Jonathan Rigby
A revealing insight into the short life and times of Michael Reeves.
Mark Gatiss explores and celebrates Dracula, an icon of popular culture, asking just why we keep coming back to the count.
The interviewees cover Bram Stoker's life around the time he wrote The Jewel of the Seven Stars, the movie's producers, Leon's onscreen persona, technical & creative decisions, and the movie's supporting players.
The untold story of Hammer at Warner Bros, and the relationship that produced some of the British company's finest films.
A series of interviews between film historians Jonathan Rigby, Kevin Lyons and John J. Johnston as they discuss the troubled production of the film and how it relates to the end of Hammer’s horror run for some time.
A series of interviews between film historians Jonathan Rigby, Kevin Lyons, John J. Johnston and several others that tracks the events which led to the making of the film The Horror of Frankenstein and the state of the Hammer studio at the time.
The greatness, fall and renaissance of Hammer, the flagship company of British popular cinema, mainly from 1955 to 1968. Tortured women and sadistic monsters populated oppressive scenarios in provocative productions that shocked censorship and disgusted critics but fascinated the public; movies in which horror was shown in offensive colors; dreadful stories, told without prejudices, that offered fear, blood, sex and stunning performances.
The story of how famed psychical researcher Harry Price became involved in a real-life plan to build a lighthouse that could be used to direct a beam at Mars, contacting the aliens who supposedly lived there.
Borley Rectory is an animated documentary chronicling what came to be known as 'The most haunted house in England'. The legends attached to the rectory at Borley and famed paranormal investigator Harry Price's subsequent investigations of them, caught the public's imagination during the late 20's in time becoming one of the world's most notorious ghost stories. Borley Rectory will examine the legend, the controversial investigations and a ghost story that may well reveal more about what might have been missing from Borley rather than what might have been invading it.
David Prowse is an eighty years old actor, who has lived behind Darth Vader's mask during three decades. A group of Star Wars fans find out why he has been apparently forgotten by Lucasfilm during thirty years, and decide to give him back the glory he never had. This is their last opportunity.
Down Place will forever be associated with the company that turned a quiet English countryside mansion into a film making powerhouse, responsible for countless stomach churning, skin crawling, jump out of your seat horror greats. Hammer re-christened Down Place as Bray Studios. The community that developed amongst the crew was unique, facilitated by the fact that at its height a film was completed every six weeks. Watch as many of the most prominent members of the crew recall their time at Bray in this remarkable five part series.
Diabolical. Seductive. Immortal. Vampires have been an icon of evil in folklore and popular culture for more than three centuries, yet only one name still personifies the ultimate aristocrat of bloodlust. Now join the world’s foremost experts on Dracula – including academics, authors and horror historians – as they explore the untold story of the Transylvanian Count, from the legend of Vlad The Impaler and Bram Stoker’s celebrated novel through its landmark stage productions and classic movie adaptations.
Dennis Wheatley biographer Phil Baker provides a brief history of author nearly 80 book career, covers the whole of Wheatley’s contentious relationship with Hammer studios, including his displeasure with The Lost Continent (1968) and his utter loathing of To the Devil a Daughter (1976). The feature is a examination of one of horror fiction’s influential voices and paints a picture that informs both The Devil Rides Out and Hammer’s occult output in their latter years.
Filmmakers and historians discuss the 1942 cult classic Dr. Renault’s Secret.
Investigative reporter Terry Scanlon follows up the strange goings on in Llanfairfach, with interviews with people there at the time, including Professor Clifford Jones and mysterious boss, Stevens.
