{"id":6064,"date":"2013-01-25T14:00:47","date_gmt":"2013-01-25T19:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6064"},"modified":"2016-06-25T15:16:58","modified_gmt":"2016-06-25T19:16:58","slug":"dvd-hammer-house-of-horror-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=6064","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Hammer House of Horror (1980)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Film: Very Good<\/p>\n

DVD Transfer: Very Good<\/p>\n

DVD Extras: Good<\/p>\n

Label: Synapse Films<\/p>\n

Region: 1 (NTSC)<\/p>\n

Released: September 11, 2012<\/p>\n

Genre: Horror \/ Mystery \/ TV \/ Anthology \/ Hammer Horror<\/p>\n

Synopsis: 13 part anthology series by legendary British studio Hammer Horror.<\/p>\n

Special Features: Optional Episode Intros by Film Historian Shane M. Dallman \/ 2 interviews: “Grave Recollections: A Visit with Kathryn Leigh Scott” + “Hammer Housekeeping: A Visit with Mia Nadasi” \/ Animated Stills Gallery<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Review:<\/p>\n

After making its last horror film in 1976 (the troubled production To the Devil a Daughter<\/a><\/strong>), Hammer Films moved their interests to TV, where most of the directors and actors in Britain had found work after the feature film industry lost key American investment.<\/p>\n

It was a wise move, yet the series failed to enjoy a second season, perhaps due to the studio\u2019s own financial woes, as well as the costs of making and marketing a glossy horror anthology series when few kindred were having success on TV. (Witness ABC\u2019s own horror anthology Darkroom<\/strong>, which lasted 16 episodes in 1981.)<\/p>\n

The original 13 episodes were eventually released on DVD in the U.K. and later America (via A&AE), but neither edition offered any contextual extras \u2013 rather surprising, given the talent pool included many Hammer alumni from prior feature films \u2013 plus the transfers were in need of a major redo. Synapse\u2019s set offers clean new transfers which are markedly superior to the older PAL to NTSC conversions used by A&E, and they\u2019ve included a pair of interviews and brief episode intros which highlight the series\u2019 most important elements.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to tell whether critics applauded Hammer\u2019s venture into TV, but fans of the studio, if not horror and mystery anthologies shows, will be surprised by the overall quality that went into producing what was essentially a low budget series. Shot primarily on location in small towns and re-using the sides and interiors of several estate homes (especially the one featured in the main titles), apartments, curving country roadways, and even vehicles, HHOH features several tales that could easily have been fleshed out into feature films. (If the studio\u2019s current owners are looking for new material, it\u2019s worth their while to re-examine the series\u2019 best teleplays.)<\/p>\n

Note: the following reviews contain some descriptive material that might be spoilerish.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWitching Time,\u201d the first episode, is notable for clearly establishing the series\u2019 inherent gore and brief \/ implied nudity. There\u2019s also the welcome casting of Jon Finch (Macbeth<\/a><\/strong>, Frenzy<\/strong>, The Martian Chronicles<\/a><\/strong>) as a composer trying to maintain creative focus when his wife Mary (Prunella Gee) is boffing her psychiatrist (Ian McCulloch), and a sudden thunderstorm brings a possessive witch (Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/strong>\u2019s Patricia Quinn) into his arms. Mary\u2019s sudden shifts from terrified to calm between scenes are a bit wonky, and Quinn is heavily theatrical as the randy witch, but it\u2019s fun to watch Finch give his cuckolded anti-hero full gravitas as he\u2019s tormented by the time-travelling witch. The isolated country home is very atmospheric, and there\u2019s a few unique moments where Finch\u2019s character works with giant antiquated video gear, playing back footage on a \u00be\u201d U-matic system to match picture to synth music.<\/p>\n

