A Thing of Unspeakable Horror: The History of Hammer Films
£9.89
A Thing of Unforgivable Error - A concise, affectionate potted history of the rise and fall of Hammer Films, Sinclair McKay s A Thing Of Unspeakable Horror is a breezy enough read for those seeking an introduction to the famous company and the movies they produced, however, it will certainly prove frustrating for those who would already class themselves as seasoned Hammer fans.The writer is obviously quite familiar with Hammer Horror movies, and seems to genuinely love them, unfortunately, when discussing the films, his tone is far too jokey. For instance, his first chapter is dedicated to listing the various `common conventions (or clichés) that he seems to think are required of any Hammer film, in this he also reveals the limits of his `expertise , as this kind of generalisation is the kind of thing that is both despised, and easily disproved by those with more in-depth knowledge of the subject (for instance, the Inn Landlords of Hammer s Dracula films were variously played by George Woodbridge, Norman Pierce, Woodbridge again, George A. Cooper, and lastly Michael Ripper, McKay blithely states that Ripper always played the part). In fact, less-than-careful proof reading seems to have led to the inclusion of several factual mistakes, and not just concerning the topic at hand, when discussing Horror of Dracula, the basic plot of which every true Hammer fan will be very familiar, McKay gets the roles (and fates) of the Lucy and Mina characters mixed up, he states that Oliver Reed made his screen debut in The Curse of The Werewolf in 1961 (Reed actually debuted in the Norman Wisdom comedy The Square Peg in 1958, and made his debut for Hammer in The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll two years later), and, unforgivably for a supposedly serious, expert film critic, he gets the title of one of the best known, most critically acclaimed British films of all time wrong, The Bridge OVER the River Kwai anyone?Structurally, the book is all over the place, with McKay s supposedly chronological history doubling backwards on itself more than once, he clumsily repeats various facts (for instance, the point that Aida Young joined EMI after working at Hammer wasn t particularly interesting the first time, so I don t know why McKay decides to repeat it several chapters later), and breaks off in the middle of important discussions to talk about unrelated topics, an important chapter focusing on two supposedly `mould-breaking Hammers, The Gorgon and The Reptile, comes to a halt halfway through so that the writer can give us a three-page history of Hammer rival Amicus.The writer is at his best when poking fun at the really rubbish Hammer films (Moon Zero Two, Lust for a Vampire), and the tattiest aspects of British film history in general, he describes Robin Askwith, `star of the excrable `Confessions of... series of sex comedies as a `simian missing link . Pleasingly, overrated `respectable movies like Genevieve, Antonioni s Blow-Up, and To Sir With Love come in for plenty of stick too. Also worthy of mention are the photographs, most of which I had never seen before (and I ve read a lot of books on this subject). McKay has obviously read, and admired, Matthew Sweet s masterful British film history Shepperton Babylon, and has tried to capture some of that book s atmosphere of a vanished world, but the fact is that Hammer Horror is still both too recent and too well-known a phenomena to be appreciated as the kind of cinematic `lost continent that Sweet conjured up when writing about the likes of Ivor Novello and Hugh Williams, Patricia Roc and Belle Chrystal. Plus, his final revelation that Hammer Horror is being resurrected for the 21st Century by John de Mol will rightfully be greeted with a snort by anyone with any sense, these stories of Hammer s `resurrection crop up every few years and nothing ever comes of them. As already stated, the history of Hammer, and the British Horror film in general, is one worthy of deep exploration, but so many books have done a far better job than McKay s lightweight effort. For a comprehensive history of Hammer, try Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes The Hammer Story, or for a great look at the entire genre of British Horror films, Jonathan Rigby s English Gothic is still hard to beat.
Just awful - Sorry, but this is just dreadful. I don t see the point in reading a book that is so factually wrong, there is no excuse and it really is pointless. It might be a hoot but there a better ways to get a laugh then to read an under researched and opinion laden essay like this.its just not very good I m afraid.
Now if MTV were doing a Hammer special! - ....This would be the book they d be guaranteed to use!!!In all fairness, there s nothing I can really say here but echo my fellow reviewers, though this book is literally riddled with factual mistakes, covering time frames, stars, plots etc, it s impossible not to like the book, the author clearly loves the films and in that he s already got a friend in me!Okay so the anally retentive nose flicker in me would be shooting him down for sloppy research and a generally scattershot approach to his subject, given that this is the latest book on the Hammer studios there may be some out there who may just be regarding this as their reference material(Heaven Forbid!)he really should have been more precise in his writing, that aside, anyone who either has or will develop an interest in the studio or the movies will probably have more than one book on the subject so there s no real harm done,besides the Marcus book is up for reprint as are the Bray and Elstree books, so for excellence, pick those up!I admit I enjoyed McKay s lighthearted take, so often we get wrapped up in the exact, but we often forget that it s got to be enjoyed on every level, the movies themselves weren t high art but were damn good fun and entertainment and that s something that s often overlooked in the reverential setting of a great many of the books covering Hammer films, now we ve got an addition that s like many of the films themselves, flawed, innacurate...but a lot of fun!!!!If your even on this page then it s obvious you have an interest in Hammer, you ve probably already got the cream of the crop on your bookshelf!Don t tell me you can t make space for one more.
Hammer heritage - This book by Sinclair McKay has a very good review of the Hammer films. His account of the history of the Carrera s clan and how Peter Cushing and Christoper Lee became world-wide known as the classic horror actors by excelence, are very enjoyable. As a young boy I used to go to Mexico city s cinemas (big theatres as the Odeon s at the same years -60 s and 70 s-) to watch with my father classics as Dracula AD 1972 or Frankestein must be destroyed. It was really fun. And I agree with McKay: as a young spectator, I never liked the outcome of the horror movie years later: Halloweens, Freddys, Chuckys....bad taste, I really prefer Terence Fisher s dream reality....By the way, there was a strong influence of Hammer s style in horror movies made in Mexico.
some mistkake, surely? - yes there are one or two blunders, which is a shame, but this book is a hoot from start to finish, full of witty asides and more intriguing wider points about the world in which the Hammer films were made. If you are writing a Phd style paper on the studio, then this might not be the best place to source your facts, but it is certainly the most interesting and best written of all the Hammer film histories.