Tag Archives: Hammer Films

Little Shoppe of Horrors – End of an Era

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The first issue of Little Shoppe of Horrors I purchased was # 8, which had originally come out in May of 1984. It was probably closer to the mid ’80’s to late ’90s when I picked it up. The main reason was because I was starting to go nuts over Hammer Films and The Vampire Lovers was one of my favorites, and issue # 8 was all about the Karnstein trilogy, so of course I had to get it. And from that issue on, I started to get the latest copy of Little Shoppe of Horrors every time one came out. It really was a Hammer Films fan’s dream come true, because it was so damn informative about not only the films, but those that were involved in making them.

And now, after over 5 decades and 53 issues, it is finally coming to an end. Issue # 53 will be released next month and has a cover story of the making of The Abominable Snowman (1957) by Bruce G. Hallenbeck, as well as an interview with Clive Dawson on the un-filmed Snowman, and an interview with star Forrest Tucker by David Aquino & George Stover. There is also a feature on the making of The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) by John Hamilton, an article by Stephen R. Bissette on John Gillin’s The Gamma People (1956), as well as other amazing pieces such as interviews with Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Anthony Hinds.

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Hammer Unleashes X

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Two years before The Blob emerged from a meteor that landed in Pennsylvania and started devouring very old teenagers, over in Scottland, a very similar creature started attacking the locals. Except this one didn’t come from outer space, from within the bowels of the earth. In X – The Unknown (1956), during some mine detection training with the army, the radioactive material used drew the attention of some creature that breaks loose onto the surface, leaving a couple of soldiers with severe radiation burns. Except with no witnesses, and the creature going back down underground, nobody can figure out what could have caused the burns on the men. That’s when you call in the scientist, Dr. Royston, played by American star Dean Jagger, which was a common thing to do for British pictures to help with foreign distribution. You also have Michael Ripper as one of the sergeants in the military.

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House that Hammer Built

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Back in the late 90s, there was a magazine put out by Wayne Kinsey called The House That Hammer Built, with each issue devoted to all things Hammer Films. Because these were put out in England, they were not the cheapest or easiest to find. But now that Kinsey is one of the guys behind Peveril Publishing, starting in 2022, he has been taking all the info from those magazines, plus plenty more gathered in the years since then, and is putting them out in a series of books, appropriately titled The House That Hammer Built. Peveril has already published the first 3 volumes, covering the studio’s work from 1934 to 1958, but have now released the cover of Volume 4, which will cover from 1959 to 1962, and will be released hopefully this year.

I know I’ve posted before about these, and yes, they are not cheap, especially if you’re in the US, shipping from the UK is not cheap. But each volume is incredible, filled with some amazing photos, both black and white and in blazing color, and filled with so much information about the famous Studio that Dripped Blood, that if you are a serious fan of movie reference books, this on-going set are a must. Even if you don’t get the Scrapbooks they put out, I would consider this series as essential. Thankfully, all volumes are still currently available, but I wouldn’t hold out if you have any inclination of getting them. Each one has a run of only 750 copies, so that is not a lot. You can get all the information by heading over to Peveril’s site HERE.

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Severin Celebrates Sangster!

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Jimmy Sangster is one name that is partially responsible for what Hammer Films is known for. While he may not think that what he did was all that special, he was an essential part of the mechanism that help give birth to a new generation of gothic horror films, resurrecting famous monsters that were not only long-thought passé, but giving them to fans like we’d never seen before.

Sangster had started in the industry, like most, at the bottom, as a third assistant director on the film Third Time Lucky (1949) for producer Mario Zampi. That same year, when Zampi was asked to produce the film Dick Barton Strikes Back for Hammer, he brought a lot of his crew to work on the film, including Sangster, who would now make his Hammer debut as Second Assistant director! At the age of 21, he became Britain’s youngest Assistant Director!

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Hammer is Killing My Wallet!

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After years of complaining about Hammer Films getting a new owner and a promised reboot that never happens, I would almost say that I’m regretting that it is actually happening now. But I won’t. Because even though it’s costing me more and more money, I’m loving every minute of it! We all know the incredible special edition box sets they have put out on the first two Quatermass films, as well as The Curse of Frankenstein, as well as some other more rare non-horror titles, but now even releasing some non-Hammer but still British horror titles, such as Doctor Blood’s Coffin and Cry of the Banshee. Then there is their new documentary Hammer: Heroes, Legends and Monsters documentary that his coming out. What more could we ask for? How about The House of Hammer: Volume 1?