The first of three episodes directed by Hammer regular Peter Sasdy, \u201cThe Thirteenth Reunion\u201d could easily be reworked into a grim little feature film, since the character of investigative reported Ruth is so beautifully crafted and acted by Julia Foster \u2013 clearly cast for her skills rather than matching her character\u2019s thirtysomething age. Ruth is sent to a New Age fat farm to investigate allegations of abuse by its founder and merciless whips on portly clients, but soon she uncovers a grisly scheme where certain clients disappear or die in mysterious accidents. Jeremy Burnham\u2019s script is sharp, taut, and builds a great deal of suspense, and although there is a somewhat shocking finale, once gets the sense the script may have been distilled from an unproduced feature, since the buildup to the main shock is so well orchestrated. Veterans Richard Pearson plays a sympathetic love interest, and Dinah Sheridan (Genevieve<\/a><\/strong>) has a small but memorable role as Ruth\u2019s acerbic editor.<\/p>\n

Sasdy also directed Denholm Elliott (To the Devil a Daughter, The Vault of Horror<\/strong>, The House That Dripped Blood<\/strong>) in the series\u2019 bawdiest and most surreal episode, \u201cRude Awakening,\u201d where a two-timing real estate agent relives the same day where he conspires to murder his wife (the brilliant Pat Heywood) and live happily forever after with his secretary Lolly (Lucy Gutteridge, who provides the series\u2019 most frank display of boobery). Each \u2018repeat\u2019 features Lolly and property vendor Mr. Rayburn (James Laurenson) in slightly different attire and roles, and although there\u2019s perhaps one too many \u2018repeat\u2019 days, it\u2019s a fun, morbid little tale written by Gerald Savory, a longtime mystery writer.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing Pains\u201d is perhaps the worst episode, due to the spastic performances and clunky construction of a family who\u2019s son returns from the dead, possessing their newly adopted child, and mucking up dad\u2019s efforts to grow a cheap source of food for impoverished Third World communities \u2013 the latter storyline evoking Death Laid an Egg<\/a> <\/strong>(1968) where a couple attempt to solve the food crisis by growing headless, wingless, footless chickens. As characters, the parents are complete morons, and a sequence where dad discusses geo-political issues with token African and Indian Third World characters is ludicrous in its facile dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe House That Bled to Death\u201d is equally clumsy, as a family is supposedly traumatized by the spirits of a murdered woman when they buy a haunted house. David Lloyd\u2019s script is filled with dull padding that has characters entering and exiting rooms and the house with little dramatic purpose, and the meandering scenes are supposed to build towards a twist that\u2019s hardly novel nor arresting. Emma Ridley is quite good as the traumatized daughter, but her natural performance can\u2019t offset the similarly spastic moments where characters are in dire terror for a moment, but easygoing and emotionally sedate in the next scene.<\/p>\n

Riffing Richard Matheson\u2019s tale of an African fetish doll (namely the \u201cPrey\u201d segment in Dan Curtis\u2019 1975 TV movie Trilogy of Terror<\/strong>), \u201cCharlie Boy\u201d deals with the heir to a small fortune realizing the African doll he\u2019s snagged may be responsible for killing people with whom he recently had major conflicts. The absurdity of the story is kind of fun, and the script by Bernie Cooper and Francis Megahy (who also directed a few episodes) manages to keep viewers in the dark until the finale. Veteran character actor Marius Goring (The Red Shoes<\/a><\/strong>) has a supporting role as an antique dealer, Angela Bruce is strangely androgynous, and Lee Lawson is hysterical to watch because he treats every pulpy scene and crazy reaction like Shakespeare – it\u2019s all wrong, but adds to the episode\u2019s fromage<\/em> factor that\u2019s maintained by director Robert Young (Vampire Circus<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n

