Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter, 1972.
The only Gothic 19th century vampire-hunting hero who smokes pot and wields a samurai sword!
Hammer Films
Founded in November 1934, Hammer is one of the oldest film companies in the world. It celebrates its 80th anniversary this year.
Hammer is synonymous with horror, after defining the genre in Britain with classics such as Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein and The Mummy, which spawned numerous sequels.
However, only 1/3rd of Hammer films were horror! The company tackled other genres, including psychological thrillers, sci-fi, noir and historical epic.
Hammer has a back catalogue of nearly 300 titles, and a rich character canon including classic monsters, mobsters, psychopaths, and surprisingly ‐ cavegirls.
The company has had a lasting impact on popular culture, paid homage to in all manner of releases from Frankenweenie to Jurassic Park and The Shawshank Redemption.
Following the success of The Quatermass Xperiment, Hammer switched focus from the struggling crime thriller pictures of the early fifties to horror.
The company made history with its first full colour creature feature The Curse of Frankenstein. Blood, gore, extravagant costumes and sets were presented in vibrant colour, enraging censors, but delighting audiences in equal measure.
The staggering success of The Curse of Frankenstein was followed by the even greater box office haul of Horror of Dracula just one year later. With these two films alone Hammer had cemented the company name in the lexicon of audiences, film critics and censors alike.
The monster movie was back, and Hammer jumped at the opportunity to reinvent other characters including The Abominable Snowman (1957), and The Mummy (1959).
Recent output includes the worldwide box office smash The Woman in Black, critically acclaimed Let Me In, and 2014 paranormal thriller The Quiet Ones.
Halloween Hootenanny 2014 | movie five
↳ Vampire LoversI talked about Ingrid Pitt at length in last years hootenanny in regard to her INCREDIBLY varied life and her wonderful presence in film. The Vampire Lovers is all about miss Pitt, who eats up the role of vampire temptress with flair.
It’s too fun watching her seduce hapless young women and foolish older men alike. This classic is now on Netflix, conveniently enough, so go check it out if for no other reason than to fall in love with Ingrid Pitt.
Radio Blue Heart presents TALES FROM THE PUBLIC DOMAIN!
Episode 3: The Satanic Rites of Dracula
starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing
The only Hammer Films movie that is in the PD. It is a direct sequel to “Dracula 1972 AD” with Count Dracula resurrected in modern day London. Dracula is the leader of a satanic cult made up of Britain’s wealthy and powerful. Dracula’s master plan involves wiping out all human life on Earth with a powerful strain of Black Plague his minions created for him.
It is easily available online and on DVD. The best is a double feature DVD with “Dracula, Prince of Darkness” published by Anchor Bay.
Once again this film is PUBLIC DOMAIN and not copyright protected in the US at least. You can make and sell your own DVD of it, download it, show it for free or for profit. Or remix it or use it for stock footage.
