With The Hammer Vault: Treasures From the Archive of Hammer Films official Hammer Films historian Marcus Hearn compiles a delicious sampling of glorious goodies from Hammer Productions famous run of horror, fantasy, science fiction, and suspense movies. Hearn also covers some of the company’s adventure and historical films, too.

In its brisk 183 pages, The Hammer Vault gives the reader samplings of production art, promotional material, actor’s personally annotated scripts, lobby cards, stills, behind the scenes photos, props, and more. Much more.

Hammer had been in business for years by the time it made The Quatermass Xperiment, its film version of Nigel Kneale’s popular TV serial of the same name. But it was The Quatermass Xperiment that gave the production company its first monster hit and changed its production style forever.

The overwhelming success of The Quatermass Xperiment served as a both a springboard and blueprint for the production company’s future projects. It was responsible for Hammer creating a distinctive production and story telling style. This style would become known and loved by audiences, and reviled by critics of the day, as Hammer Horror.

So popular and lucrative was the Hammer Horror formula, it bled over into its more mainstream productions. The most infamous of which being the notorious war film The Camp On Blood Island.

Hammer perfected this formula and, until the company’s output began to struggle with the changing tastes and times ushered in during the 1970s, it churned out a great many classic, and near classic, movies. Hearn devotes two pages of text and photos to each film, from The Quatermass Xperiment all the way to the original company’s final film production, The Lady Vanishes.

Hearn does not stop there, though. He also shares promotional and production art for the many films that Hammer was not able to make. He also details its brief, albeit memorable, foray into television, and – in this revised and updated edition – Hammer’s glorious (and hopefully not short lived) return to active production.

The Hammer Vault is a delicious must have for any and all fans of Hammer Films.