HAMMER HORRORS (1955-1976)
Hammer Film Productions is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s.
During its most successful years, Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and considerable financial success. This success was due, in part, to distribution partnerships with major United States studios, such as Warner Bros.
During its most successful years, Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and considerable financial success. This success was due, in part, to distribution partnerships with major United States studios, such as Warner Bros.
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- DirectorVal GuestStarsBrian DonlevyJack WarnerRichard WordsworthProfessor Bernard Quatermass' manned rocket ship returns to Earth, but two of the astronauts are missing and the survivor seems ill and unable to communicate.AKA The Creeping Unknown.
The 1st installment in Hammer's Quatermass Trilogy.
The Quatermass Xperiment gave Hammer a much needed box office hit and was also the first film to bring the company to the attention of a major film distributor, in this case United Artists. From this point onward, Hammer was increasingly able to deal directly with the major distributors. - DirectorLeslie NormanJoseph LoseyStarsDean JaggerEdward ChapmanLeo McKernA radioactive, mud-like creature terrorizes a Scottish village.The film was originally pitches as a potential sequel in the Quatermass series until author Nigel Kneale objected.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingHazel CourtRobert UrquhartWhile awaiting execution for murder, Baron Victor Frankenstein tells the story of a creature he built and brought to life - only for it to behave not as he intended.The 1st installment in Hammer's Frankenstein series and Hammer's first colour horror film which made the studio famous.
Its worldwide success led to several sequels, and it was also followed by new versions of Dracula (1958) and The Mummy (1959), establishing "Hammer Horror" as a distinctive brand of Gothic cinema.
This was Christopher Lee's first Hammer film.
Peter Cushing played his first lead part in this film as Victor Frankenstein. - DirectorVal GuestStarsForrest TuckerPeter CushingMaureen ConnellA kindly English botanist and a gruff American scientist lead an expedition to the Himalayas in search of the legendary Yeti.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsBrian DonlevyJohn LongdenSidney JamesProfessor Quatermass, trying to gather support for his Lunar colonisation project, is intrigued by mysterious traces that have been showing up.AKA Enemy from Space.
The 2nd installment in Hammer's Quatermass Trilogy. - DirectorGuy GreenStarsPeter van EyckBetta St. JohnMandy MillerAlthough the police have termed her mother's death a suicide, a teenage girl believes her step-father murdered her.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingFrancis MatthewsEunice GaysonHaving escaped execution and assumed an alias, Baron Frankenstein transplants his deformed underling's brain into a perfect body, but the result proves to be mortally perilous.Sequel to "The Curse of Frankenstein" and the 2nd installment in Hammer's Frankenstein series.
Starring Peter Cushing as Doctor Victor Frankenstein. - DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingChristopher LeeMichael GoughWhen Jonathan Harker rouses the ire of Count Dracula for accepting a job at the vampire's castle under false pretenses, his friend Dr. Van Helsing pursues the predatory villain.AKA Horror of Dracula.
1st installment in Hammer's Dracula series.
Part of the larger HAMMER HORROR series, are the Dracula series - consisting of nine installments which starred iconic horror actor Christopher Lee (as Count Dracula) and Peter Cushing (as Doctor Van Helsing). - DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingAndré MorellChristopher LeeWhen a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingChristopher LeeYvonne FurneauxIn 1895, British archaeologists find and open the tomb of Egyptian Princess Ananka with nefarious consequences.Hammer Film Productions rework some of the classic Universal Studios mummy material to great effect. Directed by Terence Fisher, this is not a remake of the seminal 1932 movie of the same name.
Starring Peter Cushing as a archaeologist and Christopher Lee as the mummy. - DirectorTerence FisherStarsAnton DiffringHazel CourtChristopher LeeA centenarian artist and scientist in 1890 Paris maintains his youth and health by periodically replacing a gland with that of a living person.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingMartita HuntYvonne MonlaurVampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing returns to Transylvania to destroy handsome bloodsucker Baron Meinster, who has designs on a beautiful young schoolteacher.2nd installment in Hammer's Dracula series.
