Posted August 6, 200717 yr They were made on low budgets, but I used to love watching Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy films with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. By the 70’s the good days were past, so by 1980 they had moved into TV production and the Hammer house of horror. Any other fans?
August 7, 200717 yr Me, I remember on a Friday late nite on BBC1 there was a weekly old b/w horror movie, and I used to stay up watching them, they are just classics, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and a few others hardly get shown no more, the movies were well crafted and orginal, nothing beats them in this modern age.
August 7, 200717 yr People always seem to think of Hammer as being a Horror Film production company though, but if you type in the name in the IMDb, you'll be very surprised, they'd been going since 1935.. It wasn't really until "The Quatermass X-Periment" in 1955, that Hammer started to shift into Horror, up til then Hammer had been making thrillers and murder mysteries mainly, they even made a cheap "Robin Hood" knock-off - "The Men of Sherwood Forest".... :lol: Obviously, the "Hammer Horror" films are the ones that get all the attention because they just became so synonymous with the company, but it would be a tad unfair to forget those modest little thrillers they made...
August 7, 200717 yr Me, I remember on a Friday late nite on BBC1 there was a weekly old b/w horror movie, and I used to stay up watching them, they are just classics, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price and a few others hardly get shown no more I know, it's a real pity that they dont get shown on TV more often... :( Like you, I used to love the Friday or Saturday late night Horror Double Bills on TV... Hammer and the old, B/W Universal Horrors as well... You'd sometimes get 50s Sci-Fi B-Movie Double bills as well....
August 11, 200717 yr People always seem to think of Hammer as being a Horror Film production company though, but if you type in the name in the IMDb, you'll be very surprised, they'd been going since 1935.. It wasn't really until "The Quatermass X-Periment" in 1955, that Hammer started to shift into Horror, up til then Hammer had been making thrillers and murder mysteries mainly, they even made a cheap "Robin Hood" knock-off - "The Men of Sherwood Forest".... :lol: Obviously, the "Hammer Horror" films are the ones that get all the attention because they just became so synonymous with the company, but it would be a tad unfair to forget those modest little thrillers they made... Do you remember Journey to the Unknown. The late sixties suspense series that started with the roller coaster ride and that beautiful whistling tune (I always thought it was Roger Whittaker - but I may be wrong). Anyway - that was another Hammer production and it was brill! Kathy
August 12, 200717 yr My fav Vincent Price film is the Witchfinder General. A quite brilliant movie A true Horror Classic for sure, but not actually a Hammer Film, it was made by Tigon, another Brit production company which specialized in Horror and bankrolled by American International Pictures... Easy to get a bit mixed up though, Hammer, Tigon and Amicus were all doing the rounds at about the same sort of time period, late 60s/early 70s....
August 12, 200717 yr Do you remember Journey to the Unknown. The late sixties suspense series that started with the roller coaster ride and that beautiful whistling tune (I always thought it was Roger Whittaker - but I may be wrong). Anyway - that was another Hammer production and it was brill! Kathy I'm not THAT old... :lol: :lol: So, I dont really remember it as vividly as I do the old "Hammer House of Horror" series of the very early 80s... It sounds familiar though, I probably saw a few episodes on the Sci Fi Channel at some point....
August 12, 200717 yr tbh they didnt quite wash with a teenage mushy, i too watched them on a friday night but entertaining though they were, i never believed it! honest!
August 17, 200717 yr I LOVE the old Hammer Horror Films. I like the Dracula ones best. Have you noticed that in the Dracula ones, they always set out to kill him, (in his coffin), when it is so close to Night, that it goes dark, just as they are about to hammer the stake in? Then he wakes up - of course! I prefer the old Universal Frankenstein Films - 'Frankenstein', & 'The Bride Of Frankenstein', (Boris Karloff as the Monster), as they are beautifully made, as well as being sad & horrific, at the same time. However, I do not like the old Universal Dracuala Films, (with Bela Lugosi), as they are too slow for my tastes. It is like watching paint dry! Hammer did the Dracula Films far better.....
August 18, 200717 yr I loved the TV series - even bought the box set DVD :wub: Some fantastic episodes... The House That Dripped Blood and the one with the guy in the car crash who had a weird fingernail - anyone here remember them? Another similar series, though not Hammer, was Thames' 'Armchair Thriller' (it was on on a Thursday evening after Kenny everett on BBC1 ;) ) - truly terrifying, they were - especially Quiet As A Nun.
August 18, 200717 yr Easy to get a bit mixed up though, Hammer, Tigon and Amicus were all doing the rounds at about the same sort of time period, late 60s/early 70s.... i was thinking of getting the Tigon and Amicus when DVD world did some articles about them. also the coffin like packaging was kinda cool box
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