Following its big screen premiere at London's Cineworld in Leicester Square, and subsequent TV showings on Sky Arts, Freeview Channel 36 and Now on October 31st 2024, this brand new documentary about one of the world's most famous film companies is now getting a double disc Blu-ray release.
Narrated by Charles Dance (a good choice), there won't be anything here that Hammer obsessives don't already know but for the curious, this is a well-presented history of Hammer Films with lots of interviews that include Hammer cast members Martine Beswick, Caroline Munro, and Madeline Smith. In a change from many documentaries Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, while mentioned, are allowed less discussion time here to allow for profiles and anecdotes on more of the behind the scenes artists like Terence Fisher, Brian Clemens, James Bernard, Jimmy Sangster, Anthony Hinds and Michael Carreras, the latter two to some extent via interview footage from previous BBC documentaries.
It's also great to see acknowledged Hammer experts Jonathan Rigby, Wayne Kinsey and David Pirie giving their thoughts, while the presence of Sarah Appleton will be a reminder to some of us that her late father (and another fantastic author on British genre subjects), Denis Meikle, is sadly missing from this lineup of genre luminaries. Meanwhile, John Carpenter, John Landis, Joe Dante and Tim Burton (but no Martin Scorsese although I expect he was asked) are the directors who get to pay tribute to the studio.
Quibbles? Well, Hammer House of Horror is only mentioned in passing and Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense doesn't rate a mention at all. These may not have represented the pinnacle of Hammer production quality but they are important, not least because many people watching this will be able to remember them. If there was a limited running time perhaps some of the stuff about the very early days could have been cut to make way for it. There's a very odd (and misjudged) bit of AI at the end that has justifiably put many people's backs up. All I can suggest is that you close your eyes when the tarot dealer takes off their hood.
Hammer’s Blu-ray presentation is spread over two discs. The first contains the documentary as it was shown on Sky, plus ten minutes of behind the scenes clips and a trailer. Disc two contains an alternate version of the documentary, with the main difference being what many will believe to be a much better ending. Other than that there’s extended interview footage with John Logan (29 minutes), Martine Beswick (17 minutes), Janet Clemens (14 minutes), Blair Mowat (15 minutes), Caroline Munro (14 minutes), Madeline Smith (18 minutes) and Matthew Kneale (12 minutes).
HAMMER: HEROES, LEGENDS and MONSTERS is getting a double disc Blu-ray release from Hammer Films on
Monday 11th May 2026