The Final Nail in the Coffin: Hammer Films’ Vampirella

Vampirella was created by Forrest J. Ackerman in 1969 for James Warren’s publishing company which was already responsible for horror magazines Eerie and Creepy.  The company had hit some hard times and was trying to come up with something that would recapture the imagination of the audience.  Forest worked his magic, and the rest is history, Vampirella saved the day.  Mr. Warren saw the potential for big screen adventures ala Jean-Claude Forest’s Barbarella which became a big budget film from De Laurentiis pictures starring Jane Fonda.  Well, there was once a big screen Vampirella film in production, but there is little information on it, even in the digital age.  The script is extremely hard to come by, but does exist; it remains one of the most beloved and oft talked about films never made.  What follows is the story of Vampirella and Hammer Films.

In the mid 1970s Hammer was in trouble.  After dominating the horror film industry for 15 years, Hammer began to run out of steam.  Rival studios copied Hammer’s style and started hiring their familiar stable of actors.  Hollywood also started making big budget horror like Rosemary’s Baby.  Hammer had lost its niche.  Michael Carreras, head of Hammer Films, was desperate.  He was putting a lot of money into Nessie, a large-scale take on the Loch Ness monster, and had decided to double down.  He ran an ad in Warren magazines asking readers what Hammer should do next and the readers answered: Vampirella.  He struck a deal with James Warren and they were off and running.  Jimmy Sangster wrote the outline, which was embellished by John Starr, Lew Davidson and Christopher Wicking.

Caroline Munro, former bond girl and possibly Hammer’s only beauty ever to have a contract, was offered the part.  She was flown to Italy for a photo shoot, more of a test shoot than anything, and Michael began pre-production.  However, when the script was given to her, she declined the part due to the nudity in the film.  They turned to the beautiful Valerie Leon, who would have been perfect, but she opted out as well for the very same reason.  I think either would have been perfect.  Check out these mock-ups I did:

Without a Hammer name on board, a worldwide search started and finally settled on Barbara Leigh.  A tall beautiful actress, Barbara was already known from starring with Steve McQueen in Junior Bonner and dating Elvis Presley.  She was signed up for six pictures and was so excited for the role, that she even paid the “Western Costume” Couturier department for Hammer Films a reported $7,000 to make her costume and $2,000 for the boots.  In 1975 Michael Carreras took Barbara and Peter Cushing to the Famous Monsters Convention to promote their upcoming film.  Ads and posters were released, things were in full swing.

What happen next was a shock to all involved.  The film died, followed by Hammer Films and Barbara Leigh’s career.  There are numerous stories as to what went wrong, but it seems to come down to money.  Barbara wore the outfit to a meeting with American International Pictures and helped convince them to join in, until they stipulated that a big name American star had to be cast.  That deal fell apart.  In an interview with James Warren, he states that they had actress approval based on a screen test.  Hammer failed to pay for the screen test and also failed to pay Warren for the use of the character.  According to Michael Carreras, Warren would not give up merchandise rights and stormed off the lot at Bray.  Either way, Hammer could not raise the funds for a film and the deal crumbled.

Hammer films ceased film operations shortly after.  As for Barbara Leigh, her film career died as well and allegedly believes it a result of the films failure to materialize.  Warren Publishing hit hard times a few years later and lost the rights to all its characters including Vampirella, so ended the dream.  This was not only the end of a Vampirella film in the 1970’s, but the final nail in the coffin for Hammer Films.  They had spent so much of the company money on this gamble that they never recovered.  We were left with a Roger Cormen produced cheapie that was embarrassing for everyone involved.  Hopefully, someday, a production company will deliver on the promise that is Vampirella.  Hell, maybe even the new Hammer.  What do you think?

Should Hammer try it again?