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The Art of Hammer: The Official Poster Collection From the Archive of Hammer Films

Marcus Hearn

4.49 · Rating details · 82 ratings · 8 reviews

Over fifty years ago, with the release of The Curse of Frankenstein and Christopher Lee’s iconic performance in Dracula, Hammer ushered in a whole new era of blood and barely-restrained cleavage in glorious color, mixing sex and horror with a style and panache that made the small British company world famous.

The Art of Hammer collects the very best and most iconic movie ...more

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Hardcover, 192 pages

Published November 23rd 2010 by Titan Books (first published October 26th 2010)

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Dec 16, 2012 Campbell rated it it was amazing

Beautifully put together book of Hammer movie posters from throughout the 50's to the end of the 70's.

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Apr 19, 2019 Wondra Vanian rated it it was amazing

Shelves: art, horror, illustrated

A cracking collection of movie posters. I love that the different versions appear together so you can compare them. They’re well organised by decade and even include posters from Hammer’s modern relaunch. A must-have for horror fans.

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Aug 31, 2018 Aaron Badgley rated it it was amazing

Movie posters, and Hammer Films, a perfect combination and a perfect book. Well put together and ex excellent notation. Brilliant.

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May 27, 2012 Aussiescribbler Aussiescribbler rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Joe Barlow, Michael Laney

Shelves: movie-books

Movie posters are an art form of their own. And like so many other kinds of art, it often seems that the glory days are in the past - the days when a movie poster was based on a stylised painting which captured the essence of what we would see up there on the silver screen, or, very often, when it came to the sort of blood and thunder exploitation movies in which companies like Hammer specialised, a good deal more than we would ever actually see on the screen. When it came to selling horror and Movie posters are an art form of their own. And like so many other kinds of art, it often seems that the glory days are in the past - the days when a movie poster was based on a stylised painting which captured the essence of what we would see up there on the silver screen, or, very often, when it came to the sort of blood and thunder exploitation movies in which companies like Hammer specialised, a good deal more than we would ever actually see on the screen. When it came to selling horror and other kinds of exploitation pictures, posters were there to sell the sizzle rather than the steak (or stake if it was a Dracula movie).

This book is a treasure-trove of Hammer poster art, concentrating on their famous horror films, but also including a generous sampling of artwork for comedies, war movies, historical spectaculars, sci-fi movies and crime melodramas. There are many fine examples of the classic style of painted posters, but also, when it came to the sixties and seventies, some bold masterpieces of the surreal as well as pop art designs based around the clever use of film stills. Along with the familiar American and British posters are an assortment from other countries which reflect something of the tastes and artistic styles of those nations. The Japanese posters are particularly lurid, taking advantage of any chance to feature images of women in bondage and showing a casual attitude to nudity, such is with the poster for Creatures The World Forgot which prominently features Julie Ege's prominent naked breasts. The French often favoured an Art Nouveau look, especially in their vampire film posters. Perhaps most unusual is a Polish poster for One Million Years, B.C. which features a crude comical cartoon of something that is presumably intended to be a dinosaur with a little cartoon man in its mouth. No Raquel Welch. I have read that movie poster designers in communist countries often used their posters as a covert way to criticise the government. This can be the only explanation for this strange poster which seems to represent the oppression of the common man at least as much as it represents a sexy dinosaur flick.

This collection is a feast for the eyes, and the perfect inducement to re-watch all the old Hammer films, which were wonderful when they were good - Quatermass and The Pit or Horror of Dracula - and just as wonderful when they were bad - Creatures the World Forgot or The Vengeance of She. ...more

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Dec 11, 2010 Jason Henderson rated it it was amazing

I just got The Art of Hammer, a brand new poster book this Christmas that is ideal for any classic horror fan. You've heard me expound on the unique look and feel of Hammer Films before-- I first wrote on this over thirteen years ago-- but here's the short version:
From the 1950s through the end of the 1970s, horror films entered what is now called the Gothic period, defined by a heavy reliance on supernatural rather than science-fiction-influenced themes, and period rather than contemporary I just got The Art of Hammer, a brand new poster book this Christmas that is ideal for any classic horror fan. You've heard me expound on the unique look and feel of Hammer Films before-- I first wrote on this over thirteen years ago-- but here's the short version:
From the 1950s through the end of the 1970s, horror films entered what is now called the Gothic period, defined by a heavy reliance on supernatural rather than science-fiction-influenced themes, and period rather than contemporary settings. The champion of all Gothic horror was Hammer, a British studio that used many of the same cast, crew, and most especially production designers through their horror films. The result is a very recognizable series of films-- you can sit down to watch Horror of Dracula and Curse of Frankenstein, which came out in '57 and '58, and then watch The Vampire Lovers and Twins of Evil, which both came out in the early 70s, and you get the sense that these films are all part of a series and indeed seem to exist in the same world. People have called that world the Hammerscape, recognizable for its color and strange, sort-of-Euro and sort-of-British sets, trees and castle grounds.

These are the movies I play in the background while I'm working. So I was stunned by this book, which is over-sized and reprints posters from around the world advertising Hammer horror. One thing that's new for me here is that it gives me the chance to see the same film promoted in different ways.

For instance, the book reprints the first poster for The Vampire Lovers-- the poster is lurid and green (and by the way, isn't it odd to look at this and think, no-one's done a poster for a movie like this in thirty years?)-- and then reprints the American version, done in the style of drive-in movie posters (and in great drive-in fashion, suggests a totally different movie, though I'm sure this one, with its army of vampire women and Roman slaves, would be great too.)

That's just one example. There are alternate poster takes for Countess Dracula, Hands of the Ripper, four different takes on Dracula AD 1972, and on and on.

This is a very cool book; I just received mine and will be thumbing it for a while. Ideal for any classic horror fan.

...more

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Sep 03, 2015 Doug Brunell rated it really liked it

Shelves: art, film

This is a must read if you love film posters, Hammer or horror movies.

These posters were created back when the world of the movie poster was an art. Ideas weren't played in front of demographic groups (which is why so many movie posters look the same today). Each is an amazing piece of work in its own right, and here you get to see them in full-color glory.

My only complaint is that it wasn't nearly long enough.

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Feb 28, 2011 Erin rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2011

This book contains the best collection I have ever seen of Hammer films fantastic movie posters. It is a wonderful look at the evolution of their movie poster and their movies. I must see for fans of Hammer studios.

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