Critical Readings on Hammer Horror Films

This collection offers close readings on Hammer’s cycle of horror films, analysing key films and placing particular emphasis on the narratives and themes present in the works discussed.

Ranging from the studio’s first horror outing, The Mystery of the Mary Celeste (1935) to Hammer’s last contemporary film, Doctor Jekyll (2023), the collection celebrates cult-favourites such as The Quatermass Experiment, the films of Terence Fisher, to overlooked classics such as Captain Clegg or The Mummy franchise. This volume also delves into Hammer’s psychological thrillers, the studio’s venture into TV with Hammer’s House of Horrors, with theoretical frameworks varying from queer studies to postcolonial readings.

This volume will appeal to scholars and students of film studies, international cinema, film history and horror studies.

Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns (PhD in Arts, PhD candidate in History) works as Professor at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) - Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (Argentina) and teaches courses on international horror film. He is the director of the research group on horror cinema ＂Grite＂ and authored a book about Spanish horror TV series Historias para no Dormir (2020). He has edited books on Frankenstein bicentennial, on directors James Wan and Wes Craven, and on the Italian giallo film and horror comics (Routledge). His forthcoming publications include an edited volume on Dario Argento and another one on Baltic horror.

Matthew Edwards is an independent film scholar and primary school teacher from Cheddar, England. He has authored and/or edited various books on cult/horror cinema including Bloodstained Narratives: The Giallo Film in Italy and Abroad, The Atomic Bomb in Japanese Cinema; Klaus Kinski, Beast of Cinema; Twisted Visions: Interviews with Horror Filmmakers and Murder Movie Makers: Directors Discuss Their Killer Flicks. In 2023, he was nominated for a Rondo Hatton Horror Award for the best interview. He has also written for many magazines and contributed booklets for 88 Films on their Hong Kong film releases.