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Hammer before horror -

An early film from Hammer Film Productions was 'The Mystery of the Mary Celeste' (1935), released in the US as 'The Phantom Ship.' While not a horror film, it nonetheless stars Bela Lugosi, who made his name in Hollywood for his roles in horror films, including 'Dracula' (1931).

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James Carreras (1909-1990) -

British film producer and co-founder of Hammer Films, James Carreras is pictured in 1964 holding up a Japanese language poster for Terence Fisher's 1958 horror film, 'Dracula.' The company was created by William Hinds in 1934. The name came from Hinds' stage name, Will Hammer.

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The birth of Hammer Horror -

'The Quatermass Xperiment' (1955) is considered Hammer's first official big screen horror movie, a science fiction thriller that used the 'X' in its title to cash in on the new X certificate rating used to classify films meant for adults only.

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'The Quatermass Xperiment' (1955) -

'The Quatermass Xperiment' proved extremely popular with cinema audiences, and spawned a sequel.

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'Quatermass 2' (1957) -

'Quatermass 2' deals with a conspiracy involving the alien infiltration of the highest echelons of the British government.

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'Quatermass 2' (1957) -

While commercially successful, 'Quatermass 2' fared less so with critics. British newspaper The Daily Telegraph found the film "all good grisly fun, if this is the sort of thing you enjoy."

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Hammer's first color horror movie -

Hammer's first color horror film was 'The Curse of Frankenstein,' the first of their 'Frankenstein' series. The movie stars Peter Cushing (1913–1994) as Victor Frankenstein. The picture was directed by Terence Fisher, who's credited with bringing Gothic horror alive in full color. His name would become synonymous with the genre.

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Lee and Cushing -

'The Curse of Frankenstein' also stars Christopher Lee (1922–2015) as The Creature (pictured). It was Lee and Cushing's first horror film together, and the first of many Hammer films they would play opposite together.

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'The Curse of Frankenstein' (1957) -

The film was a huge financial success, though it outraged many reviewers. One British critic declared that the Frankenstein story was "sacrificed by an ill-made script, poor direction and performance, and above all, a preoccupation with disgusting-not horrific-charnelry." In the US however, Film Bulletin deemed the film a "rattling good horror show... the Frankenstein monster has been ghoulishly and somewhat gleefully resurrected by our English cousins."

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'Dracula' (1958) -

'Dracula' was the first in the series of Hammer Horror films starring Christopher Lee as the evil, undead count. As Count Dracula, Lee fixed the image of the fanged vampire in popular culture. It's a role he would reprise over the following years to great success.

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Out for the Count -

Christopher Lee carries actress Valerie Gaunt from the library in a scene from  'Dracula,' which was released in the US as 'The Horror of Dracula.'

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'The Mummy' (1959) -

Another picture directed by Terence Fisher, 'The Mummy' stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, who portrays the titular character.

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Scene stealer -

The movie was especially praised for its glamorous photography and technical quality. Peter Cushing later claimed that he suggested the scene in which he drives a spear through the mummy (pictured). He was inspired by the pre-release poster (see previous image) which shows the mummy with a shaft of light passing through it.

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'The Hound of the Baskervilles' (1959) -

This Hammer production was the first film adaption of the 1902 novel of the same title by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be filmed in color.

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The best Sherlock Holmes? -

'The Hound of the Baskervilles' stars Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville. Time Out London has declared this production "the best Sherlock Holmes film ever made, and one of Hammer's finest movies."

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'The Curse of the Werewolf' (1961) -

'The Curse of the Werewolf' was the first werewolf film to be shot in color, and again the cinematography was widely praised.

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Introducing Oliver Reed -

The film is notable for introducing cinema audiences to a young actor named Oliver Reed (1938–1999), who took second billing as the hairy changeling.

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Hammer's makeup man -

Chief makeup man for Hammer Films, Roy Ashton, tries on one of his horrific masks for effect at Bray Studios, in Berkshire. Bray is where the Hammer Horror films were made.

