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It has been dismissed as shlock and melodrama but it is one of the quintessentially British forms of film-making.
Overcoming cheap sets and camp production, Soho-based Hammer Horror spawned an entire genre with commercial hits in Europe and the US from the Fifties to the Seventies.
Now a two-week festival of Hammer begins on 28 October. There will be a free exhibition at Idea Generation Gallery in Chance Street, off Shoreditch High Street, featuring photos, prints and artwork. Screenings of Hammer classics will take place at the Curzon Soho, Shaftesbury Avenue, and Lexi Cinema, Kensal Rise.
Talks will analyse the Hammer legacy and look at its future under new owner John de Mol. For a week, a nightly Ghost Bus will tour east London.
Among the stars of Hammer films were Christopher Lee, Ursula Andress, Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch, Peter Cushing and Bette Davis. Classics included The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), The Brides of Dracula (1960) and Lust for a Vampire (1971).
Marcus Hearn, Hammer historian, said: "What better way to show off its heritage than an exhibition during Halloween."
Reader views (3)
I think I'll wait until the next Hammer film comes out, Messrs Pegg and Tennant being directed by John Landis should be superb, although the script is being written by the same person that wrote the recent St Trinians films which may well be it's downfall.
- Bob, Cheam, 20/10/2009 13:00
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At least Hammer films were something you could get your teeth into!!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 20/10/2009 11:59
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"Cheap sets" - Huh? Bernard Robinson's superb production design is one of the key factors for Hammer's success and it wasn't until the company began to decline in the '70s that the sets looked bad.
- Mal, Edinburgh, UK, 20/10/2009 08:25
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