Hammer converted an old house on the banks of the river Thames and called it 'Bray Studios' after the nearby village of Bray.
That became a major studio for the production of Hammer movies throughout the late 50s and 60s.
The film " Curse of Frankenstein" was a big hit in the late
1950s and led Hammer to specialize in Horror movies.
" Dracula " came out in 1958 with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
Horror movies had been made before but this new wave of British horror did nt pull any punches, it was in living colour, the camera lingering on all the blood , gore and corpses to horrify its movie audience.
" Dracula " was a huge box office success round the world.
After the huge financial success of "Dracula" Hammer Horror films were on a roll and they were to roll on thru the 60's and into the 70's.
Horror, vampires and ghouls ...... plus sexy babes........ became a heady mix during the swinging 60s.
The young Ozzie Osborne was a big Hammer fan and had the idea of getting some of the Hammer themes into a song.
He came up with a song called Black Sabbath.... the rest is history.
Veronica Carlson
Caroline Munro