HAMMER HORROR 1966 (PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, THE REPTILE, ONE MILLION YEARS BC, THE WITCHES)

THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966) d. John Gilling (UK)
THE REPTILE (1966) d. John Gilling (UK)
ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966) d. Don Chaffey (UK)
THE WITCHES (1966) d. Cyril Frankel (UK)

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For nearly a decade, Hammer had built its reputation on sumptuous Gothic horror, with mysterious castles, suspicious villagers, and iconic monsters, usually with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing topping the bill. But by 1966, Hammer was looking outward, experimenting with new monsters, new settings, and even entirely new genres.

With The Plague of the Zombies, starring André Morell, Diane Clare, Jacqueline Pearce, and John Carson, director John Gilling gives us a nightmare rooted in rural Cornwall, where the dead are being turned into obedient, shambling workers. The famous graveyard sequence remains one of Hammer's most striking set pieces, while also setting itself apart from other zombie films in a number of ways, making one wish Hammer had gone back to the well for more.

Gilling also directed The Reptile (on the same sets, in fact), another distinctly different kind of Hammer horror. With Noel Willman, Jennifer Daniel, Ray Barrett, Jacqueline Pearce, and Michael Ripper, the film sees a remote village plagued by mysterious deaths, with another exotic and ancient curse at play. Pearce is exquisite as the young shapeshifting maiden at the center of the story, with veteran Roy Ashton delivering one of his most iconic monster makeup designs.

One Million Years B.C. represented perhaps the biggest departure the studio, with Hammer taking its taste for spectacle to an entirely different level. Directed by Don Chaffey, and featuring John Richardson and Raquel Welch as loincloth-wearing star-crossed members of different prehistoric tribes, with stop-motion maestro Ray Harryhausen returning to his roots to deliver some of the most authentic and anatomically correct dinosaurs ever seen on screen. The result was a box office smash, with Welch's iconic pin-up poster art becoming an indelible piece of pop culture history.

Finally, The Witches, directed by Cyril Frankel, explores psychological and supernatural horror through a more contemporary lens. In her final big screen role, Joan Fontaine plays a former missionary who becomes entangled in increasingly sinister events after moving to a quiet English village. While the film never reaches the heights of Hammer’s more celebrated efforts, it is laudable for continuing to take risks and break ground for future occult-themed efforts such as The Devil Rides Out.

Join AC and his amazing panel of guests (Stan Hyde, Barry Kaufman, Alan Tromp) as we step back 60 years to delight in the monstrous, magical, murderous, and Mesozoic world of Hammer!!

THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES  

THE REPTILE

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. 

THE WITCHES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5k1YDa7ynQ

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