Episode 106: Hammer’s Quatermass Films

October 1, 2025 by Jon Kitley in Discover the Horror Podcast and tagged Brian Donlevy, Enemy from Space, Five Million Years to Earth, Hammer Films, Hammer Studios, Nigel Kneale, Quatermass 2, Quatermass and the Pit, Sci-Fi Horror, The Creeping Unknown, The Quatermass Xperiment | 2 Comments

The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Quatermass 2 (1957), Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

Everyone knows the name Hammer Films (at least, we hope they do!) but most people associate it with gothic horror, particularly their reimagining of the Universal classic Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). Yet Hammer had been around long before Peter Cushing breathed life into that first stitched-together corpse. Founded in the 1930s as a distribution company, the studio gradually moved into producing films, often adapted from popular TV and radio series.

In 1953, the BBC aired a six-part serial, The Quatermass Experiment. Hammer quickly recognized its potential, adapted it into a feature film, and in doing so set itself firmly on the path toward becoming “the studio that dripped blood.” In this episode, we cover all three Quatermass films. While they lean more toward science fiction than Hammer’s later gothic output, they are steeped in horror… and we think they’re well worth your time.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Continue reading →

Barbara Shelley – Rest in Peace

January 5, 2021 by Jon Kitley in Rest in Peace and tagged Barbara Shelley, Blood of the Vampire, Cat Girl, Dracula Prince of Darkenss, Quatermass and the Pit, Shadow of the Cat, The Gorgon, Village of the Damned | Leave a comment

Okay 2021… not a good way to start out. Not even a week in and now this? This one stings.

The news came out early yesterday that actress Barbara Shelley passed away. So many great roles. So many incredible performances. Where does one start? Obviously the work she did for Hammer are incredible, especially in Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966), giving duel performances going from an uptight wife to a seductive vampiress, to her role as Barbara in Quatermass and the Pit (1967), when she puts on the apparatus that lets her see visions of the past through these long (no-so) dead aliens. But no matter what film or the size of her role, she was always so memorable and such a joy to watch. She brought an elegance to whatever role she was playing, making her characters seem lifelike, relatable, and more importantly, believable. From her early genre appearances in Cat Girl (1957) and Blood of the Vampire (1958) to Village of the Damned (1960), to even her appearance on Doctor Who in the ’80s, it was also great to see her on screen. Continue reading →

Horrors at the Skyline Drive-in!

September 23, 2020 by Jon Kitley in Movie Events and tagged A Bay of Blood, Curse of Frankenstein, Friday the 13th Part 2, Hammer Fest, Horror of Dracula, Hound of the Baskervilles, Last House on the Left, Poltergeist, Quatermass and the Pit, Scream, Scream of Fear, Sleepaway Camp, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, The Devil Rides Out, The Exorcist, The Prowler, The Skyline Drive-In, The Town that Dreaded Sundown, Vampire Lovers | 1 Comment

In the last few days, the Skyline Drive-In in Shelbyville, IN, announced several weekends of horror lineups coming up in October. I’m not sure how many of them I’ll make, but I know I’ll be there for the last one I have listed! For all the information head over to their Facebook page HERE.

Below is the events they have listed and what will be screening. Start making your plans!

Scariest Movies of All Time Part 1
Oct. 2nd & 3rd
Poltergeist (1982)
The Amityville Horror (1979)
The Exorcist (1973) Continue reading →

Horror History: Barbara Shelley

June 13, 2018 by Jon Kitley in Horror History, Misc. Ramblings and tagged Barbara Shelley, Dracula Prince of Darkness, Hammer Films, Quatermass and the Pit, Rasputin The Mad Monk, The Gorgon, Village of the Damned | Leave a comment

barbarashelley1 Barbara Shelley
Born Aug. 15th, 1933

Barbara Shelley was a staple in the British horror cinema for about 10 years, starting in the late ’50s. The fact that she only made a handful of horror pictures during that time, and is so remembered shows the real talent that she was.

Starting with films like Cat Girl (1957) and Blood of the Vampire (1958), before appearing in one of the genre classics, Village of the Damned (1960). Then she would work with Hammer Films on her next four pictures, which shows some of her best work: The Gorgon (1964), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966), and Quatermass and the Pit (1967). Her performance in Dracula: Prince of Darkness, as the uptight Helen, once transformed into a vampire is one of the highlights of that film. Her last role for the genre was the 1974 film Ghost Story (aka Madhouse Mansion), and moved to working more in television, even having a small stint in the Doctor Who series.

So the next time you’re in the mood for a British horror film, and maybe even a Hammer Film, think about choosing one of the ones that feature the lovely Shelley and see just what she gave to the genre.

Little Shoppe of Horrors #40 Out This Month

May 9, 2018 by Jon Kitley in Misc. Ramblings and tagged Bruce Hallenbeck, Chris Knight, Constantine Nasr, John Carpenter, Little Shoppe of Horrors, Mark Maddox, Quatermass and the Pit, Rudolph Cartier | 2 Comments

LSoH40

The latest issue of this best magazine devoted to Hammer Films, Little Shoppe of Horrors, will be releasing issue # 40 this month. The main theme for the issue is Quatermass and the Pit (1967) which will have a 26 page making of by Bruce G. Hallenbeck, one of the best Hammer authorities and writers around! There will also be an unpublished interview from the early ’70s with Rudolph Cartier, who was the man behind the original BBC Quatermass series, by Chris Knight. You will even get to hear from John Carpenter talk about the importance of Hammer, as well as Prof. Quatermass.

Continue reading →