To wrap up Hammer Week in this year's Halloween Countdown, I wanted to share my single favorite scene from a Hammer movie.
This clip features the first ten minutes of Kiss of the Vampire (1963), but it's really just the first four minutes or so that interest me here.
This scene encapsulates the effectively creepy gothic mileau of most Hammer films, and I just love how the guy walks up in the middle of the funeral and throws the shovel through the casket. There's also a slow building of suspense here that's measured well. Unfortunately, the rest of this movie doesn't hold up to the quality of its opening scene, and it's especially marred by some really awful special effects in the ending.
Great clip. It definitely represents so much of what made Hammer so amazing. I watch so many of these films throughout the year, but especially at this season.
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