Originally published in 1973 but then most recently updated in ’96 Jack Hunter’s comprehensive “House of Horror: The Complete Hammer Film Story” is the book for every Hammer Studio film fan. Hunter touches upon every film that the studio produced and/or co-produced in its over forty year history starting from ’35’s The Public Life of Henry the Ninth down to the company’s final release in ’79 The Lady Vanishes.
The book is broken up into five chapters the first of which will be most important for those who are only familiar with Hammer’s horror films. This chapter “A Brief History of Hammer” details the beginning of the company before it became synonymous with horror. The company’s early days were filled with crime thrillers and comedies and dramas and it wasn’t until the success of the sci-fi film The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), based on the television series, that the studio had its first explosive hit. The success of this film lead to the studio’s production in many sci-fi films (detailed in the second chapter “Science Fiction & Lost Worlds). Hunter makes sure to touch upon all the films also commenting on the success or failure of each film critically and financially, when applicable.
Partly inspired by the success of horror in America, Hammer decided to remake one of the classics in ’57 with The Curse of Frankenstein. It is a fitting expansion on their previous sci-fi films. The third chapter in the book “Frankenstein & Other Horrors” details Hammer’s Frankenstein franchise which spans 7 films over 15 years and made actor Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee International stars. This chapter also speaks highly of the studio’s other franchise The Mummy (1959), which had several films of its own, and the two films based upon “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” (The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll & Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde).
The forth chapter which will interest most readers focuses on “Dracula & The Vampires” and touches upon all of the studio’s Dracula franchise and all the subsequent vampire films. The Dracula films made actor Lee a household name and made his image the number 1 personae for the Count Internationally. The first film in the franchise Horror of Dracula (1958) is, by some, considered one of the best horror films ever made.
The final chapter in the book “Psychos & Satanists” covers the company’s final years as they try to copy the success of Hitchcock’s Psycho with their own similar films. Hammer had drained out the success of their previous franchises until there was nothing left and they had questionable success with these films due to the over reliance of more sex & gore which was not what made their original films so popular. There were a handful of watermark films discussed in this chapter such as The Devil Rides Out (1968), Fanatic (1965), and Rasputin The Mad Monk (1966), to name a few.
Hunter adds several appendixes to the end of the box which include a complete filmography, a complete list of unfilmed productions, and a list of all the key personal involved with the studio (which includes a brief bio for each). This book is a great jumping on point for new audiences wanting to get to know the basics about the studio and its films and it contains a huge gallery of photographs and posters from many of the films. Hunter also goes into great detail on the effect that actors Cushing & Lee and director Terrance Fisher, among others, had on the studio as they were very fond of using the same talent over and over in their films creating an undeniable presence in the industry that remains to this day.