Hammer Films of England single handedly revived the Gothic horror genre in 1957 with
The Curse of Frankenstein
, following this with
Dracula
or
Horror of Dracula
as it was called in its U.S. release, and proceeding from there to new versions of the Wolf Man, the Mummy, Sherlock Holmes and many other favorites Universal had explored in the 1930s and 1940s. The novelty of seeing these characters in color and with what was, for the time, a greater degree of sex and blood helped propel Hammer to worldwide acclaim.
But Hammer did not simply inject such exploitation gimmicks into the storylines and stop there, they brilliantly reinterpreted the character and situations to great effect. This approach produced many classic films particularly in what is often considered Hammer’s golden era, a time period that might roughly cover 1957 to 1962. A period that owes much to director Terence Fisher, who’d helm many of Hammer’s finest films including the underrated
Phantom of the Opera
(1962).
Hammer would, of course, endure as a going theatrical concern for many years after. The later 1960s would see the continuing adventures of Christopher Lee’s Dracula and Peter Cushing’s Frankenstein, films which could always be counted upon to deliver healthy grosses for Hammer, as well as their adaptation of Dennis Wheatley’s
The Devil Rides Out
(1968), a film less successful at the box office which nonetheless ranks as one of the studio’s best films.
But by the beginning of the 1970s the first signs of trouble began to manifest at Hammer. Longtime studio head Sir James Carreras, a man of immense charm who was much loved in the film business, retired in 1972. In Sir James’ stead was his son Michael, who now faced the challenge of delivering films that would appeal to audiences in a volatile and rapidly changing societal landscape. And nowhere were things changing more than in the horror genre.
Inklings of things to come had already made their presence felt.
Night of the Living Dead
(1968) placed its horror in the prosaic milieu of contemporary Pennsylvania and featured closeups of cannibalism and gory mayhem that would have been unimaginable in Hammer’s output.
Rosemary’s Baby
(1968) was a prestigious big
studio film (Paramount) from a major director (Roman Polanski) that gave Hollywood its first indication that the previously disdained horror genre could, given the proper elements and decently budgeted, deliver massive profits. And at the very end of 1973
The Exorcist
would change horror indelibly, becoming a worldwide phenomenon and inspiring a flood of imitations.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
(1974) terrified audiences with its raw, visceral power and
Jaws
(1975) would establish the concept of the “summer blockbuster”. These films would all inspire imitation upon imitation from studios large and small all over the world.
In the midst of this onslaught of competition in a field which had previously been the domain of smaller companies like Hammer, AIP and Amicus, there were bound to be casualties. AIP sent horror mainstays Vincent Price and Robert Quarry on their respective ways and temporarily abandoned horror films. Amicus turned to a series of subpar Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptations before folding entirely in 1977. A few smaller companies like Tyburn attempted to soldier on in the Gothic style but usually only managed a small handful of films before also throwing in the towel.
Hammer, for its part, attempted to stay relevant via a series of bold, if not always entirely successful, updates and reimaginings of the studio’s classic characters.
Dracula A.D. 1972
(1972) is often disparaged and does feature some aspects that have not aged well but by and large succeeds in bringing Lee’s Dracula and Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing into a then-contemporary setting. Dracula is wisely confined within the boundaries of a desanctified church and its surrounds, sending his acolyte Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame) out into Swinging London to do his bloody bidding. The final confrontation between vampire and vampire hunter retains the verve of their first encounter in 1958 and the film as a whole is given a stylish look by director Alan Gibson.
Gibson returned for
The Satanic Rites of Dracula
(1973) which introduces elements of James Bond and
The Avengers
(1961-1969) into the series, recasting Dracula as a megalomaniacal supervillain attempting to destroy the world. Somehow it works – very well.
The Frankenstein series would get one final and quite excellent entry in the form of
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell
(1973). Here Cushing’s Baron Frankenstein manipulates his way into the position of an asylum physician, giving him a steady supply of raw materials in the form of the patients under his supposed care. Cushing’s calm but intensely focused persona as the Baron once again impresses and of course the madhouse has always been an effective setting for horror films going all the way back to
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
(1920).
For
To the Devil a Daughter
(1976), another Dennis Wheatley adaptation, Hammer was forced to turn to Germany for financing. By this time Hammer’s traditional sources of income both domestic and from Hollywood had run dry. The film features a superb performance from Christopher Lee as the perverse Father Michael, a reworking of Wheatley’s Canon Copely-Syle who in turn was based on real-life occult scholar Montague Summers. The film made money but by this time Hammer had so many debts and was trying to mount expensive epics like
Nessie
,
Vampirella
and the Bram Stoker biopic-cum-anthology
Victim of His Imaginatio
n, none of which came to fruition.
The company managed one final theatrical feature with a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s
The Lady Vanishes
(1979) before producing a few television anthology series and then vanishing itself for many decades. Given the difficulties Hammer faced in its later years it is honestly amazing they were nonetheless able to produce a number of excellent and memorable films that in no way betray the compromised circumstances under which they were made.