Alan Gibson (Dracula A.D.<\/strong>) directed what\u2019s perhaps the tightest and most rewarding episode, \u201cThe Silent Scream,\u201d where a recently released felon goes to thank a financial benefactor and friend, but becomes trapped in a dangerous game of mind control. Peter Cushing is outstanding as the menacing pet vendor who ensnares our hero, and both Brian Cox (ridiculously<\/em> young and curly-haired) and Elaine Donnelly are excellent as the bickering couple who must try and outwit their captor. More of a puzzle game with sharp twists, writer Francis Essex made one big boo-boo: pets large and small require not only food and water, but a clean change of bedding due to natural bodily waste, and there\u2019s simply no way their little cages wouldn\u2019t be soiled and malodorous when a keeper is absent for a long stretch.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren of the Full Moon\u201d features a werewolf tale that\u2019s a little clunky, but remains memorable for some weird & wonderful scenes featuring a wholly nefarious Diana Dors as the den mother of Village of the Damned<\/a><\/strong>-styled children, and actors Christopher Cazenove (Dynasty<\/strong>) and Celia Gregory as the attractive couple whose marriage is upset by an unwanted birth. Episode highlight is not seeing Gregory wear slinky lingerie, but enjoy eating raw meat as her character\u2019s pregnancy\u2019s strangeness goes into overdrive.<\/p>\n

Although he\u2019s highlighted in the sleeve copy, Pierce Brosnan has essentially a walk-on in \u201cCarpathian Eagle,\u201d a warped tale where men have their hearts torn out while copulating with a sexy succubus. It\u2019s never a mystery as to who\u2019s responsible for the killings (the revelation happens within the first quarter), but it\u2019s fun to watch Suzanne Danielle reveal her preposterously perfect physique in perhaps the series\u2019 sleaziest episode. The carnal tone, however, is buffered by Anthony Valentine\u2019s compelling performance of an earnest cop who wants and deserves a loving woman, but in rather Takeshi Miike fashion, may get something else.<\/p>\n

Hammer veteran Don Sharp (Kiss of the Vampire<\/strong>, The Brides of Fu Manchu<\/strong>, Psychomania<\/strong>) tries to make sense of the series\u2019 oddest episode where a scrying glass (a mirror-like portal to the demon world) is sought by a cult leader and an art collector, while a lithe, pouty redhead may be the key to reclaiming the mirror and enabling the devil\u2019s crossover to our mainland. Barbara Ewing plays the long-suffering, unloved girl to hero Ray Lonnen, while John Carson is wonderful as slimy cult leader Charles Randolph.<\/p>\n

Director Sharp seemed to focus on keeping a consistently weird mood knowing the chase between the men and heroine \/ former altar sacrifice Allison (pretty & pouty Rosalyn Landor) and the episode\u2019s resolution weren\u2019t too well choreographed. There are some great moments of occult nonsense involving \u2018uncooperative\u2019 sacrifices, but the best scene shows why Sharp was regarded as a highly capable director: when Randolph visits his nemesis, he uses his stealth powers of persuasion to warp Michael\u2019s grasp of reality and gravity<\/em>, and the brilliant little sequence is pulled off purely by performance, editing, and camera placement. Its simplicity is proof how scaring an audience does not necessitate the use of swirling CGI effects and clamorous sound design.<\/p>\n

Sasdy\u2019s final episode is \u201cVisitor from the Grave\u201d which featured Simon MacCorkindale (Falcon Crest<\/strong>) and Dark Shadows<\/a><\/strong>\u2019 Kathryn Leigh Scott as a couple tormented by the ghost of a nefarious business partner shot by wife Penny during a break-in and attempted rape. The mood nor twist finale aren\u2019t original, but like \u201cCharlie Boy\u201d part of the fun is watching an actor\u2019s pompous, mannered theatrical gravitas take a pulp character and turn it into animated fromage<\/em>. MacCorkindale plays Harry like a swashbuckler pining to commit some grand physical act of heroism, while Scott \u2013 the rare American talent in an otherwise wholly British production \u2013 is generally convincing as neurotic trying desperately to maintain a grasp on reality. Sasdy\u2019s wife Mia Nardi appears as a medium with giant curly hair.<\/p>\n

Equally wonky is \u201cThe Two Faces of Evil\u201d that has a wife (appropriately high-strung Anna Calder-Marshall) thinking her husband Martin (Gary Raymond) may be an impostor in what\u2019s clearly a riff on The Twilight Zone episode \u201cMirror Image.\u201d Director Alan Gibson creates some interesting time displacement using sharp sound and picture edits to fracture and reassemble details of the traumatic car crash that effectively destroys a disgustingly lovey-dovey family, and Raymond (The Rat Patrol<\/strong>) is especially terrifying as the loving \/ dangerous husband. The dialogue and direction is a bit too surreal \u2013 unlike \u201cRude Awakening,\u201d each day within \u201cTwo Faces of Evil\u201d is grounded in reality \u2013 and David Hawkins is terribly weak as the couple\u2019s son.<\/p>\n

