Hammer House Of Horror: Complete Series (1980)

Episode #1: Witching Time
4 / 5
Directed by: Don Leaver
Actors include: Jon Finch, Prunella Gee, Patricia Quinn

Definitely a decent start to the series, this was actually far bloodier and well it had tits in it which was unexpected considering this was a t.v. show. Anyhow the plot is about a mysterious woman who shows up in a barn claiming she's a witch from the 16th century. Nobody believes the composer who runs into her until it's impossible to deny what's going on. It's a pretty fun little tale and it has a great ending, really far more horrific than expected, let's hope the rest of the series is as decent as this episode!

Episode #2: "The Thirteenth Reunion
4.5 / 5
Directed by: Peter Sasdy
Actors include: Julia Foster, Dinah Sheridan, Richard Pearson

This is a very absurd tale, even for Hammer! It's about a woman named Ruth who is a reporter for a magazine who goes undercover to participate in a new weight loss group. The group believes that the way to be thin is to demean the person until they lose their self-esteem and in their belief that will fix the person. The friend she makes in the group dies suddenly, then she starts investigating and well things are far from what they seem. Very cool tale that I dare not give away, really surprisingly cool!

Episode #3: "Rude Awakening"
4 / 5
Directed by: Peter Sasdy
Actors include: Denholm Elliott, James Laurenson, Pat Heywood

This one borders on surreal and I'm guessing it had an influence on the "Nightmare On Elm Street" series. Anyhow this is about a man who is having terrible dreams. Every time he "wakes up" it's into another dream where people look different and usually bad things are happening. It's only when he has trouble differentiating between reality and dreams that things really get insane! Really weird and captivating as it's hard to tell what's going to happen until it actually does.

Episode #4: "Growing Pains"
2.5 / 5
Directed by: Francis Megahy
Actors include: Barbara Kellerman, Gary Bond, Norman Beaton

Definitely the most disappointing Hammer tv episode I've seen (and this includes the entire Journey To The Unknown series too). It's not a bad idea, certainly reminiscent of The Omen, but the ending entirely falls out and we are left wondering why they didn't finish the episode properly. A Scientist's son dies, so he and his wife decide to adopt a new boy. The new boy keeps hearing erm information from beyond the grave. It's one to skip if you don't need to see the whole series!

Episode #5: "The House That Bled To Death"
4 / 5
Directed by: Frances Megahy
Actors include: Rachel Davies, Nicholas Ball, Brian Croucher

Perhaps I'm a little slow but this was a little confusing for me. See we meet a young couple with a beautiful young daughter who are moving into their first house (as we know a murder occured there before with a knife). Their neighbors soon become friends, and they all pretty much see terrible things happen in the house. The little girl's cat dies, blood goes everywhere and so on. Anyhow there is a twist ending but it only leaves more questions than it answers. Still pretty cool and gloomy but the questions I have after make this a little less fun.

Episode #6: "Charlie Boy"
3.5 / 5
Directed by: Francis Megahy, Robert Young
Actors include: Leigh Lawson, Angela Bruce, Marius Goring

Kind of a cute little story about an African Fetish doll. A young couple picks one up, then when they want revenge on a man tat bothered them on their drive home they sick the doll on him. Little do they know that the doll works...too well. Before long they end up in some pretty hot water themselves!

Episode #7: "Silent Scream"

3.5 / 5
Directed by: Alan Gibson
Actors include: Peter Cushing, Brian Cox, Elaine Connolly

This is a rather strange one about a man who gets out of prison, returns home to his wife and immediately finds a job. Sure it's helping a strange old man (Cushing) feed his exotic animals while he's away. See the animals are part of an experiment with conditioning to sounds so that eventually jailing them won't be necessary. All is going well until the ex-con tries to make a dash for the safe and ends up a prisoner himself... It's very unusual indeed and an interesting concept, it feels like a bit more could have been done here but it's still definitely worth a viewing I'd say.

Episode #8:  The Children Of The Night
4 / 5  Feb '10
Directed by:  Tom Clegg
Actors include:  Diana Dors, Robert Urquhart, Celia Gregory

I actually thought this was one of the cooler tv episodes based around werewolfism. After a couple's car breaks down in the middle of nowhere they happen upon a house with 8 strange children and a strange woman. They only seem to want mutton broth and raw steak and well when the couple is informed that they must stay in their room they figure something is wrong. It's rather exciting as we aren't let in on the details until later but of course one can likely figure it out, very cute though the effects are rather lacking.