The World of Hammer

Roy Skeggs Presents for Hammer Films
The World of Hammer
Narrated by Oliver Reed
Written and created by Ashley Sidaway and Robert Sidaway
Produced by Robert Sidaway
Post Production by Sound Developments Studios, Fountain Television, TV1

Best of British format created by: Ashley Sidaway, Maurice Sellar & Robert Sidaway, Lou Jones
A Best of British Films & Television Production
© 1990 Hammer Film Productions Ltd

Format

The series is narrated by Oliver Reed featuring the finest moments from Hammer’s classic horror movies alongside clips from the company’s acclaimed war films, costume dramas, comedies and much more.

Series Crew

Episode 1
Hammer Stars: Peter Cushing

The first episode examines the Hammer career of one of its greatest stars, Peter Cushing. Meet the actor who, along with Christopher Lee, became the most recognisable and beloved of the Hammer Films family, bringing an unparalleled dramatic skill to his roles as Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Van Helsing, Baron Frankenstein and more.

Films Featured:
The Abominable Snowman (1957)
The Brides of Dracula (1960)
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Dracula (1958)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
Fear in the Night (1972)
Frankenstein and the Monster form Hell (1974)
The Mummy (1959)
She (1965)
Twins of Evil (1971)

Episode 2
Dracula and the Undead

Episode 2 explores Hammer’s greatest legacy with clips from classic films.
You may also like to read Phil Alexander’s take on the Hammer vampire in our Features section

Films Featured:
The Brides of Dracula (1960)
Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter (1972)
Dracula (1958)
Dracula Prince of Darkness (1965)
Kiss of the Vampire (1962)
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
The Scars of Dracula (1970)
Vampire Circus (1972)

Episode 3
Lands Before Time

The “Hammer Glamour” epics delivered their own singular vision of history, creating puberty’s essential bridge between the thrill of cool monsters and the sensation of gorgeous women.

Films Featured:
Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971)
Creatures the World Forgot (1971)
The Lost Continent (1968)
One Million Years B.C. (1966)
She (1965)
Slave Girls (1967)
The Vengeance of She (1968)
The Viking Queen (1967)

Episode 4
Vamp

Through the years, Hammer’s depiction of female vampires was consistently groundbreaking and always controversial, exploring the fine line between forbidden desire and the curse of the undead.

Films Featured:
The Brides of Dracula (1960)
Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter (1972)
Dracula (1958)
Dracula Prince of Darkness (1965)
Kiss of the Vampire (1962)
Lust for a Vampire (1970)
Twins of Evil (1971)
The Vampire Lovers (1970)

Episode 5
Wicked Women

The Wicked Women of Hammer included such cult stars and screen legends as Bette Davis, Ingrid Pitt, Joan Fontaine, Martine Beswick, Tallulah Bankhead, Lizabeth Scott and more.

Films Featured:
The Anniversary (1967)
Black Widow (1951)
Countess Dracula (1970)
Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971)
Fanatic (1965)
The Nanny (1965)
Stolen Face (1952)
The Witches (1966)

Episode 6
Trials of War

Hammer’s war catalogue includes controversial films such as Camp on Blood Island and Steel Bayonet, Comedies including I Only Asked and a remake of the 1938 classic The Lady Vanishes.

Films Featured:
Break in the Circle (1955)
Camp on Blood Island (1958)
Further Up the Creek (1958)
I Only Arsked (1958)
The Lady Vanishes (1979)
The Secret of Blood Island (1964)
Up the Creek (1958)
Ten Seconds to Hell (1959)
The Steel Bayonet (1857)
Yesterday’s Enemy (1959)

Episode 7
Sci-Fi

Hammer ventured into science fiction in 1953 with Four Sided Triangle and Spaceways. The birth of Hammer Horror came with the 1955 adaptation of  BBC Television’s science fiction serial “The Quatermass Experiment“.

Films Featured:
The Damned (1962)
Dick Barton Strikes Back (1949)
Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)
Quatermass 2 (1957)
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
Spaceways (1953)
X the Unknown (1956)

Episode 8
Mummies, Werewolves and the Living Dead

Hammer Horror – this episode explores some of the classic horror films that the production company are best known for.

Films Featured:
Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971)
Captain Clegg (1962)
The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964)
Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
The Mummy’s Shroud (1967)
The Mummy (1959)
The Plague of the Zombies (1965)

Episode 9
Chiller

Through the 1950’s and running alongside production of their 1960s gothic horror films, Hammer made a series of what were known as “mini-Hitchcocks” mostly scripted by Jimmy Sangster, and directed by Freddie Francis and Seth Holt. These low-budget suspense thrillers, often in black-and-white, were made in the mould of Les Diaboliques (1955), although more often compared to the later Psycho. This series of mystery thrillers all had a twist at the end of the tale.

Films Featured:
Czech Mate (1984) – An episode from Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense
Hell is a City (1960)
The Last Page (1952)
Maniac (1962)
Paranoiac (1963)
Shatter (1974)
Whispering Smith Hits London (1952)
Straight On Till Morning (1972)

Episode 10
The Curse of Frankenstein

Hammer consolidated their success by turning their most successful horror films into series. Six sequels to The Curse of Frankenstein were released between 1958 and 1974.
Read Phil Alexander’s article “Frankenstein Must Be Distributed”, in our Features section.

Films Featured:
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)
Four Sided Triangle (1953)
Horror of Frankenstein (1970)
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

Episode 11
Hammer Stars: Christopher Lee

Episode 11 examines the Hammer career of one of its greatest stars, Christopher Lee. From his Hammer debut in The Curse of Frankenstein he went on to make the role of Dracula his own starring in eight of Hammer’s Dracula productions. He also starred in many other Hammer films from The Hound of the Baskervilles to To the Devil a Daughter.

Films Featured:
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Devil Rides Out (1968)
Devil Ship Pirates (1964)
Dracula (1958)
Dracula Prince of Darkness (1965)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
The Mummy (1959)
Rasputin the Mad Monk (1965)
The Scars of Dracula (1970)
She (1965)
To the Devil a Daughter (1976)

Episode 12
Hammer 

A general look across the various genres Hammer have explored, including`; War, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Science Fiction etc.

Films Featured:
Camp on Blood Island (1958)
Cloudburst (1951)
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Dracula (1958)
Holiday on the Buses (1973)
Men of Sherwood Forest (1954)
One Million Years BC (1966)
Plague of the Zombies (1965)
The Nanny (1965)
Quatermass 2 (1955)
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
The Steel Bayonet (1957)
That’s Your Funeral (1972)
Twins of Evil (1971)

Episode 13
Costumers 

A look at Hammer’s historical costume drama productions.

Films Featured:
Brigand of Kandahar (1965)
A Challenge for Robin Hood (1967)
Devil Ship Pirates (1967)
Dick Turpin Highwayman (1956)
The Pirates of Blood River (1962)
The Scarlet Blade (1963)
Stranglers of Bombay (1959)
Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960)
Wolfshead (1969)