Posted in: 4K/Blu-Ray, Current News, Movies | Tagged: blacks, Hammer FIlms

90th Anniversary Hammer Films Documentary, Filmed at Blacks in Soho

Hammer: Heroes, Legends and Monsters, the 90th Anniversary Hammer Films Documentary, was filmed at Blacks Club, also owned by John Gore.

Last night, I found myself up high on the balcony at the Empire Cinema on London's Leicester Square, watching a documentary made to celebrate ninety years of Hammer Studios, Hammer: Heroes, Legends and Monsters. I was sat between Nick and Vivian Landau, owners of Forbidden Planet and Titan Comics/Books/Magazines, and Reece Shearsmith of the League Of Gentlemen/Inside No 9. And a gathering full of Hammer props and memorabilia was displayed for the occasion; it was that kind of night. Hammer Studios was bought by investor John Gore, and this is a central part of the revival of the classic horror movie brand and franchise. When it went bust, John Gore also bought Blacks, my old private member's club on Dean Street, one road away from the old Hammer Studios Soho offices in Wardour Street. And as the documentary progressed, it was clear that they had filmed much of the documentary in Blacks. First time I've seen inside it in a year…

The documentary traces its roots back to a comedy act, Hammer And Smith, from the 1930s and follows the principal figures behind the film studio that eventually, after many years, lucked into horror with The Quatermass Xperiment as a way to make a name for itself, before defining the form with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee films like Dracula and The Curse Of Frankenstein as well as The Mummy, all spinning off many sequels. It emphasised the early decision by Hammer to make colour horror films before anyone else, before its descent into gratuitous nudity with the likes of The Vampire Lovers and Lust For A Vampire in an attempt to retain its shock value into the seventies, but still finding valuable new approaches like Doctor Jekyll And Sister Hyde or Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. Actors from the period pointed out that emphasising female characters for sex appeal also gave the characters far more agency and the actors a richer variety of parts to play.

The documentary mixes footage from the films juxtaposed to make a point, with interviews with those figures still with us, and those most influenced by Hammer, and archive interview footage with those who were not, presented 4:3 on a bizarrely rusted television set with a hinterland all of its own. With the supernatural continuity, links are provided by the Tarot Hag, who is hooded throughout and turns cards to reveal the next figure in Hammer's history.

Narrated by actor Charles Dance, and bringing in Tim Burton, John Carpenter, Joe Dante, and John Logan to describe their memories and influences from Hammer, alongside experts and those who were young enough then to talk about their experiences now. Fittingly for a Hammer film, it doesn't try to hide the ugly side and talks about the infighting, betrayal, and abuse at the studio, with money and talent at odds, and including one rather chilling account of the actions of one of the executives, which would now be seen in a very different light. But even with all the problems it encountered through people, policies, politicians, and period fittings, everyone involved retains a real fondness for what Hammer brought to British film.

Hammer Time, Yet To Play Out

For all of its emphasis on the past, it's hard not to draw threads for the future. The documentary talked about turning an old English country house built in 1750 into Bray Studios, which gave them lots of authentic set backdrops for free, and how that suffered when forced by ABC to move to Elstree Studios for American distribution. John Gore talked about a new slate of Hammer films… could filming inside Blacks, built in 1751, as they did for this documentary, give them a little of that period veritas that they once lacked? The documentary also works as a backdoor to show how the Hammer name is being used to remaster these films in 4K, and some of that footage is used in this documentary. Also, with a recreation of Peter Cushing for the documentary and with John Gore talking in the Q&A below about how they agreed with Cushing's estate, it might make one wonder if Cushing may return from the dead, as he did many times to play Victor Frankenstein, in this new slate. Just as tax breaks were a motivating force for Hammer to get into making films in the first place, ninety years on, it is motivation again.

This is a great run-through of the history of Hammer, with interviews and anecdotes that some of the hardest-core Hammer fans won't have heard before. For newcomers, it lifts an unvarnished coffin lid on a different time of filmmaking, always in the moment, without a thought for the future looking back on them. But more than that, it is a look at what Hammer could be again. This is a calling card for what happens next. What's on the card? That's for the Tarot Hag to reveal.

Hammer: Heroes, Legends and Monsters will screen on Sky Arts on Thursday 31st October at 2.15am and 9pm GMT, and will appear on the film festival circuit. Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter will be the first of the Hammer films to be released as 4K on Blu-Ray for its 50th anniversary.

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