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Hammer Horror


jester1470

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Been reliving my teenage years by getting hold of some of the Hammer Horror films on DVD.

They did produce a lot of crap did Hammer and Amicus (many people get them confused) but some of their films are great such as Quatermass and the Pit, anything with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

Theres some fine Hammer films out there, well worth a trip down memeory lane, anyone else have childhood memories of these films ?

Cheers

Stuart

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Guest Jake Wifebeater

Good call, loved the Hammer films when I was a kid, remember staying up late on Friday nights to watch them. Can't think of a duffer, even if the film was a bit ding there were always some cracking women on show. Liked the Amicus ones too, they always tended to be 4 or 5 mini-stories in one film, I remember The House That Dripped Blood, Asylum, Vault Of Horror and there were definitely a few more. They often used the same actors in their films. I'd love to see Hammer issue a huge box set of every film they did, would cost a fair bit but it'd be great to have them all.

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Good call, loved the Hammer films when I was a kid, remember staying up late on Friday nights to watch them. Can't think of a duffer, even if the film was a bit ding there were always some cracking women on show. Liked the Amicus ones too, they always tended to be 4 or 5 mini-stories in one film, I remember The House That Dripped Blood, Asylum, Vault Of Horror and there were definitely a few more. They often used the same actors in their films. I'd love to see Hammer issue a huge box set of every film they did, would cost a fair bit but it'd be great to have them all.

Well you can get this: http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/1111794/Ultimate-Hammer-Films-Box-Set/Product.html

But its far from complete, I just bought a couple of box sets for about 15 each that have the following:

The Brides of Dracula starring Peter Cushing

The Curse of the Werewolf starring Oliver Reed

Phantom of the Opera starring Herbert Lom

Paranoiac starring Oliver Reed

The Kiss of the Vampire starring Clifford Evans

Nightmare starring Jennie Linden

Night creatures starring Peter Cushing

The evil of Frankenstein starring (of course) Peter Cushing

Rasputin the Mad Monk

Frankenstein Created Woman

The Vengeance of She

The Plague of Zombies

Quatermass and the Pit

To the Devil a Daughter

All classics :p

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Theres some fine Hammer films out there, well worth a trip down memeory lane, anyone else have childhood memories of these films ?

Cheers

Stuart

I love Quatermass and the Pit!

The climax scene with the horned demon made of pure energy is brilliant and has never been bettered IMHO.

Another of my favourites from that era (although not a Hammer) is Curse (or Night) of the Demon with Dana Andrews - ground-breaking special FX and a terrific storyline. Get a hold of it if you haven't already seen it.

Plague of the Zombies is excellent as well.

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I love Quatermass and the Pit!

The climax scene with the horned demon made of pure energy is brilliant and has never been bettered IMHO.

Another of my favourites from that era (although not a Hammer) is Curse (or Night) of the Demon with Dana Andrews - ground-breaking special FX and a terrific storyline. Get a hold of it if you haven't already seen it.

Plague of the Zombies is excellent as well.

Yeah we watched Quatermass and the Pit at the weekend it's made me think I'd like to see the original BBC version :)

Cheers

Stuart

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as is anything with Ingrid Pitt in. She's luverly.

Agreed - and elegent, intellectual beauty (in her day).

...and as a bonus, has her name in the film title - none of the current crop of lovelives can claim that!

Quatermas and the Jolie - disnae work...neither does Quatermass and the Alba

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Agreed - and elegent, intellectual beauty (in her day).

...and as a bonus, has her name in the film title - none of the current crop of lovelives can claim that!

Quatermas and the Jolie - disnae work...neither does Quatermass and the Alba

They sound more like Jess Franco films...

Ingrid Pitt is rather lovely in Countess Dracula IIRC

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I live Hammer films. My other half is heavily in to them.

I'd definately recommend getting the Amicus boxset, every film is a cracker. Some of the Hammer boxsets feature some duffs. What about Tigon? Does anyone rate them? They've got a boxset out with Blood on Satan's Claw, Witchfinder General etc on it.

Witchfinder General is right up there.

You know what I think makes these movies?

The casting.

No gym-toned, perfect skin-toned bimbos (although there's plenty quality flange in Hammer movies), no "cool", big biceped dudes....and not a fucking Rapper in sight.

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I live Hammer films. My other half is heavily in to them.

I'd definately recommend getting the Amicus boxset, every film is a cracker. Some of the Hammer boxsets feature some duffs. What about Tigon? Does anyone rate them? They've got a boxset out with Blood on Satan's Claw, Witchfinder General etc on it.

Yeah I got the Tigon boxset but havent watched any of them yet, maybe tonight, seen most of them before but that was over 15 years ago :p

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i love the hammer/amicus films from the 60's and 70's...

my faves include the house the dripped blood, the beast in the cellar, dracula AD 1972, witchfinder general, the ghoul, tales from the crypt 1 & 2 and theatre of blood (vincent price on particularly good form as a bitter and twisted shakesperian actor)

also interesting that hammers most successful fims were the trilogy of 'on the buses' movies!!!

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i love the hammer/amicus films from the 60's and 70's...

my faves include the house the dripped blood, the beast in the cellar, dracula AD 1972, witchfinder general, the ghoul, tales from the crypt 1 & 2 and theatre of blood (vincent price on particularly good form as a bitter and twisted shakesperian actor)

also interesting that hammers most successful fims were the trilogy of 'on the buses' movies!!!

