Hammer Goes to Hell

The House of Horror's Unmade Films

Kieran Foster

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English

Edinburgh University Press
11 March 2025

Film theory & criticism; Film & movie: styles & genres; Film movie production: technical skills

This book utilises never seen before materials held in the Hammer Script Archive to present a new perspective on one of the most famous British production studios of all time. While many studies of Hammer Films have been written, none have accounted for the significant amount of creative and economic labour that went into over 100 unmade projects at the company.

Using primary materials such as screenplays and correspondence, the book examines the production contexts of an eclectic range of Hammer's unmade films, ranging from Loch Ness Monster project Nessie to Dracula in India script Kali Devil Bride of Dracula.

Using Hammer as a case study, the book represents a significant academic intervention by being the first sustained industry study to primarily use unmade projects. The book offers a fresh perspective on a legendary film studio, and argues for the importance and sustained study of unmade films within film history.

By: Kieran Foster
Imprint: Edinburgh University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781474496667
ISBN 10: 1474496660
Pages: 232
Publication Date: 11 March 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Kieran Foster is an Assistant Professor in Film and Media Studies at the University of Nottingham. He is co-editor of Shadow Cinema (2020) and will publish his monograph, Hammer Goes to Hell, with EUP in 2023.

Reviews for Hammer Goes to Hell: The House of Horror's Unmade Films

A fascinating insight into Hammer's 'unmade' past and the more earthbound horrors of development hell. Visions of celluloid Gothic that are as tantalising as they are fleeting.--Matthew Holness, writer-director of Possum Written with academic rigour but also in a style accessible to the general reader and horror fan alike, Hammer Goes to Hell is a thorough investigation that demonstrates what archives can reveal about films that never saw the light of day and the value of the unmade film in revisionist production histories.--Valeria Villegas Lindvall ""Journal of British Cinema and Television"" Building on a mix of archival evidence, published accounts, and interviews, Foster's book focuses on horror, offering an alternate history that allows a unique peek at the company's workings. Hammer Goes to Hell is a rigorous and enjoyable book that should please anyone with even a passing interest in Hammer or the history of British horror. It should also be of interest to anyone interested in innovative production histories.--Murray Leeder ""Film & History"" Hammer Films is known the world over for its trailblazing, full colour, gothic horror films. Yet, despite its iconic status it failed to get many a project off the ground. In Hammer Goes to Hell, Kieran Foster explores a number of these projects. Drawing on new research, Foster offers a lively and engaging revisionist history bursting with new information and insight.--Johnny Walker, Author of Contemporary British Horror Cinema: Industry, Genre and Society and Editor of Hammer and Beyond: The British Horror Film.