When originally broadcast, the entire 13 episode run was shown on U.K. TV, but subsequent airings as well as the U.S. syndication package omitted the finale episode, \u201cThe Mark of Satan\u201d not because it was poor or set up an unrealized second season, but due to it being utterly Wrong. Don Shaw\u2019s script and Don Leaver\u2019s direction is quite frankly fucked up, and yet it makes this episode arguably the best in the series because its focus is almost entirely from the perspective of a mama\u2019s boy who believes he\u2019s been infected by an \u201cevil virus\u201d masquerading as meningitis, and hears radio messages by the police telling him to save himself. Peter McEnery (Beat Girl<\/strong>, Victim<\/strong>) gives a thoroughly convincing performance of the autopsy orderly losing his grasp on reality, and Shaw\u2019s story shares some interesting similarities with Pierre Jolivet\u2019s 1991 film Simple mortel<\/strong> where a man goes bonkers when radio broadcasts tell him of an impending apocalypse.<\/p>\n

Like \u201cThe Silent Scream,\u201d \u201cMark of Satan\u201d is a great character study, and it\u2019s a shame the series failed to find enough financial interest and continue its grisly yet pulpy exploration of things supernatural, horrific, and criminal. Even the weaker episodes have fun elements, and fans of odd if not cult TV series should enjoy the high quality of material written and directed by many of Britain\u2019s top TV talent. HHOH is also unique for offering consistently downbeat endings \u2013 irrespective of an affected characters\u2019 genuine moral goodness \u2013 and if there\u2019s a singular theme that unites each tale, it\u2019s that we\u2019re all doomed<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Synapse\u2019s DVD set includes lengthy interviews with actresses Kathyrn Leigh Scott and Mia Nadasi who reminisce about their work in horror and aspects of their shared episode \u201cVisitor from the Grave,\u201d and Shane Dallman provides optional episode intros that give brief background notes on the talent and story material. Those wanting zero spoilers ought to save the intros for the end, and should also be aware that episode 3, \u201cRude Awakening,\u201d features a prologue that recaps money shots. (This was the only episode to do so.)<\/p>\n

Hammer did take one more poke at TV via the co-produced Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense<\/a>,<\/strong> which partner Fox aired in the U.S. as The Fox Mystery Theater<\/a><\/strong> in 1984. Several of the HHOH writers and directors also worked on the mystery series which expanded the running time of HHOH from 54 minutes to a meatier 73, and featured more American stars but less risqu\u00e9 nudity. The series has yet to appear on DVD in North America.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Postscript<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jon Finch\u2019s own Hammer appearances include The Vampire Lovers<\/a><\/strong> (1970), The Horror of Frankenstein<\/strong> (1970), and The Final Programme<\/strong> (1973), whereas Peter Sasdy directed Hammer\u2019s Taste the Blood of Dracula<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(1969), Countess Dracula<\/strong> (1971), and Hands of the Ripper<\/strong> (1971.<\/p>\n

Hammer did eventually resurface from a prolonged production hibernation with new films starting from 2008.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a9 2013 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Composer Filmographies: James Bernard<\/a> \/ John McCabe<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amazon Search Links:<\/em><\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a>\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Film: Very Good DVD Transfer: Very Good DVD Extras: Good Label: Synapse Films Region: 1 (NTSC) Released: September 11, 2012 Genre: Horror \/ Mystery \/ TV \/ Anthology \/ Hammer Horror Synopsis: 13 part anthology series by legendary British studio Hammer Horror. Special Features: Optional Episode Intros by Film Historian Shane M. Dallman \/ 2 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[1813,265,1814,1812],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-1zO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6064"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13834,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6064\/revisions\/13834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}