MONSTER MADNESS: THE Gothic REVIVAL OF HORROR is apparently the third in a series of documentaries exploring Universal horror, the 1950s atom age of horror, and Hammer horror in turn. What we get is basically another clip compilation in which various footage from both the Hammer horror classics and their trailers is utilised while a voice-over artist narrates the history of the company.
First, a word of warning: any genuine Hammer buffs are unlikely to find out anything new here. The quality of the given information is quite basic and scant, although the exploration of the early days of the Carreras family is quite interesting. Later, the documentary becomes a straight run-through of the films, focusing mainly on the Dracula and Frankenstein series, although intriguing mention is made of Hammer's forgotten psycho-thrillers. Stuff like THE REPTILE and THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES is ignored completely.
The most interesting thing about MONSTER MADNESS is the '90s-era interview footage of various personalities that emerges. We see Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing all too briefly, as well as Yutte Stensgaard, Jimmy Sangster, and Val Guest. This keeps things quite snappy. I also liked the mention of Michael Ripper and rival studios such as Amicus and Tigon. I could have done without the interviews with various American 'experts', basically movie bloggers who you've never heard of; they needed a Kim Newman or Tim Lucas to do the subject matter justice.
First, a word of warning: any genuine Hammer buffs are unlikely to find out anything new here. The quality of the given information is quite basic and scant, although the exploration of the early days of the Carreras family is quite interesting. Later, the documentary becomes a straight run-through of the films, focusing mainly on the Dracula and Frankenstein series, although intriguing mention is made of Hammer's forgotten psycho-thrillers. Stuff like THE REPTILE and THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES is ignored completely.
The most interesting thing about MONSTER MADNESS is the '90s-era interview footage of various personalities that emerges. We see Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing all too briefly, as well as Yutte Stensgaard, Jimmy Sangster, and Val Guest. This keeps things quite snappy. I also liked the mention of Michael Ripper and rival studios such as Amicus and Tigon. I could have done without the interviews with various American 'experts', basically movie bloggers who you've never heard of; they needed a Kim Newman or Tim Lucas to do the subject matter justice.
