The Hammer Vault: Treasures from the Archive of Hammer Films
The Hammer Vault: Treasures from the Archive of Hammer Films book cover

The Hammer Vault: Treasures from the Archive of Hammer Films

Hardcover – December 20, 2011

by
Price
$44.98
Format
Hardcover
Pages
176
Publisher
Titan Books
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0857681171
Dimensions
12.8 x 0.71 x 10.05 inches
Weight
3.02 pounds

Description

"Hearn probably could've killed my parents and I'd still have toxa0tell you how awesome this book is." - Topless Robot "Five Out of Five." - SciFi Mafia "This is a truly comprehensive handbook to beat all handbooks onxa0all 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 asxa0never 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, lovinglyxa0compiled edition that is essential for all the hounds of Hammer." - Cool Ass Cinema "The Hammer Vaultxa0 will definitelyxa0satisfy your blood lust for information on the legendary house of horror." - Cool and Collected "Bursting at the seams with tons of newly released material...xa0the perfect coffee table book for Hammerxa0enthusiasts." - Shock Til You Drop "There is a real wealth of material here, all of it valuable, allxa0of it agleam." - Flixist "A tantalizing overview of Hammer Films." - Blog Critics "...a beautifully presented, truly fascinatingxa0work." - Eat Sleep Live Film "... a book that cult film fans will bexa0dying for." - Film School Rejects "A fascinating and informative read." - Movie Morlocks "...this is wonderful publication, notxa0just 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 horrorxa0cinema throughout the 1950s and ’60s, it’s remarkable." - High Def Digest Marcus Hearn is the acclaimed author of Titan's The Art of Hammer , Hammer Glamour and Thexa0Hammer Story (with Alan Barnes).xa0His other books include authorised biographies ofxa0filmmakers George Lucas and Gerry Anderson, and Eight Days a Week , the story of The Beatles' finalxa0world tour.

Features & Highlights

  • 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

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(169)
★★★★
25%
(70)
★★★
15%
(42)
★★
7%
(20)
★
-7%
(-20)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Marcus Hearn goes to the Hammer well again

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.
10 people found this helpful
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An amazing archive

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 [[ASIN:1845761855 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 [[ASIN:1848562292 Hammer Glamour]], another insightful tome, this time focusing on the studio's many starlets. The next year brought [[ASIN:1848567375 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 [[ASIN:0752859331 Lord of Misrule: The Autobiography of Christopher Lee]] and [[ASIN:1887664262 Peter Cushing: An Autobiography and Past Forgetting]]
8 people found this helpful
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A great read!

Dying Breath: 4.5 out of 5

I have to be honest and admit I am not a big horror movie buff. I grew up watching some great films in the 80's and 90's, but not the Hammer movies. So when I was presented with this amazing book to review I was looking for 2 things, history and a list of what movies were Hammer Horror. This book delivered on the list front, and man did it deliver. Out of the 176 pages over 160 of them are dedicated to the films. I will get to the page design in a second, but basically this book is a timeline from start to finish, giving some information on the movies and showing off some of the great press material that was put out. So in terms of history you don't get too much, but you do get enough to be content with. It's like a tease that will lead you to want to know more and more. The design of this book is GORE-Geous. As a Graphic Designer, I can spot a great layout and the way these spreads are put together is a work of art. I found myself spending so much time just taking in all the material presented. From the posters, to the press books, to the on-set photographs this was just a great collection of items. I know that any Hammer Horror or even Horror Movie buff will need to have this as a part of their collection, and I am happy to say it is now a part of mine. This book presents a visual history of the Hammer Franchise that will now be preserved forever. Now if you will excuse me I need to go watch about 100 different movies.

Layout: 4.5 out of 5 * Story: 4.0 out of 5
3 people found this helpful
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Memories

Nice to look but half way through you have the feeling of déjà vu.
As Hammer was a small group.
1 people found this helpful
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A Great Find!

This book will not only appeal to fans of Hammer films, but also to people who are interested in movie posters and the horror film genre in general.
1 people found this helpful
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Hammer Films

I grew up with Hammer films and raised my son on a steady diet of Max Factor blood. This was a Christmas gift and well worth it.
1 people found this helpful
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A must have coffee table reader for any Hammer Fan.

This book gives a wonderful look at the hammer films. It is an easy read with eye grabbing visuals. If you are a hammer fan and don't have this, you are not a hammer fan.
1 people found this helpful
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Five Stars

great
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If you like Hammer films, get it!

My husband and I are horror nerds and enjoy Hammer films in particular. I saw this book at B&N (for way more money) while I was waiting for a free and knew I had to get it for him! Very detailed, beautiful illustrations and more than a coffee table book, it is one we refer to often.
✓ Verified Purchase

Not a historical account of Hammer Filmes, but a lot of fun!

Wonderfully illustrated, Hearn's book deserves a lot of kudos for the sheer fun it provides! Annotated screenplays, thousands of photos, many unseen before, make this book a must have for Hammer fans!
I loved it!

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