Any died in the wool Hammer Horror fans? I need recommendations.

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Toadmaster

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Hammer Films is legendary for their "bucket of blood" horror films, and of course the performances of Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and a bevy of shapely female co-stars.

I saw loads of these movies as a kid on late nights and weekends in the pre-cable days when they were a popular choice to fill out slow TV slots.

What I struggle with is film names, and unfortunately there don't seem to be any really good Hammer collections like their are for the classic Universal horror films. There are a few collections but they tend to little in common. No solid themes like all Frankenstein, Dracula, Peter Cushing / Christopher Lee pairings etc, so I'm guessing I'm going to have to pursue singles.

I found the "Complete Hammer Collection", but it is far from that, 20 films, only one Frankenstein film, and probably half are not even horror films. Looking them up many of the films also receive pretty poor reviews which is not a universal feature of Hammer, some were actually well received.

The horror films I've been able identify that I can actually remember seeing are

The Gorgon
Curse of Frankenstein
Dracula
The Revenge of Frankenstein
Phantom of the Opera
Dracula Prince of Darkness
Frankenstein created woman
Dracula has Risen from the Grave

also not a horror film but The Hound of the Baskervilles


Anyway, looking for Hammer selections worth picking up. Mostly interested in those which are actually decent horror films not high cheese factor.
 
Horror Of Dracula and The Devil Rides Out are probably the best of the classic Horror films. Of the ones you didn't list, The Abominable Snowman Of The Himalayas, Hands Of The Ripper, Horror Express, The Mummy and Plague Of The Zombies are all worth checking out. The various Quartermass films might also be of interest. Finally, Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires is noteworthy for the melding of Hammer horror with martial arts.
 
I'm a huge fan.

Hammer movies have been a love of mine since childhood. Christopher Lee IS my Dracula. And my Frankestein's monster. And my preferred version of The Mummy for that matter. It was always the Hammer movies here in the UK, never the Universal ones, so I was enthralled by these screams, bright red blood and occasional boobs.

The Ultimate Hammer Collection is, sadly, a lie. As is the cheap "Best of..." Indicator sell a tremendous multi-series set of blu-rays, but these are expensive as hell and not a quick way to build your collection.

Taste of Fear (Scream of Fear in the U.S.) is more a thriller, but an excellent early outing. I also really like X the Unknown for a Quatermass-style sci-fi. Neither are exactly 'classic monster horror' affairs, but both are good movies before Hammer's output became overly formulaic. I'd lump The Damned in here too, it's a sci-fi book adaptation, and a bleak one.

I like Curse of the Werewolf, maybe more than I should. I also appreciate the Karstien trilogy (Vampire Loves, Lust for a Vampire and Twins of Evil) definitely more than they deserve.

The Devil Rides Out is, of course, excellent and holds up well even today.

Marcus Hearn has written a collection of really nice books about Hammer Films. The Hammer Story being the more informative, though The Art of Hammer is a wonderful collection of promotional material and posters.
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

Although it does have Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, I don't think Horror Express was a Hammer Film their frequent collaboration with studios in other countries gets murky. It certainly has the same vibe though and is a neat reskinning of The Thing.


Wasn't sure if the Karstien trilogy was worthwhile, but the first, Vampire Lovers is supposedly a decent adaption of Carmilla. One review described it as a fairly faithful retelling of Carmilla with more boobs and blood so I already have the fancy cleaned up Scream Factory version winging its way to me. :wink:
 
I'm more a Universal fan, but Brides of Dracula, though it lacks Dracula, is worth a look, with Peter Cushing and the exquisitely lovely Yvonne Monlaur.
 
Dracula 1972 AD and The Satanic Rites of Dracula are two of my favourite Hammers, in case you haven't seen them.

The description of these at Wikipedia did not stir up any memories, but pretty much anything Hammer featuring PC / CL related to Dracula or Frankenstein will be going on my list. Those two actors have saved many an otherwise worthless film.

I'm more a Universal fan, but Brides of Dracula, though it lacks Dracula, is worth a look, with Peter Cushing and the exquisitely lovely Yvonne Monlaur.

I am too, but unlike Hammer there are several good options for Universal collections available.

Since we didn't have a color TV until I was in high school, Universal being in B&W was no detriment. B&W still doesn't bother me but my wife is not a fan putting it on the same level as subtitles. Tolerable if the movie is good enough, but a turn off if not.
 
