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Date Posted: 20:06:28 08/28/11 Sun
Author: Officer Torch
Subject: Re: Universal Horror vs. Hammer Horror
In reply to: Rick 's message, "Universal Horror vs. Hammer Horror" on 03:37:40 08/28/11 Sun

Rick...Think you hit the nail squarely on the head, and very nice to see Hammer new page coming to site...should be interesting. I know some about Universal.. from books, films, the web, your site of course and forum, but little of Hammer other than what I caught from some of their films, and a good write up on Wikipedia plus a couple other sites.

Seems Hammer, from UK, though they started earlier, got into horror mid to late Fifties, and borrowed much from earlier Universal Horror. Uni had to watch costs as you say, The Great Depression was on. Later, Hammer had big advantage without this and times were quieter (aside from Cold War). Hammer also used color and had more modern technology available to them, also flashier "stuff" compared to the Thirties era when some of Universal's really best horror films were made, especially Lugosi/Karloff works, to me anyway.

My opinion, I enjoy some of Hammer's material, but still favor Universal Horror big time, especially the earlier group. Gotta say though, I enjoy Hammer's scifi/horror: Five Million Years to Earth (aka Quatermass and the Pit) from 1967. It's dated but in my top 20 for scifi/horror movies.

Interestingly, Hammer did some scifi in early Fifties, had a TV show in UK, Quatermass, then some related movies during early Fifties (moreso B class)..but a decade later, the good one..that Five Million Years to Earth (USA title). Seems during those couple decades, they made quite a few horror films, often updated versions of earlier Universal Horror. I gather Hammer ceased in mid Eighties.

Will be interesting learning/chatting more about this outfit. Some of their movies were good, and had fine actors.

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[> Re: Universal Horror vs. Hammer Horror -- Tim, 22:28:38 09/02/11 Fri [1]

One early Hammer film of interest to Universal horror fans might be The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (1935, re-titled The Phantom Ship for American release) because its star was Bela Lugosi.

Hammer dabbled in science fiction with Four Sided Triangle and Spaceways, both from 1953. I haven't seen either of them.

Hammer really began to hit their stride in the sci-fi genre with The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) (The Creeping Unknown in the US) and X the Unknown (1956).

X the Unknown does not include the Professor Quatermass character, but is very similar in theme. The best in this vein is, as Officer Torch notes, Five Million Years to Earth (1967), originally called Quatermass and The Pit over in England.

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) was the big one that began Hammer as most fans know it, with updated color versions of the Universal classics.

Horror of Dracula (1958) (the US title, it was called Dracula when originally released in the UK) was another box office success for Hammer on both sides of the Atlantic. Over time Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee would become Hammer’s version of Karloff and Lugosi!

The Universal films of the studio's first horror wave remain my favorites over just about everything else. They are timeless tales brimming with Gothic atmosphere. But I am still a big fan of Hammer Films, which featured many fine actors in outstanding Technicolor productions.


Tim


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