Hammer was the British film company that produced such classics as The Horror of Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein, while making stars out of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.
The company went out of business in the 70’s, but where their movies were once considered disreputable and in bad taste, they’re now considered high art by such cinema masters as Martin Scorsese and Tim Burton.
Hammer Films has tried to come back many times over the years, and now they’ve got help from Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, in the movie The Woman in Black.
The New York Times reports the new version of Hammer was able to raise $50 million to go back into production, with the remake of Let Me In, as well as The Resident.
The Woman in Black cost $13 million, peanuts by today’s standards, and Hammer was always able to make high quality films for low money. Now that Radcliffe is officially done with Harry Potter, he told Toronto Broadway World he was actually a Hammer fan growing up, “and it’s very cool to be part of one. Growing up I loved Dracula,” Radcliffe continued. “I was such a fan of Peter Cushing in that. All my friends wanted to be Christopher Lee and I wanted to be Peter Cushing.”
And of course, George Lucas gave Cushing a major career resurrection casting him as Grand Moff Tarkin in the OG Star Wars, and Christopher Lee is still in demand on the eve of his 90th birthday with Tim Burton in Dark Shadows, Martin Scorsese in Hugo, and Peter Jackson bringing him back for The Hobbit. (Not to mention Lucas also cast him in the Star Wars prequels as Count Dooku).
Shocktillyoudrop is also reporting that there’s a major effort right now to get thirty classic Hammer titles restored for Hi-Def, including Dracula Prince of Darkness, Plague of the Zombies, and The Mummy’s Shroud, as well as the films the company built their foundation on, The Curse of Frankenstein, The Horror of Dracula, and The Mummy.
