[ecrea] CfP Hammer Films, June 10-12, 2015, Paris

International Conference

Hammer Film Productions: A Laboratory for Modern Horror

June 10-12, 2015.

Organizing committee: Gilles Menegaldo, Université de Poitiers, 
(gilles.menegaldo /at/ univ-poitiers.fr) ; Anne-Marie Paquet-Deyris, Université 
Paris Ouest,, (apaquet-deyris /at/ u-paris10.fr), Mélanie Boissonneau, 
Université Paris 3/IRCAV, (boissonneau.m /at/ gmail.com)

Venues: Wednesday 10 June : Université Paris Ouest Nanterre, Thursday 11 
June : Université Paris 3- Sorbonne Nouvelle, Censier Center, Friday 12 
June: Cité Internationale, Fondation Lucien Paye



The recent re-edition of the famous French magazine Midi-Minuit 
Fantastique (Rouge Profond), recent DVD and BluRay editions of Hammer 
films and the revival of Hammer Film Productions in 2007—all call for a 
re-assessment of the role played by this independent British studio 
which, twenty years after Universal, gave new life to the mythical 
figures of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy and the Werewolf through 
modern incarnations more in tune with the evolution of social trends in 
Great Britain.

Hammer studios were created in 1934 by Enrique Carreras and William 
Hinds. After a modest beginning in which a distinct style could already 
be noted, especially in science fiction films like Four Sided Triangle 
(Terrence Fisher, 1953) and The Quatermass Xperiment (Val Guest, 1955), 
the studio had its first major hits with The Curse of Frankenstein 
(1957) and Horror of Dracula (1958), both directed by Terence Fisher and 
starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, all of whom left an 
indelible mark on the genre. From 1955 to 1979, the studio produced 
approximately 150 films and two successful TV series in various genres: 
science fiction, exotic adventures such as The Stranglers of Bombay 
(Terence Fisher, 1959), comedy, war films and crime dramas. But the 
company quickly became associated with the horror genre and the 
recycling of Gothic figures that have now become modern myths.

The cultural and aesthetic homogeneity of Hammer films has, for one, 
much to do with the fact that they are often based on Victorian novels. 
This coherence is also due to collaborations between directors, 
composers, cinematographers, and costume and production designers. 
Terence Fisher is generally considered to be the company’s most 
emblematic filmmaker, having directed five instalments of Frankenstein 
(1957, 1958, 1967, 1969, 1974), three of Dracula (1958, 1960, 1966), as 
well as The Mummy (1959), The Hound of the Baskerville (1959), The Two 
Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960), The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) an The 
Phantom of the Opera (1962). Other directors who have gained some 
recognition include Freddie Francis, John Gilling with The Reptile 
(1966) and The Plague of the Zombies (1966), and Peter Sasdy. Jimmy 
Sangster, who wrote The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and The 
Mummy among other films, is probably the most famous screenwriter. Jack 
Asher was often in charge of the film’s flamboyant cinematography, Jack 
Asher of production design, James Bernard of music. Though the 
narratives often favour the male characters, much of the films’ success 
stems from their “scream queens,” like Barbara Shelley, Ingrid Pitt, 
Veronica Carlson, Martine Beswick, Valerie Gaunt and Carol Marsh, who 
are usually limited to the parts of victims. Indeed, the films exploited 
both violence and eroticism, in spite of censorship. Thus, one of the 
aims of this conference will be to determine the specificity of the 
Hammer style.

This conference invites speakers to reconsider the history of Hammer 
Films. Various periods will be examined and the assumption that the Bray 
studio of the 1960s represents the company’s golden age will be 
interrogated. The appearance of similar albeit smaller companies like 
Amicus and Tigon or of brief horror film cycles in British cinema will 
be considered. Scholars can resort to various theoretical and 
methodological frameworks to analyse the films: film history, semiotics, 
psychoanalysis, gender studies, postcolonial studies, acting and 
performance studies, etc. The question of the films’ reception in Great 
Britain and around the world will be central, along with the matter of 
censorship—e.g., the “Japanese versions” of Horror of Dracula (1958). 
The conference will also involve individuals who collaborated with the 
studios (actors, technicians), journalists and other people who helped 
Hammer films gain recognition. The conference will also feature 
screenings and round table discussions.



Below are some of the aspects that can be dealt with:

• the major mythical figures and their evolution (Dracula, Frankenstein, 
etc.)

• themes and motifs: the mad scientist, witchcraft, the family, figures 
of (legal, scientific, religious) power, etc.