The Frankenstein films starring Cushing are the best series and probably the best horror film series ever imo, from Curse of Frankenstein to Frankenstein and the Monster to Hell, they're all good. Frankenstein Must be Destroyed and Frankenstein Created Woman are my top favourites of the series.

TCM used to have a 4-film/2 disc collection of Hammer Horrors that if you can find them are good quality and solid selection.

Don't think I've seen anyone mention Plague of Zombies but it is really good and worth getting.

Otherwise I'm a fan of a number of the others already mentioned but will draw particular attention to the late Hammer films like Twins of Evil, Demons of the Mind, Straight on Till Morning, Hands of the Ripper, Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde and Vampire Circus. They are all available on blu as I already own them!
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

Although it does have Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, I don't think Horror Express was a Hammer Film their frequent collaboration with studios in other countries gets murky. It certainly has the same vibe though and is a neat reskinning of The Thing.


Wasn't sure if the Karstien trilogy was worthwhile, but the first, Vampire Lovers is supposedly a decent adaption of Carmilla. One review described it as a fairly faithful retelling of Carmilla with more boobs and blood so I already have the fancy cleaned up Scream Factory version winging its way to me. :wink:
When you get your copy, check to make sure you have the corrected disk. Scream Factory accidentally didn't have the full uncut version in their disk and had to do a replacement program. People who have ordered from Scream recently have reported that they did not get the replacement disk and had to request a replacement.
 
Always wanted to check some of these out. Do any of the streaming services have a good assortment?
 
Captain Cronos is a lot of fun and it's a pity it never launched the series it was intended to. It's very rpg-worthy as a concept too.

Plague of the Zombies tends to get overlooked due to it being a one-off and not having such a famous cast, but I find it pretty solid. To my best memory it's Hammer's only true zombie flick and quite different to what would become the fundamentals of the genre.


Wasn't sure if the Karstien trilogy was worthwhile, but the first, Vampire Lovers is supposedly a decent adaption of Carmilla. One review described it as a fairly faithful retelling of Carmilla with more boobs and blood so I already have the fancy cleaned up Scream Factory version winging its way to me. :wink:

The Karstein trilogy are pretty good blood n' boobs movies. I've not seen them in a while, so I feel like they've blurred together in my head somewhat. I think Vampire Circus (with a young Lalla Ward) is lost in there too.
 
Hammer Films is legendary for their "bucket of blood" horror films, and of course the performances of Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and a bevy of shapely female co-stars.

I saw loads of these movies as a kid on late nights and weekends in the pre-cable days when they were a popular choice to fill out slow TV slots.

What I struggle with is film names, and unfortunately there don't seem to be any really good Hammer collections like their are for the classic Universal horror films. There are a few collections but they tend to little in common. No solid themes like all Frankenstein, Dracula, Peter Cushing / Christopher Lee pairings etc, so I'm guessing I'm going to have to pursue singles.

I found the "Complete Hammer Collection", but it is far from that, 20 films, only one Frankenstein film, and probably half are not even horror films. Looking them up many of the films also receive pretty poor reviews which is not a universal feature of Hammer, some were actually well received.

The horror films I've been able identify that I can actually remember seeing are

The Gorgon
Curse of Frankenstein
Dracula
The Revenge of Frankenstein
Phantom of the Opera
Dracula Prince of Darkness
Frankenstein created woman
Dracula has Risen from the Grave

also not a horror film but The Hound of the Baskervilles


Anyway, looking for Hammer selections worth picking up. Mostly interested in those which are actually decent horror films not high cheese factor.

I grew up on Hammer. Some of my favorites that aren't on your list:

The Vampire Lovers
The Mummy (I don't know why but this is one of my favorite mummy movies)
The Lost Continent (admittedly this is very, very cheesy and odd but a lot of fun for what it is)
Plague of the Zombies (very early zombie film)

The collections are all over the place. I have some that are nice mixtures, but most of what I own, I picked up on VHS in highschool. There were a lot of good releases available at the time.

I think the best way to watch them these days is to just binge something like all the Frankensteins on prime (not sure how many are up there now).
 
The Vampire Lovers and Twins of Evil are...a thing

The Mummy is pretty much the best mummy movie out there, superior to the Universal Classic imho

Plague of Zombies different, but definitely a great zombie movie
 
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Plague of Zombies different, but definitely a great zombie movie
I remember my version of Plague of Zombies was a double VHS set that included the movie reptile.

