DVD: Hammer House Of Horror
A&E Home Video (4 DVDs)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Quite popular in Britain and absolutely legendary in the United States, the 13 episodes of 1980s Hammer House Of Horror are finally available in a box set with the images and sound cleaned up and the programs presented in original running order. If you're not familiar with the work of Hammer Studios, let me paint you a picture. Nekked witches! Okay, there's much more here than seeing Patricia Quinn (who played Magenta in The Rocky Horror Picture Show) strutting around in her birthday suit. Her episode is a good sample piece from the series, one in which a witch from hundreds of years past suddenly finds herself in a haystack in modern rural England, free to wreak havoc on the life of the man now living in her home. Do we see standard hocus-pocus? No, you don't know what to expect from this strange creature, or from the supporting cast, as it turns out, and there are moments and visuals that may make your skin crawl a bit. In another episode, a cult uses a strange mirror to guide them as they prepare human sacrifices and bring a satanic being to life, all while dazzling our eyes with striking reds and golds and pretty female cult members who are either zombies or bad actresses, either of which works just fine. Oh, there's plenty of silliness shaken over the eleven-plus hours of entertainment here, but don't get too comfy laughin' or something may pop onto the screen and cause a cardiac episode. Can't have that. This is a must-have collection for horror fans, whether you're already hip to the Hammer or not.

© 2003 - DJ Johnson