BOOK CLUB: HAMMER GLAMOUR

Before Kristen Stewart, there were these leading ladies of horror.

Horror films are as much about blood as they are sex appeal, as anyone who has seen the throngs of fans screaming for Robert Pattinson can attest to.

But before there was the vamp-love story in Twilight, the crop tops in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or even the skinny-dipping coed in the opening of Jaws, there were the women of Hammer.

They were sultry, sexy, and even scary, as the new hardcover book Hammer Glamour shows. The 160-page tome, by Marcus Hearn, focuses on the individual women who bared all for the big screen. From Raquel Welch in her One Million Years B.C. fur bikini to Bond Girl Ursula Andress as the supernatural lead in She, some of the biggest names in Hollywood got their start at Hammer.

Of course, many also faded into obscurity (Carita, anyone?), and some plot points in the films were absurd at best and exploitive at worst (actresses got paid extra for going naked in certain shots), but their B-movie beauty lingers on. From the bloodsucking-obsessed fall collection from Topshop to the ripped-to-shreds black and red pieces from Rodarte, there’s no reason to be scared to look like a Hammer Queen before Halloween.

Need a bit more inspiration? Just pick up the book—fake blood optional, of course.
REBECCA WILLA DAVIS

$30 at powells.com.



This story was published on September 30, 2009.