I think the Vampire Lovers does benefit a bit from reading the Le Fanu story (I read it shortly before discovering the movie and I feel like it shaped my reaction a bit).
 
I had already ordered Vampire lovers since it is essentially a stand alone and I read Carmilla this summer. I've decided to start with the vampire films, and have ordered The horror of Dracula, Brides of Dracula and Dracula Prince of Darkness. I'm thinking that is a good start, plus my wife is into vampires more than other horror films, so she will more likely watch those with me..

From what I recall Dr Frankenstein is an unsympathetic prick in the Hammer films and that might kind of turn her off if we started there.
 
From what I recall Dr Frankenstein is an unsympathetic prick in the Hammer films and that might kind of turn her off if we started there.

This is what makes the movies interesting. But it does vary from entry to entry. He is pretty self absorbed in most of them, but in some much much worse than others.
 
You remember correctly. While I find his prickishness to be highly entertaining, your wife may not agree.

I think it works, as an obsessive scientist bordering on evil. I just think it will help to introduce her to Peter Cushing as a good guy before seeing that version of the ends justifies the means Frankenstein.

Well, he was certainly an unsympathetic asshole in the original novel.

Seriously, worst dad ever.

Frankenstein is on my re-read list, it has probably been close to 30 years so I'm more influenced by the 1931 portrayal by Colin Clive where he is still obsessive but less overtly evil. The spirit of Peter Cushing's Dr Frankenstein was clearly summoned for the role of Grand Moff Tarkin. It is very easy to imagine he was the rebuilder of Vader.

I do recall liking the 1990s Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. Robert DeNiro was an interesting choice for the monster and I recall feeling it kept pretty close to the original story. It has been so long though that I really can't recall much beyond just the general sense of enjoying it. Guess I should hunt down a copy for the library.
 
and occasional boobs.

One review described it as a fairly faithful retelling of Carmilla with more boobs and blood

The Karstein trilogy are pretty good blood n' boobs movies.

Twins of Evil is the best film ever made. Ever. Any genre. Because... ... reasons.

I found it benefited quite a bit from me being 13 and internet porn not existing yet

any-last-word.jpg
 

Hang on a minute there TG!

My reasons for nominating Twins of Evil as best film ever have nothing to do with boobs but rather how incisive the social dynamics between generations play off against each other along with how two people could be brought up the same, be genetically identical and yet one still could be seduced along a different path to the other - the film expertly demonstrating that nature and nuture may be shared but we all make decisions and it is those decisions that take us to good or bad places. The film is a deep, meaningful and sophisticated social commentary that works on multiple levels.

















1668262186986.png
 
I think that's the horror fan equivalent of "I read Playboy for the articles!"

When I was thirteen, a major reason to see a movie like The Vampire lovers was it had Ingrit Pitt naked in it. There is no getting around that these things were a big draw to the movie and mostly what you heard about them from other people. It was even in the marketing. I remember the back text of my VHS copy of the Lost Continent boasting about the movie featuring '...stupendously endowed women". But there were also a lot of schlocky 70s movies with horror, sex and violence. Most of those I never watched again and were quite forgettable (it would be painful to sit through those films more than once). I think the hammer stuff stands out because even if the thing that got people to watch many of them was the more sensational aspects, they were also very entertaining, well told stories. And even if the stories weren't told well, they were told with a style that makes them fun to watch and watch again. The Vampire Lovers is a genuinely good vampire movie. It is also sensational and uses nudity and a lesbian storyline to attract viewers.

I do think though it would have very little heft for a modern audience in the sex department. They are just moments in an otherwise normal horror film.
 
When I was thirteen, a major reason to see a movie like The Vampire lovers was it had Ingrit Pitt naked in it. There is no getting around that these things were a big draw to the movie and mostly what you heard about them from other people. It was even in the marketing. I remember the back text of my VHS copy of the Lost Continent boasting about the movie featuring '...stupendously endowed women". But there were also a lot of schlocky 70s movies with horror, sex and violence. Most of those I never watched again and were quite forgettable (it would be painful to sit through those films more than once). I think the hammer stuff stands out because even if the thing that got people to watch many of them was the more sensational aspects, they were also very entertaining, well told stories. And even if the stories weren't told well, they were told with a style that makes them fun to watch and watch again. The Vampire Lovers is a genuinely good vampire movie. It is also sensational and uses nudity and a lesbian storyline to attract viewers.

