Hammer Glamour [Hardcover]

Marcus Hearn (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 29, 2009

Over fifty years ago, with the release of The Curse of Frankenstein and Christopher Lee in Dracula, Hammer ushered in a whole new era of blood and barely restrained cleavage in glorious colour, mixing sex and horror with a style and panache that made the small British company world famous.

Bursting at the seams with rare and previously unpublished photographs from Hammer’s archive and private collections worldwide, and featuring many new interviews, Hammer Glamour is a lavish, full colour celebration of Hammer’s female stars, including Ingrid Pitt, Martine Beswick, Caroline Munro, Barbara Shelley, Joanna Lumley, Nastassja Kinski, and of course Raquel Welch (who can forget her fur bikini in One Million Years B. C.?)

Editorial Reviews

Review

`Go ahead and order the book from Titan right away. Trust me, you won't regret it'. --All Things Horror

`This book will sit proudly on your coffee table' --Sci-Fi Now

About the Author

Marcus Hearn was the editor of Hammer Horror magazine, and with co-author Alan Barnes, he has written The Hammer Story, Tarantino A-Zed, and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. Hearn is also the author of The Cinema of George Lucas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Titan Books; First edition (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1848562292
• ISBN-13: 978-1848562295
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 0.9 x 11.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic tribute to the leading ladies of Hammer Films October 7, 2009

By Dan Day

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Hammer Films has a cult reputation throughout the world for their classic series of gothic horror and adventure films produced during the company's heyday from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. When one thinks of the performers who starred in Hammer's productions, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee immediately come to mind. However, one of Hammer's biggest attractions were the number of beautiful women who shared the screen with the likes of Cushing & Lee. Hammer Glamour is a celebration of fifty of the most popular of the British studio's actresses. All of the Hammer fan's favorites are here--Ingrid Pitt, Veronica Carlson, Caroline Munro, Raquel Welch--and a number of women not so well known, but still memorable. Each actress who is featured in the book recieves a full-page photo and a short biography. The photos are fantastic. As someone who has read just about every book and magazine about Hammer, I can say that most of the photos were ones that I had never seen. The book's quality and design are top notch. Most of the photos are in color. The book's text is written by Hammer expert Marcus Hearn. Titan Books is the publisher--the same company that came out recently with The Hammer Story, another great volume. If you are a Hammer Films fan, and you have always had a crush on the many spectacular women who graced their films, this book is a must-have. (NOTE: There are a couple of photos that do show a nipple or two, but they are very few.)

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Glamourous! October 13, 2009

By Gary A. Smith

Format:Hardcover

An incredibly beautiful book filled with gorgeous never before seen photos. Unfortunately some of the text is a tad condescending. It seems as if nobody can discuss Hammer without dissing their movies. I'm so tired of reading about how terrible Lust for a Vampire is. And why is there no mention at all of Dana Gillespie? But these a minor complaints. There is much to enjoy in this book.

40 of 47 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed September 19, 2010

By Tome Raider VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a major Hammer Studios fan I regret having to be the skunk at this little garden party. I believe, however, two points need to be made about this publication for those who are discriminating book collectors.

First, the cover on this (as well as on "The Hammer Story," which is also by Titan) is not cloth-covered hardbound. It is, instead, shiny paper-covered hardbound. Do you remember the type of covers on Dr. Seuss books? Think also of the books that they have in the discount bins at book retailers, the ones which look really cheaply produced. That's what you have here. I was appalled when I saw that they cut this corner. These covers do not hold up over the years. They get all dinged and scuffed up and look like junk in no time. I would have gladly spent another ten bucks, or more, for a quality production. Hammer fans are obviously going to be aesthetically oriented people, and this is low-brow book production.

Second, the photos of the female Hammer stars were disappointing. What you get here is one or two small shots of the star from the movie itself (if any), and then you get a full-page "publicity shot" of the actress which is not even remotely in the gothic context of the film. (She may be wearing a costume from the production, but the vast majority of the shots are entirely stripped of any connection to the film. She might as well be selling dishwashing detergent.) By way of contrast, on the back cover of the dustjacket you have a beautiful and seemingly hypnotized damsel walking amongst headstones in a cemetary while her nightgown is blown slightly open by the winds of menace. The lighting immediately brings to mind scary, and sexy scenarios. It is a haunting, weird, sensual photo which captures the trademark Hammer ambience. Well, you don't get much of that inside the book. Most of these photos are clinical promo shots which, if anything, are the antithesis to the Hammer vibe.

Yes, there is good information ("data") in the book, but I could have obtained that elsewhere. I wanted awesome shots which conveyed the characteristic Hammer beauty which we see and love in their films.

And, I wanted that ambience presented in a well-bound book which surely would have been destined to be a collectible. This book will disappoint the discriminating book-lover and many Hammer afficiandos.