James Bond fans best remember Munro from her role in The Spy Who Loved Me as a bikini-clad helicopter pilot.
Sir Christopher Lee, as he later became, was also a brilliant villain in The Man With The Golden Gun.
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And if you ever find yourself wondering if the sound Saruman makes as he’s stabbed by Wormtongue is realistic — Sir Christopher Lee was a member of the British Special Operations Executive during WWII and was periodically attached to the SAS. Let’s just say he likely had… empirical knowledge of the subject. 
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Huge Hammer/Amicus/Tigon fanboy here.
I suppose I got into Hammer via the Derrick Sherwin/Philip Hinchcliffe era of Doctor Who, which borrowed heavily from the Quatermass serials and Hammer Horror films respectively.
I’m pretty sure the first Hammer movie I watched was either Quatermass and the Pit or Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, but it’s been ages. As much as I love the Peter Cushing/Christopher Lee movies, Quatermass and Captain Kronos remain my first loves just because there’s nothing else out there like them.
I really became a true connoisseur of British horror during my early twenties in the early 2000’s when it became easier to get Hammer/Amicus flicks on VHS and laserdisc here in the United States.
In fact, I owe a lot of my obsession to that brief point in history where Laserdiscs became worthless practically overnight and everybody started selling off their collections for $5 a piece. I picked up a ton of Hammer Horror and other strange movies from Tower Records and various yards sales/flea markets, and was able to double or triple my collection overnight. (The same also goes for when Blockbuster emerged on the scene and drove all the little mom and pop video stores out of business, and I was able to snatch up a lot of VHS titles for $2 or $3 a pop)
My cousin and I both developed a mutual love of Hammer around the same time, so it became a competition to see who could come up with titles the other hadn’t seen yet. That’s how I ended up branching out into Amicus, and to a lesser extent, Tigon and Tyburn, which tended to pull from the same pool of actors, writers, and directors.
Now, thanks to the internet and Amazon, I’ve seen just about every movie released by all four British horror production houses. I’m still working my way through some of the lesser known and hard to find pictures, picking up rarities here and there, though a whole bunch of them just got dumped on BluRay last year as part of the “Hammer Films Ultimate Collection” which contains some great hidden gems like The Gorgon, These are the Damned, The Old Dark House, Scream of Fear (which is basically a much better version of The Screaming Skull) and Creatures the World Forgot.
That said, there are a few even more obscure Hammer flicks that I still haven’t managed to track down legitimate DVD/BluRay copies of, like Shadow of the Cat (1961), which is sort of the anti-Lassie, in which a cat behaves like a completely normal cat and gets a bunch of dumbass humans killed through a series of easily preventable accidents… ostensibly because she wants revenge on them for murdering her owner, but knowing cats, she probably would have done the same for sh*ts and giggles anyways. Cats gonna cat.
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I liked Shadow of the Cat (I’m a cat freak and would hope my pet would avenge my murder as well.)
Good kitty! 
I’ve seen some Tigon, but I don’t believe I’ve watched a Tyburn yet (I’ve got a couple in the que)
Also, fun bit of trivia and “What If?” moment for Hammer fans.
Did you know in the late 50’s, Hammer almost teamed up with Universal to co-produce a 26-episode TV series called Tales of Frankenstein, that would have pulled from both versions of the classic monster, with half the season directed by Curt Sidomak (responsible for The Wolfman, House of Frankenstein, and a bunch of other Universal classics) and half by Jimmy Sangster, who did most of the Hammer Frankenstein movies?
How the hell you come up with 26 different Frankenstein stories that can be told in under half an hour, I don’t know, but unfortunately, we never got a chance to find out, as talks broke down in typical Hollywood fashion with both studios wanting the character to be more like their version, and not liking the other’s scripts. A pilot episode was filmed featuring Anton Diffring playing a version of Frankenstein very similar to the Peter Cushing version, but it never aired, and the entire project was scrapped.
Still, at least two of the scripts Hammer had commissioned for this series later got expanded upon and turned into their next two Frankenstein movies: Frankenstein Created Woman and The Evil of Frankenstein, which sort of explains why they go off on such unusual tangents compared to most of the other movies.
You can watched the unaired pilot here:
It’s not great, but you can sort of see where it might have had potential.
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Wow, never heard of this, thanks for sharing.
Another good, creepy series I’ve recelty discovered was the UK’s “Thriller”… (though you could probably retitle it “Men Menacing Women” as that seemed to be the primary plotline). While not a Hammer production, it was created by Brian Clemens, who wrote 2 of my favorite Hammer films and directed Captain Kronos.
I discovered it while going through Pamela Franklin’s filmography - she was outstanding in 2 outstanding episodes.
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Yeah, their movies are definitely towards the lower/lazier end of the spectrum. If Hammer and Amicus are the Coke/Pepsi of classic British horror, Tigon is the Shasta Cola, and Tyburn is that weird-ass Mexican stuff on the bottom shelf that’s flavored with tamarind.
They weren’t quite a 70’s version of Asylum pictures, but they definitely imitated the style of Hammer/Amicus, with movies like Tales that Witness Madness, a rip-off of the Amicus portmanteau films, including one bit about a guy who wants to have sex with a tree.
Then you’ve got The Terror of Sheba, which is just Whatever Happened to Baby Jane mashed up with The Nanny and a bunch of other “evil mamma” movies, with a creepy cat thrown in for no particular reason.