The film is a sequel to the 1958 film Dracula, though the character of Count Dracula does not appear in the film, and is instead mentioned only twice.
Starring Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing. - DirectorCyril FrankelStarsGwen WatfordPatrick AllenFelix AylmerIn Canada, a British schoolmaster meets official resistance when he learns that his 9-year-old daughter has been the victim of the pedophile patriarch of the town's most powerful family.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsPaul MassieDawn AddamsChristopher LeeDr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.AKA House of Fright.
AKA Jekyll's Inferno.
In contrast to other film versions, Jekyll was portrayed as a rather bland and faceless person, while Hyde was presented as suave and handsome. This reflects director Fisher's belief in what critics called "the charm of evil".
The film is unusual in that it was one of the few adaptations of the story where the Jekyll/Hyde character does not die in the story's conclusion. - DirectorTerence FisherStarsClifford EvansOliver ReedYvonne RomainIn eighteenth-century Spain, an adopted boy becomes a werewolf and terrorizes the inhabitants of his town.
- DirectorJohn GillingStarsAndré MorellBarbara ShelleyWilliam LucasA house cat sees her mistress murdered by two servants under orders from her husband , and becomes ferociously bent on revenge.
- DirectorSeth HoltStarsSusan StrasbergAnn ToddRonald LewisA wheelchair-bound young woman returns to her father's estate after 10 years, and although she's told he's away, she keeps seeing his dead body on the estate.AKA Scream of Fear
- DirectorPeter Graham ScottStarsPeter CushingYvonne RomainPatrick AllenIn 18th-century England, the Royal Crown sends Royal Navy Captain Collier and his crew to investigate reports of illegal smuggling and bootlegging in a coastal town where locals believe in Marsh Phantoms.AKA Night Creatures
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsHerbert LomHeather SearsEdward de SouzaAn acid-scarred composer has his dwarf helper bring an opera singer to his London sewer hide-out.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsMacdonald CareyShirley Anne FieldViveca LindforsAn American tourist, a youth gang leader, and his troubled sister find themselves trapped in a top secret government facility experimenting on children.AKA These Are the Damned
- DirectorDon SharpStarsClifford EvansEdward de SouzaNoel WillmanWhen car trouble strands a honeymooning couple in a small Southern European village, an aristocratic family in the area reaches out to help them with sinister consequences.AKA Kiss of Evil
- DirectorFreddie FrancisStarsJanette ScottOliver ReedSheila BurrellA man long believed dead returns to the family estate to claim his inheritance.
- DirectorMichael CarrerasStarsKerwin MathewsNadia GrayDonald HoustonAn American painter has an affair with a bar owner in a French village and agrees to help murder her husband, who has escaped from a prison for the criminally insane.
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsTom PostonRobert MorleyJanette ScottIn England, an American car salesman ends-up spending a stormy night at the mysterious and deadly mansion of a client's family.
- DirectorMichael CarrerasStarsTerence MorganRonald HowardFred ClarkBritish archaeologists and their American investor ship an Egyptian mummy's sarcophagus to London but someone has the amulet to revive the mummy that will then kill all those who disturbed its tomb.
- DirectorFreddie FrancisStarsPeter CushingPeter WoodthorpeDuncan LamontUpon returning to his home village to continue his experimental research, the destitute Dr. Frankenstein revives his old creature, but a hypnotist wants the monster to control for himself.The 3rd installment in Hammer's Frankenstein series.
Starring Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein. - DirectorTerence FisherStarsChristopher LeePeter CushingRichard PascoIn the early twentieth century, a Gorgon takes human form and terrorizes a small European village by turning its citizens to stone.
