Topic: Hammer Horror flicks

[P/\/\\/o]

Been rewatching all the Hammer Horror Studios' Dracula and Frankenstein films, tons of others, and daymn these movies make me happy! What's so special about these films, I wonder? Somehow all the 80's horror movies come off as lame in comparison, imho. Is it because Hammer flicks are more about adult drama, and not 'teenagers in trouble' ala the 80's?

Do you dig Hammer Horror movies? Your favorite titles and actors?

Frankenstein and Peter Cushing all the way, bay bay! 

Classic Hammer Horror Moments | Classic Clips

[X]

Actually I don't mind some of the teen horror flicks from the 80's. 'My best friend is a Vampire' was one I enjoyed as well as 'The Monster Squad'. They're 100% better then all the shit that's been released recently. *Cough*Twilight*Cough*

I never actually sat down and watched a Hammer horror flick but those brief clips are interesting.

[Abnormal Freak]

Kinda related, I missed my chance to get Hammer House of Horror for $15. Rather annoyed by that. Still hasn't gone below $30 anywhere else. Maybe DeepDiscount will have it on sale again soon...

[Laina]

Aw snap! I grew up with these (2 much older brothers that were all into classic cinema) & loved 'em. My knowledge of Hammer Horror actually won me & 2 friends tickets from a radio contest. They were to a theatre production of Dracula (a comedy version, it was pretty good) & the actors would wander around before the play started in full makeup & character. God, these are just great all up & down.

[TheouAegis]

Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day.
Light a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.

Poor Dracula.

[P/\/\\/o]

Actually I don't mind some of the teen horror flicks from the 80's. 'My best friend is a Vampire' was one I enjoyed as well as 'The Monster Squad'. They're 100% better then all the shit that's been released recently. *Cough*Twilight*Cough*

I never actually sat down and watched a Hammer horror flick but those brief clips are interesting.

In moderation the 'teens in trouble' horror movies are cool for a nostalgia kick. But the theme seems to label the whole genre of horror of the 80's. So, it's hard to be able to avoid the theme.

You should really check out some Hammer horror flicks, starting with Dracula and Frankenstein films, naturally! How about the 1958 remake of the classis Dracula? It's known as simply 'Dracula' or 'the Horror of Dracula.

You're in luck, the whole film is on Dailymotion!
--->
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlsntq_horror-of-dracula_shortfilms#.UPqdaB1NUfw

[Ratty]

I prefer the Universal films, Hammer is ok but the pacing can be soooooo sloooooow. I guess for some people this builds up anticipation for the monsters but for me it usually just feels like padding around the 5 or 10 cool minutes of the movie. Hammer did have beautiful sets and a sense of class until the later movies in their monster cycle though. My favorite would probably be "The Mummy", Hammer's version might be superior to the Universal original but since I grew up with the Karloff version I can't say objectively. Dracula A.D. 1972 is also a lot of fun.


On the subject of the "teens in trouble" genre which flooded the 80s is probably forgettable for 2 reasons. A.) It's a somewhat limited premise. B.) The monsters do not come from folklore or legend, and don't have the weight of centuries to superstition to add mystique to their stories.
The film that kicked off this genre though, 1978's "Halloween" is a great movie with a villain who did embody some of the otherworldly eeriness of legend. Micheal Myers basically was a monster. He had no past, no reason for killing. He was just a force of evil, a blank and unknowable other who may or may not be supernatural as hinted by the ending.

Then came Jason who was a Myers ripoff with an explicit motivation and mommy issues. Freddy started out promising and scary but turned into a self-parody after a while. All the other slashers were just riding the wave/hopping on the bandwagon, kind of like all the zombie movies have been doing the last few years now.

