On Tuesday, Marcus Hearn’s new Hammer compilation The Hammer Vault will be released in the U.S. I was lucky enough to snag a copy of this extensive book before the official drop date, and I’m glad I did. It’s a hefty thing, nearly 13 inches by 10 inches in size with 175 thick pages. The Hammer Vault manages to combine substantial historical information with a coffee table book aesthetic, making it appealing to Hammer Horror buffs and casual fans alike.
My husband was impressed with the amount of female nudity in the publicity of later Hammer films.
Amongst the dozens of promotional pictures and lobby cards are more interesting items such as scripts, internal memos, behind-the-scenes photos and promotional items, such as a set of paper fangs distributed for Dracula: Prince Of Darkness. Some unexpected celebrities that show up in the photos are Joan Crawford, Sammy Davis Jr., and Luciana Paluzzi. The most fascinating items though are the props, all quite deteriorated but still very recognizable, such as a formerly-fuzzy bat from Kiss of the Vampire and one of my personal favorites, the heart revived by Frankenstein in The Evil of Frankenstein (1963). A few of the posters shown are nearly the entire size of the 13 inch by 10 inch pages; I already liked this book, but seeing that the Quatermass and the Pit poster was one of these large reproductions made me full-on love this book.
Pre-order it today or buy it Tuesday at Amazon,
Barnes & Noble, or your favorite bookshop.
Sounds fascinating – I’ve been reading Wayne Kramer’s history of the studio in the 50s and 60s so this sounds like a fascinating addendum to that. Thanks.
Sergio
The poster is really nice.
Sounds good and I always enjoy Dracula.