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Dark humor -

Peter Cushing with producer Anthony Nelson Keys at Bray Studios for the filming of another Hammer horror film.

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'The Gorgon' (1964) -

Hammer Film Productions progressed into the 1960s with several 'Frankenstein' and 'Dracula' sequels and other horror films, including 'The Gorgon.' Again featuring Lee and Cushing in lead roles, the film also stars Hammer's top female star, Barbara Shelley.

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Terence Fisher (1904–1980) -

For most of his career, British film director Terence Fisher (pictured on the left) worked almost exclusively within the horror genre. He was in charge of making some of Hammer's most financially successful films, though at the time he was often dismissed by critics for their subject matter and lurid approach. Today, however, Fisher has become recognized as an auteur in his own right. His last film was 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell' (1974), the final chapter in the Hammer 'Frankenstein' saga of films.

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'Rasputin the Mad Monk' (1966) -

This largely fictionalized account of the Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man Grigori Rasputin stars Christopher Lee, who later said that Rasputin was one of the best things he'd done. As a child in the 1920s, Lee actually met Rasputin's assassin, Felix Yusupov. In later life, the actor also met Rasputin's daughter, Maria.

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'The Witches' (1966) -

Hammer Films' 1966 production 'The Witches' stars Joan Fontaine, the younger sister of actress Olivia de Havilland. While it was deemed successful as an engrossing thriller by some critics, others remarked that it disappointed as a Hammer horror. The movie was released in the US as 'The Devil's Own.'

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Terence Fisher's best film -

Regarded by many film historians as Terence Fisher's best film, 'The Devil Rides Out' (known as 'The Devil's Bride' in the US) is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Dennis Wheatley.

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'The Devil Rides Out' (1968) -

The black magic thriller stars Christopher Lee as Nicholas, Duke de Richleau, who investigates the strange actions of a man who has a house replete with strange markings and a pentagram, and who is clearly involved with the occult.

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Ingrid Pitt (1937–2010) -

Polish-British actress Ingrid Pitt starred in several Hammer Horror movies, among them 'The Vampire Lovers' (1970) and 'Countess Dracula' (1971). Born Ingoushka Petrov, she survived imprisonment as a child in the Stutthof concentration camp during WWII.

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Hammer glamour -

Ingrid Pitt, Pippa Steel, Kate O'Mara, Madeline Smith, and Kirsten Betts line up for a publicity photo to promote 'The Vampire Lovers.' It was described as a rather "erotic Hammer chiller."

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'Dracula A.D. 1972' (1972) -

By the early 1970s, Hammer Film Productions was struggling to maintain its place in the horror film market. Attempts were made to rejuvenate their vampire and Frankenstein films with new approaches to familiar material. 'Dracula A.D. 1972' is a perfect example. The film stars Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing and takes place in a contemporary setting.

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'The Satanic Rites of Dracula' (1973) -

This was the eight film in Hammer's Dracula series, and the seventh and final one to feature Christopher Lee as Dracula. The late 1970s saw Hammer make fewer films, and attempts were made to break away from the then-unfashionable Gothic horror films on which the studio had built its reputation.

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'To the Devil... a Daughter' (1976) -

One of Hammer Film Productions' final pictures was 'To the Devil... a Daughter.' It stars Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Honor Blackman, Nastassja Kinski, and Denholm Elliott, and was the final Hammer production to feature Christopher Lee until 'The Resident' in 2011.

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Resurrection -

Hammer ceased production in 1979. But in 2007, the brand name was resurrected. Hammer produced 2011's 'The Resident,' a thriller that featured Christopher Lee in his first collaboration with the studio since 1976's 'To the Devil... a Daughter'. Fittingly perhaps, it was also Lee's final film before his death in 2015.

Sources: (British Film Institute) (Independent)

See also: Horror films based on true stories

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