I do think though it would have very little heft for a modern audience in the sex department. They are just moments in an otherwise normal horror film.

This is generally true in the vampire genre. Dracula has always been a good date movie for me, the combination of horror and romance has frequently led to setting the mood if you know what I mean, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. :wink:

Quoting Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood "If you want to make out with a young lady take her to see Dracula" (@3:50)



Martin Landau so deserved his Oscar for this part. They should have thrown in a Life Time award for Bela Lugosi at the same time.
 
Don't think I've seen anyone mention Plague of Zombies but it is really good and worth getting.
Fun fact, this was filmed back-to-back with The Reptile, which uses the same set pieces and is worth watching for that alone. Starring Jacqueline Pearce of later Blake's 7 fame.
 
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Quoting Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood "If you want to make out with a young lady take her to see Dracula" (@3:50)
Martin Landau so deserved his Oscar for this part. They should have thrown in a Life Time award for Bela Lugosi at the same time.
Aww, I know it's not Hammer but I love Ed Wood.
 
Hang on a minute there TG!

My reasons for nominating Twins of Evil as best film ever have nothing to do with boobs but rather how incisive the social dynamics between generations play off against each other along with how two people could be brought up the same, be genetically identical and yet one still could be seduced along a different path to the other - the film expertly demonstrating that nature and nuture may be shared but we all make decisions and it is those decisions that take us to good or bad places. The film is a deep, meaningful and sophisticated social commentary that works on multiple levels.

















View attachment 51626

Twins of Evil, like a lot of later Hammer, is not only sexy but also as you say is very much about countercultural/generational politics. This may be most overt in Demons of the Mind.
 
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I own Scars of Dracula on DVD. I remember finding that a bit slow and rather campy, but a fun watch nonetheless.

Anyways, I would love some good Hammer collection boxes on Bluray.
 
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I found it benefited quite a bit from me being 13 and internet porn not existing yet

You can't go wrong with any movie where Ingrid Pitt jumps out of a bath and rips the dress off an insanely cute Madeline Smith. Too bad there weren't more of them.

Twins of Evil is the best film ever made. Ever. Any genre. Because... ... reasons.

Four VERY good reasons!
 
Fun fact, this was filmed back-to-back with The Reptile, which uses the same set pieces and is worth watching for that alone. Starring Jacqueline Pearce of later Blake's 7 fame.

I dimly recall The Reptile but remember it being quite fun, unless I'm confusing it with The Gorgon?
 
When I was thirteen, a major reason to see a movie like The Vampire lovers was it had Ingrit Pitt naked in it. There is no getting around that these things were a big draw to the movie and mostly what you heard about them from other people. It was even in the marketing. I remember the back text of my VHS copy of the Lost Continent boasting about the movie featuring '...stupendously endowed women". But there were also a lot of schlocky 70s movies with horror, sex and violence. Most of those I never watched again and were quite forgettable (it would be painful to sit through those films more than once). I think the hammer stuff stands out because even if the thing that got people to watch many of them was the more sensational aspects, they were also very entertaining, well told stories. And even if the stories weren't told well, they were told with a style that makes them fun to watch and watch again. The Vampire Lovers is a genuinely good vampire movie. It is also sensational and uses nudity and a lesbian storyline to attract viewers.

I do think though it would have very little heft for a modern audience in the sex department. They are just moments in an otherwise normal horror film.

T&A are, simply put, the most cost-effective special effects to appear on film, and Hammer Films were all low budget. Or as Andy Sidaris, the auteur behind classics like Picasso Trigger and Hard Ticket to Hawaii said:

"With all due respect to George Lucas and all his technical skills, no amount of special effects wizardry can ever match the sheer visual impact of a beautiful girl with a great pair of tits."

Considering all the attention the boobage on Game of Thrones got, compared to the publicity for the dragons, he was right.
 
You remember correctly. While I find his prickishness to be highly entertaining, your wife may not agree.

The peak is obviously in Frankenstein Must be Destroyed where he is sadistic and a rapist.
 
The peak is obviously in Frankenstein Must be Destroyed where he is sadistic and a rapist.
I haven't seen that one. My knowledge of Hammer films is on the casual side.
 
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