Hammer Films

Four Sided Triangle (1953)

Four Sided Triangle (1953)
Rating: ★★
Jan 23, 2020Matter Duplication Device
An early effort from Hammer Films and director Terence Fisher. Rather than the florid Gothic that Hammer and Fisher would discover four years later, this is a film with one foot in the mad science genre of the 1940s about the invention of a matter duplication machine
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X the Unknown (1956)

X the Unknown (1956)
Rating: ★★★
Nov 25, 2015Radioactive Blob Amok
An early Hammer film, an attempt to exploit the success of their Quatermass films. This prefigures the menace of The Blob by a couple of years (while adding a few dashes of the atomic monster fad) but comes with a stark b/w urgency that makes this by far the better film
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The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Rating: ★★★★
Jun 6, 2000Hammer Frankenstein Adaptation
This and The Horror of Dracula the following year set Hammer Films on the map. A remake of Frankenstein very different to the 1931 version that comes in vibrant colour and places Peter Cushing's ruthlessly amoral Baron at the centre of the show
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Dracula (1958)

Dracula (1958)
Rating: ★★★★
Feb 1, 2001Hammer Dracula Adaptation
The point where the legend of Hammer Films and the careers of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing began. A vivid colour remake of the Bram Stoker book that put a stake through the heart of the staid Universal horrors and created a new English horror industry
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The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
Rating: ★★★★
Aug 25, 2009Hammer Sherlock Holmes Film/Ghostly Dog Mystery
Hammer Films' one and only Sherlock Holmes adaptation. It is beautiful to see the opulence of early Hammer productions brought to bear giving the story unusually effective life
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The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
Rating: ★★½
Nov 21, 2023Hammer Dr Jekyll Adaptation
Hammer Films had great success with their revivals of Dracula and Frankenstein and went on to adapt other classic horror stories. Here they take on the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde story as a scientist unleashes his evil personality within
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A Taste of Fear (1961)

A Taste of Fear (1961)
Rating: ★★★
Dec 19, 2013Hammer Psycho-Thriller
The first of Hammer's psycho-thrillers – a departure for the studio with them abandoning their Victorian era setting for a contemporary one – in an attempt to copy the success of Hitchcock's Psycho. Quite a reasonable effort that comes without the improbably contrived plots of some of their later psycho-thrillers
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The Phantom of the Opera (1962)

The Phantom of the Opera (1962)
Rating: ★★
Jul 13, 2010Disfigured Madman Beneath the Opera House/Hammer Film
Hammer Films' attempt to update the classic story went astray – the Paris opera becomes a dreary English repertory house and Terence Fisher misses the tale's grandeur
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Rasputin The Mad Monk (1966)

Rasputin The Mad Monk (1966)
Rating: ★★★★
Apr 21, 2008Hammer Historical Horror Film
Hammer Films turn the historical story of Rasputin and his influence over the Russian throne into a horror film. Although they treat history liberally, this is a vivid film with an intense performance from Christopher Lee
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The Reptile (1966)

The Reptile (1966)
Rating: ★★★
Jan 1, 2000Hammer Film/Human-Snake Transformation
Classic Hammer film in which Jacqueline Pearce turns into a snake creature. This seems to have been conceived as one of Hammer's Dracula films but with snakes. It is given more than reasonable atmosphere by director John Gilling
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The Witches (1966)

The Witches (1966)
Rating: ★★★
Dec 21, 2011Hammer Film/Witchcraft in a Sleepy English Village
Hammer film, not as well known as some of their other works, from a Nigel Kneale script that creates some effect in its story of schoolteacher Joan Fontaine moving to a sleepy English village and finding the locals engaged in witchcraft
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One Million Years B.C. (1966)

One Million Years B.C. (1966)
Rating: ★★★
Feb 11, 2001Cavemen vs Dinosaurs/Prehistoric Drama
Cult stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen made this classic caveman vs dinosaurs film in collaboration with Hammer Films. The work that brought Raquel Welch to prominence as an actress
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Dracula – Prince of Darkness (1966)

Dracula – Prince of Darkness (1966)
Rating: ★★★
Jul 18, 2000Hammer Dracula Film
The third of Hammer's Dracula films. Christopher Lee returns to the role but is given no dialogue. Nevertheless, Terence Fisher delivers some vivid directorial set-pieces that make this one of the better sequels in the series
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Slave Girls (1967)

Slave Girls (1967)
Rating: ★★½
Mar 12, 2013Prehistoric Women-Ruled World/Hammer Film
One of a handful of prehistoric adventure films made by Hammer Studios. This eschews the stop-motion animated dinosaurs of their earlier One Million Years B.C. but does give the stage to Martine Beswick who injects a sizzling dose of sexuality and camps a silly plot up by playing to the hilt
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The Lost Continent (1968)

The Lost Continent (1968)
Rating: ★★½
Jun 18, 2015Sargasso Sea of Lost Ships
An oddity from Hammer Films - a colourfully interesting lost world film set in the Sargasso Sea filled with trapped ships from all eras and cheesy monster. More dramatically interesting in the build-up than when we arrive
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Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
Rating: ★★★★
Jul 19, 2002Hammer Frankenstein Film
The fifth of Hammer’s Frankenstein films and the absolute pinnacle of the series. Terence Fisher is on the peak of his form and turns in a series of directorial set pieces that are quite masterful
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When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)
Rating: ★★½
Aug 25, 2002Cavemen vs Dinosaurs
After the success of their earlier caveman vs stop-motion animated dinosaurs epic One Million Years B.C., Hammer made several other prehistoric films, including this effort that purportedly had a script by an uncredited J.G. Ballard
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Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
Rating: ★★
Jan 5, 2015Hammer Contemporary Dracula
For their seventh Dracula films, Hammer introduced Dracula to the present-day. The result was a wild mishmash where Christopher Lee plays second fiddle to Hammer's belated attempts to jump aboard the Swinging 60s youth scene
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The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)
Rating: ★
Mar 14, 2003Contemporary Hammer Dracula Sequel
The eight of Hammer's Dracula, the second-to-last they would make and the last featuring Christopher Lee. This follows on from the previous film Dracula A.D. 1972 in featuring Dracula in the present day and at least does more with the idea than that film did
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Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
Rating: ★★★½
Dec 1, 2014Hammer Frankenstein Film
Hammer's seventh and final Frankenstein film and the last great film that the studio would make. Everyone is back on top form – Peter Cushing at his icily arrogant best and director Terence Fisher delivering a stirring show
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The Quiet Ones (2014)

The Quiet Ones (2014)
Rating: ★★
Apr 28, 2014Parapsychological Experiment/"True Story"
Another offering from the revived Hammer Films. Like a few films of recent, this claims to be based on a true story – a parapsychological experiment conducted in the 1970s – but throws almost every detail out the window to substitute a well-worn bag of horror tricks
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The Woman in Black: Angel of Death (2014)

The Woman in Black: Angel of Death (2014)
Rating: ★
Jan 3, 2015Ghost Story
A sequel to the 2012 ghost story from the revived Hammer Films, this adds precisely nothing to the original, has nothing to say and nothing in its directorial arsenal that is not a tiresomely over-cliched jump – you just ask, why was this film even made?
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