Book Review: The Hammer Vault

Review by Marc Patterson

For the Hammer Horror enthusiast The Hammer Vault will be the “must-buy” of the holiday season. Released just in time for Christmas, The Hammer Vault, from Titan Books and Hammer expert Marcus Hearn, is a unique look into the archives of Hammer studios, unveiling rarely seen marketing materials and images, typically items reserved for press, as well as never used poster artwork, props, and annotated scripts from various films.

As a form of disclaimer, there’s a clear mention made early in the book that this is not meant to be a completist’s view of all the Hammer films ever made. Rather, it’s a carefully selected and curated look at certain rare finds, chronicled in a year-by-year roll-out.

The beautifully hardbound book rings in at 176pp and starts off in 1954 with The Quartermass Xperiment, ending in 2009 with the release of Let Me In. Each film represented is given a generous two-page glossy full color spread, with both short write-ups on the film and descriptive captions to the materials displayed. Thanks to the nearly 13 inch page width there’s plenty of room for excellent visuals and an assortment of images.

If you’re looking for in-depth articles on the releases you’ll be sadly disappointed. (I hate to make such a negative statement, but you should know what this is and what this isn’t). As opposed to heady expose of Hammer’s inner workings this coffee-table styled book is primarily concerned with giving would-be readers a visual journey through Hammer’s archives, much in the way you might have the same experience at a museum. While the book is not complete by any means, in regards to showing materials from every film released by Hammer, Hearn does often include more than one film during key years, so this is still more than a simplified look at images and artwork on a one film per year basis. Personally speaking, I was more than satisfied with what I held in my hands.

What I found particularly striking was the timeline look at how Hammer films were made, and marketed. With each turn of the page you could literally see the progression unfold from the pulpy crime thrillers of the 50’s into the more gothic horror of the 60’s and entering the 70’s where gratuitous and titillating images of scantily clad women took precedence over the horrifying images of Christopher Lee. Frankly, I got a bit wide-eyed at the brazen nudity employed on some of the poster artwork. I can hardly imagine these images in any sort of public place, or as a device for studio marketing. But there they are. I also enjoyed that this book didn’t ignore the modern films from the newly re-invigorated Hammer Studios. I already mentioned Let Me In, but also included are script pages, prop images, and storyboard sketches from The Resident and Wake Wood. These balance out the “classic” collection nicely, providing a more holistic look at this long running studio.

One of my favorite photos from the whole collection was the fantastically light-hearted image of a caped and fanged Christopher Lee, grinning from ear to ear with the head of producer Anthony Nelson Keys held in his cloak, taken on the set of Dracula, Prince of Darkness. Often the Hammer films are given such a weight of reverence we easily forget that these studied and serious actors have a lighter side to them. It’s these sorts of insights and images that make this an enjoyable look into horror’s past.

Accompanied with Hearn’s previous release – The Art of Hammer – this makes a highly complementary visual history of an iconic studio in the horror film genre and easily comes highly recommended.

The Hammer Vault is available December 20th from Titan Books. For those of you who are quick on the trigger, there is also an extremely limited numbered edition printing that comes slipcased and contains additional exclusive materials. If you’re interested in that you can click here and pray for the best.