I've enjoyed watching the Hammer House of Horror TV series, I vaguely remember a few of the Hammer House of Horror films but this TV series is nothing like this. There are no vampires but rather a modern (at least at that time) take on horror from Hammer productions and I think they can be pleased with what they did here.
The stories are original and there are some clever concepts within. There were no turkeys for me here rather some very good or good episodes with a few average ones in and amongst.
I particularly liked Rude Awakenings (Denholm Elliot is brilliant in this) and The Two Faces of Evil (probably the scariest of all the episodes). On the back of these two I'd say The Silent Scream, Children of The Full Moon, The House That Bled to Death and Witching Time (Patricia Quinn puts in a superb performance here) are all equally enjoyable. Some of these episodes have more modern plots whilst others have a more traditional horror theme (involving witches or werewolves) but all these episodes were very engaging.
Following on from the above I'd then rank Guardian of The Abyss and The Thirteenth Reunion around the same (joint 7th and 8th) - both of these were well written stories with some nice horror moments just not quite as good as the former episodes described in my view.
In 9th place I'd have Charlie Boy, a good episode based on a Voodoo followed by Visitor From The Grave and the Carpathian Eagle, whilst these two episodes are quite far down the pecking order, I still enjoyed them.
This then leads to what I think are the only average episodes on offer which are Growing Pains and The Mark of Satan. Neither of these episodes are badly acted but the stories just aren't as well written, don't move as well and involve less tension and edginess that good horror should deliver.
It's great to reconnect with some of the famous and not as famous actors in this series from 1980 and also enjoy some of the nostalgia from this time if you're old enough to have been around in 1980.
All in all, if you're a fan of horror, particularly from that period of time and you're looking for something that has a bit more originality than a diet of vampires, then I'd be surprised if you didn't like this series.
The stories are original and there are some clever concepts within. There were no turkeys for me here rather some very good or good episodes with a few average ones in and amongst.
I particularly liked Rude Awakenings (Denholm Elliot is brilliant in this) and The Two Faces of Evil (probably the scariest of all the episodes). On the back of these two I'd say The Silent Scream, Children of The Full Moon, The House That Bled to Death and Witching Time (Patricia Quinn puts in a superb performance here) are all equally enjoyable. Some of these episodes have more modern plots whilst others have a more traditional horror theme (involving witches or werewolves) but all these episodes were very engaging.
Following on from the above I'd then rank Guardian of The Abyss and The Thirteenth Reunion around the same (joint 7th and 8th) - both of these were well written stories with some nice horror moments just not quite as good as the former episodes described in my view.
In 9th place I'd have Charlie Boy, a good episode based on a Voodoo followed by Visitor From The Grave and the Carpathian Eagle, whilst these two episodes are quite far down the pecking order, I still enjoyed them.
This then leads to what I think are the only average episodes on offer which are Growing Pains and The Mark of Satan. Neither of these episodes are badly acted but the stories just aren't as well written, don't move as well and involve less tension and edginess that good horror should deliver.
It's great to reconnect with some of the famous and not as famous actors in this series from 1980 and also enjoy some of the nostalgia from this time if you're old enough to have been around in 1980.
All in all, if you're a fan of horror, particularly from that period of time and you're looking for something that has a bit more originality than a diet of vampires, then I'd be surprised if you didn't like this series.