From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.

Off the top of my head I'd say favourites are The Brides of Dracula, Quatermass and the Pit, Plague of the Zombies, Curse of the Werewolf and Curse of Frankenstein.

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Post #: 111

RE: Hammer Horror - 21/8/2010 10:13:12 PM

Dr Lenera

Posts: 3444
Joined: 19/10/2005

At the moment my ten favourite Hammer films are

1/ The Devil Rides Out
2/ The Gorgon
3/ Quatermass And The Pit
4/ Frankenstein Created Woman
5/ Vampire Circus
6/ Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
7/ The Curse Of The Werewolf
8/ Dracula Prince Of Darkness
9/ The Damned
10/The Plague Of The Zombies

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Post #: 112

RE: Hammer Horror - 25/8/2010 4:35:23 PM

paul.mccluskey

Posts: 4941
Joined: 15/4/2007
From: Port Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Released on 4th October.

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Post #: 113

RE: Hammer Horror - 27/8/2010 3:55:14 PM

DazDaMan

Posts: 10109
Joined: 8/9/2006
From: Penicuik - a right shithole

I've been feeling a need to watch Taste the Blood of Dracula for a while. Quality film - kickstarted my fascination for the Lee/Hammer Dracula movies!

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Post #: 114

RE: Hammer Horror - 28/8/2010 2:59:47 PM

evil bill

Posts: 6557
Joined: 19/7/2006
From: mordor/ uk

quote:

ORIGINAL: DazDaMan

I've been feeling a need to watch Taste the Blood of Dracula for a while. Quality film - kickstarted my fascination for the Lee/Hammer Dracula movies!

Just finished a short review of it,after yet again watching it today.

Three wealthy gentlemen go out during one night of the month for pleasure seeking,and are becoming incredibly bored in what they do in that time.Then they meet Lord Courtley (Ralph Bates) who claims he can give them power if they join him in some ritual to recreate his dead master, but first they have to buy a certain item off a shopkeeper to perform this task. So they meet in a rundown chapel to revive Dracula (Christopher Lee) from his ashes, but they chicken out of fulfilling their end of the bargain and to keep this quiet they kill the servant. Thinking that it will just blow over, how wrong are they as now Dracula has been revived through his servants' corpse and he plans to take vengeance on those three for killing his servant. The story has some big holes, but is one of the better Dracula films in the Hammer series,and one of my favorites. It's hard to explain just what makes it work so well, but the acting, editing and cinematography and music are all so perfectly brought together in the black mass scene that it is startlingly believable.With some fine direction from Peter Sasdy, and loads of Hammer's trademark Gothic trappings,lush Gothic atmosphere,plus the gorgeous Linda Hayden,who appears in a brothel scene with some gratuitous nudity.This has a fair share of blood and sex,as it was now into the 70's and Hammer where out to push the limits along with the new era of film makers.The acting looks a bit Ham at times but then what do we love most about this era of Hammer horror,it's it's overall style.7/10

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Post #: 115

RE: Hammer Horror - 28/8/2010 3:34:11 PM

DazDaMan

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From: Penicuik - a right shithole

Spot-on review there, mate. I'm gonna have to watch it later!

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Post #: 116

RE: Hammer Horror - 29/8/2010 3:29:41 PM

filmscene

Posts: 13
Joined: 21/8/2010

Beware spoilers !!
Love your review of Taste the Blood of Dracula, Evil Bill. It's a film with great atmosphere and was the first Hammer Dracula film to take the count to England, as in Stoker's novel. It had a very strong cast with Geoffrey Keen excellent as the oppressive father & Linda Hayden & Isla Blair very sexy. Even trusty old Hammer regular Michael Ripper is on hand as the inspector - what more do you want!

I also love James Bernard's beautiful music score..(Hammer always had top drawer composers providing first rate music & Bernard was their best).
The opening scene with Dracula writhing on that cross from the previous film was particularly stunning as was the climax in the desecrated church. I thought the revenge theme was effective with the count using the children to kill their fathers (Lucy staking her father in the church was genuinely disturbing!)

Criticisms of the film are that Dracula is not really given that much to do - he is a shadowy figure most of the time, simply instructing the kids to kill. Christopher Lee himself was disgruntled over this lack of screen time, claiming that Hammer's Dracula sequels never developed his character but simply conceived a story & then popped Dracula in, leaving the supporting characters with most of the attention. In fairness to Hammer, though, where could they really go with Dracula in terms of plot development?..He's a vampire who needs blood to survive..Do we expect him to go into business, maybe sell insurance!

