Hammer films truly kicked started the horror genre before anyone knew how to treat the genre. Having done The Mummy, Dracula and Frankenstein, the film company partnered with Warner Brothers to put together a new series of horror; spanning from the late 50s to the early 70s. What’s remarkable about this is that the films were shot on a very low budget and used mostly British actors, including the great acting of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
Enough with the history lesson, though.
Warner Home Video recently released their latest TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection called Hammer Horrors. You get four classic Hammer films in this set, which include:
– The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
– Horror of Dracula (1958)
– Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968)
– Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
While watching these films I found them to be quite refreshing, if not a little goofy at times. My favorite two out of the bunch were Dracula Has Risen From the Grave and The Curse of Frankenstein.
Dracula Has Risen From the Grave
When dead bodies start cropping up in the village outside of Dracula’s castle, the local priest pretty much gives up on trying to save the town. His boss, a holy man named Monsignor Ernest Mueller (Rupert Davies) comes in to lift the curse that the evil count has put on the town. How does he do this? He places a giant cross on the front door to the count’s castle and some holy water. Thinking everything is swell, Mueller goes to his announce his victory, only to shortly find out that he has royally pissed off Dracula; not to self something you probably don’t want to do.
The movie overall did have some glaring holes in the plot, such as the priest accidentally falling and breaking the icy confines of Dracula and releasing him. It was a pretty random event, but something that had to be done to explain the next 90% of the movie. Beyond that, the movie was a little bit gutsy, as it challenged the institute known as religion. The lead character, Paul (Barry Andrews), is an atheist. The priest at the beginning forsakes his vows. Monsignor Mueller is a strong religious man, who ultimately saves the day with religion. It’s heavy stuff for a 1968 film and something that 1968 films weren’t doing as much because it wasn’t a popular opinion. That was one of the more impressive elements of the film.
Otherwise, the film is a bit goofy, but it’s very entertaining. Seeing Christopher Lee onscreen at the end of his prime is pretty darn magical; the guy is scary regardless of the faulty plots points. I’m not sure there will ever be a more menacing looking Dracula.
By the way, interesting note here, the movie was rated G. The MPAA clearly had not been on its game at that point.
The Curse of Frankenstein
The film tells the story of Dr. Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) and how he grew up, was mentored and ultimately put together through a series of experiments how to reanimate dead tissue. Wanting to use this for good, and science, Frankenstein starts putting together his own human being that includes the brain of a professor, whom he murders. Regretfully, during the murder he ends up damaging the brain slightly and what he gets when his creature comes to life is a menacing monster (Christopher Lee) that reigns destruction on the town Frankenstein in which presides.
When I picture films in the 1950s I always picture something that is joyful or just goofy in some way. Out of all the films in this collection I have to say that this one horrified me the most. Cushing’s Frankenstein was calculating and well crafted. The way the film was shot and put together was nothing short of beautiful, at least for a horror. For example, when Frankenstein and his mentor Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart) started their unholy experiment by resurrecting a dead puppy the scene was so nicely lit and shot. On top of this, the clever editing that it took to keep the audience from noticing the puppy (floating in water) was fake up until the moment where the water was drained and the puppy came to life, was something that belonged in this time period. You literally have no visual clue that the puppy wasn’t a ‘real’ puppy (other than knowing they didn’t do that to puppies back then). Just a very beautiful editing job for a 1957 film and one aspect of the production that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Anyway, this was my favorite film of the bunch, as it seemed the most thought out and put together. It’s certainly not as bloody or scary as today films, but it does create a very cool, classic environment that films today can’t touch with their millions of dollars.
Shifting gears just a bit, let’s talk about special features.
The special features on each film isn’t overly impressive, but that’s not unusual as the TCM collections haven’t been swamped with features, as much as they were packed with classic films (films being the focus). Anyway, here’s a breakdown of what to expect from each film:
– Horror of Dracula – You get a trailer, which is actually cool and you get a feature called Dracula Lives Again! The featurette is simply facts about the film and its lead actors. It’s really neat, as this certainly does substitute for the lack of an actual ‘making of’ (I’m sure they didn’t plan this in the 50s). Not bad, but not particularly ‘awesome’ either.
– Dracula Has Risen From the Grave – You get a trailer and that’s it. For a movie that is one of the youngest of the bunch I would have expected just a little bit more.
– Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed – Much like Dracula Has Risen From the Grave you only get a theatrical trailer here. Too bad, really.
– The Curse of Frankenstein – Much like the Horror of Dracula features, you get a trailer an informative, text-driven ‘making of’. Again, it’s good information in the featurette, but I do crave just a bit more.