Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

[GoldenGirl]

Any fans of classic British horror here? I'm a huge Hammer fan especially, but I love all classic horror from the portmanteau style films such as Tales from the Crypt, to the genuinely creepy psychological horror of Don't Look Now, and of course the downright cheesy such as The Abominable Dr Phibes!

My favourites are Hammer's vampire films... They just don't make vampire films like they used to!! I don't want to see Buffy and her high school buddies slaying vampires in modern day Los Angeles or wherever it is - I want to see gothic sets and creepy castles in 19th c. eastern Europe, I want to see heaving bosoms in scanty nightdresses, I want to see plastic bats being reeled in on invisible wire, and I want to see Peter Cushing!!!

[Flash Gordon]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

Can there be anything better than snuggling up, gone midnight, and watching a Hammer horror?

[Flash Gordon]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

PS. I also like heaving bosoms, but that's just me.

Don't Look Now is an absolute classic - a masterclass in suspence from Nicolas Roeg.

I always remember Asylum: which I think featured Robert Powell. I like those films where there's multiple stories, but love horror in general

Christopher Lee was a great Dracula.

[frame]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

You've said it all for me

[rossobantam]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

yeh another fan here!

I loved Friday nights 'Appointment with Fear'......the intro montage of faces that changed from Dracula, to the Wolf Man, to the Mummy, to Frankenstein's Monster etc etc

[GoldenGirl]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

Can there be anything better than snuggling up, gone midnight, and watching a Hammer horror?

No - absolutely my perfect night in!

Funny you should mention Asylum - I just watched it the other night, it was on the Paranormal channel.

Good to see there are some other fans here!

[silverbirch]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

did you realise the similarity between the Hammer movies and the Carry On movies ?

they both got going in the mid 50s
they both had theire hey day in the swinging 60s
and they both hit the buffers in the mid 70s !

there have been attempt s to revive these British institutions but it looks like they are down and out !

[GoldenGirl]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

did you realise the similarity between the Hammer movies and the Carry On movies ?

Absolutely - they were both made at Pinewood studios too! And of course Carry on Screaming both takes the p*ss out of - and pays homage to - the Hammer style.

[silverbirch]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

my theory is that the movie carry on screaming .. sounded the death knell for Hammer Horror

Just like Blazing Saddles a spoof of cowboy films
and the cowboy movies seemed to die out around then.

Syd James died in the mid 70s and the Carry Ons seemed to die with him.

[Flash Gordon]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

It could also have been recession.

I very much liked that red dress that lady wore in Carry on Screaming

[darren]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

yes asylum had robert powell in it.
he goes to the asylum and sees six people and listens to there stories on why they are there.
i really like the story with peter cushing where he gets the tailor to make a suit out of a luminous white material.

PS. I also like heaving bosoms, but that's just me.

Don't Look Now is an absolute classic - a masterclass in suspence from Nicolas Roeg.

I always remember Asylum: which I think featured Robert Powell. I like those films where there's multiple stories, but love horror in general

Christopher Lee was a great Dracula.

[shilton dipper]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

I loved the hammer films...........would start the film with the lights off...........would end up with all the lights on, sat up straight, hugging the cushion

[sf1378]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

Asylum, Vault of Horror, Tales from The Crypt are my favourite Amicus/Hammer films. Vault of Horror's best tale is the one featuring Tom Baker as the artist Moore, out for revenge and obtains voodoo with which to achieve it...Also, these films are like a whose who of Brit Actors - Off the top of my head these films feature the likes of Jurgens, Powell, The Masseys, Baker, Todd, Simms, Thomas, Collins, Craig, Elliot, Alexander, Johns, Dottrice, Bayldon, Hendry, Greene, Lom, Morse, you see some who went onto bigger and better things like Ekkland and Rampling...I also like I Don't want To Be Born with Joan Collins...its a rare one...also known as The Devil Within Her...

Amicus and Hammer just became dated compared to the new wave of shocker horror cinema - remember, Straw Dogs, Race With The Devil, The Omen amongst others came out in the 1970s and Amicus and Hammer just could not compete - especially in terms of budget and content. Also, the British film industry was being heavily taxed and it also drained their resources during the early 70s.

Another favourite of mine is Horror Express - Cushing, Lee.....Terry Savalas???! As a Kossack?! Aboard a train - with a recently defrosted Prehistoric Neaderthal whose actually the host to a form of extraterestrial lifeform from the dawn of time???! Brilliant!

However...my most favourite of all time is Theatre of Blood with Vincent Price - its not an Amicus/Hammer film but its certainly one of the best films I've ever seen...and you do root for Price's character all the way funnily enough...

[moonvisage]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

I've always been a big fan of the British horror films.I get phases when it comes to having a favourite film.One week,or month,i'll love watching: Curse of the Crimson Alter,because of it's beautiful film music.... The next,it will be The Abominable Dr Phibes,because of it's wonderful film music,then it will be Devils of Darkness for it's fun,free flowing party scenes.All the British horror films have little quirky scenes,which i love watching over and over again,and such wonderful unique music.When i first saw Theatre of Death,i assumed it was one of Sir Christopher Lee's very early roles,because he looked so young and virile,it turned out it was much later than i assumed.The acting in it was absolutely grade one.

[darren]

Re: Hammer, Amicus & Classic British Horror

horror express is superb.
scared me the first time i saw it.
was around 2 yrs ago i first saw it.

i am a massive fan of brit horror.
have been from i was very young.
the hammer series of films mystery and suspense.

blood on satans claw had a scene in it that should have never been included the director said this in an interview a few yrs back.
guess the scene.

what about the devil rides out with christopher lee and charles gray.

a real chiller.


other classics are bloodbeast terror,creeping flesh,twins of evil,
the ghoul with a very young john hurt.

peter cushing did films fotr both hammer and amicus.

tigon also did some great nrit horror films