• the relationship between the films and their context, notably the 1960s

• the representation of the Victorian era and the colonial empire

• the representation and function of women in the narratives

• modes of transgression and forms of repression

• symbolic systems, recurrent metaphors

• aesthetics: set design, camerawork, colour, editing, music and soundtrack

• Hammer stars and acting strategies

• the recycling or parodying of the Hammer touch in films produced by 
Aardman studios or Roger Corman, or in the films of Mario Bava, Roman 
Polanski, Tim Burton, etc.

• comparative studies between Hammer films and successful British horror 
films like The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961), Burn, Witch Burn (Sidney 
Hayers, 1962), Don’t Look Now (Nicholas Roeg, 1973), etc.

• Hammer productions that do not belong to the horror or Fantastic genres

• the new Hammer productions of the 2000s



Scientific committee: Mélanie Boissonneau (IRCAV), Laurent Jullier 
(Nancy, IRCAV), Gilles Menegaldo (Poitiers), Anne-Marie Paquet-Deyris 
(Paris Ouest Nanterre), David Roche (Université Toulouse 2 Jean Jaurès)



Proposals in English or French, including title, 300-word abstract, 
selected bibliography and author blurb, should be sent by February 20th, 
2015 to:



Mélanie Boissonneau : (boissonneau.m /at/ gmail.com)

Gilles Menegaldo : (gilles.menegaldo /at/ wanadoo.fr)

Anne-Marie Paquet-Deyris : (paquet.deyris /at/ yahoo.fr)

David Roche : (mudrock /at/ neuf.fr)



Selected Bibliography

Barnett, Vincent L. “Hammering Out a Deal.” Historical Journal of Film, 
Radio and Television 34.2 (June 2014): 231-52.

Bigorgne, David. “Un Goût Hammer.” CinémAction 112 “Le Surhomme à 
l’écran” (2004): 132-41.

Bourgoin, Stéphane. Terence Fisher. Paris: Édilig, 1984.

Caen Michel, Stanzick Nicolas, Midi-Minuit Fantastique, intégrale 
augmentée, vol. 1, Pertuis, Rouge profond, 2014.

Coe, Jonathan. “Hammer’s Cozy Violence.” Sight and Sound 6.8 (August 
1996): 10-13.

Dixon, Wheeler Winston. The Charm of Evil: The Life and Films of Terence 
Fisher. Metuchen, N.J. and London: Scarecrow Press, 1991.

---. “The End of Hammer.” Seventies British Cinema. Ed. Robert Shail. 
Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. 14-24.

Forshaw, Barry. British Gothic Cinema. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave 
Macmillan, 2013.

Gaffez, Fabien. “En nous les anomalies du monde : Touches sur la Hmmer 
Films.” Positif 553 (March 2007): 76-80.

Hearn, Marcus. Hammer Glamour. London: Titan Books, 2009.

Hearn, Marcus and Alan Barnes. The Hammer Story: The Authorised History 
of Hammer Films. London: Titan Books, 2007.

Huckvale, David. Touchstones of Gothic Horror. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 
2010.

---. Hammer Films’ Psychological Thrillers. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2014.

Hutchings, Peter. Hammer and Beyond: The British Horror Film. Manchester 
and New York: Manchester UP, 1993.

Kinsey Wayne, Hammer Films, The Bray Studios Years, Reynold and Hearn, 
London, 2002.

Kinsey, Wayne. Hammer Films: A Life in Pictures. Sheffield: Tomahawk 
Press, 2008.

Meikle, Denis and Chrostopher T. Koetting. A History of Horrors: The 
Rise and Fall of the House of Hammer. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2009.

Rolinson, Dave and Nick Cooper. “‘Bring Something Back’: The Strange 
Career of Professor Bernard Quatermass.” Journal of Popular Film and 
Television 30.3 (Fall 2002): 158-65.

Stanzick, Nicolas. Dans les griffes de la Hammer. Lormont: Le Bord de 
l’eau, 2010.

Wilson, Brian. “Notes on a Radical Tradition: Subversive Ideological 
Applications in the Hammer Horror Films.” CineAction 72 (October 2008): 
53-57.


David Roche
Professor of Film Studies / professeur d'études filmiques
DEMA, Université Toulouse 2 Jean Jaurès
Vice-President of SERCIA http://www.sercia.net/



---------------
ECREA-Mailing list
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier and ECREA.
--
To subscribe, post or unsubscribe, please visit
http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
--
ECREA - European Communication Research and Education Association
Chauss�de Waterloo 1151, 1180 Uccle, Belgium
Email: (info /at/ ecrea.eu)
URL: http://www.ecrea.eu
---------------