Monday, May 18, 2015

Blood, Boobs, and Carnage! Blogfest: The Films of Hammer

Today I am participating in the "Blood, Boobs and Carnage" Blogfest hosted by Heather Gardner and Alex J. Cavanaugh.

http://hmgardner.blogspot.com/2015/04/q-atozchallenge-re-opening-of-x-files.html
http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-to-z-challenge-q-cult-classics.html

A lot of gamers talk about their "Appendix N", a list of fantasy or pulp-era books (sometimes movies and TV shows) that influenced their games.

Not me.
My Appendix N is full of Hammer Films.

My earliest memories are of horror movies.  Specifically Hammer Horror and the old Universal Monsters. I could not have been much older than 4 and my first memories are of Dracula.  I used (and still do) love old Dracula movies.  At one point in time I could claim I had owned every movie that featured Dracula. It should be no big surprise then that my games all had a horror bent to them.

Every October I participate in the Horror Film  Marathon.  I have taken it upon myself to watch (and rewatch in many cases) all Hammer Dracula films.  They all fit today's theme of Blood, Boobs and Carnage.

I have not seen all of the Hammer films and a few I have not seen in maybe 20+ years but they have always had a profound effect on the games I write.   Ghosts of Albion in particular is overflowing with my love for Hammer, as are most of my adventures.   My vampires are not modern mopey emos.  They are blood thirsty killers in the suave exterior of Christopher Lee.

Even in Eldritch Witchery I have tried t tap into that same vibe of Hammer Horror.  Even though most of their moveis were made in the late 50s and 60's, there is something very 70's about them to me.  Maybe that is when I watched most of them (then and the early 80's).

Sex and horror were the bread and butter of Hammer films.   In fact one of the books that sits proudly with my game book collection is Hammer Glamour; a glossy coffee table book of all the women that appeared in the Hammer films.

Here are some of reviews of Hammer Films I have posted here.  IF I had had the time I would posted a body count.

Dracula (1958)
Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966)
Dracula has Risen From His Grave (1968)
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)
The Vampire Lovers (1970)
Countess Dracula (1970/1971)
Lust for a Vampire (1971)
Twins of Evil (1971) and on Blu-Ray
Dracula AD 1972 (1972)
Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)
Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974)
To the Devil a Daughter (1976)

That was the end of the "Classic" Hammer.
It "rose from the grave" more recently to give us some newer movies.  Less "Blood, Boobs, and Carnage" than before, but still solid horror.

Let Me In (2010)
The Woman in Black (2012) (Daniel Radcliffe blew me away in this!)

Even ones I have seen but not got around to reviewing, like the various Frankenstein movies or the Quatermass ones.

Check out the feature, Hammer for Dummies to learn more.

17 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That's a lot of vampire films from Hammer. Definitely had boobs - I remember Natasha was naked in To the Devil a Daughter.
Thanks for participating in our blogfest!

Arlee Bird said...

This is the second tribute to the great Hammer Studios so far and I'm glad to see that. I was a fan of Hammer in my adolescence and saw many of those films in the theater. Even now when I happen across one on TV it still holds its charm. These films were well made with good acting. Hooray for Hammer!

Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Road trippin' with A to Z
Tossing It Out

S. L. Hennessy said...

Hammer STudios - such a great choice. Lots of Blood, Boobs and Carnage choices there.

Unknown said...

Awesome additon to the blood, boobs and Carnage blogfest. I love me some Dracula and vampires.

My favorite PC RPG though is Vampire the Masquerade.

J.H. Moncrieff said...

Thanks for visiting my blog today. Sadly, I hadn't heard of the Hammer flicks, but I love both of your modern choices.

So I'd probably like the Hammer movies as well. :)

Chemist Ken said...

The second reference to Hammer films in this blogfest already. I must have lived a sheltered life. I don't recognize any of them.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Quartermass was done by Hammer? I loved Quartermass and the Pit.

Lisa said...

OMG! You are a serious collector! I haven't seen but perhaps two of these films... I've never even heard of Hammer Studios, but then, I'm a wimp when it comes to horror! Thanks for dropping by today! Lisa @ http://www.lisabuiecollard.com

Unknown said...

I love the Dracula movies! TCM shows many of them at Halloween:) Every October I start itching for my Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing fix :)) And The Gorgon! A favorite :)

Christine Rains said...

Wow, that's a lot of films! I've seen a few of them, and I do love vampires who aren't mopey emos. :)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I really think vampires should always be the bad guys in film. I had no idea so many had been made that I've never heard of.

dolorah said...

I've been turned off by the new breed of Vamps and Were's. And Witches. Too emo.

Jeremy [Retro] said...

Hammer films growing up, bothered me... it just hit my child brain and did what it was suppose to do... scare the crap out of me. As I got older, I watched with more horror eyes and my appreciation for the boobs, carnage and blood.

Jeremy

Birgit said...

Give me some Hammer time! I loved these films growing up. They were scary but with campiness thrown in and some boobs. I recall one where all Christopher Lee did was hiss. Glad you wrote about Hammer studios too

cheerfuloptimistic said...

I've never seen any Dracula movies, though I liked the book. NBC did a trashy TV show of it in 2013 that got cancelled after one season.

Heather M. Gardner said...

Wow. These all came out when I was a kid and I do remember seeing a few. Vampires should be blood-thirsty creatures of the night. No sparkles here!
Excellent tribute!
THANK YOU for joining Alex and me in this EPIC blogfest!
Heather M. Gardner

Bevimus said...

Fantastic choice! Love the hammer films!