Those two were Tigon as they're in the boxset we just bought which reminds me I have a spare copy of Witchefinder General now if you want it.

Cheers

Stuart

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Lester, you've made my week! I'm a massive Hammer fan, in fact I'll watch most British low budget Horror films from the late 50s to the mid 70s. In the 80s, My Dad would record them onto Betamax for me and my brother when the BBC showed such films on most Friday nights. I urge people of a similar persuasion to check out "English Gothic - A Century Of Horror Cinema" (Amazon.co.uk: English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema: Books: Jonathan Rigby) - it's a wonderful reference book for the genre. Also, if you want a laugh, check out "Forbidden TerrorTory", the full-on cheese that is the Hammer Horror Interactive Board Game (http://www.hammerfilms.com/acatalog/Hammer_DVD_Board_Game.html). Bagsy the Captain Kronos figurine! Anyway, enough pant-wetting from me.

Lord Summerisle's favourite frighteners

(I enjoy the soundtracks almost as much as the films themselves!):

"Psychomania" (early 70s UK flick about a biker gang that make a pact with "Auld Nick", kill themselves and come back from the dead)

"Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter" (18th century romp with a swashbuckling protagonist who may or may not be a time traveller - was intended to have been a series of films)

All seven "Dracula" films (eyes, even the Kung Fu one that didn't have Christopher Lee in it!)

The original "Wicker Man", naturally (is it or it is not a horror film?)

"Death Line" (inbred progeny of walled-in Victorian underground workers go radge on the railway)

"From Beyond The Grave" (fine example of an Amicus "portmanteau" film - i.e. four or more stories linked to one theme, place etc. in this case an grubby old antiques shop conveniently run by Peter Cushing. Basically, four customers rip him off when they buy things from him and suffer the consequences for it. David Warner buys an antique mirror at a knockdown price, has a seance in front of it an inadvertently summons a "Dorian Gray"-type bloke who's stuck on the other side and who then demands that he be fed blood. Warner goes psycho, mirror bloke gets fitter and healthier with each plasma boost and eventually takes the place of Warner, who in turn gets trapped behind the mirror. New folk move into his flat, someone says "Hey! let's have a seance!" and so it begins again! Sacred me shitless as a 10 year old)

...and lastly, for pure cheese, check out "Horror Hospital" - starring Confessions "star" Robin Asquith as our "hero" and Michael "Batman's Alfred" Gough as a deranged doctor in charge of a hospital of mutilated teenager.

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Guest Kilgore Trout
Good call, loved the Hammer films when I was a kid, remember staying up late on Friday nights to watch them. Can't think of a duffer, even if the film was a bit ding there were always some cracking women on show. Liked the Amicus ones too, they always tended to be 4 or 5 mini-stories in one film, I remember The House That Dripped Blood, Asylum, Vault Of Horror and there were definitely a few more. They often used the same actors in their films. I'd love to see Hammer issue a huge box set of every film they did, would cost a fair bit but it'd be great to have them all.

asylum?, robert powell yess tiny robots, scary. (thats what i remmber anyhow)

i got quatermass an the pit on dvd, and quatermass for 12 quiid wee sir john mills 3 disc set fae that blockbusta, top film. anything wee vincent price is rawky too.

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yep asylum is one of my all time faves - robert powell goes for a job as a doc in a mental home. another one of those four stories in one thingies. herbert lom was in the one with the tiny robots and the first story involves a husband murdering a wife, he cuts her up and puts her in the freezer, wrapping her various body parts up in brown paper. the parts then come to life. directed by the great roy ward baker.

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  • 3 months later...
For anyone interested in reliving these moments who has a few spare quid, the HMV sale has the Ultimate Hammer Collection, a 21 disk set for sale currently for 40 which isnt too bad at all, especially as the RRP is 150 :)

Hammertastic :p

41-w9pwn73L._SS400_.jpg

Did you see that offer in the Aberdeen branch?

It's listed at 144.95 on their website!

Oanywyze, the box set contains....

  • Blood from the Mummies Tomb
  • Demons of the Mind
  • The Devil Rides Out
  • Dracula Prince of Darkness
  • Fear in the Night
  • Frankenstein Created Woman
  • The Horror of Frankenstein
  • The Nanny
  • One Million Years BC
  • The Plague of the Zombies
  • Prehistoric Women
  • Quatermass and The Pit
  • Rasputin The Mad Monk
  • The Reptile
  • Scars of Dracula
  • She
  • Straight On Till Morning
  • To The Devil A Daughter
  • The Vengeance of She
  • The Viking Queen
  • The Witches

Thon's a fuckin' good line-up :up:

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Did you see that offer in the Aberdeen branch?

It's listed at 144.95 on their website!

Oanywyze, the box set contains....

  • Blood from the Mummies Tomb
  • Demons of the Mind
  • The Devil Rides Out
  • Dracula Prince of Darkness
  • Fear in the Night
  • Frankenstein Created Woman
  • The Horror of Frankenstein
  • The Nanny
  • One Million Years BC
  • The Plague of the Zombies
  • Prehistoric Women
  • Quatermass and The Pit
  • Rasputin The Mad Monk
  • The Reptile
  • Scars of Dracula
  • She
  • Straight On Till Morning
  • To The Devil A Daughter
  • The Vengeance of She
  • The Viking Queen
  • The Witches

Thon's a fuckin' good line-up :up:

It's in the Aberdeen branch, we purchased one this fine morning :)

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