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Hammer Film Productions is a film production company in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films produced from the late 1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers and comedies — and in later years, television series. Hammer films were cheap to produce but nonetheless appeared lavish, making use of quality British actors and cleverly designed sets. During its most successful years, Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and considerable financial success. This success was due, in part, to distribution partnerships with major United States studios, such as Warner Brothers.

During the late 1960s and 1970s the saturation of the horror market by competitors and the loss of American funding forced changes to the previously lucrative Hammer-formula, with varying degrees of success. The company eventually ceased production in the mid-1980s and has remained in effective hibernation since. In 2000 the studio announced plans to begin making films again after being bought by a consortium including advertising guru and art collector Charles Saatchi, but no films have been produced since. In May 2007 the company behind the movies was sold to a group headed by Big Brother creator John de Mol. At least $50m (£25m) will be spent on new horror films after Hammer Film Productions was sold to Dutch consortium Cyrte Investments. The new owners have also acquired the Hammer group's back catalogue.

The term "Hammer Horror" is often used generically to refer to other films of the period made in a similar style by different companies, such as Eros Films, Amicus Productions and Tigon British Film Productions.

Early history (1935 to 1937) — Hammer Productions

In November 1934 William Hinds, a comedian and businessman registered his own film company — Hammer Productions Ltd. — based in a three-room office suite at Imperial House, Regent Street, London. The company name was taken from Hinds' stage name, Will Hammer.

Work began almost immediately on the first Hammer film, The Public Life of Henry the Ninth at the MGM/ATP studios, with shooting concluding on 2 January 1935. During this period Hinds met Spanish émigré Enrique Carreras, a former cinema owner, and on 10 May 1935 they formed a film distribution company Exclusive Films, operating from a single office at 60-66 National House, Wardour Street. Hammer produced a further four films distributed by Exclusive:

• The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (US: The Phantom Ship ) (1936), featuring Bela Lugosi
• The Song of Freedom (1936), featuring Paul Robeson
• Sporting Love (1937)
• The Bank Messenger Mystery (1936)

A slump in the British film industry forced Hammer into bankruptcy and the company went into liquidation in 1937. Exclusive, however, survived and on 20 July 1937 purchased the leasehold on 113-117 Wardour Street, and continued to distribute films made by other companies.

Resurrection (1938 to 1955) — Hammer Film Productions

James Carreras (son of Enrique) joined Exclusive in 1938, closely followed by William Hinds' son, Anthony. At the outbreak of World War II, both James Carreras and Anthony Hinds left to join the armed services and Exclusive continued to operate only in a limited capacity. In 1946, James Carreras rejoined the company after demobilisation. He resurrected Hammer as the film production arm of Exclusive with a view to supplying 'quota-quickies' - cheaply made domestic films designed to fill gaps in cinema schedules and support more expensive features. He convinced Anthony Hinds to rejoin the company, and a revived 'Hammer Film Productions' set to work on Death in High Heels , The Dark Road , Crime Reporter and Dick Barton Special Agent (an adaptation of the successful Dick Barton radio show). All were shot at Marylebone Studios during 1947. During production of 1948's Dick Barton Strikes Back , it became apparent that the company could save a considerable amount of money by shooting in country houses instead of professional studios. For their next production — Dr Morelle - The Case of the Missing Heiress (another radio adaptation) — Hammer rented Dial Close, a 23 bedroom mansion next to the River Thames, at Cookham Dean, Maidenhead.

On 12 February 1949 Exclusive finally registered "Hammer Film Productions" as a company with Enrique and James Carreras, and William and Tony Hinds as company directors. Hammer moved into the Exclusive offices in 113-117 Wardour Street, and the building was rechristened "Hammer House".

In August 1949, complaints from locals about noise during night filming forced Hammer to leave Dial Close and move into another mansion, Oakley Court, also on the banks of the Thames between Windsor and Maidenhead. Five films were shot there: The Man in Black (1949), Room to Let (1949), Someone at the Door (1949), What The Butler Saw (1950), The Lady Craved Excitement (1950). In 1950, Hammer moved again to Gilston Park, a country club in Harlow Essex, which hosted Black Widow , The Rossiter Case , To Have and to Hold and The Dark Light (all 1950).

In 1951, Hammer began shooting at its most famous home, Down Place also on the banks of the Thames. The company took out a one-year lease and began its 1951 production schedule with Cloudburst . The house, a virtual derelict, required substantial work, but it did not have the kind of construction restrictions that had prevented Hammer from customising its previous homes. A decision was therefore made to turn Down Place into a substantial, custom-fitted studio complex. Its expansive grounds were used for almost all of the later location shooting in Hammer's films, and are a key part of the "Hammer look".

Also during 1951, Hammer and Exclusive signed a four-year production and distribution contract with Robert Lippert, an American film producer. The contract meant that Lippert and Exclusive effectively exchanged products for distribution on their respective sides of the Atlantic — beginning in 1951 with The Last Page and ending with 1955's Women Without Men (AKA Prison Story ). It was Lippert's insistence on an American star in the Hammer films he was to distribute that led to the prevalence of American leads in so many of the company's 1950s productions. It was for The Last Page that Hammer made one of its most significant appointments when it hired film director Terence Fisher, who went on to play a critical role in the forthcoming horror boom of the 1950s.

Towards the end of 1951, the one-year lease on Down Place expired, and with its increasing success Hammer looked back towards more conventional studio-based productions. A dispute with the Association of Cinematograph Technicians, however, blocked this proposal, and instead the company purchased the freehold of Down Place. The house was renamed Bray Studios after the nearby village of Bray and it remained Hammer's principal base until 1966.

1952 brought the first of Hammer's science fiction films: Four Sided Triangle and Spaceways .

Hammer Horror people

Directors and writers

• Michael Carreras, sometimes as Henry Younger - writer and director of The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
• Terence Fisher - director of Dracula , The Curse of Frankenstein , The Mummy and others
• Freddie Francis - director of The Evil of Frankenstein and Dracula has Risen From the Grave
• Tudor Gates - writer of The Vampire Lovers , Lust for a Vampire , and Twins of Evil
• John Gilling - writer and director of Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Plague of the Zombies (1966), The Reptile (1966) and The Mummy's Shroud
• Anthony Hinds, as John Elder - writer of The Brides of Dracula , The Curse of the Werewolf and others
• Jimmy Sangster - writer of Dracula , The Curse of Frankenstein and others; director of The Horror of Frankenstein and Lust for a Vampire
• Peter Sasdy - director of Taste the Blood of Dracula and Countess Dracula
• Harry Robertson - musical director of Countess Dracula , Twins of Evil and others

Other crew

The scores for many Hammer horror films, including Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein , were composed by James Bernard.

Production designer Bernard Robinson and cinematographer Jack Asher were instrumental in creating the lavish look of the early Hammer films, usually on a very restricted budget.

Actors

Hammer's horror films featured many of the same actors in recurring roles; these actors are sometimes called the "Hammer repertory company".

• Ralph Bates
• Shane Briant
• Veronica Carlson
• Peter Cushing
• Christopher Lee
• Andrew Keir
• Miles Malleson
• Francis Matthews
• André Morell
• Oliver Reed
• Michael Ripper
• Barbara Shelley

The birth of Hammer Horror (1955 to 1959)

Hammer's first significant experiment with horror came in the form of a 1955 adaptation of Nigel Kneale's BBC Television science fiction serial The Quatermass Experiment , which was directed by Val

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