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Hammer Horror: Difference between revisions
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The Hammer Horror films were a series of [[Gothic Horror]] movies made by the British company Hammer Film Productions between the 1950s and the early '70s. The name is sometimes applied to similar films from the same era made by other small (often British) companies.
Most were distributed by [[Universal]] Pictures. The films mostly re-invented the 'classic' horror movie characters previously given form by [[Universal Horror|Universal themselves]] in the 1930s and '40s ([[Dracula (
The Hammer films included a "stable" of regular actors, one or two of whom (at least) would appear in each major performance. The most famous of the stable were [[Christopher Lee]], [[Peter Cushing]] and [[Oliver Reed]]. The style was well plotted but still reassuringly predictable. As [[Terry Pratchett]] put it, "You knew just what you were going to get." Just to add to the confusion, other Brithorror studios, notably [[wikipedia:Amicus Productions|Amicus Productions]]<ref>distinguished by their fondness for [[Anthology Film|anthology films]], many with screenplays written or based on stories by [[Robert Bloch]]</ref> and [[wikipedia:Tigon British Film Productions|Tigon British Film Productions]], borrowed actors from Hammer (as well as other staff such as cinematographer/directer Freddie Francis).
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Early films in the series were basic, Universal-type horror stories done in colour, but as time went on the studio found themselves in greater competition with American studios who had bigger budgets and better special effects. Hammer retaliated by increasing the sex content of their films so that starting in the late '60s and continuing into the mid '70s Hammer films had more nudity than most horror films even today. The contrast can be seen in their two adaptations of Dennis Wheatley black magic tales. In ''The Devil Rides Out'' (written 1963, released 1968) the satanic orgy features characters robed from neck to ankle dancing in a manner no wilder than teenagers at a modern nightclub, ''To the Devil, a Daughter'' (1976) features full-frontal nudity, sex scenes (including a middle-aged Christopher Lee's bare behind) and a gory birth scene, all in an attempt to win back an audience who had seen ''Rosemary's Baby'', ''The Exorcist'' and ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' and wouldn't be impressed by counts in coffins any more. It didn't really work. Hammer stopped making movies after that and went on to their two '80s TV series'. ''Hammer House of Horror'' and ''Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense''.
Another cute feature of the series was that they never just [[Numbered Sequel|numbered the sequels]], instead they thought of an [[Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo|ever more lurid title]]: ''[[Horror of Dracula]]'' was followed by ''[[
'''Hammer Horror Has Risen from The Grave'''
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Like its most famous character, you can't keep a movie studio dead. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7629245.stm A new Hammer horror has been produced], to briefly see the light of day in 2011. They also produced ''[[wikipedia:Let Me In (film)|Let Me In]]'', a remake of ''[[Let the Right One In]]''.
As of 2012, their latest project is a new adaptation of the infamously chilling novel ''[[The Woman in Black]]'', starring none other than [[Daniel Radcliffe]]. Other projects from the new Hammer include ''[[The Resident]]'' (which features Hammer alumnus [[Christopher Lee]] in a supporting role) and ''[[
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=== The films contained examples of such tropes as: ===
* [[Absolute Cleavage]]: Shows up sometimes, as in ''[[Dracula
** When Steve Coogan set out to lovingly parody the Hammer style for ''Doctor Terrible's House Of Horrible'', in the beautifully titled episode "Lesbian Vampire Lovers Of Lust", said title appears over a shot of generous cleavage generously spattered with drops of blood. It was probably that, or show a shot of an actual hammer.
* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: Hammer's ''The Mummy'' condenses the overarching plot of Universal's films ''[[The
* [[Badass Normal]]: Peter Cushing is the reason that Dr. Van Helsing is now thought of as [[The Hunter]], instead of the weird old Dutch physician he was in the book.
* [[Back From the Dead]]: Again and again and again...
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* [[Blood Bath]]: ''Countess Dracula'' was about the [[Trope Maker]], Elizabeth Bathory, bathing in blood.
* [[Bloodier and Gorier]]: Compared to the [[Universal Horror|Universal Horrors]], at any rate. Tame though they look now, contemporary critics were taken aback.
* [[Broad Strokes]]: ''The Evil of Frankenstein'' follows the basic idea of ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' and ''The Revenge of Frankenstein,'' that the baron has created monsters and is now on the run, but alters many of the details. The rest of the movies seem to continue on from ''Evil'' normally. ''[[Dracula
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: When listing the ways vampires can be defeated in ''The Satanic Rites of Dracula'', [[Identical Grandson|Lorrimer]] Van Helsing mentions {{spoiler|that they are vulnerable to hawthorne, from which Christ's crown of thorns was made}}. Later on he uses this particular thing, unmentioned in any movie before this, to get the better of Dracula.
* [[Circus of Fear]]: ''Vampire Circus.''
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* [[Hollywood Darkness]]: You never saw such night-time visibility!
* [[Hollywood Voodoo]]: ''Plague of the Zombies''.
* [[Hotter and Sexier]]: ''The Horror of Frankenstein'' remade ''[[
** Also the whole series of movies were [[Hotter and Sexier]] than most of the Gothic Horror films that came before them.
* [[Kensington Gore]]
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* [[Lesbian Vampire]]: This trope was employed a number of times in the [[The Seventies]], most famously in ''[[The Vampire Lovers]].''
* [[Life Drinker]]: ''Countess Dracula'': a film about Countess Elizabeth, who stays young by bathing in the blood of virgins. Countess "Dracula" is a nickname she gets after she's found out. Based loosely on the [[Real Life]] case of Elizabeth Bathroy.
* [[Madwoman in
* [[Mad Scientist]]: Usually played straight, but deconstructed in ''The Evil of Frankenstein'', along with the idea that [[Science Is Bad]].
* [[Medusa]]: ''The Gorgon''.
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** Special mention must go to Raquel Welch; the image of her in a [[Fur Bikini]] from ''One Million Years B.C.'' is arguably more famous than Hammer Studios itself.
* [[Mood Lighting]]: Why else would there be bright green electric light inside an ancient Egyptian tomb?
* [[Never Trust a Title]]: Guess who doesn't appear in ''[[
* [[Nubile Savage]]: Found frequently in ''She,'' ''Vengeance of She,'' ''One Million Years B.C.'' ''Prehistoric Women,'' ''When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth,'' ''The Viking Queen,'' and ''Creatures the World Forgot.''
* [[One Million BC]]: Hammer made a trilogy of films that may be the [[Trope Codifier]], ''One Million Years B.C.'' (a remake of a 1940 film), ''When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth,'' and ''Creatures the World Forgot.''
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* [[Plucky Girl]]: Candy in ''The Snorkel'', who resolves to prove the guilt of her mother's murderer.
* [[Psychotic Smirk]]: ''Paranoiac''
* [[Rape
** In the latter example, the scene was added after shooting was nearly complete and at the last minute by studio head Sir James Carreras, who thought the film was lacking in "sex". Peter Cushing deplored the inclusion of the scene and even apologized to Anna's actress Veronica Carlson. The director, Terence Fisher, filmed the sequence under protest. Ironically, the scene comes across as horrific instead of titillating and ends up contributing strongly to theme of the Baron's moral descent in this film as well as the deterioration of Anna's mental state.
* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]: When Dracula was really in bloodlust mode his eyes would get ''extremely'' bloodshot.
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