HAMMER FILM PRODUCTION

Hammer Film Productions

TYPE: Production companyINDUSTRY: Film production

FOUNDED: 1934HEADQUARTER: London, United

KingdomKEY PEOPLE: Simon Oakes

PARENT: Exclusive Media

• Hammer Films is a film production company based in the UK. Founded in 1934. They are best known for their series of Gothic work. They also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies. In the later years they also produced television series.

• Hammer horror dominated the horror film market in its most successful years, enjoying worldwide distribution and financial success. This was due to their distribution partnership with major United States studios, such as Warner Bros.

• However, during the 1960s and 1970s the saturation horror film market by competitors and then loss of American funding forced changes to Hammer films. The company ceased production in the mid 1980s. In 2000 the company was bought by a consortium.

• During 1951, Hammer and Exclusive signed a 4 year production and distribution contract with Robert Lippert, an American film producer.• In 1955 Hammer films adaption of Nigel Kneale’s BBC

Television science fiction serial ‘The Quatermass Experiment’ was unexpectedly a big hit.• In 1958, there was huge box office success of ‘The curse of

Frankenstein’ which led to the inevitable desire for a sequel in the Revenge of Frankenstein.• Dracula was an enormous access, breaking box office

records in the UK.• During the period of 1955-1959, Hammer produced a

number of other, non horror films and comedies.