 |
| The above photo displays an advertisement from Hammer Films promoting the new movie Dracula. |
Backstage of Hammer Films:
Hammer Films, also known as "Hammer Studios" was founded in November 1934, making it one of the oldest production companies to date, by Enrique Carreras (theatre owner) and William Hinds, or Hammer, (jewelry store owner and professional actor). Originally, they came up with the name "Exclusive Films" but soon resurfaced as "Hammer Films" in 1947, adding two new members, James Carreras and Anthony Hinds (4). This production company started out of Britain specifying in several genres such as sci-fi, historical epics, and psychological thrillers. However, they soon came across much success in horror based movies when debuting films like Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein (2). In time, Hammer Films became notorious for low-budget movies, specifically horror or thriller themed with plenty blood and gore (4).
Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing were signed to Hammer Studios and their names became synonymous with the company. Lee played the Creature in Frankenstein and not soon after reached international stardom while taking he role of Count Dracula. Similar to Lee, Cushing also played a role in both films. He played Baron Victor Frankenstein and also Professor Van Helsing (5). These two actors went on to later play in several more of Hammer Film Productions.
Gothic Approach:
By using many dark shadows, Hammer Films produced a naturally eerie atmosphere. Being able to see color in their films gave Hammer Films a huge advantage in their business. Audiences loved the fact that they could see red blood dripping out of a cut which would lead them to create emotions about characters or naturally experience "shock" unlike any other film they've seen. Following the gothic theme, Hammer Films was able to create many other scene unlike some of their competitors at the time. They were allowed to show sexual scenes such as those portrayed in The Brides of Dracula (5). When doing this, Hammer Films realized what attracted their audiences and persisted on giving just what they enjoyed.
Works Cited:
1. Huckvale, David. Hammer Films' Psychological Thrillers. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2014. Print.
2. "About Hammer." Hammer Films LTD, www.hammerfilms.com.
3. Pathè, British. "Behind-the-Scenes at Hammer (X the Unknown, Frankenstein Created Woman & More) British Pathè. YouTube, 1 Oct. 2015, www. youtube.com/watch?v=Z4ysf9LMFks.
4. "Hammer Films." Hammer Films. www.hammerfiles.com/topic/Hammer-Films. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. 6 Aug. 2014.
5. Ryan, James. "Rebeat." It Haunts Us Still: The Rebirth of Hammer Films. www.rebeatmag.com. 2 January 2015.
Great blog! I like that you included how Lee played Frankenstein before taking on the role of Dracula; this is something I did not know and found it to be very interesting! Your video was also a great touch.
ReplyDeleteYou're blog was very informative and interesting. The video added to the information given in the blog nicely. The history into Hammer films was also in depth.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this blog and learning more about Hammer Films. One thing I found rather interesting was the fact that the films started to use color, invoking new emotions out of it's audiences with the red blood. Before, movies were shown in black and white, which really muted the themes of the movies. When they started showing them in color, it allowed them to really play around with the different emotions.
ReplyDelete