The Revival Of Hammer Films

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Nick
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The Revival Of Hammer Films

Post by Nick »

Evidently some big shot from Big Brother has bought a big stake in the company (so I understand-apologies if I am wrong). Would it be too much to expect him to be a DW reader, and if so..... Well the potential is exciting. Any body got any news?
Garry Holmes
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Post by Garry Holmes »

I would love to be excited by this news, but........
I am a big fan of Hammer films, and I would love there to be more of them, especially when they are adaptions of DW stories. Unfortunately it seems that every few years someone else takes control of the company and promises that Hammer is back!!!!. After lots of newspaper and TV stories the whole thing goes quiet again, until the next person takes control of the studio and the whole thing begins again.
The problem would appear to be that the people in charge of Hammer can make a lot more money by selling trading cards, posters, framed segments of films etc. than they can by actually making films. There have been two or three such revivals in recent years, and the cynic in me suspects that they are simply getting free publicity rather than seriously intending to bring the studio back into film production.
Still, here's hoping. Which DW books would you like to see them make?
Alan
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Post by Alan »

The Devil Rides Out
They Used Dark Forces
The Satanist
The Ka of Gifford Hillary

I leave out "Strange Conflict" and "Gateway To Hell" since, though both are brilliant tales, I'm not sure how they would translate to the big screen. The only treatment that would work with either, I feel, is to update the manner of telling, to a kind of slick, 21st century style which would rather spoil the point of a Hammer revival. "Conflict" would come over as something like "The Matrix", and "Gateway" wold need considerable rewriting to make it suitable for a mdoern audience. The charm of Hammer is its slightly naive, mid twentieth-century feel, and a revived studio would, one hopes, retain this charm allied to modern special effects.

Although thinking about it, I'd love to see the opening of the pit done by a modern special-effects team, or the astral battle between the musketeers and Saturday raging across a cinema screen. complete with Dolby surround-sound. Not to mention Mary-Lou's long legs that she adopts when on the Astral - could be a genuinely funny moment!



>Which DW books would you like to see them make?
duncanpaul17
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The Revival Of Hammer Films

Post by duncanpaul17 »

It would be good if at long last Hammer Films were again produced.

I think a number of Dennis's works could translate to the screen.

The Devil Rides Out, Strange Conflict, and Gateway To Hell would make an interesting De Richelieu trilogy.
Nick
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Post by Nick »

So who would we cast in the leading parts? De Richleau Mocata etc (I want the part of Wilkes!)
Garry Holmes
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Post by Garry Holmes »

There's a new book about Hammer. A THING OF UNSPEAKABLE HORROR by Sinclair McKay. There's a nice bit about Devil Rides Out, which he loves. There's also some stuff about the possible revival of the company, and what it might be like. Very good book.
Jim
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Post by Jim »

It's a great title, but from the Amazon (fan) reviews, the book is riddled with errors. (Glad I checked before racing over to Book Depository to buy it...)
Garry Holmes
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Post by Garry Holmes »

It's still an enjoyable book, even with the many mistakes. There are plenty of factual books about Hammer, and this feels a bit like one man's opinion rather than an attempt to dot every I and cross every T, so I can't get too worked up about the goofs. Besides, how can you not love a book which describes DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE as 'the drunk man's CITIZEN KANE'?
Toohey
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Post by Toohey »

Do you think they could revive the Hammer franchise?
I thought that they'd squeezed everything they could out of the Dracula & Frankenstien templates they created back in the beginning of Hammer. I mean, Hammer was all about 'fantasy' horrors, most horror films that started to appear towards the end of the Hammer cycle were about 'real' monsters. You know, crazed lunatics in ski-masks slashing up American teenagers. That was never Hammer's bag, though I did enjoy the TV show Hammer house of Horror and did post about an episode that had clearly been inspired by DW:Guardian of the Abyss.
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Post by Michael Karnstein »

I had talks about the casting of possible re-make of "The Devil Rides Out" with my friend, and this is where we ended up:

Duc - Christopher Lee
Rex - Christian Bale
Simon - Johnny Depp
Mocata - Anthony Hopkins
Tanith - Natalie Portman

I guess we got too carried away, especially considering Hammer´s small compared to Columbia etc. but you have to agree with me, this would be IT. :-D
Dante knew nothing about hell.
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