There's an interesting article in Variety on Hammer Films.  According to the article, Hammer has signed on with PFD publishing, who will solicit new writers to bring fresh takes to old scares.  The studio is most famous for its updates of Universal Classics horror films, which introduced a mixture of sex, violence and color film to their predecessors, and teamed Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.  Hammer made a recent revival on the internet, and hopes to expand its name to the literary world now.

 Older fans are likely to rejoice at this news, but I fear younger genre fans are more likely to know Lionsgate and Darren Bousman than Hammer and Peter Cushing.  I don't know how popular the studio is in its home country of England, but the statements made by PFD's CEO Caroline Michel that, "Hammer is an iconic household name with a loyal fanbase and the raft of forthcoming initiatives will create a whole new generation of devotees," seems like more than a bit of a stretch.  I wish Hammer the best, as I always liked their films (even the bad ones) and look forward to seeing what these literary endeavors will produce.

 Read the full article here.

 --Phil Fasso