Hammer Horror Remembered: Hammer Horror

By ALAN TONER

Hammer Horror Remembered - Thoughts of a Lifelong Hammer Fan, is a homage by horror writer Alan Toner to the studio that has brought so much pleasure to horror fans over the years. As well as featuring chapters on the iconic Hammer stars like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, the book also covers the studio's top movies like The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Reptile and many more. If you love Hammer films, then you will certainly enjoy reading this book.

The extra new chapters in this special updated edition include Swashbuckling Hammer, Quatermass And All That, Sexy Bikinis and Dinosaurs and Beneath The Opera House.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ALAN TONER
• Release date: Dec 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393428862

Book preview

HAMMER HORROR REMEMBERED

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by Alan Toner

www.alantoner.com

Copyright © 2013 Alan Toner

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the author.

About The Author

Alan Toner was born on Merseyside and is a lifelong Hammer horror fan. He has always enjoyed writing and has had many of his articles and short stories published in various magazines and books. His official website is: www.alantoner.com

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Other Books by Alan Toner

Hammer Horror Trivia

The Hammer Horror Quiz Book

True Ghost Stories

True Ghost Stories 2

True Ghost Stories 3

True Ghost Stories 4

True Ghost Stories 5: Poltergeist Special

Horror Stories

Horror Stories 2

The Fright Film Quiz Book

Celebrity Hauntings

The Elvis Quiz Book

100 True Ghost Stories

50 True Ghost Stories

AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION

I have always loved Hammer films. In fact, alongside Universal, they were my first real introduction to the world of the horror movie. I have fond memories of staying up late at night to watch Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in yet another awesome Frankenstein or Dracula movie. This book is my own personal homage to a film studio that became so legendary for its making of classic horror films, and one that gave me many years of pleasure.

Enjoy.

Alan Toner

2013

www.alantoner.com

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P.S. I must also give a grateful acknowledgement to the Monsters From Hell site for their kind permission to use some of their images for my book cover.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Why I Love Hammer Films

Chapter 2: The Many Deaths of Dracula

Chapter 3: Peter Cushing, The Gentleman of Horror

Chapter 4: Veronica Carlson, Dracula’s Loveliest Victim

Chapter 5: Remembering Ingrid Pitt

Chapter 6: Snaky Stuff: The Reptile Revisited

Chapter 7: Who Is The Best Dracula?

Chapter 8: Terence Fisher and Hammer Horror

Chapter 9: Plague of the Zombies

Chapter 10: Hammer’s Old Black Magic Movies

Chapter 11: Frankenstein: Misunderstood or Just Plain Mad?

Chapter 12: Hammer’s Lesser-Known Movie Gems

Chapter 13: The Hammer Mummy Movies

Chapter 14: The House of Hammer Magazine

Chapter 15: Ralph Bates

Chapter 16: Michael Ripper: Your Friendly Barman

Chapter 17: Dracula In Modern Times

Chapter 18: The Dracula Movie That Never Starred Dracula

Chapter 19: Hammer On TV

Chapter 20. A Hair Full of Snakes – The Gorgon Remembered

Chapter 21: Rah, Rah, Rasputin

Chapter 22: Curse of the Werewolf

Chapter 23: Swashbuckling Hammer

Chapter 24: Quatermass And All That

Chapter 25: Sexy Bikinis and Dinosaurs

Chapter 26: Beneath The Opera House

Chapter 27: Hammer Has Risen From The Grave

Author’s Note

Chapter 1: Why I Love Hammer Films

There are many reasons why I love Hammer films. For one thing, these were top class horror movies from a top class studio whose writers and producers could tell a damn good story that never failed to have you on the edge of your seat. For another, Hammer presented us with an absolute dynamic duo of horror actors in Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Whenever these two icons of the silver screen were paired together in a movie, you could guarantee that you were in for a real good roller-coaster ride of spine-chilling entertainment. Also, Hammer was just so brilliant at putting together those lush, Gothic settings (e.g. Dracula’s castle, Frankenstein’s laboratory) for which they became so synonymous, all presented in glorious technicolour. Then of course there were all the lovely Hammer scream queens, with their plunging necklines and pale diaphanous gowns, like Ingrid Pitt, Veronica Carlson and Hazel Court, all of whose innocent beauty was a remarkable contrast to the terrifying monsters that would menace them.

Oh yes, there was no doubt about it: Hammer had perfected the art of presenting the horror film to a fine degree, and to be honest, I don’t think any other British horror studio has come even close to matching Hammer’s brilliant style, with the exception of perhaps Amicus, who were classed as Hammer’s main rivals but whose movies were mostly in the horror portmanteau genre.

Just as I did when I used to watch the old Universal black-and-white monster movies on TV as a kid, I immediately thrilled to Hammer horror films the instant I saw my very first one, which was Dracula (1958), and starred Christopher Lee as the aristocratic but totally evil count. And what an AWESOME Dracula he was too, with his blood-dripping fans and snarling visage and blazing red eyes! The very Devil incarnate in a cloak. Up until then, I had been used to Bela Lugosi’s rendition of Stoker’s arch fiend in the old black-and-white Universal movies, but here was an excitingly new version of Dracula - in vivid, scary, blood-red colour - and that was the moment when I not only became a lifelong Hammer fan, but when I also became an ardent fan of Christopher Lee. What I especially like about Lee’s version of Dracula is that, at first, when greeting visitors to his castle, he exudes an air of well-spoken aristocracy, dressed in smart attire and offering his guests hospitality – but then, that outward demeanour of apparent civility is suddenly cast aside to be replaced by the terrifying image of a hissing, blood-thirsty vampire, fangs bared demonically and hungrily, ready to sink into the soft flesh of a new female victim. As an eight-year-old kid, Lee’s Dracula absolutely terrified me, especially when the blood went into his eyes and those ferocious-looking fangs were revealed, and I would often put my hands over my eyes at such moments, prompting my mother to pull my leg by saying, with a weary shake of her head, I don’t know, you were looking forward to watching this film all night, and now, when it’s on, you can’t watch it. I often smile to myself now, as a fully-grown adult, when I recall this, for these days, of course, I can calmly watch a Hammer Dracula film all the way through without once flinching when Dracula’s face becomes so monstrous and menacing.

The other top icon of the Hammer movie monsters – or, to be more precise, monster maker – was Frankenstein, played by the fantastic Peter Cushing. Cushing played the Baron in six Hammer films, injecting a fascinating complexity of character into each one. Hero and Villain Extraordinaire would certainly be an apt title to describe Peter Cushing’s remarkable acting ability, for he could play both the goodie and the baddie with equal competence, and nowhere are these two character traits conveyed to the full than in his Frankenstein films. Again, just like the remade Dracula, Hammer’s new take on another favourite movie monster had my jaw dropping with sheer awe at the brilliant technicolour imagery and blood and gore as the obsessed Baron, ruthlessly and meticulously, assembled various body parts nicked from cemeteries to create what, he hoped, would be the perfect man.

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), directed by Terence Fisher and written by Jimmy Sangster, was Hammer’s first foray into Mary Shelley’s classic story of a scientist who dared to play God, and what a brilliant movie it was too! As Hammer could not use the Karloff makeup due to copyright laws owned by Universal, they had to build a monster basically from scratch, and Christopher Lee was selected to play the creation with a makeup that was, for its time, absolutely terrifying and unique. I can never forget the part where we see the first glimpse of Lee’s monster as the Baron, drawn by a