Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography
By Tom Johnson & Deborah Del Vecchio
Published by McFarland & Company, Inc.,  1996.  410 pages.

In my original review of this book, I stated that if you are a fan of Hammer Films, than this book is essential for your collection, and that it was a “must have”. And you know what? That still stands. Now granted, this book is mainly filled with facts that you could probably find on the internet, such as IMDB, or a little searching. But what Johnson and Del Vecchio give you here in one volume is an all encompassing volume of facts, figures, details, and reviews on every single film that Hammer made, from their first film The Public Life of Henry the Ninth (1935) to their last (of the original era), The Lady Vanishes (1978), and every one in between.

With each of the 163 titles covered here, we get plenty of information, about the title itself, the people that were in front of the camera, behind the camera, original reviews upon its release, and so much more. It also covers the featurettes they made, as well as Hammer on TV. My only criticism with the book is that it should have been twice its size, only so we could even more info.

None the less, anytime I’m doing research on a Hammer title, this is the first book I reach for. Originally, the hardcover McFarland released was priced at $80, which is a bit high priced, but we are talking about McFarland. But they have issued it now in a softcover version that is much more reasonable, around $25 on Amazon.