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
