The Hammer Vault [Hardcover]

Marcus Hearn (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 20, 2011

This remarkable journey through the Hammer Vault includes props, annotated script pages, unused poster artwork, production designs, rare promotional material and private correspondence. Hundreds of rare and previously unseen stills help to create a rich souvenir of Hammer’s legacy, from the X certificate classics of the 1950s to the studio’s latest productions.

Written and compiled by the official Hammer Films historian Marcus Hearn, and featuring exclusive contributions from the actors and filmmakers associated with the company, this is the most lavish book ever published on the legendary House of Horror.

Highlights include: 
 - Letters to and from some of the company's stars 
 - Pages from Peter Cushing's scrapbooks 
 - Pages from the scrapbook of managing director Michael Carreras 
 - Pre-production artwork, and poster artwork from films that were never made 
 - Production designs
 - Rare and previously unpublished photos
    

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hearn probably could've killed my parents and I'd still have to tell you how awesome this book is." - Topless Robot

"Five Out of Five." - SciFi Mafia

"This is a truly comprehensive handbook to beat all handbooks on all things Hammer. If you love horror, you’ll really love this book." - Ain't It Cool News

"Hammer's great legacy is captured in beautiful, vivid detail as never before seen..." - Comics Cavern

"A treasure trove of goodies..." - Movies.com

"An absolute must for fans of classic horror." - Twitch Film

"The Count of coffee table books and a lavishly, lovingly compiled edition that is essential for all the hounds of Hammer." - Cool Ass Cinema

"The Hammer Vault  will definitely satisfy your blood lust for information on the legendary house of horror." - Cool and Collected

"Bursting at the seams with tons of newly released material... the perfect coffee table book for Hammer enthusiasts." - Shock Til You Drop

"There is a real wealth of material here, all of it valuable, all of it agleam." - Flixist

"A tantalizing overview of Hammer Films." - Blog Critics

"...a beautifully presented, truly fascinating work." - Eat Sleep Live Film

"... a book that cult film fans will be dying for." - Film School Rejects

"A fascinating and informative read." - Movie Morlocks

"...this is wonderful publication, not just for lover of all things Hammer, but for any lover of film." - Attack from Planet B

"As high as my expectations were going in, The Hammer Vault easily trumped them. As a visual document of the studio that defined horror cinema throughout the 1950s and ’60s, it’s remarkable." - High Def Digest

About the Author

Marcus Hearn is the acclaimed author of Titan's The Art of Hammer, Hammer Glamour and The Hammer Story (with Alan Barnes). His other books include authorised biographies of filmmakers George Lucas and Gerry Anderson, and Eight Days a Week, the story of The Beatles' final world tour. 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Titan Books (December 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0857681176
• ISBN-13: 978-0857681171
• Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 0.8 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Marcus Hearn goes to the Hammer well again December 26, 2011

By Dan Day

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Author Marcus Hearn and Titan Books have published a number of outstanding volumes on the famed British film company Hammer Films in recent years. Their latest effort is titled "The Hammer Vault". The "Vault" consists of material taken from the Hammer archives. Most of this is made up of various publicity material for several Hammer films beginning with "The Quatermass Xperiment" made in 1954 all the way through to 2009's "Let Me In."
Most of the company's films (but not all) get one or two pages featuring photos of pressbooks, posters, stills, front-office memos, etc. Each film also gets about four or five paragraphs of text covering facts and trivia concerning the production.
Like all the other Titan-Hearn-Hammer books, the layout and design is very well done.
Some of the material may be familiar to hard-core Hammer fans. Some may not like the fact that the early years (pre-horror) of Hammer are not covered, and the fact that some films (such as "The Old Dark House" and "On The Buses") are overlooked. However, there is enough here to satisfy ardent Hammer lovers. Those that have grown up watching the famed company's output (such as this reveiwer) will want to add this book to their collection.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars dazzling visual adventure thru Hammer history December 29, 2011

By Brad the Impaler

Format:Hardcover

Along with authors Wayne Kinsey and Bruce Hallenbeck, Marcus Hearn has been busy creating what will fondly be remembered as the golden age of books on Hammer Films. THE HAMMER VAULT is a very welcome addition to the ever growing number of fine publications these gentlemen have given us in recent years. On a purely visual level, this is possibly the most dazzling presentation yet. There are wonderful surprises on every page that would impress even the most jaded collector. The tons of artifacts presented range from the fairly common (U.S.lobby cards) to the rare (publicity materials that few have ever seen) to the ultra-rare one-of-a-kind items (documents, annotated script pages, movie props, and more). All are superbly reproduced and wonderfully presented. I prefer to not give too much away, but the inclusion of the ring David Peel wore in Brides of Dracula definitely grabbed my attention.
The artifacts are presented chronologically on a film-by-film basis. By the time we get around to the mid-Sixties, things get very impressive. This is not due to the author neglecting the earlier films. It's due to the fact that by that time, a substantially larger quantity of promotional materials were being generated within the movie industry. Whether or not the fire that struck Bray Studios in 1960 had any effect, I wouldn't know. But the amount of rarities on display here would cause me to doubt that.
If you are looking for tons of info on Hammer, you're better off going with the other two aforementioned writers, but that isn't the purpose of THE HAMMER VAULT. It's purpose is to wow us with an incredible amount of rare items between the covers of a really beautiful book. It succeeds perfectly at this task on all levels.
For all Hammer Horror fans, YOU'LL LOVE THIS BOOK!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing archive January 3, 2012

By Uncle Creepy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Marcus Hearn has done it yet again. Since 2007 he has released four in-depth books concerning the legacy of the UK's top horror production company of the 60's-70's. This journey began with 2007's The Hammer Story, which gives the reader an in depth history of the many films the studio produced, as well as insight to the actors, directors and producers who brought these now-classics to life. I must say that I was worried that The Hammer Vault would simply be an updated version of the aforementioned title, however I am pleased to announce that this is not so. In 2009, Hearn released Hammer Glamour, another insightful tome, this time focusing on the studio's many starlets. The next year brought The Art of Hammer: The Official Poster Collection From the Archive of Hammer Films, which was praised by fans and critics alike. A few reviewers and critics were displeased by the exclusion of foreign versions of some of the posters, as well as the inclusion of the many non-horror titles that Hammer also released. It is important to note that The Hammer Vault covers only the sci-fi/horror films that the studio released. Each of these books are unique in their own right and are essential items for the library of any fan of horror. The binding is great on all books in this series, but is particularly nice on The Hammer Vault, which has a foil stamped cover and sturdy construction. A limited slipcase version is also available (seemingly only in the UK) which contains many extra goodies. If you would like to read more about the "dynamic duo" of Hammer (Lee/Cushing), I highly recommend Lord of Misrule: The Autobiography of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing: An Autobiography and Past Forgetting