Academics delve into Hammer Horror archive for new exhibition

Horror fans can feast their eyes on a new exhibition opening to the public this week in Leicester.De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has opened its Hammer Horror archive to stage The Monsters of Hammer: A Screen Bestiary.


Archive: Dr Matt Jones, senior lecturer at CATH, in the exhibition

Visitors will be able to see material no-one has ever seen before like the script treatment for Dracula On Ice, a film which was planned with Christopher Lee, but never made it to screen because the studio had run into funding problems.

Original posters, scripts and memorabilia will be on display at DMU Heritage Centre, all taken from the official Hammer Scripts Archive, gifted to DMU’s Cinema and Television History research centre (CATH) in 2012. There will be interactive videos, sound effects and a Dracula diorama to add to the spooky atmosphere.

Dr Matthew Jones, Senior Lecturer in CATH, said: “This is a veritable monster’s ball! Opening up the vaults and letting these materials loose is a real Halloween treat for horror fans. This historically significant collection contains all sorts of surprises that we are finally able to spring on an unsuspecting public. From unmade film scripts to beautiful, ghoulish posters from around the world, it is an extraordinary exhibition.”

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The exhibition, which opens to the public tomorrow (November 1), features some of the famous monsters which terrified audiences throughout the 1950s and 1960s such as Dracula and Frankenstein – and some of the lesser known baddies people may not have heard of, such as The Gorgon and The Reptile.

It was put together by PhD student Kieran Foster, Senior Lecturer Matt Jones and Professor Steve Chibnall, director of the CATH centre. Chelsea Walker, third year Interior Design student, artist Graham Humphreys and graphic artist Robert Harris, as well as museum fitter Jim Birch, also worked on the exhibition. Curator is Elizabeth Wheelband.

The exhibition opens on November 1 at DMU’s Heritage Centre. Entry is free. For all queries please call 0116 207 8729 or email here.