The House that Hammer Built – the Complete Hinds/Carreras Years (1934-79): Volume 3 (1955-58)

NOW AVAILABLE

LIMITED TO 750 COPIES

Volume 3 covers Hammer’s introduction to Hammer horror. Unprecedented in their bold colour adaptations of horror classics, The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula broke box office records around the world with the latter saving Universal from bankruptcy. Service comedies such as Up the Creek, Further Up the Creek and I Only Arsked! also proved hugely popular. We take a look at Hammer’s experiments in widescreen in 1955 and why their prestige picture, Ten Seconds to Hell, directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Jeff Chandler and Jack Palance, failed. We also explore Hammer’s aborted TV series Tales of Frankenstein as well as the unfilmed adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic novel, I am Legend. We also take a look at Black Park, Bray Studios and its backlot, Hammer’s “bird companies” and the George Mossman carriage legacy. 
We compare many rare scripts with the final films, some for the first time,  to give a better idea of how these projects developed and what we might have seen if not for  changes during production – Hammer’s first mention of staking vampires in X the Unknown, a family being killed by the guards in Quatermass 2, more of young Frankenstein and amusing lengthy sequences where Victor acquires the hands and eyes in The Curse of Frankenstein, no leap from a table at the climax of Dracula, a glowing dog with no mask in Hound, Bonner turning into a glowing skeleton in Man who Could Cheat Death – and The Phoenix (speaks for itself!) A must for Hammer fans, we cover these important years in Hammer’s legacy in more detail than you’ve ever seen before. 

368 colour pages with numerous rare photos brings this important period in Hammer’s history to spectacular life.  Limited to only 750 copies. Cover price £40.