[TheouAegis]

I just watched Fright Night. One of those troubled teens 80s flicks. The boy wants to bang his virgin girlfriend but she's not ready. Then when she is ready he notices a vampire move in next door. She gets mad and stops talking to him. When local hookers start dying with their heads cut off, the boy tries to warn people around him there's a vampire next door, but of course no one believes him. So he turns to Peter Vincent, an homage to horror host Larry Vincent, who just got fired because nobody wants to see vampire flicks (the scene was spoofed in the new Frankenweenie movie, I swear!). Worried about her boyfriend's sanity, the girl asks Mr. Vincent to prove her boyfriend's neighbor isn't a vampire. Things go well at first and the boy promises to leave his neighbor alone until Mr. Vincent notices the neighbor lacks a reflection and beats a hasty retreat. Now certain that he's not going crazy, the boy renews his efforts to kill his neighbor, but things go awry when the vampire turns the boy's bullied friend into a werewolf and tasks him with killing Mr. Vincent. (Oddly the cross works on the werewolf even though at that point of the movie Mr. Vincent lacks faith.) The girl gets abducted by the vampire and he turns her into a vampiress. In a race against time, the boy and Mr. Vincent enter the vampire's home to kill him. Full of great 80s schlock special effects. The head vampire's death scene was pretty cool, I thought. Not as good as the ghost in Sweet Home, but still cool.

Just saying, if you're not a big horror buff, there's something to be said for the 80s troubled teen vampire movies. I like them, personally. Maybe the tropes make it enjoyable for me. One of the few times cliches are good things.

[Abnormal Freak]

I presume the "teens in trouble" movies of the '80s that Paavo's talking about are the teen slasher/bodycount movies that were so prevalent. Which I love, by the way.

But the '80s offered a whole lot more in terms of horror, you just have to look around. Films by Stuart Gordon, Frank Henenlotter, Lucio Fulci, Sam Raimi, John Carpenter, Dario Argento... The '80s were pretty varied and awesome for the horror genre, it's just that slasher/teen booby flicks were really big in the mainstream.

As for Fright Night, that movie's great. (I own the limited-to-3,000 Blu-ray, woo!) The dude who played Evil Ed later dropped his acting and stage careers to pursue hardcore gay porn. Uuuuuhhhh...OK. But I guess he got back into acting some years ago.

"You're so cool, Brewster!"

Fright Night - Oh you're so cool, Brewster!

[Ratty]

The original Fright Night is such a fun film. And it relates back to the Hammer horror's directly because Roddy "Planet of the Apes" McDowell is basically playing a washed-up version of Peter Cushing in it. I love how he's holding the stake backwards when approaching the female vampire in the short clip of one of his own movies we see on the television. I should watch this one again sometime soon.

I presume the "teens in trouble" movies of the '80s that Paavo's talking about are the teen slasher/bodycount movies that were so prevalent. Which I love, by the way.

But the '80s offered a whole lot more in terms of horror, you just have to look around. Films by Stuart Gordon, Frank Henenlotter, Lucio Fulci, Sam Raimi, John Carpenter, Dario Argento... The '80s were pretty varied and awesome for the horror genre, it's just that slasher/teen booby flicks were really big in the mainstream.

True dat. The 80s were a great and varied decade for horror. Though I've personally always found the slasher flicks that dominated the mainstream then boring as sin since they only had 2 of Joe Bob Brigg's 3 Bs of drive in B movies (Blood and Breasts but no Beasts ) but that's just me.

[P/\/\\/o]

Don't want to leave an impression, that I'm bashing the entirety of 80's horror, don't get me wrong! And Fright Night is one gem of a needle found in the haystack, if nothing else! Did you guys know, there was a FN part 2? 

But to go back into the seventies and Hammer Horror, I'd like to suggest a cool movie called 'Captain Kronos', the vampire
Hunter!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071276/

[TheouAegis]

Well the other reason I brought up FN was the scene when Peter Vincent got fired. It was a blatant slam against the teen slasher flicks.

"I have just been fired because nobody wants to see vampire killers any more, or vampires either. Apparently all they want are demented madmen, running around in ski masks hacking up young virgins. "

[P/\/\\/o]

How about some macabre horror from the 60's-70's, like Vincent Price flicks? Last Man on Earth, anyone? :-)

[TheouAegis]

I loooove Vincent Price.