I'm not sure if I'm a qualified connoisseur of coffee-table books, but I would be damn hard pressed to think of a cooler one than Hammer Glamour, the recently published tome by Marcus Hearn, put out by Titan Books. A literal dream come true for any fan of the British fright flick powerhouse, the book collects a series of candid profiles on the many delicious women of Hammer Films. In glorious full color.
It's a veritable who's who of unforgettable scream queens of the 1950s, '60s and '70s. The legendary Ursula Andress. The late, great Hazel Court. The very young Nastassja Kinski. Future AbFab goddess Joanna Lumley. Fan favorite Caroline Munro. Ultimate Hammer babe Ingrid Pitt. Sixties icon Raquel Welch. And my own all-time favorite, the luscious Norwegian Julie Ege. Plus about 40 other lovely sirens of British terror.And the pictures. This is a book that is chock full of photos like this:
And this:
And this:
Hammer was known for a few things. Pushing the gore beyond what horror fans were accustomed to at the time. And also upping the eroticism to levels not typically seen before. In other words, it was a point of pride for the studio to include as much of that trademark candy-apple red blood as they could, and to pack their movies with as many hot women from all over the world as they possibly could.
Hammer Glamour is a delightful celebration of the latter phenomenon, and an absolute no-brainer purchase for anyone who loves Hammer. It's the kind of book that fans of the studio have clamored for, and it finally is here. One wonders what took so long for a book like this to be published. It is the holy grail of scream queen tributes. What more can be said?
Well, one thing can: Amazon's got it for under $20, so go get it.