- DirectorFreddie FrancisStarsDavid KnightMoira RedmondJennie LindenThe nights of young private-school student Janet are troubled by horrible dreams in which her mother, who is actually locked up in a mental institution, haunts her. When her persistent nightmares get her expelled and sent home, those visions insist on continuing to plague her at home.
- DirectorSilvio NarizzanoStarsTallulah BankheadStefanie PowersPeter VaughanA young woman is terrorized by her deceased fiancé's demented mother who blames her for her son's death.AKA Die! Die! My Darling!
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsChristopher LeeBarbara ShelleyAndrew KeirTen years after his demise, Count Dracula is resurrected by his servant and preys on four unsuspecting English tourists who have taken shelter in his castle.3rd installment in Hammer's Dracula series.
Starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula.
Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) is not to be seen here, but his stand-in, a tough, knowledgeable, and authoritative monk named Father Sandor (Andrew Keir) more than makes up for that.
Lee said he found the lines given to this character so awful, that he chose to play the role silent. - DirectorJohn GillingStarsAndré MorellDiane ClareBrook WilliamsDuring a mysterious epidemic in a small Cornish village, the local doctor summons his professor friend for help.
- DirectorDon SharpStarsChristopher LeeBarbara ShelleyRichard PascoThrown out of his monastery for licentious and drunken behavior, Rasputin travels to St Petersburg in pursuit of wealth and prestige. He soon gains influence at court with his powers of healing and of hypnotism.
- DirectorJohn GillingStarsNoel WillmanJennifer DanielRay BarrettIn a Cornish village, various locals die from mysterious snake bites, but the coroner rules the deaths as heart attacks, until a family of newcomers starts an investigation.
- DirectorCyril FrankelStarsJoan FontaineKay WalshAlec McCowenFollowing a horrifying experience with the occult in Africa, a schoolteacher moves to a small English village, only to discover that black magic resides there as well.AKA The Devil's Own
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingSusan DenbergThorley WaltersAfter being reanimated, Baron Frankenstein transfers the soul of an executed young man into the body of his lover, prompting her to kill the men who wronged them.The 4th installment in Hammer's Frankenstein series.
Starring Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein.
Where Hammer's previous Frankenstein films were concerned with the physical aspects of the Baron's work, the interest here is in the metaphysical dimensions of life, such as the question of the soul and its relationship to the body.
German-born model turned actress Susan Denberg, who plays the woman brought back to life, was the August 1966 Playboy centerfold - issued seven months before the release of this movie. - DirectorJohn GillingStarsAndré MorellJohn PhillipsDavid BuckIn 1920 an archaeological expedition discovers the tomb of an ancient Egyptian child prince. Returning home with their discovery, the expedition members soon find themselves being killed off by a mummy, which can be revived by reading the words off the prince's burial shroud.This was the final Hammer film made at Bray Studios, the company's home since 1951.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsJames DonaldAndrew KeirBarbara ShelleyA mysterious artifact is unearthed in London, and famous scientist Bernard Quatermass is called in to divine its origins and explain its strange effects on people.AKA Five Million Years to Earth.
The 3rd installment in Hammer's Quatermass Trilogy. - DirectorTerence FisherStarsChristopher LeeCharles GrayNike ArrighiDevil worshipers plan to convert two new victims.AKA The Devil's Bride
- DirectorFreddie FrancisStarsChristopher LeeRupert DaviesVeronica CarlsonAfter a Monsignor accidentally brings Count Dracula back from the dead while exorcising his castle, the vampire preys on the holy man's beautiful niece and her friends.4th installment in Hammer's Dracula series.
Starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula.
The film stars Rupert Davies as a clergyman who exorcises Dracula's castle, and in doing so, unwittingly resurrects the Count back from the dead. - DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingVeronica CarlsonFreddie JonesBaron Frankenstein, with the aid of a young doctor and his fiancée, kidnaps the mentally sick Dr. Brandt in order to perform the first brain transplant operation.The 5th installment in Hammer's Frankenstein series.
