THE HORROR OF HAMMER
All Day Entertainment
2001

review by Beth Kattelman

If you're a fan of Hammer horror films, be sure to check out All Day Entertainment's new compilation The Horror of Hammer. It contains almost two full hours of coming attraction trailers from those classic Hammer films that so many of us know and love. It's a great way to take a brief stroll through the history of Hammer studios. All the greats are here: Frankenstein Created Woman, One Million Years BC, X the Unknown, Dracula Has Risen From the Grave and one of my favorites, The Old Dark House featuring that brilliant shlockmeister himself, William Castle. You can watch the previews with their original soundtracks or with the accompaniment of a very interesting commentary provided by Hammer historians Ted Newsom, Gary H. Smith and Stuart Galbraith IV. These guys really know their Hammer! They provide behind-the-scenes anecdotes and a very knowledgeable, in-depth look at the Hammer dynasty and the things that made it so great.

The DVD also contains four bonus trailers and two original featurettes on the making of When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth and Dracula AD 1972. This DVD is well worth a look. Even if you're already familiar with the Hammer body of work, you might discover a new gem that you haven't yet seen. Watching these previews is definitely a lot of fun and I guarantee it'll make you want to run out and rent some of these classics. Guys and ghouls, it's Hammer time!

FEAR FACTOR: Not scary, just a "bloody" good time.---

BLOOD & GORE GAUGE: Some blood. Tame by today's standards, but still quite effective.---

COOLEST THING ABOUT THE DVD: William Castle's Hitchcock-esque appearance in the humorous trailer for The Old Dark House.---

TRIVIA TIDBIT: Nastassja Kinski made one of her earliest film appearances in Hammer's To the Devil a Daughter---

BEST "OW, THAT'S GOTTA HURT" MOMENT: Head whacked off with a shovel---

BEST QUOTE: (On seeing Aunt Agatha dead in the chair impaled through the neck with two knitting needles) "It has to be murder. She always knitted so carefully."---

Official Website:
http://www.alldayentertainment.com/

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