stevie boy

I have just ordered this from HMV at £11.99 delivered. I remember it to be good, has anyone got it and is it value for money?? thanks

Carmel

I have it and it is well worth the money if you like Hammer Horrors, some of the stories are great and £11.99 is a fantastic price for this as i payed £29.99 when it first came out about 3 /4 years ago.

Live each day to the full because one day it will be your last.

duffy moon

I read somewhere else that this is being repeated on ITV3 soon. I can't get that out here on the continent. 12 quid sounds like a great deal to me. Snap them up!

I watched a couple recently, House that bled, Silent Scream, Carpathian Eagle, Children of the full moon and Charlie Boy. This is the one I most vividly remember, although I think out of these five, the silent scream is the best.

Jack Gurney

Ah, the joys of HHOH and HHOMAS.

Sometimes I think that despite being a film buff, TV horror and sci-fi is my all time favourite genre. Possibly because it has soundtracked and accompanied my life, from coming downstairs for a glass of water aged 3 in the mid-70s and catching my Mum engrossed in an episode of THRILLER, right through to going out on the piss several times in London in 2005 in a club run by URBAN GOTHIC scriptwriter Tom DeVille. Now, relocated as I am to Glasgow, I find myself and two friends discussing plans for a series of our own, filmed locally- but I will let you know more about that if it ever looks likely to happen.

In other words, which ever way I have turned, TV horror has always been there. Hell, without it I wouldn't have even seen any actual movies. And when my friends ask me the name of the series that inspired me the most, one answer always comes back- HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR. I think that at the tender age of seven, these must have been the first Hammer productions I ever saw- although they made absolutely no sense to me at all until several years later in '86-88 by which time the second series had been aired and the repeats were combined.

A coupla years ago, I borrowed some vids off of a 'friend' (whom I no longer talk to, sadly) and was amazed to see that the episodes were every bit as good as I had remembered them all these years ago. Sometimes we cult-lovers are besmirched by what Jonathan Rigby calls the 'memory cheats', but not in this case. The only thing I had gotten wrong were some of the details- but if anything that served to make the whole experience more fulfilling, watching my childhood suddenly make sense through the eyes of an adult. Not only that, but I fell madly in love all over again with the settings and aesthetics of each episode, even the slightly more duff ones (in my opinion anyway) such as CARPATHIAN EAGLE, VISITOR FROM THE GRAVE or THE THIRTEENTH REUNION.

For those of us born between the mid 60s and mid 70s, these programmes represent a magical part of our childhoods and adolescences, and something that we were either genuinely scared or at least excited by. Whatever, we would still find ourselves talking about it in the playground next day- sometimes even during our lessons, for which we all got a hefty slap. In the end, I decided to plump for it big time in 2005 and moved out to Buckinghamshire, home not only of Pinewood (actually, that's nearer to Uxbridge in Middlsex, where I had lived for a year previously) but also of Hampden House, Hammer Studios, the real-life House That Bled To Death (actually situated in Castlefield, High Wycombe) and practically every location shot used in the series.

Sadly, of course, it was all a mistake- the property had risen in price to the point where I could barely afford the rent on my wages, the whole county had been invaded by yuppies and chavs (sometimes indistingushable from each other by the time they got out of work), the town planning was so car-centric it hurt (really annoying for someone like me, who is epileptic and will never be allowed to drive legally), legendary rock venue the Nags Head had become an upmarket gay bar, and the only pubs around were gastro-joints where people sat and talked about property prices, rather than olde inns where strange wizened old men told you stories. And none of the women looked like Rachel Davies, Patricia Quinn or Barbara Kellerman. Not that that would have made any difference, as I was in a relationship at the time with a complete mentalist who persuaded me to move to Sussex (I'm not there anymore either thankfully) and my adventures in Hammer World sadly ended in September 2006 after only six months. And I'm very happy to be in Scootland now, even though I still get the occasional pang of Home Counties nostalgia- only to be expected.

But I still remember the two happy occasions when friends of mine and I visited the House itself (and the church from 'Witching Time'), in the hidden village of Great Hampden (2 buses a day, good luck) and we were allowed by a friendly worker of the company now based there to have a good look around, take silly pictures and even stand in front of the building singing the theme tune very loudly in air-guitar stylee- which did make it onto a camera phone, but has sadly never been seen in public. For a brief moment in time, it seemed as if I had slipped back through a portal to 1980 and a strange woodcutter would approach us any minute (probably just as well he didn't, he'd have probably only tried to bum rizlas off me and it would have been really disappointing). It's those moments in life which make being a fan worthwhile, and which I cherish. I must do it again sometime, although how exactly will have to be meticulously planned. And I think I'm going to watch 'Rude Awakening' tonight.

So, yes, to cut a long story short, it is worth £11.99.

"Whatever happened to Fay Wray?"

midnight sheep

I'm a big anthology series fan.Hammer House of Horror, in my view is good but not as good as Hammer House Of Mystery And Suspense.I only enjoyed 6 or 7 of the episodes.
For me, the two best anthology's would be
Thriller - Brian Clemen's - 1973/6.
Thriller - Boris Karloff - 1960/62.
Of the 3 Hammer series my favourite by far is Journey To The Unknown.Suprising that it's still not officially available.

stevie boy

that is one hell of a response, thanks, I was born in 1955 and grew up with Hammer. I look forward to seeing them again

stevie boy

Presumably the Hammer House of Horror box is all of them ??
Is there a defenitive set of the Mystery & Suspense??

cheers

midnight sheep

The Hammer House Of Horror is all of them??..

Yes, Mystery And Suspense is available in 2 sets with extras and booklets.

stevie boy

What I mean is it the complete collection ???

midnight sheep

The Hammer House Of Horror is available in one set and has all 13 episodes..
Definately worth a look, especially The Silent Scream and Children Of The Full Moon.

intervision

The 'Two Faces of Evil' is one of the best - just keep the lights on.... !!

stevie boy

thanks all

stevie boy

I watched Silent Scream last night, very very good. Brian Cox looked like a young Albert Finney. Peter Cushing was very good.

stevie boy

I watched the House that Bled to Death, very good, with a nice little twist. 2 down 11 to go.

Carmel

The house that bled to death was my favourite and Children of the full moon.

Live each day to the full because one day it will be your last.