Starring Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein.
Peter Cushing deplored the inclusion of a controversial rape scene that was added at the last minute, after shooting was nearly complete, because Hammer studio head Sir James Carreras thought the film "lacked sex". - DirectorPeter SasdyStarsChristopher LeeGeoffrey KeenGwen WatfordAfter killing his disciple, three English gentlemen unwittingly resurrect Count Dracula, who seeks to avenge his servant by making the trio die by the hands of their own children.5th installment in Hammer's Dracula series.
Starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula. - DirectorAlan GibsonStarsStefanie PowersJames OlsonMargaretta ScottA young American woman Susan Roberts goes to the south of France to do her thesis research on a recently deceased composer, staying with his eccentric relatives.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsChristopher LeeDennis WatermanJenny HanleyA young man is murdered while spending the night at Count Dracula's castle, prompting his brother to come to the small town where all the traces end to look for him.6th installment in Hammer's Dracula series.
Starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula.
There is no expert vampire hunter in this, just two brothers and a weak priest. - DirectorJimmy SangsterStarsRalph BatesKate O'MaraVeronica CarlsonBrilliant but arrogant scientist Victor Frankenstein builds a man from spare body parts, only for the monster to come alive and wreak havoc.Basically a remake of Hammer's 1st Frankenstein movie (the Curse of Frankenstein from 1957) but with added humour.
Without Peter Cushing, as Baron Victor Frankenstein, this film does not fit in Hammer's Frankenstein series. - DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsIngrid PittPippa SteelMadeline SmithSeductive vampire Carmilla Karnstein and her family target the beautiful and the rich in a remote area of late eighteenth-century Gemany.The 1st installment in Hammer's "Karnstein Trilogy".
Starring Polish-born Ingrid Pitt as lesbian vampire Countess Mircalla Karnstein. The film was based on the famous 1872 novella "Carmilla" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu; the name Mircalla being an anagram of Carmilla.
The Karnstein Trilogy were notable at the time for their daring lesbian storylines.
The vampires of the Karnstein Trilogy differ from those of the Hammer Dracula films. Here, vampires can walk about in daylight and are immune to fire. - DirectorSeth HoltMichael CarrerasStarsAndrew KeirValerie LeonJames VilliersAn archaeological expedition brings back to London the coffin of an Egyptian queen known for her magical powers. Her spirit returns in the form of a young girl and strange things start to happen.
- DirectorPeter SasdyStarsIngrid PittNigel GreenSandor ElèsIn 17th-century Hungary, elderly widow Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy maintains her misleading youthful appearance by bathing in the blood of virgins regularly supplied to her by faithful servant Captain Dobi.
- DirectorJimmy SangsterStarsBarbara JeffordRalph BatesSuzanna LeighIn 1830, forty years to the day since the last manifestation of their dreaded vampirism, the Karnstein heirs use the blood of an innocent to bring forth the evil that is the beautiful Mircalla - or as she was in 1710, Carmilla.The 2nd installment in Hammer's "Karnstein Trilogy".
Starring Danish actress Yutte Stensgaard as Mircalla Karnstein.
In this loose sequel to the first film, a revived Mircalla seduces and murders her way through an exclusive girls' school. - DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsRalph BatesMartine BeswickGerald SimA Victorian scientist tests a serum that transforms him into a sensuous murderess.The film is notable for showing Jekyll transform into a female Hyde, it also incorporates into the plot aspects of the historical Jack the Ripper and Burke and Hare cases.
The English actress and model, Martine Beswick who plays Sister Hyde, is perhaps best known for her roles in two James Bond films, From Russia with Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965). - DirectorPeter SasdyStarsEric PorterAngharad ReesJane MerrowAs a young child Jack the Ripper's daughter witnesses him kill her mother. As a young woman she carries on the murderous reign of her father. A psychiatrist tries to cure her with tragic consequences.
