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Hammer Goes to Hell
The House of Horror's Unmade Films
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Book Presentation:
Explores the production issues and cultural contexts of Hammer’s unmade films
• Presents a previously undocumented history of one of the most famous British production companies of all time
• The first academic monograph to utilise the Hammer Script Archive, which includes over 100 files on Hammer’s unmade film and television projects
• A significant addition to the burgeoning field of unmade film studies and the study of Hammer Films
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 the 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.
About the Author:
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.
Press Reviews:
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.
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
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
See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press
> On a related topic:
Hammer Complete (2023)
The Films, the Personnel, the Company
The Women of Hammer Horror (2021)
A Biographical Dictionary and Filmography
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