Hammer Films: A Life in Pictures

Check out this article about the new Hammer book.

Though written by Hammer expert Wayne Kinsey, Hammer Films: A Life in Pictures seems to be primarily a feast for the eyes. Needless to say I need to have this. So if anyone out there feels like playing Secret Santa, don't let me stop you. Or if you want to use the donation button at the top of the blog, be my guest. LOL

My hunch is that this may shape up to be simply one of the best and most gorgeous books on Hammer Films out ever.

Wayne Kinsey - The Elstree Studio Years

I have this book since the official launch in London last year and finally managed to get around to finish reading it. I will very shortly also update my Hammer Books pages over at the Hammer Glamour site with this info (I seem to currently have trouble accessing it):

This is the long awaited follow up to Wayne Kinsey’s book dedicated to Hammer’s Bray Studio movies and follows very much in the same vein. This is again chock full of ultra rare pictures and very in depth on the production history of all the individual films. Kinsey again extensively quotes from censor’s reports and heavily relies on interviews conducted with Hammer talent on every level. As with his previous book it falls a little bit short on the critical analysis, but then again this is obviously not the prime focus for this kind of oeuvre and we have other works that can be read for a more critical evaluation of the films.

The format is again strictly chronological, so rather than cover the films one by one it splits the production into the following sub sections - Pre-production, Production, SPFX (if applicable), Censor – and then covers these aspects at their proper place in time. So a typical chapter can have the following reading order:

Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (pre-production), Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (production), Hand of the Ripper (pre-production), Hand of the Ripper (production), Dr Jeckyll and Sister Hyde (pre-production), Dr Jeckyll and Sister Hyde (production), On the Buses (pre-production), On the Buses (production), Twins of Evil (pre-production), Twins of Evil (production), Hands of the Ripper (censor), On the Buses (censor), Dr Jeckyll and Sister Hyde (censor), Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (censor), Twins of Evil (censor) etc…

This constant to and froing between the films takes a little while to get used to, though ultimately is a very elegant way to properly track those movies and their development stages over time.

Kinsey is a pathologist in his day job and it is quite amusing to see him correct some of Frankenstein’s anatomical errors in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. He is right: With those bloopers it is no wonder that he never managed to create a perfect being. Given that this edition covers some of the lesser known Hammer movies I may even prefer The Elstree Studio Years to the earlier Bray edition. Either way, both books are essential reading for all true Hammer Fans.

Hammer Glamour gallery

What can I say but WOW!!!!!

Just found this amazing 5-page gallery of high quality pics and scans for just about any Hammer Glamour star you can think of.

Well worth checking out.

'Nuff said. Need to go back admiring some of the beauties.

Avalard’s Box of Obfuscation

Robert Simpson, he of the Unofficial Hammer Films site and all round Hammer Fan Nice Guy, has just posted the first episode in what will hopefully prove to be a regular monthly look at British Cult Movies.

Unsurprisingly his debut looks at none other than Hammer films, although from a very novel angle. Is This A Hammer Film? was born out of a university lecture he held in Dublin and focuses on the difficulties of properly establishing a definite filmography of Hammer movies given the company’s myriad ventures and deals.

I am certainly looking forward to future instalments of this podcast that can be accessed either through the author’s new blog or via Itunes. Is it just me or will I be right in thinking that Robert may soon get a deluge of fan mails from American females who will melt at the sound of his gentle Northern Irish twang? :-)

Mirage by Hemstock and Jennings

This may come as old news to some you guys as the video is probably about two years old by now, but I only heard about this Hammer inspired music video, Mirage by Les Hemstock and Chris Jennings, when reading the new edition of Little Shoppe of Horrors. This short production looks stunning with Hemstock himself in the Dracula role (pardon: Dark Lord role as per the credits) and sporting a cape that does look suspiciously like the original cape as worn by Christopher Lee. As for the music: Well, if you like Enya, then you'll like this track.

Watch it. Count the references. Wish Beyond the Rave had been a little bit more like it.

Little Shoppe of Horrors # 21

2008 has proved to be a very special year for Little Shoppe of Horrors as Dick Klemensen has managed not just to produce one issue of his excellent magazine – trust me, there were years when even that would have been labelled an achievement – but two! Following hot on the heels of his superb Amicus special, Dick has now released another issue dedicated to The Curse of Frankenstein. Can’t wait to receive my issue in the mail and let you know more about it. Undoubtedly this will be yet another Must Have issue: You can just never expect anything less than perfection from the man!

Run, don’t walk to get a copy. If none are available to you locally, you can order them through Dick’s website.

Speaking of Curse of Frankenstein: Check out this short new interview with Jimmy Sangster that was taken during Curse's anniversary event in Bray.

The Nanny (1965)

***WARNING! Short as this piece is, it may contain some SPOILERS if you are not already familiar with the film****

Slowly, very very slowly, making my way through the mammoth Ultimate Hammer Collection set of 21 Hammer DVDs I recently caught The Nanny for the very first time and was quite pleasantly surprised.

The first surprise came when I noticed that this was a black and white production. Not sure why, but I always assumed that this was a colour movie, so I was intrigued to learn that it was indeed Hammer’s very last black and white production.

Another aspect of the film that I was unaware off was the absence of practically any sympathetic character. Hammer had at a time played with formats that offered no obvious positive characters to identify with as a viewer (most notably in my opinion in their underappreciated Dennis Wheatley adaptation The Lost Continent (1968)), but this was still a very unusual approach for screen writer Jimmy Sangster: The husband (James Villiers) is a bully, the wife (Wendy Craig) hysterical. Even the little boy (William Dix) is a brat who regularly fakes his suicide a la the later Harold and Maude and often has the viewer feel quite sorry for Bette Davis’ character who often comes across as the only sane person of the lot. As such there is indeed a certain amount of welcome suspense left as to whether her nanny really is a deranged psycho killer or whether this is just part of the boy’s vivid imagination.

Directed by Seth Holt - who died when filming of Blood of the Mummy’s Tomb (1971) had started and who was also responsible for Hammer’s equally intriguing Taste of Fear (1961) - this is one of Hammer’s best psycho thrillers. Well acted and tightly written, this is a Must See for anyone willing to stray away from Hammer’s usual Gothic tracks.