Reviews of movies by the Hammer Film production company.
Grade: C
Synopsis: A British scientist (Peter Cushing) sets out with an American (Forrest Tucker) on an expedition up the Himalayas in search of the elusive yeti.
The Abominable Snowman is a decent little monster movie from Hammer Film Productions that makes the most of its meager budget and works thanks in large part to stars Peter Cushing and Forrest Tucker. MORE »
Grade: D+
Synopsis: A pirate (Christopher Lee) forces an escaped prisoner (Kerwin Mathews) to reveal the location of a remote settlement where he hopes to find treasure.
Despite the opening shot of a pirate ship at sea, Pirates of Blood River takes place almost entirely on land. Where that land is supposed to be is left up to the viewer to decide, though one may have a hard time coming up with a place replete with English forests, colonial forts, and piranhas. MORE »
Grade: D+
Synopsis: A British sea captain (Geoffrey Toone) tries to bring down a Hong-Kong crime syndicate.
The Terror of the Tongs is a stagnant gangster-thriller from Hammer Film Productions. The story is similar to Hammer’s earlier effort, The Stranglers of Bombay (1960); a secret society terrorizes the locals under the nose of the foreign occupiers, who only sit up and take notice once things get personal. One big difference was that The Stranglers of Bombay, set in India, had actors that could actually pass for Indian in key roles, where as The Terror of the Tongs, set in Hong-Kong is an almost all-European cast made up to look slant-eyed. MORE »
Grade: B
Synopsis: A Captain (Guy Rolfe) in the British East India Company investigates a murderous cult ambushing caravans.
The Stranglers of Bombay is an often-ignored gem in the Hammer library. Playing more like a serial adventure than a horror film, director Terence Fisher’s film covers some of the same ground as Gunga Din (1939), and likely inspired, at least somewhat, Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). MORE »
Grade: C-
Synopsis: A professor (Christopher Lee) investigates a woman (Barbara Shelley) and a doctor (Peter Cushing) who may be linked to the Medusa-like creature terrorizing a small village.
The Gorgon is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it has nice production with good atmosphere, confident direction, and excellent pacing, but on the other hand, it has some of the worst makeup effects of any Hammer film, and a script that leaves a lot to be desired in the characterization department. MORE »
You are currently browsing Hammer Film.
You can also browse Hammer Film movie reviews:
by Date Viewed
by Grade
Or you can browse all Hammer Film posts:
by Title
You can subscribe to the Hammer Film feed, which contains only Hammer Film posts and comments, or subscribe to my master feed that contains everything.
Copyright © 2007-9 Frank Showalter