Hammer Films

Hammer Films, British production company known for its low-budget, gothic horror feature films.

In 1934 theatre owner Enrique Carreras and jewelry store owner William Hinds—who also performed in variety shows under the stage name of Will Hammer—joined forces to form the film distribution company Exclusive Films, Ltd. After their efforts were cut short by World War II, the company reemerged in 1947 as Hammer Film Productions Limited, with sons James Carreras and Anthony Hinds taking over production. Grandson Michael Carreras joined in 1955 and became managing director in 1971.

It was not until the mid-1950s that Hammer hit upon its winning formula of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), directed by Val Guest and starring Brian Donlevy, was a film version of a successful British television series. Hammer’s production of The Snorkel (1958), the story of a teenager who suspects that her stepfather is a murderer, marked the beginning of the company’s adult horror films. Over time, Hammer Films production came to be characterized by low-budget thrills, an abundance of blood and gore, and scantily clad young women.

In the late 1950s Hammer signed two actors whose names became synonymous with the company: Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Lee played the Creature in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and became an international star when he portrayed the title character in Dracula the following year. He went on to play Count Dracula six more times for Hammer and appeared in numerous other productions, including the studio’s last horror film, To the Devil…A Daughter (1976). Cushing, who joined the company at the same time as Lee, played Baron Victor Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein, a role he would repeat in five subsequent Hammer offerings. Often teamed with Lee, Cushing also played Professor Van Helsing to Lee’s Dracula in three films.

Another genre gave Hammer its most successful alternative to horror features: movies set in prehistoric times. An early example is She (1965) starring Lee, Cushing, and Ursula Andress. This was followed by One Million Years B.C. (1966), which gave Raquel Welch her first starring role and featured special effects by master animator Ray Harryhausen.

With public interest drawn to the higher production values of Hollywood horror films, Hammer slowly lost its foothold in the genre. The growing popularity of actor and martial arts expert Bruce Lee in the 1970s prompted Hammer to attempt a martial arts–horror fusion entitled The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974). The company also produced a few less-than-successful television series, and by the end of the decade Hammer was reduced to renting its films to revival houses. In 1979 Hammer released an unfortunate remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes, the final commercial film for what was once the most financially sound studio in Britain.

Jack Hunter (ed.), House of Horror: The Complete Hammer Films Story, 3rd, expanded ed. (1996).