Vintage Vixens - Ladies of Hammer Horror Films

Back when I was a kid, (you know, the Jurassic age), before television had 500 channels and anyone could get any information ever on anything through the internet, there was occasionally a special event.

Wherever I lived, there was always a local television station that had a cheesy Friday night horror show, usually named along the lines of "Channel 23 Presents: Friday Night Frights!"

I was allowed to stay up late and watch the likes of Dracula and Frankenstein traipsing across foggy, night time graveyards because I was a good kid. (And the films were edited for TV.)

However, on occasion, it would be a very good night. An extra special night. Because it would be a movie made in England by Hammer Film Productions. Yes, they had the awesomeness of vampires and werewolves, but there was always something extra awesome about Hammer flicks. The women wore clothing that, well...it was different than what one would see in U.S. films. And you'll find prime examples below.

Hmmmmm. I think I'll set my DVR search for "Hammer Horror." Then again, nahhhhh. I'll just scan channels this weekend for a local Friday Night Fright Fest.

Eunice Gayson, star of Revenge of Frankenstein (1958).

Hazel Court The Curse of Frankenstein (1958).

Janette Scott Paranoiac (1963).

Caron Gardner The Evil of Frankenstein (1964).

Carita The Viking Queen (1967).

Madeleine Smith The Vampire Lovers (1970).

Publicity still for The Vampire Lovers (1970).

Yvonne Furneaux The Mummy (1959).

Barbara Shelly & Christopher Lee in publicity still for Dracula Prince of Darkness (1965).

Veronica Carlson The Horror of Frankenstein (1970).

Veronica Carlson Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969).

Jenny Hanley The Scars of Dracula (1970).

Ursual Andress She (1965).

Valerie Leon Blood From The Mummy's Tomb (1971).

Vera Day Quartermass II: Enemy From Space (1957).

Caroline Munro Dracula A.D. (1972).

Stephanie Beacham & Christopher Lee in Dracula A.D. (1972).

Stephanie Beacham & Christopher Lee in Dracula A.D. (1972).

Yvonne Romain, star of The Curse of the Werewolf (1961).

For more of the wondrous visuals from Hammer film history, check out Horror Unlimited. But be warned, the link contains vintage NSFW images.

Stephen Sumner is the science fiction columnist for Action A Go Go. His favorite sci-fi series include Firefly, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek. He can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/VierLights or on the Tumblr machine at http://vierlights.tumblr.com/.