Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (1994) (TV)

I miss Hammer's style of movie making, 4 December 2005

This is a wonderful documentary for any fan of Hammer. It's all here – from the rise of Hammer as the King of Gothic Horror with The Curse of Frankenstein to the tragic downfall in the mid-70s. I have seen dozens of Hammer films over the years and to hear the stories about these films from the people who were there is an absolute joy. Even though the film is narrated by Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, the best stories are from Hammer directors like Roy Ward Baker and Val Guest and by Hammer writers like Jimmy Sangster and by Hammer producers like Michael Carreras. And they don't hold back. I appreciated their honesty, especially that of Carreras, concerning the demise of Hammer.

My only complaint would be with the film clips selected for use in Flesh and Blood. Little effort appears to have been made to clean-up or restore the clips. The quality is lacking at best.

8/10