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2025 Year End Review – Part 1

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This has been one hell of a year. On my write up for 2024, I made a point to remind us of all that with all the crap going on in the world, we need to look for the positives out there, because they are there and we need not lose sight of that. But I have to say, it wasn’t the easiest to do that in 2025. When I first started to review the past year from the posts here in the Krypt, I couldn’t find much that I thought were highlights. At least not more than a couple of things. But then I went back a couple of weeks later, with a more thorough set of eyes, and low and behold, there were plenty. Once again, it just shows that sometimes the positives are hard to see and remember. They might even seem pretty trivial, but they are there. So, amidst all the chaos and tragedy that is going on, that doesn’t mean there isn’t something to make us sit back and think “yeah…that was pretty cool.” They might not be huge events or something, but that made you glad you were there and part of it. And we need to be focused on and remembering those moments, now more than ever, to help us get through this dark time we’re going through.

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Hammer in Production Hell

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I know most of us out there love Hammer films, from their Frankenstein films, all the Dracula and vampire titles, to the black and white thrillers, and plenty of their sci-fi/horror titles as well. The more you read up on the history of the studio, you realize some titles took years to finally make it to the big screen, sometimes in a very form or version it was originally written as.

But what about the titles and ideas that never it through the process, that lingered for too long to the point there weren’t of interests anymore, or they just couldn’t agree on a final script, or maybe casting, or countless other reasons. Titles like When the Earth Cracked Open, Nessie, or even Zepplin vs Pterodactyls?

But fear no more because author Glen Davies has now given us this new book dedicated to all of those titles in this book Hammer in Production Hell: In Search of Unfilmed Hammer. It’s 222 pages all dedicated to films that were in varies stages of planning but never made it to the big screen. It’s always interesting to read about what almost happened, especially for fans of this studio.

Available in both hardcover ($48) and paperback ($25) version through Amazon. I know you can never have too many horror reference books, and that includes ones on Hammer Films! Trust me, I know all too well!

Hammer Presents More British Horror

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This is one thing I did not expect to happen but am thrilled at the aspects of it. Okay, maybe my wallet isn’t, but that’s a problem for Future-Jon to worry about! The new Hammer Films company, under the leadership of John Gore, has been making a lot of fans of the studio very happy with their amazing releases of some of their classic titles, such as the first two Quatermass movies, Captain Kronos, as well as The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). But now, not only are they going to continue to do that, but they are also going to be putting out other British horror titles from different studios under the banner Hammer Presents.

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John Gore Studios Acquire Tyburn

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After hearing many, many times that someone had acquired the Hammer Studios name and was going to bring it back from the dead, it was so nice to finally see it happen, when John Gore finally started to do it. More than just ideas and plans, since Gore has taken the reigns, we’ve seen some amazing restorations of some of Hammer’s classic titles, as well as some of their lesser-known ones. Looking at John Gore Studios website and their mission statement, it really does sound like they are doing great things there and for the right reasons. As posted on their site, not only do they “believe in the power of compelling storytelling to ignite imagination and celebrate the enduring legacy of British film, television, and theatre”, but that they have a mission to “the acquisition, restoration, and distribution of historic film catalogues, ensuring these cultural touchstones remain vibrant and accessible.” Not only through acquiring the film rights, but also by using Silver Salt Restorations, another company owned by Gore, they can make them look as even better than when they first premiered. Just love to see that they understand and agree with the cultural relevance of these film titles, specifically the ones in the horror genre!

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DtH Episode 109 – Hammer Frankenstein Films Pt.2

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Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)

Continuing our quest to get through the rest of Hammer’s Frankenstein films which starred Peter Cushing, we cover the last three titles that Hammer made. Cushing loved to play this character, and he’s done it like no one ever had, or ever has. Along with the screenwriters, Cushing made this character his own and really made him the real monster in this series.

While these films might be well covered by others, sometimes we forget just how good some of these are, as well as what we might be missing the first time or two that we watched it. And as we’ve mentioned many times before, watching them in sequence in a relatively short time, more things can come to light.

Films mention in this episode:

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