The Three Lost 1970’s Titles
Two years ago in a previous edition of Reel Takes, I wrote an article on England’s legendary Hammer Films to celebrate the company’s rebirth and the upcoming release of The Woman in Black with Daniel Radcliffe.
That film opened in February 2012 to mostly positive reviews and went on to gross over $100 million making it the most successful movie in the company’s history. A sequel The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, set during World War II, is already in production and will open in early 2014.
However I’m not here to talk about the new Hammer Films. I’m here to revisit the last years of the old company which made its final film, a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes with Cybill Shepherd and Elliot Gould, in 1979.
After reinventing the horror film in the late 1950s and 60s with a series of Gothic films in color based on Dracula & Frankenstein, the company’s fortunes began to decline by 1970. More explicit sex and violence in films from Europe and America made Hammer seem old-fashioned. Audiences wanted stronger stuff and, in order to stay afloat, Hammer decided to give it to them.
Between 1970 and 1974 the company made 17 horror films most of which were dismissed by critics and fans at the time. Now that more than a generation has passed and with their availability in a digital medium, I decided to revisit as many of them as I could.
It turns out that I just finished watching all 17 (twice!) and discovered that there were a surprising number of gems hidden away including titles that I, as a devoted admirer, did not see at the time of their release.
Part of the reason for this was that by 1970, Hammer had lost their American funding and distribution as U.S. studios were busy reinventing themselves after the success of the youth oriented Easy Rider. That meant that outside of the major cities, the only way to see a Hammer film was at the local drive-in theater usually playing second fiddle to a far inferior headliner. It also meant that far fewer of them made it down to South Carolina where my local drive-ins were located.
Hammer made 10 films in 1971. Almost all of these were made by independent producers that Hammer invited in. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted so long as they didn’t exceed their budget limitations.
Of the 10 films, three have never been available in the digital format in America until now due to a question of ownership. They are the only “Hammer Horrors” that were never officially released on Region One DVD. Now they have been given the deluxe Blu-Ray / DVD combo treatment by Synapse Films and the results are eye popping.
Hands of the Ripper, Twins of Evil, and Vampire Circus are marvelous examples of what can be done with limited resources. Ripper incorporates Freud’s theory of the unconscious with the story of Jack the Ripper as his daughter commits a series of gruesome murders.
Twins of Evil (this month’s DVD pick) features Playboy’s first twin centerfolds and showcases Peter Cushing in one of his most intense performances as a 19th century religious zealot. Vampire Circus (Rapid River Magazine’s DVD pick for July 2012), mixes vampires and Felliniesque surrealism.
For years it was assumed that the later Hammer films were not up to the standards of their predecessors. That is not the case. While different in content, the style (what makes a Hammer film a Hammer film) remained the same.
These new combo releases prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that when they were good, the newer films were very good indeed and they hold up very well especially when you consider what constitutes a horror movie today.