Next up, The Ghoul, which has an impressive cast with both Peter Cushing and John Hurt, and some generally creepy setup moments (like revealing Peter has his own private Thuggee temple inside the house, which is never going to end well) that could have led to something interesting, but it starts and ends as a meandering low rent version of The Reptile and The Blood Beast Terror without any worthwhile payoff at the end.
And finally, Legend of the Werewolf, which also stars a bunch of Hammer regulars, but is almost as bleak and depressing a werewolf movie as The Mad Monster and I was a Teenage Werewolf. There’s literally nothing here that hasn’t been done better in some other werewolf picture.
Hammer fans should also check out Hammer House of Horror (which is like Hammer doing Amicus Portmanteau movies, but broken down for television instead), Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense, and Beasts, which is a really good horror anthology series based on the works of Nigel Kneale, best known for creating Quatermass.
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Creepy cats don’t need a reason.
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There some talk about Hammer House Of Horror above (with a link to the Shout page)
I’ve seen Child’s Play from “Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense”, but that’s been it, so far.
Beasts is new to me, I’ll have to check that out.
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I’m going to choose to believe you meant the Fran Drescher version of The Nanny.
“Mr. Sheffield, an evil cat ate Brighton’s eyeballs, and if he doesn’t finish this diorama, he’ll be kicked out of the academy! Waaaaa!”
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Re-watched this one today.
While it fell out of my Top 10, when Quatermass and the Pit leap-frogged over it after a recent viewing, it’s still one of my all-time favorite Hammers.
Ralph Baker is superb, I especially like the scene when he bumps into Howard in the street, and Hyde’s personality and attraction for the man emerges. Martine Beswick is a scene stealer. Her Hyde is less animal brute, more raw sexuality and cunning. The battle for dominance between each side is enthralling and expertly performed, and shown - considering this is pre-CGI, 1970s, the camera work and editing, the use of mirrors, was really well done.
Nice script from Brian Clemens, and direction from Roy Ward Baker. I also liked David Whitaker’s score (though I don’t know if it’s drawing from other elements, as the Q&TP does).
Good selection of extras too, including a new commentary track.
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I started The Old Dark House last night, and was surprised to find that it’s (1) also a William Castle film and (2) something of a comedy. Unfortunately it’s of that British panto comedy school with heavy-handed gags and noticeable “pause here for laughter” moments. So I took it out and put in another from the Hammer collection.
And boy am I glad I did. I took a chance on These Are The Damned, and what an unusual movie it is! In gorgeous black-and-white, it starts off appearing to be a juvenile delinquincy film. But it keeps moving between stories which gradually connect, until it resolves in the last act as a kind of science fiction film. All along the way it has interludes and touches which strongly remind me of the French New Wave films. A hidden treasure no doubt and a very interestingly told story. It resists all the way to the end in indulging in standard tropes and payoffs. Even the movie posters can’t decide what genre it belongs in, it’s that unconventional.
I quite recommend it.
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Excellent recommendation, thanks! Just watched it this morning, a delicious confection of film noir and ghost story. Another good one for the list.
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I received a Blu Ray of the Hammer House of Horror series last Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed it. I particularly enjoyed the Peter Cushing one… which has already been mentioned anyway so we’re good here. 
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Just watched Never Take Candy From A Stranger from the Hammer box set. It’s about exactly what the title sounds like. What I found interesting was that it actually socketed very well into the Hammer monster movie mold stylistically. In fact, it even had moments like a Universal Monsters picture. The old man of the title really comes off as a movie monster, lumbering around menacingly and pulling faces. I don’t believe he ever spoke a word in the entire movie, either. It’s not a bad flick, though being from the time it is it has very karmic payoffs.
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^with that subject matter I needed those karmic payoffs.
Prehistoric Women (aka Slave Girls - 1967)
Michael Carreras is my least favorite Hammer director, and I’ve never much cared for their exotica cycle (the most well known of those is One Million Years B.C.), but I’d never seen this one, it’s not streaming anywhere, and I found a cheap used DVD, so why not.
Why not indeed… Carreras is a dry storyteller and that’s evident here - he offers up several ritual dances to “pad, pad, pad, pad, pad the film”. Martine Beswick (who plays the cruel leader of an all-female tribe, who worships a white rhino) gives a sensual, scenery-chewing performance. Oh, and it’s nice to know there are lipsticks and bubble baths to be had in the wilds of the jungle. 
Not good, though it’s achieved cult status for some.
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‘Went to a Hammer party to reminisce with my old friends
A chance to share old memories and play our films again’
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Aye, they were something of a balm, even if an unlikely one. It could have ended worse.
I’ll likely flip through the stack again and see what else surprises me. Otherwise I’m likely to give Captain Kronos or The Devil Rides Out another spin, which would not be a bad thing either. But I’m really hoping for another unexpected gem like Scream Of Fear.
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Scream of Fear was a gem. I’ve seen all the greats, and probably all the good ones, but maybe there’s another surprise movie, like Straight On Till Morning - it’s not a classic, but a solid, mid-level Hammer (I was annoyed with the commentator, who acted like this was a bad movie. Hell, even if all it offered was Rita Tushingham’s outstanding performance, that still made it worthwhile).
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Made another purchase,
Plague of the Zombies
Deliberately paced and effectively spooky (that scene when the leads find the open coffin, and watch as the woman’s face transforms and her eyes open). John Gilling’s finest hour for Hammer and another fine turn from actor André Morell.
Edit - I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t get a commentary with this release. I’m spoiled.
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