The British Horror Film

The Rise and Fall of Hammer Horror

Hammer Film Productions is a British film production company founded in 1934, and is best known for its contribution to the horror film genre. 

Early Horror in the Film Industry:

Early examples of the horror genre being applied to film can be found in the works of G.A Smith, a film pioneer who began incorporating elements of horror into his short films. An example of this can be found in the short, Photographing a Ghost, (1889), in which Smith creates the appearance of ghosts using Double Exposure. As well as this, early examples of horror in film can also be found in German Expressionism, particularly in Nosferatu, (1922), which is based on Bram Stoker’s gothic novel Dracula, and in a selection of gruesome melodramas from 1934 onwards featuring Tod Slaughter reprising his role as the evil villain with macabre and grotesque tendencies.

Films featuring Tod Slaughter released in 1935, 1936, and 1999

“One of the reasons for their being no considerable body of British work in the horror genre was the nature of British censorship at the time” (Hammer and Beyond: the British Horror Film, 1993). The British press demonised the horror genre, and the British Board of Film Classification X rating was seen as negative, as there was concern these films would reflect badly on viewers. Before and during the Second World War there was a decline in the British film industry and Hammer temporarily took a break from making films. After the war was over however, Hammer began making films again which primarily consisted of 'quota-quickies', (The Cinematograph Films Act of 1927) and was an act of the United Kingdom Parliament designed to re-stimulate the declining British film industry, and consisted of cheaply made films designed to fill gaps in cinema schedules and quickly make money with easily reachable quotas. It was also at this point after the war that the previous strict censorship declined in general and began to pass films rated ‘H’ for horror. There was also a new-found appeal to X rated films and was viewed as a way of targeting audiences to make money.

The Rise and Fall of Hammer Horror:

In 1955 Hammer released The Quatermass Xperiment, with the intention of targeting an audience looking to watch films rated X, they incorporated the classification into the films name itself, making it the first official Hammer horror film. The film was extremely popular due to its uniqueness, which lead to the creation of sequels, X the Unknown and Quatermass 2: Enemy From Space.

Released 1956 and 1957

Released 1957

In 1957 Hammer reinvented horror by releasing The Curse of Frankenstein, the first horror film in colour. The film was revolutionary to the horror genre and was the first time audiences could experience gruesome imagery such as blood in a realistic way. The film was very successful among audiences and economically huge, opening the door to American funding for more productions, the most notable including Dracula, (1958) and The Mummy, (1959).

Released 1958 and 1959

Christopher Lee as Dracula 1958

During the 60s Hammer established themselves as the world leaders in the horror film industry and from the late 50s to early 70s released a further 6 sequels to The Curse of Frankenstein, 8 sequels to Dracula and 3 sequels to The Mummy, as well as another 28 horror films, (as well as 14 films of other genres).

However, audiences began to find the constant sequels and stories set in the past repetitive, and the 70s saw an increase in competition with films which brought the element of horror into the present day, for example, The Wicker Man, (1973). There was also big competition coming from America with the release of films such as The Exorcist, (1973) and The Omen, (1976). Hammer produced two TV series in the early 80s, Hammer House of Horror and Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense, but mid 80s ceased to make anything else and went into a semi-permanent hiatus until 2008. In the last 10 years Hammer have released 8 revival horror films, although none of them have been as iconic or made an impact as big as those released during the 60s, which were key in defining the horror genre, and shaping what it is today.

Hammer 'revival films' from 2009, 2012 and 2014