Nice to see Hammer films are back in the cinema. Needless to say they have seen a bit of a re-vamp (no pun intended, but I did laugh as I wrote that!) and obviously operate now within the sphere of modern day film making. When I recently sat at my local Multiplex through yet another repeat of that damn Muppet commercial for Orange phones, waiting patiently for 'The Woman in Black' to start, I was barely expecting it when the new Hammer logo showed up. It took me by complete surprise. It kind of looks like the one Marvel Studios use; a subliminal rapid flashing montage of images from past classics which flit before your eyes and then are gone in a second. But all the 'stuff' is there, deep in your subconscious, as quick as a flash.
Every now and then the TV executive powers stagger back from a pub lunch and dig one of the 'classic' Hammer films out of the dusty store room to treat us to some late night fright fare. Some of these works are admittedly pretty awful but others do deserve to be marked with admiration. I don't know why Christopher Lee has tried to forget wearing the Prince's cape, like it was something to deny for a 'serious' actor. The early Hammer Dracula movies are great entertainment. To see Michael Gough laying his performance on with a trowel in 'Horror of Dracula' fills me with sheer delight, even now. The blood fest that is 'Taste the blood of Dracula' must have totally cleaned out the effects stockroom of fake blood. And boy was it fake; like a mix of Heinz tomato ketchup and a tin of concentrated puree, ever ready to be thrown, drunk, spilt and spattered in a sickeningly overplayed, exquisite melange of grue! By todays standards I suppose many of those X rated shockers would struggle to make a 12A certificate. That's how far the line has moved on how much the impressionable, unsullied mind can tolerate. What once opened the mind's door to a Hammeresque nightmare in the 1970's is almost laughable today.
But not quite . . .
Watching 'The Devil Rides Out' one New Years Eve many, many moons ago, is a memory I'll carry as long as I live. There were a few of us gathered that winter night; friends, my younger brother and myself, choosing by a majority vote to view the late night horror movie as an alternative to enduring Andy Stewart's Highland sing and fling into yet another freezing cold January first. My parents were out, downing their umpteenth pint in some club or other, presumably teeing up to sing Auld Lang's Syne with people they didn't know from Adam, and would probably never see again this side of doomsday. Needless to say they would not be crashing our little party any time before 1 a.m. and wouldn't make much sense for some hours after that. So we settled in with crisps and Lemonade (we were basically good kids you see, and did not consume alcohol. You know the sort . . . nerds) to watch what we figured would be fairly tame fare.
Well, I have seen 'The Devil Rides Out' since then, within the last three years, in fact. And although the special effects look rather hokey to a more cynical and mature eye, it still holds for me as one of the most terrifying films Hammer ever produced. To the eyes of teenagers it truly was relentless terror. Watching as Mocata (played with casual menace by Charles Gray) sank to the very depths of Hell to summon diabolical creatures, we threw our crisps into the air and broke nervous wind with terrifying aplomb. Christopher Lee was marvellous as the heroic Count de Richleau, expert in the Occult, and the only one who seemed to have any chance of thwarting Mocata's plans.
I remember we were terrified by this film - and spoke about it well into February of that year. It illustrated that Hammer were in the business of making quality chillers, at least in the late 50's and 60's. It was only in the 70's things began to go somewhat awry, as Hammer's desire to retain high box office edged their efforts toward more nudity, sex, and maybe just one too many Dracula movies.
Eventually, the Hammer badge faded, to be replaced by paler imitators. Still, we have the back catalogue to enjoy, and those who followed in the Hammer footprints I suppose are not completely without merit. However, if you want that cosy, ghoulish feel of a well made British horror movie, Hammer is the one to go for. There are many older films under the H banner, but if you like it fresh, catch up with 'Woman in Black'. I suspect you won't be disappointed . . .
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