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Original poster

Do you remember Hammer House of Horror films in the 70s & 80s?

73 replies

GreenBiscuitr · 01/02/2023 21:12

What age range do you think they were appropriate for? Was it strictly adults only? I ask because I've suddenly remembered watching them as a kid.

OP posts:
JenniferBooth · 01/02/2023 21:48

I still think Peter Cushing is one of the best actors this country has ever had. He was a real gent too by all accounts.

Laiste · 01/02/2023 21:54

@TwitTwoodiniEscapeOwlogist re: Alien. I was about 10/11 when i was allowed up to watch that on TV when it was newish.

I remember clearly mum said something like - ''if you're good you can stay up a bit late and watch a film with me and your dad tonight. One here called Alien - we'll give that a go''.

We all enjoyed Star Trek you see. That was how space was portrayed in the early 80s. Captain Kirk in soft focus in his cross over cardigan, Lieutenant Uhura and her lovely make up, and this Earth thing called kissing ..........

Well, bloody hell!!! 😵
We were all sat there with our hair standing on end by the end of Alien 😂😂

It remains my favourite film of all time.

808Kate1 · 01/02/2023 21:55

Yup, I was watching Hammer from around age 8 or 9. Can't believe I was allowed to watch them but was weirdly banned from watching a few episodes of Grange Hill 😂

Loved Tales of the Unexpected, mostly for the opening credits theme. Does anyone remember Picture Box - this one was actually for children but had the creepiest theme tune?

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808Kate1 · 01/02/2023 21:59

Found Picture Box - the music is actually quite triggering now!

LakeTiticaca · 01/02/2023 21:59

Yes !! Me ,my mum and sister used to watch them on a Friday night with the lights off. We scared ourselves silly and had to all go to the loo together 🤣🤣🤣

Megjobethamy · 01/02/2023 22:00

I remember watching a movie The Innocents ( made in 1961) with Deborah Kerr as a governess to two children... Very spooky and eerie...one point she looks put the window and sees a floating head of the gardener Quint who has died... it was terrifying and the image stayed with me for years!! I was about 8 when I saw it!!

doglikescheeseontoast · 01/02/2023 22:01

Furball · 01/02/2023 21:31

I used to watch them with my dad on a friday night and I would have been about 10 maybe 11. I don't remember being scared afterwards by them.

One that i can still remember now was The House that Bled to Death

Armchair Thriller much more scary - especially that faceless nun

Yes! The House that Bled to Death! Scared me shitless (think I was about 12).

Laiste · 01/02/2023 22:03

Oh for some reason the floating head thing said by pp has made me think of Salem's Lot.

Don't know the year that was released (in 2 halves iirc) but we all talked about that at school the next day! Danny was it? Floating about outside the bedroom window? Tapping on the glass all dead looking ... ugh!

SideboardOfLove · 01/02/2023 22:21

Well this is timely! This article in The Guardian today mentions 'The House that Bled to Death'

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/feb/01/kids-horror-shows-joe-cornish?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

Now I really want to watch The Ghost Hunters!

Cadburysucks · 01/02/2023 22:27

My elder brother encouraged me to watch these with him. Some were hilarious, not that scary.

AlwaysGinPlease · 01/02/2023 22:35

HRTQueen · 01/02/2023 21:21

Yes. A film called Ruby gave me nightmares for years

Omg me too! Nobody else I know has seen that movie! The eyes in the jar I think it was? Oh and the lake/pool scene . I was terrified!

TightFistedWozerk · 01/02/2023 22:39

Furball · 01/02/2023 21:31

I used to watch them with my dad on a friday night and I would have been about 10 maybe 11. I don't remember being scared afterwards by them.

One that i can still remember now was The House that Bled to Death

Armchair Thriller much more scary - especially that faceless nun

I came on to say the house that bled to death, too!

Rockschooldropout · 01/02/2023 22:46

I was allowed to watch Hammer House and Tales of the unexpected and I was probably only about ten . The music and dancing figure in the flames was always very creepy !
There used to be another series around the same time but American I think called Murder Mystery and Suspense which was probably not suitable either but I watched it !

I remember finding Sapphire and Steel quite scary sometimes even though it was in early ish in the evening

HRTQueen · 01/02/2023 22:50

AlwaysGinPlease · 01/02/2023 22:35

Omg me too! Nobody else I know has seen that movie! The eyes in the jar I think it was? Oh and the lake/pool scene . I was terrified!

