The British film studio Hammer Films is perhaps one of the most iconic studios of all time. Hammer’s production of gothic horror pictures began in 1957 with The Curse of Frankenstein, and would go on to cement a lasting house style for the company and international success. Perhaps Hammer’s most lasting legacy, however, is their Dracula series, and Christopher Lee’s iconic portrayal of the Count.

However, despite producing eight Dracula films, Hammer also worked on several other hugely ambitious entries in the series that never made it to screen. Using never seen before archival materials held in the Hammer Script Archive at De Montfort University, this talk from Kieran Foster, author of Hammer Goes to Hell, will explore the ‘Dracula in India’ projects The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula and Kali Devil Bride of Dracula, the Bram Stoker biopic Victim of his Imagination, and the Dracula origin story Vlad the Impaler. Utilising materials such as screenplays, financial documentation and correspondence, the talk will examine the industrial and production contexts of these unmade Dracula films, with some of these projects spending decades in development hell.

Why didn’t these films make it to the screen? How could they have changed the trajectory of Hammer Films? All of this and more will be answered in this discussion of Hammer’s unmade Dracula projects.

Tickets: £6 (standard), £5 (concessions)

This event is part of Dracula Returns to Derby, an AHRC-funded research project led by the University of Derby. Become a Dracbassador: derby.ac.uk/dracula

Supported by The Dracula Society – http://thedraculasociety.org.uk/