Author: Marcus Hearn
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Titan Books
Release Date: December 20, 2011
Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars
If you enjoyed Marcus Hearn’s last book “The Art of Hammer”, then you will like this one even more…as it is a great improvement. Each page on this book is laid out SO well. I found myself rushing to the next page just to see what was on it, so excited. There is little to no white space on each page, since it is totally full with either props, script pages, unused poster artwork, production designs, rare promotional material or personal letters. There are honestly hundreds of rare and previously unseen stills, which range from classics of the 1950s to the studio’s latest productions.
Some f the films covered in this book range from “The Quatermass Xperiment” to “Maniac” to “She” to recent films like “Let Me In”. Of course it isn’t Hammer without Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing and the Dracula films, which are showcased beautifully. Also included are the “Frankenstein” series like “The Curse of Frankenstein”, “The Revenge of Frankenstein” and “The Horror of Frankenstein”. I mean I just named some of the greats and there are still about 80 other films covered in this book….that’s right 80 more. I found myself even learning new things about these films that I have never known
Don’t think that this book is just posters though…if you want that then pick up Hearn’s last book “The Art of Hammer”. This includes rare letters from the film’s stars, pages from Peter Cushing and managing director Michael Carreras scrapbooks and also rare photos and posters that have never been published. The photos in the book are such high quality and looks beyond amazing. The color is so vibrant and despite the age of the film it looks brand new. Just a heads up though, the book is not for kids as there is a little bit of nudity included but if you are familiar with Hammer then this is nothing new. Honestly if you are a fan of horror at all this book is a MUST-BUY for sure!
