Music from the House of Hammer: Music in the Hammer Horror Films, 1950-1980In the 1950s, Hammer Film Productions, a small British filmmaking company, introduced the world to a new genre of motion picture. Referred to by some as "horror," by others as "fantasy," Hammer films had a unique look and feel that many other studios would later attempt—and fail—to capture. Hammer films also had a unique sound. For although the studio was small and the budgets limited, those involved in making the Hammer films recognized that the musical score was just as important as the set, the actors, and the script in telling the story. Consequently, Hammer Films Productions recruited the best musical talent to make its films come alive. Those artists and the work they did are chronicled here in careful detail by Randall D. Larson. From the studio's fledging days, through its great successes of the 60s and early 70s, Music from the House of Hammer offers an inside look at how the "Hammer sound" was developed and nurtured. |
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Music from the House of Hammer: Music in the Hammer Horror Films, 1950-1980 Randall D. Larson No preview available - 1996 |
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associated Astley Cacavas Carla Carlo Martelli Carmilla classical composer CURSE dissonant Don Banks Douglas Gamley Dracula theme Drama drums eerie effective end titles episodes evil feature film film music film scoring film's Frank Spencer Frankenstein genre Gerard Schurmann Gorgon Hammer films HAMMER HOUSE Hammer score Harry Robertson Harry Robinson heard horns horror films horror scores House of Horror interviewed by Randall Ivor Slaney James Bernard James Bernard Horror jazz Jekyll John Hollingsworth Karnstein Klemensen later legend Leonard Salzedo Little Shoppe love theme Lutyens main theme main title Mario Nascimbene Michael Carreras motif movie mummy MUMMY'S music director Mystery notes orchestra Paul percussion Peter Cushing Philip Martell piano played Quatermass Randall Larson recording recurs rhythm rhythmic romantic scene Searle segues sequence Shoppe of Horrors Silva Screen sound soundtrack studio style surging suspense television Terence Fisher thematic thriller Tristram Cary tympani Val Guest vampire violin Williamson woodwind xylophone