Show quote history

Yes it was the eyes in the jar 😭 I kept dreaming they were on top of my wardrobe

and the lake scene was terrifying

Murder Mystery Suspense was often scary too. Family viewing on a Saturday evening 🤨

Laiste · 02/02/2023 07:58

Rockschooldropout · 01/02/2023 22:46

I was allowed to watch Hammer House and Tales of the unexpected and I was probably only about ten . The music and dancing figure in the flames was always very creepy !
There used to be another series around the same time but American I think called Murder Mystery and Suspense which was probably not suitable either but I watched it !

I remember finding Sapphire and Steel quite scary sometimes even though it was in early ish in the evening

Sapphire and Steel! Wow i remember loving the opening credits - all the different elements - but was too young to follow the stories.

I remember thinking - they always pick Sapphire and Steel. I wonder what the other 'people' look like?

KangarooKenny · 02/02/2023 08:07

As a primary aged kid I remember watching Hill St Blues, and saying ‘let’s be careful out there’.
I also watched Carrie, and the one where the girls head spins round and round.
Can you imagine how traumatised kids of today would be !

CathyorClaire · 02/02/2023 10:32

The Monkey's Paw was a pretty terrifying tale.

Not a Hammer but an 'Orson Welles Great Mystery'.

We really were allowed to watch some unsuitable stuff Shock

CathyorClaire · 02/02/2023 10:35

We were all sat there with our hair standing on end by the end of Alien
It remains my favourite film of all time.

I still say the last twenty minutes of 'Alien' has never been bettered.

Brilliant film.

CathyorClaire · 02/02/2023 10:41

Anyone remember 'Tales From The Crypt?'

More 80's/90's but a very fine example of the genre.

Likewise The Twilight Zone movie.

We still ask each other 'Do you wanna see something really scary?' 👹

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 02/02/2023 10:44

I saw the first Christopher Lee Dracula in the 60s - I think I’d still find that scary and wouldn’t want anyone below mid teens to watch it. Though kids do vary in how sensitive or subject to nightmares they are, I know. A schoolfriend of mine couldn’t sleep for ages afterwards - had to keep her bedroom window closed in case he crawled in that way, as a bat.,

I still remember seeing a poster for the Vincent Price Dracula in a railway station when I was quite small,, but old enough to read the caption beneath a horrific B&W picture of him about to pounce, with fangs bared, on some screaming woman in a nightie. ‘Every night he rose from his coffin bed to seek the warm flesh and blood he needed to keep himself alive…’

Talk about freaked out! My DF explained that vampires were only make-believe, but the mere thought of Dracula petrified me for ages.

peachescariad · 02/02/2023 10:47

Hammer HOH would scare me shitless - could only watch it if I slept in my younger sisters room after.
I must of been around 11/12 but still remember this one scene with a woman eating raw strips of meat out of a bag on her lap...

Twatling · 02/02/2023 10:52

Check out this guy on Twitter if you want to rekindle some 70s/80s TV memories!

twitter.com/scarredforlife2?s=21&t=u2lwdKVLgsbPOvn6ut5FHg

SammyScrounge · 02/02/2023 10:59

Witchfinder General

ToffeeNotCoffee · 02/02/2023 11:16

Armchair Thriller anyone ? (Not porn) I watched it. The opening title sequence were sometimes the most creepy thing about it.

I watched Tales of the Unexpected. In the opening title sequence there was an outline of a woman dancing and there was flames behind her in the outline.

I kept watching it, wondering when it was going to get creepy or spooky. I thought it was more, 'makes you think, doesn't it ?'

Topseyt123 · 02/02/2023 11:29

I remember just about all of these. 😃

I would have been in secondary school and regularly watched them - Hammer horrors, Tales of the Unexpected, Sapphire and Steel etc.

As a teenager I quite often sat up after my parents had gone to bed on Saturday night and watched the late night horror film on BBC1. It would be things like Dracula, Hound of the Baskervilles and others. Then I would be almost too scared afterwards to head out into the hall to go to bed, but I had to do it.

The Saturday night horror film marked the end of TV for the night back then and a closedown followed, at which the national anthem was played. Showing my age there.

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