TTBOD does probably give Dracula his least time on screen, even less if you have only seen the censored US print which cuts out the shots of him looking down on each of the dying fathers, but there is a possible explanation for this. Apparently Hammer were trying to break the stranglehold of Christopher Lee as Dracula, feeling his salary demands were too much. As a result, the film was not originally intended to feature Dracula, but rather Lord Courtley as the main vampire (Hammer felt actor Ralph Bates could be groomed as their new horror star). However the American financial backers, nervous that a vampire film without Lee as Dracula would fail at the box office, insisted on his presence.
A rather snooty Mr Lee tells the story that Hammer supremo James Carreras begged the reluctant actor to take the part, morally blackmailing him by saying he would be responsible for putting so many personnel out of work if he refused.

Either way, it's an effective film which benefits from the actual use of parts of Highgate Cemetery in it's atmospheric location shots. It looks an expensive production, especially when compared to the next Dracula film Scars of Dracula, which I feel suffered from a rather cut price feel. TTBOD is a classy Hammer Dracula film that still stands up well today.

I would love to know members favourite Hammer Dracula films (with christopher Lee) in order.

For me it would be, in order of preference,

Dracula
Dracula, Prince of darkness
Dracula has risen from the grave
Taste the blood of Dracula
Scars of Dracula
Dracula AD 1972
The Satanic rites of Dracula

I've just realised this is the order they were made..oh well!

Let me know your thoughts

(in reply to DazDaMan)

Post #: 117

RE: Hammer Horror - 29/8/2010 7:15:19 PM

evil bill

Posts: 6557
Joined: 19/7/2006
From: mordor/ uk

List of favorite Lee hammer horror Dracula films;
1/Prince Of Darkness,because it was the first one i saw as a child
2/Taste The Blood of Dracula,guess what the second one i saw as a teen.
3/Dracula.Cushing and Lee just perfect
4/The Satanic rites of Dracula,now this was violent.
5/Scars of Dracula,the uncut version is a pure gore fest.
6/Dracula AD 1972,for me was the weakest,but that's just how io felt.

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Post #: 118

RE: Hammer Horror - 29/8/2010 8:43:43 PM

DazDaMan

Posts: 10109
Joined: 8/9/2006
From: Penicuik - a right shithole

Wow, umm, let me think....

1) Dracula. Simply perfection.
2) Taste the Blood of Dracula. The first Hammer Dracula film I ever saw, and it immediately impressed me.
3) Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. I enjoyed this, but the screaming blonde bint got rather annoying.
4) Dracula AD1972. Cheesy, but fun. And it had Stephanie Beacham in it.
5) Dracula - Prince of Darkness. Gruesome (that resurrection scene is brilliant!) and fun, and carries on where the first ended so brilliantly.
6) The Satanic Rites of Dracula. Ends the series off quite nicely.
7) Scars of Dracula. Not that impressed by this. It looked very cheap and was rather nasty in comparison to the rest.

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Post #: 119

RE: Hammer Horror - 30/8/2010 12:52:25 AM

filmscene

Posts: 13
Joined: 21/8/2010

For me, Hammer are the biz when it comes to vampire films. Yes, modern efforts like 30 days of night are real gut wrenchers with shock moments & gore galore but hammer had style to spare.

I thought Coppola's 1992 film 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' was a joke. It wasn't that much more faithful to Stoker's novel than Hammer's 1958 film despite it's pompous title & a trillion dollar budget.
Worst of all was the monumental miscasting of Gary Oldman (an actor I like) in the title role - short with a ridiculous outsized head shaped like a pair of bollocks during the early scenes in Transylvania & then transformed into a playboy about town for the scenes in England (complete with trendy shades). Compare him to the sheer physical & demonic presence of Christopher Lee.

Likewise, Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing was determined to overact everyone else off the screen, making Peter Cushing even more impressive in the role. OK, there were the odd artful touches & the photography was impressive but overall it was pants.

However, as it was Coppola, critics bent over backwards to praise it. Any film with charisma free Keanu (the plank) Reeves as Jonathon Harker has got to be a turkey..I mean, I'm no great fan of John Van Eyssen's slightly wooden performance as Harker in Hammer's original but compared to Keanu, it's Shakespearian.

Anyway, that's my rant over..sorry for rambling but it annoys me that the film has such a high reputation & yet people can be so sniffy about Hammer!

Give me your thoughts

(in reply to DazDaMan)

Post #: 120