Because it was an authorized history, The Hammer Story wasn't quite as critical as A Thing of Unspeakable Horror, but it didn't totally let Hammer's less impressive efforts slide either even though Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes generally wrote with a more reserved and respectful tone than McKay (interview subjects are a different matter, as when Quatermass director Val Guest shares memories of star Brian Donlevy's toupee). Nevertheless, their book was surely more fun to look at than McKay's. The Hammer Story spilled over with B&W and full-color photos of Chris Lee's fangs, Raquel Welch's fur bikini, Pete Cushing's cheekbones, and all else associated with Hammer iconography. Every single page offered images of posters, memos, lobby cards, production photos, stills, behind-the-scenes shots, actor head shots, or publicity pics.
Originally published in 1997, The Hammer Story is now updated and revised for the studio's almost-thirtieth anniversary. What was once a 192-page coffee table tome has gained thirty pages to catch up on all that has been slapped with the Hammer label since the studio's nominal return from the dead in 2007. This includes properties very fine like The Woman in Black, quite good yet redundant like Let Me In, and unspeakably horrible like The Resident. A Hammer Horror set in hipster Brooklyn, indeed!
The rest of the book is very different as well, with extensively revised text, an all-new layout, inserts on key actors and crew and more, a different selection of photos, and certain omissions (gone is the somewhat sexist "Hammer Glamour" section). So if you already have earlier editions of The Hammer Story, you may want to hang on to them before triple dipping into this revised and expanded one.