- DirectorJohn HoughStarsPeter CushingDennis PriceMary CollinsonA religious sect led by Gustav Weil hunts all women suspected of witchcraft, killing a number of innocent victims. Young Frieda, Gustav's niece, will involve herself in a devilish cult, and become an instrument of Justice in the region.The 3rd installment in Hammer's "Karnstein Trilogy".
Starring Damien Thomas as Mircalla's ancestor, the evil Count Karnstein. Mircalla herself, played by German actress Katya Wyeth, appears briefly. The story concerns sisters Maria and Frieda Gellhorn (played by identical twin Playboy Playmates Mary Collinson and Madeleine Collinson).
It is apparently a prequel to the first film, it depicts the Karnstein family as living instead of vampiric. - DirectorPeter SykesStarsRobert HardyShane BriantGillian HillsA physician discovers that two children are being kept virtually imprisoned in their house by their father. He investigates, and discovers a web of sex, incest, and Satanic possession.
- DirectorAlan GibsonStarsChristopher LeePeter CushingStephanie BeachamIn 1972 London - a century after his final battle with Professor Van Helsing - Count Dracula is resurrected by occultist Johnny Alucard, and goes after his archenemy's descendants.7th installment in Hammer's Dracula series.
Starring Christopher Lee (as Count Dracula) and Peter Cushing (as Professor Van Helsing). - DirectorJimmy SangsterStarsJudy GeesonJoan CollinsRalph BatesA young woman recovering from a nervous breakdown moves with her husband to a boys' school, and finds herself being terrorized by a mysterious one-armed man, but nobody believes her.
- DirectorRobert YoungStarsAdrienne CorriThorley WaltersAnthony HigginsAs the plague sweeps the countryside, a quarantined village is visited by a mysterious traveling circus. Soon, young children begin to disappear, and the locals suspect the circus troupe might be hiding a horrifying secret.
- DirectorAlan GibsonStarsChristopher LeePeter CushingMichael ColesIn 1974, Professor Lorrimer Van Helsing investigates a satanic cult on behalf of Scotland Yard, only to discover a plot by Count Dracula to commit global genocide.8th installment in Hammer's Dracula series.
Starring Christopher Lee (as Count Dracula) and Peter Cushing (as Professor Van Helsing).
This film takes place two years after the events of the previous one. A large headquarter owned by a reclusive personality has been built upon the cemetery where Dracula died in the previous film.
This was Christopher Lee's final appearance as Count Dracula in Hammer's Dracula series. However, he later reprised his role in the French comedy Dracula and Son (1976). - DirectorBrian ClemensStarsHorst JansonJohn CarsonShane BriantA master swordsman and former soldier and his hunchbacked assistant hunt vampires.Features a female vampire from the Karnstein family, and is sometimes considered part of the same continuity, though it takes place in England rather than in Central Europe.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingShane BriantMadeline SmithBaron Frankenstein works with a mental patient to reanimate the dead.The 6th and final installment in Hammer's Frankenstein series.
Starring Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein. - DirectorRoy Ward BakerCheh ChangStarsPeter CushingDavid ChiangJulie EgeIn China, Professor Van Helsing helps eight kung fu-trained siblings reclaim their ancestral mountain village, now the domain of seven powerful vampires and their army of undead slaves.9th installment in Hammer's Dracula series.
Starring Peter Cushing as Professor Van Helsing.
Christopher Lee was offered the role of Dracula, but declined after reading the script.
Hammer production gives us something a bit different in this film by making a far journey to the east: Hong Kong, where Hammer horror meets Kung Fu! - DirectorPeter SykesDon SharpStarsRichard WidmarkChristopher LeeHonor BlackmanAn American occult novelist battles to save the soul of a young girl from a group of Satanists, led by an excommunicated priest, who plan on using her as the representative of the Devil on Earth.This was the final original Hammer horror film as well as Christopher Lee's last appearance in a Hammer film until 2011.