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When Miss Froy disappears, and no one but Amanda has any recollection of her, the heiress enlists a photographer (Elliott Gould) to back her up in uncovering the truth behind the missing woman. Perhaps the most famous episode in Hammer House of Horror, thanks to its delightfully over-the-top centerpiece scene, is also one of its very best. “The House That Bled to Death” follows the classic “family buys a house with a dark past because it’s cheap” formula, then twists it in wonderfully ironic ways that fit the darkly comic aesthetic of some of the best Hammer stories.
Acton, London
There was something in the water in the filmmaking community at this time that has been elusive ever since, where even the nastiest material could be directed with a flourish that would send it down smoothly. Brenda (Rita Tushingham), an author of children's books living at home with her mother, decides to venture out to London and find a father for the child she is not yet pregnant with, but is determined to have. She meets Peter (Shane Briant), a sociopath preying on the city's women who lures Brenda into his bloody game of deceit. Penny Appleby (Susan Strasberg) returns to her father's home on the French Riviera, only to find her stepmother (Ann Todd) making excuses for his absence. After Penny spots her father's dead body, only for it to vanish later, she enlists the help of the family's driver (Ronald Lewis) to help her crack the case.
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (
The Mummy is an exceedingly elegant and creepy horror picture that seamlessly blends its action and adventure elements. Hammer's final release during its peak period was this Anthony Page-directed, made-for-television remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 film. Cybill Shepherd stars as Amanda, an American heiress on a cross-country train trip in pre-war Nazi Germany, who befriends a kind older woman, Miss Froy (Angela Lansbury), during the journey.
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense
Hammer House of Horror - Series 1 - Episode 1 - ITVX
Hammer House of Horror - Series 1 - Episode 1.
Posted: Thu, 17 Nov 2022 12:36:09 GMT [source]
Box office, but Hammer was unable to capitalise on them as most of the profits went to other financial backers. Towards the end of 1951, the one-year lease on Down Place expired, and with its growing success Hammer looked towards more conventional studio-based productions. A dispute with the Association of Cinematograph Technicians blocked this proposal, and the company purchased the freehold of Down Place instead.
Creepy kids are very often a winning formula in horror, and they work well in at least one other Hammer House of Horror episode, as we’ll soon see. “Growing Pains,” though, is a case of both too much going on in a single episode, and not enough simple horror pleasure to be found in the core concept. The episode follows a married couple who adopt a young boy after the death of their son, and the boy’s detached and peculiar demeanor soon leads to strange happenings around the house. Even the obtuse theme music, which starts with a stab of dramatic drums before going into an unexpectedly major-key guitar line that sounds like a Wall’s Viennetta advertisement, adds to the show’s out-of-tune style. That kind of says it all – none of it’s quite right.” He points to his favourite episode, The Two Faces of Evil, to illustrate. A family are involved in a car crash that leaves the father disfigured, with bandages covering his face.
Indeed, behind-the-scenes problems led to significant alterations to the overall film. Originally, Cary Grant had reached out to Hammer about starring in one of their upcoming films. Grant had been so impressed by Fisher's work on The Curse of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula that he wished to work specifically with the director, and so Hammer went about crafting a script. The result of this was a draft of Phantom in which each role was written to potentially appeal to Grant himself, who ended up not taking any of the parts after his agent talked him out of doing a low-budget horror flick. Hammer then had a script on its hands of such cost that the only way to make a profit was to release the film with an A rating, which would allow children of all ages as long as anyone under 12 were accompanied by an adult. Almost immediately, bits and pieces of Guest's film were regurgitated into American films, to say nothing of the countless British knock-offs.
Several Hammer House of Horror episodes follow the “person is driven mad by events they can’t explain or control” formula, but “Visitor from the Grave” is by far the most unpleasant. Created by Roy Skeggs after years of false starts for Hammer on the television front, Hammer House of Horror was devised as a way to tell contemporary stories with a classic Hammer feel. Edwyn lives with his cranky-natured mother (Annie Dyson), with a pretty estranged tenant lady Stella (Georgina Hale) and her baby as their neighbour. He visits a rector, Father Macintosh (Antony Brown), for advice, but runs away when he sees 9 mentioned as the date of service.
How Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton once tried to revive Hammer House Of Horror : News 2019 - Chortle
How Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton once tried to revive Hammer House Of Horror : News 2019.
Posted: Thu, 11 Apr 2019 07:00:00 GMT [source]
She advises going to police but Harry refuses as his rifle was unlicensed and Penny may "land back in the asylum". He buries Charlie in the woods and disposes of Charlie's Range Rover into the lake nearby, and they remove all evidence of the incident. The local policeman arrives, saying that Charlie has been missing for two days, and is questioning Harry because of a disagreement the two of them had in a pub. Chuck Spillers (Brian Cox), after serving two years for burglary, is released from prison with the help of an elderly pet shop owner Martin Blueck (Peter Cushing), who also gives him money and offers him a job in his shop. To save Sarah and himself, the remaining two people in the photograph, Graham goes to Heinz Hoffman (Marius Goring), his uncle's art dealer, who first told them about Charlie Boy at the mansion.
Horror of Dracula (
In America, eight episodes from the series were broadcast as four made-for-television films consisting of twinned episodes along with new segment introduction footage provided by actors Patrick McGoohan, Sebastian Cabot and Joan Crawford serving as hosts. The series was first aired on ABC from 26 September, 1968 to 30 January, 1969, prior to broadcast in the UK on ITV in 1969. Hammer's horror films featured many actors who appeared repeatedly in a number of movies, forming an informal "Hammer repertory company". Terence Fisher's version of Gaston Leroux's novel (with a screenplay by John Elder) was not received well critically or financially at the time of its release.
In the U.S., A&E Home Entertainment, under license from Carlton International Media Limited, released the complete series on Region 1 DVD in 2001. Edwyn wakes up in the hospital, and is told by Harris and Dr Manders that he had an attack of severe delusion of persecution, and now he is better as he has responded to medication. They decide to send him back to his old job as an operation theatre assistant. Edwyn hears on the radio of three nurses who have died by an undiagnosed viral infection of the brain in the country. Back home he finds Stella, but is reminded of his mother and sees her body in the freezer, after which he again develops delusions. Newly appointed morgue worker Edwyn Bord (Peter McEnery) becomes obsessed with the number 9, which is being often repeated to him in his everyday interactions with people and experiences.
In 2010, Hammer revitalized itself as a new name in the horror game and released Matt Reeves' acclaimed Let Me In, soon followed by the Daniel Radcliffe-led remake of The Woman in Black. Hammer's most recent release was Doctor Jekyll, featuring Eddie Izzard as Dr. Nina Jekyll (and her alter ego, Rachel Hyde) in a modern retelling of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson story, which premiered at London's FrightFest in August 2023. With any luck, Hammer will continue its reign of terror for decades to come. This site is my homage to the series where you will find information on each episode, plus filming locations and other items of interest related to the filming of the series.
Also in 1951, Hammer and Exclusive signed a four-year production and distribution contract with Robert Lippert, an American film producer. It was for The Last Page that Hammer made a significant appointment when they hired film director Terence Fisher, who played a critical role in the forthcoming horror cycle. In many ways, Horror of Dracula (or simply Dracula abroad) is the film that made Hammer's name. It certainly buttered the studio's bread for many years to come, along with Cushing's Frankenstein series.
Shenley and Lolly go to another apartment to discuss another sale, where they find that the place is desolate and is being demolished, with them stuck in it. Shenley runs to safety outside, and is met with by Rayburn who repeats the same sentence. His wife, already knowing that he has an affair with Lolly, calls the doctor, and it is revealed that he has a brain tumour, which needs emergency surgery. During the surgery, performed by Rayburn, Emily and Lolly, Shenley dies and is put in the mortuary—at which point he wakes up again beside his sleeping wife, after his fifth nightmare. Film music composer David Winter (Jon Finch) lives with his actress wife Mary (Prunella Gee) in a secluded farmhouse.
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