Monday, 20 January 2014

DONALD FEARNEY'S 'THE LEGEND OF HAMMER VAMPIRES' DVD DOCUMENTARY


The Legend of Hammer Vampires is a documentary created by Donald Fearney, the man behind the Hammer at Bray and Cine Lumiere events. Over the years Donald has managed to invite most of surviving members of the Hammer family to his intimate events. That he managed to do so without having his own website or even email address is an indication that nothing beats pure passion when it comes to organising events. Over the years, fans visiting his events have become accustomed to the idea that they may need to send letters to Don in order to purchase tickets or that in order to determine availability, you may even need to give him a long distance phone call. As a result, he has managed to be personally identified with these events and has established himself as one of Hammer fandom most recognisable personalities.



It's hardly surprisng  that Donald's first foray into Hammer documentaries often comes across as a veritable Who's Who of Hammer personalities and offers a good overview of the regular celebrity visitors that once frequented his events. In actual fact some of the interviews were shot during those occasions.



Contributors include John Forbes-Robertson, Edward De Souza, Jimmy Sangster, Carol Marsh, Janina Faye, Yvonne Monlaur, David Prowse, Christopher Matthews, Tudor Gates, Caroline Munro, John Cater. Additional older audio clips can also be heard with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing; Andrew Keir also makes a visual appearance from an historical archived clip.



Though the majority of the documentary is indeed very much interview focused, we also get to see lots of rare behind-the-scenes footage and pictures and clips from the various films. One of the most original aspects of this documentary are the introductory scenes, starring none other than Donald himself together with John Cater (Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter) as grave robbers on the run from a copper. After finding Dracula's ashes, all is revealed as a studio set with John Forbes-Robertson (The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires) stepping out of the shadows to introduce the subject matter of this documentary


Extras on this DVD include an audio interview with John Gilling, an interview with Tudor Gates and an overview over some set designs.

Legend of Hammer Vampires [ 2008 ] UK
Directed by: Don Fearney. Language: English

Runtime: 96 min.
Aspect ratio: 4:3 (Full Screen Standard)


Price: UK and EUROPE: £10.00 inc postage and package
USA: $23.00 including post and package

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