Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema Since 1970

by James Rose

Though they are often critically neglected, British horror films make up a significant and steadily growing body of genre works within a nationally grounded cinema. Deeply rooted within the Gothic tradition, these post-Hammer Studio films place their antagonistic threats within contemporary Britain, allowing werewolves to roam the Moors and isolated islanders to practice Pagan sacrifice, hiding a family of cannibals behind the white tiled walls of the Underground, or unleashing a virulent plague that causes zombies to stumble through middle class suburbia. The juxtaposition between these unreal elements and the vivid Britishness of characters and locations has led to a collaborative body of work that examines the modern fears of contemporary Britain. Accessible to the students, tutors, and the general reader, Beyond Hammer provides new critical readings of classic, contemporary, and lesser known films of the post-Hammer British horror canon. Chronologically ordered, these
chapters feature new and engaging readings of The Wicker Man, Death Line, An American Werewolf in London, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Hellraiser, 28 Days Later, The Last Horror Movie, Shaun of the Dead, and The Descent.

Genres: Film, Horror, Nonfiction

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book! I received this for my birthday from my wonderful boyfriend and it's really a fantastic book. The book covers British horror after 1970 but mainly focuses on several seminal films in that time period, The Wicker Man, Death Line, An American Werewolf in London, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Hellraiser, 28 Days Later, The Last Horror Movie, Shaun of the Dead, and The Descent. Each film is summarized and then explained in the context of Brit horror. Despite my love of non fiction film books, sometimes the speculative nature and opinions expressed sort of overwhelm the actual film---to the point where you think "hmmm you could really pick anything apart and add your own spin to it" but this book avoids this by using commentary from the filmmakers and actors to back up their positions. Each chapter uses many sources to add to the discussion and relevant screen grabs. The book manages to be scholarly and approachable at the same time. Highly recommend.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obwohl ich die meisten Filme, insbesondere die neueren, gut kenne, hab ich akute Lücken was die älteren angeht. Da besteht auf jeden Fall noch Nachholbedarf. Ansonsten war der freudische Ansatz ja mal ganz nett, aber auch in den meisten Fällen überflüssig, da sich mir die Sachen schon vorher ähnlich erschlossen haben. Manche Stellen fand ich sogar überinterpretiert oder schlicht weg unwichtig.

[Lauren Barnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Rose is a great resource and if you want to know about modern British horror, this is a good book to have on your shelf. This is not your usual over-arching guide, this goes in-depth into several films to look at what changes were happening in British horror cinema and what the general concerns of filmmakers were and issues addressed by horror films. Becuase it goes into specific films, you can get a lot out of reading it. it's vivid, interesting and brings up a lot of serious social issues that some horror histories gloss over.
But, though it says 'British' horror on the title page, this is basically an English horror book. One of the films - the Descent - is technically filmed in Scotland, although it's set in the US - and the rest are English. If you are looking to see more broadly how recent horror is changing in wider Britain you will need to find a book on Scottish/Welsh/Northern Irish horror to go alongside this one. I would certainly recommend a Scottish horror book considering the impact it has had since the Millenium on horror movies.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for some inspiration what horror movie to watch next, this is a very good source of inspiration: The Vampire Lovers (Carmilla), The Wicker Man, Death Line, An American Werewolf in London (remember the song Werewolves of London :-)), Hellraisere (the Cenobites), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, 28 Days Later, The Last Horror Movie, Shaun of the Dead, The Descent. The book closes with an appendix, a chronology and further reading. You'll also find many black and white pictures inside. Really recommended!

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, but an overly-scholarly approach to the subject, and a strong tendency to re-interpret horror films exclusively in terms of sexual dynamics, makes for pretty ponderous reading. Took me a long time to get through a fairly short book.

[Mrhig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun deep dive on ten British horror movies since the end of Hammer films, drawing out thematic readings and links between each. Contains appendixes updating the book with mini entries for 28 Weeks Later and the Wicker Man remake.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents a selection of 10 British horror movies made in the 70s and beyond, with an detailed analysis of each. Rather than trying to be comprehensive, the selection merely aims to highlight some films that made notable contributions to this genre:
Vampire Lovers, The Wicker Man, Death Line, An American Werewolf in London, Hellraiser, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, 28 Days Later, The Last Horror Movie, Shaun of the Dead, and The Descent.

I found the critical analysis of each movie insightful on the whole, although in a few places the observations reminded me of English literature critical analysis, where really you can shoehorn any interpretation onto reasonably complex source material.

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mir hat das Buch viel Spaß gemacht, auch wenn es sehr analytisch ist. Wer das Buch lesen möchte, sollte sich darüber im Klaren sein, dass es extrem spoilert - sprich: Wirklich alles wird verraten, auch die Filmenden, weil auch die analysiert werden. Und jetzt muss ich mir die im Buch besprochenen Filme alle noch einmal ansehen. :D

Introduction
Kapitel 1: The Vampire Lovers
Kapitel 2: The Wicker Man
Kapitel 3: Death Line
Kapitel 4: An American Werewolf in London
Kapitel 5: Hellraiser
Kapitel 6: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Kapitel 7: 28 Days Later
Kapitel 8: The Last Horror Movie
Kapitel 9: Shaun of the Dead
Kapitel 10: The Descent
Appendices: 28 Weeks Later and The Wicker Man (2008)

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic review of some of the most influential films to come out of England since the fall of Hammer. The insights to most of the films gave me a new perspective, although I found some of the observations of "The Descent" a bit of a stretch. If you enjoy these films, or even if you're looking for some new films, this is worth a read.