What exactly is "Hammer horror"?

[turney@cs.cornell.edu (Jenn Turney)]

Reading the year-end double issue of _The Economist_ turned up a
couple of connections to favorite songs of mine.  One leads to the
question in the subject line.  Here's the phrase in context, from a
review of _Vampyres: Lord Byron to Count Dracula_, by Christopher
Frayling:

	Just as Frankenstein and the vampire were born together, so
	they both moved on to new life at the same time, 60 years ago,
	when Boris Karloff immortalised the one and Bela Lugosi the
	other.  Both have flourished on the screen ever since,
	especially in the heyday of the Hammer horror film.

What does "Hammer" refer to?  A movie studio?  The person who
originated the film genre?  Anyone?

Jenn

P.S. The other connection was to an Innocence Mission song; look for a
posting in the appropriate place.

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| turney@cs.cornell.edu | Dept of Computer Science | Cornell University |
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| She winced at his response of such a gratuitous "Wow": it said little |
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