A fan of horror movies, Martin Scorsese has picked five movies of the hammer horror genre that he holds closest to his heart.
By Jack Watley
Unlike musicians, when filmmakers get into the harsh spotlight of fame, they tend to shy away from the blinding energy and recoil into the shadows of their artistry. Another noted difference between the two creators is their willingness to talk about the songs or movies they hold dearest. Thankfully, over the years, Martin Scorsese, arguably the most revered director of all time, has never been shy at sharing his most beloved films.
Whether it is his favourite British films or his definitive list of the ten greatest movies ever made, the Goodfellas director has shelled out a fair amount of praise over the course of his unstoppable career. In fact, there are few filmmakers who can stand toe-to-toe with Scorsese’s resume.
His films have grappled with various issues ranging from comparative studies of society, forensic analysis into the institution of crime, accurate representations of the corruption of the government and questions on the morality of spirituality and faith. However, outside of the psychological intrigue of Shutter Island, there is one genre that the master director has rarely touched – horror.
Though he once shared his favourite horror movies, a list which included Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, William Friedkin’s classic The Exorcist and Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece Psycho, there is one sub-genre which he has rarely referred to. Hammer Horror is a typically British film sub-genre prominent from the late 1950s to the 1970s that revitalised classic monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein, birthed by the production company of the same name. Known for vibrant colours, gothic atmosphere, and iconic actors like Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, Hammer Horror left an indelible mark on cinema and on young Scorsese.
“When I was a teenager, and through my early 20s, the Hammer horror pictures produced in England occupied a special place in our filmgoing life,” noted Scorsese to DirectTV. “They were made to scare us like the William Castle pictures coming out of America, but they didn’t have any gimmicks. They were in the tradition of Gothic horror and Grand Guignol, and they shared more with Roger Corman’s Poe adaptations.”
There was a darkness that appealed to Scorsese and that he would take in his own work: “The Hammer Film Productions pictures were darker visually, a little more upsetting, stylish but extremely unnerving; there seemed to be a great comfort with evil and morbidity in those movies, and a great sexual charge. Those films meant a lot to us. There was so much going on all over the world in cinema at the time, and those movies, along with the Corman Poe cycle and Mario Bava’s films from Italy, gave a sense that things were changing and evolving in genre pictures, too.”
But some movies really captivated Scorsese, suggesting his favourites of the genre: “I would say that all the Hammers featured by TCM are worth seeing. Terence Fisher probably made the best of them, including The Devil’s Bride (also known as The Devil Rides Out), The Stranglers of Bombay, The Mummy, The Gorgon and, of course, Horror of Dracula, starring the great Christopher Lee. But they’re all very special pictures and the best of them are immaculately, even passionately crafted.”
While Scorsese may not have taken his own work into the realm of horror, it can be easy to see the artistic flair shown in these movies and how they would translate it into his own work.
Martin Scorsese’s favourite Hammer Horror movies:
- The Devil’s Bride
- The Stranglers of Bombay
- The Mummy
- The Gorgon
- Horror of Dracula
Source: Martin Scorsese’s five favourite Hammer Horror movies