I’m a big fan of horror films, and I’m not talking the crap modern ones that rely on special effects instead of story, acting and suspense. I’m talking classic horror, pre-1970’s – especially the Hammer films made in the UK. My favourite is of course the Dracula series – give me Christopher Lee in a cape with some crap puppets for bats and very fake looking blood over the modern tripe any day.
So when I heard that Hammer was reforming I was filled with excitement and dread. Some of the last films Hammer made in the 1970’s were – to be as polite as possible – utter rubbish! So I hoped that the modern brand could live up to the classic days of British horror cinema. I’m yet to see their release so far (Let me in), possibly because of this dread. But when I heard they are making The Woman in Black (the theatrical adaption of which is one of my favourite pieces of theatre) my excitement took over. I can’t wait till October to see it. And now I found an amazing coincedence. The original 1989 film starred Adrian Rawlins as Arthur Kidd (why they changed the characters name I’ll never know. The remake is starring Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps (I hope…), now Radcliffe is best well known for playing Harry Potter in the films of the same name. Whereas Rawlins has a minor role in the Harry Potter series (mostly in flashbacks, pictures, etc.) as James Potter, Harry’s father. Amazing coincedence!
Now I just ordered the original 1958 Dracula film starring Christopher Lee on DVD off Ebay (as it’s the only Victorian gothic era Dracula film of theirs I didn’t own as it’s out of print) and put on The Brides of Dracula (which doesn’t actually have Dracula in it at all, just mentions him a few times, but has a fantastic performance from Peter Cushing reprising his role as Van Helsing from the original film).
If you’re interested in learning more about Hammers place in the history of horror cinema I recommend you watch Mark Gatiss’s documentary A History of Horror which was on BBC3 last year. Very informative.