Johnny Zhivago

Agreed.

That said though, I only own Curse Of Frankenstein, Horror Of Dracula and The Mummy... I'll add more as time and finances allow but alas... One can not buy every DVD on one's wishlist...

To answer your question... Fairly important.

JaxComet

I dunno about that. Many of the Hammer flicks border on comedy and even seem to be poking fun at themselves.....

Sartana

Actually, there are far less comedic Hammer horrors than there are comedic Universal horrors. Even the Hammer pictures that people normally assume are comedies are played fairly straight-faced, and can be enjoyed as straight horror films or as sly black comedies. I'm thinking of DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE, CAPTAIN KRONOS, and a few other of the early '70s films. For whatever reason, Hammer gained a reputation for "campy" horror, but that tag seems mostly to come from mainstream critics and people who've never even bothered to watch the films. With a titles like DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE, somebody could be forgiven for assuming that some of these films are Benny Hill-style comedies with a bit of blood, but they are not.

There are certainly more than a few Hammer films that do fall into the "campy" category, but not enough to represent their entire output with the term. As you may have guessed, Hammer films take up a big chunk of my DVD collection. I'm still working on obtaining all of Anchor Bay's seemingly never-ending Hammer releases, but I have the majority. I also have the handful of other releases from other studios (KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, HORROR OF DRACULA, CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN...). Oh, and so many more to go. Bring on THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL, HANDS OF THE RIPPER, COUNTESS DRACULA, TASTE OF FEAR, THE GORGON, DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE, TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, BRIDES OF DRACULA, CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, NIGHTMARE, PARANOIAC, THE DAMNED and on and on and on...

cisco1959

I have all 38 region 1 Hammer films available on dvd:

http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.ht...ms&id=rotaylor

Scot1458

waiting for The Gorgon...great film! Effects are so so, but the end is a great payoff!

TomOpus

Impressive!

Mutley Hyde

Yep, cisco takes the cake - shoot, he even has Spaceways. From the list, I'm only missing...

Demons of the Mind
Fear in the Night
Hell is a City
Spaceways
Straight on Till Morning
To the Devil a Daughter

dadgummit!

Sartana

I highly recommend DEMONS OF THE MIND. It's a terrifically underrated film and the transfer is one of the very best in Anchor Bay's entire Hammer collection.

Mutley Hyde

Thanks Sartana, but have no doubt, I'll be getting them all... times are just a little tight right now. I'll put Demons at the top of the list though (even though I'll probably order them all in one go at some point).

shill66

Out of those 38, I have 21 on DVD. So far. Including Spaceways, which is one of my favorites.

I also have Brides of Dracula on LD, Curse of the Werewolf on Beta (home recorded), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell on VHS, The Gorgon on VHS, Horror of Frankenstein on LD, The Phantom of the Opera on VHS, Terror of the Tongs on SVHS (home recorded), Third Party Risk on VHS, Three Stops to Murder on VHS and Vampire Circus on LD.

markdclark43016

>>I feel that them along w/Universal are the true trailblazers of horror w/many titles yet to be released...

cisco1959

Forgot to mention ones I'm waiting for to be released in Region 1:
One Million Years B.C.
Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell

hardtack

Now available in Region 2 for those with multi-zone players or HTPC.

Sartana

Those are coming from Paramount, not Blue Underground.

Jim Lee

Hammer titles are essential to my Horror collection. As is Universal from the 30's, German Silents, Early Bava, AIP Corman/Price/Poe, etc.

As already said Hammer put out their fair share of stinkers (as did Universal in the 40's) but when they fired on all cylinders they were at the top of their game.

I do prefer all of the early Hammer films (late 50's, to early 60's) & a few of the later films. Most of my favorites were Directed by Terrence Fisher.

Favorites I own
HORROR OF DRACULA (1958)
MUMMY (1959)
CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957)
REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1958)
KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (1963)
DEVIL RIDES OUT (1968)
FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN (1967)
DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1965)

Essential favorites I'm eagerly waiting a DVD release
BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960)
CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961)
FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1969)
TWINS OF EVIL (1971)

Also Paramount was due to release 2 films I've never seen that I would purchase blind
FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL
KRONOS VAMPIRE HUNTER