Renowned Film Historian, Sir Christopher Frayling, Joins HAMMER HORROR Documentary Production!
11/6/2015 — SIR CHRISTOPHER FRAYLING has been officially confirmed to take part in the production of the upcoming feature documentary, HAMMER HORROR: THE WARNER BROS YEARS.
Frayling has had a wide output as a writer and critic on subjects ranging from vampires to westerns. He has written and presented television series such as “The Art of Persuasion on Advertising” and “Strange Landscape on the Middle Ages.” He has conducted a series of radio and television interviews with figures from the world of film, including Woody Allen, Deborah Kerr, Ken Adam, Francis Ford Coppola and Clint Eastwood. He has written and presented several television series, including “The Face of Tutankhamun” and “Nightmare: Birth of Horror.”
Frayling read history at Churchill College, Cambridge and gained a PhD in the study of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was appointed a Fellow of the college in 2009. He taught history at the University of Bath and was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Arts) from that University in 2003. In 1979 Frayling was appointed Professor of Cultural History at London’s post-graduate art and design school, the Royal College of Art. Frayling was Rector in charge of the Royal College of Art from 1996 to 2009.
He studied spaghetti westerns and specifically director Sergio Leone. He has written a very popular biography of Leone, Something To Do With Death (2000); helped run the Los Angeles-based Gene Autry Museum’s exhibit on Leone in 2005; and appeared in numerous documentaries about Leone and his films, particularly the DVD documentaries of Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). He also provided audio commentaries for the special edition DVD releases of A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Colossus of Rhodes.
In 2001, Frayling was awarded a knighthood for “Services to Art and Design Education” and chose as his motto “PERGE SCELUS MIHI DIEM PERFICIAS”, which can be translated as “Proceed, varlet, and let the day be rendered perfect for my benefit”. That is, ‘Go ahead, punk, make my day’. In 2003 Frayling was awarded the Sir Misha Black award and was added to the College of Medallists. He was the Chairman of Arts Council England from 2005 until January 2009. He also served as Chairman of the Design Council, Chairman of the Royal Mint Advisory Committee, and a Trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum. He was a governor of the British Film Institute in the 1980s. In April 2014 he was appointed Chancellor of the Arts University Bournemouth.
THE BLU-RAY AND KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN
THE CLASSIC HAMMER FILMS FROM WARNER BROS are now finally starting to appear on Blu-ray. However, they have never received an in-depth exploration in any special feature or documentary. Now, the fascinating story can finally be told in this unprecedented 90-minute documentary, HAMMER HORROR: THE WARNER BROS YEARS, written and directed by Marcus Hearn, Hammer Films’ official historian. The documentary will feature exclusive interviews with many of the key players from that period, as well as authors and film historians like Jonathan Rigby and Constantine Nasr. Also included will be rare production stills, film footage, Hammer’s original shooting locations, and access to previously unseen archive documents. The documentary will be available via streaming and in a limited blu-ray release, exclusive to our Kickstarter campaign.
EXTRA FEATURES
In addition to the main feature, the blu-ray will also contain extended interviews with some of the key participants. Other extras will be announced as they become confirmed.
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HISTORY: In the 1950s Hammer, England’s world-renowned production company, initiated a new style of horror filmmaking that transformed the genre. At the end of the 1960s, the world that Hammer had helped to create was changing fast – the once-reliable business model was unraveling and audiences wanted something new from their films.
Amid this uncertainty, Hammer’s short-term survival was secured by an alliance with American distributor Warner Bros. The films the two companies made together are among the most renowned in Hammer’s history. Classics such as Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1970) and Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) were produced alongside the Oscar-nominated epic When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970), the disturbing thriller Crescendo (1970) and the bizarre sci-fi western Moon Zero Two (1969).
The films became increasingly experimental in the 1970s, challenging the perception of traditional Gothic horror with Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972), The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974).
