The Plague of the Zombies – 1966

A Hammer film production presented by Associated British Pathe Limited and released through Warner-Pathe Distributors Limited (UK) and Twentieth Century Fox (USA)
Copyright MCMLXVI Hammer Film Production, Ltd, – All right, reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate

The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional

RCA Sound Recording
Produced at Bray Studios, England
Technicolor 90 mim

Storyline

Sir James Forbes, a renowned professor of medicine, receives a letter from an old pupil, Dr Peter Thompson, who has set up practice in a remote Cornish village. Peter is worried by the recent outbreak of a mysterious sickness which has claimed the lives of several of his patients, so Sir James, with his daughter Sylvia, travels to Cornwall to find out what is going on. Once there, he finds himself embroiled in a terrifying chain of events which lead him to the conclusion that someone in the village is practising
witchcraft!

Watch the trailer on YouTube

Crew


Function	Credited	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	Click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Art Director	Don Mingaye	37	1 Jan 1929		8 Nov 2017	88	26	14	40
Ast. Director	Bert Batt	35	25 Apr 1930		6 Nov 2011	81	13		13
Camera Operator	Moray Grant	48	13 Nov 1917		17 Sep 1977	59	29		29
Continuity	Lorna Selwyn	58	1908		2002	94	4	1	5
Director	John Gilling	53	29 May 1912		22 Nov 1984	72	21		21
Director of Photog.	Arthur Grant BSc	51	1915		1972	56	30		30
Editor	Chris Barnes	28	1 Jan 1938		5 Jun 2009	71	21	12	33
Hair Stylist	Frieda Steiger	62	29 Dec 1903		19 Aug 1993	89	28		28
Make-up	Roy Ashton	56	16 Apr 1909		10 Jan 1995	85	36	4	40
Music Composer	James Bernard	40	20 Sep 1925		12 Jul 2001	75	24	1	25
Musical Supervisor	Philip Martell	58	6 Oct 1907		11 Aug 1993	85	104	1	105
Producer	Anthony Nelson-Keys	54	13 Nov 1911		19 Mar 1985	73	41		41
Production Designer	Bernard Robinson	53	28 Jul 1912		2 Mar 1970	57	46	3	49
Production Manager	George Fowler	53	21 Dec 1912		29 Nov 1993	80	4		4
Screenplay	Peter Bryan	46	28 Sep 1919		Sep 1972	52	22		22
Sound Editor	Roy Baker	38	Jul 1927		Feb 2011	83	29	1	30
Sound Recordist	Ken Rawkins	48	Jan 1918		1971	52	18		18
Special Effects	Les Bowie	52	10 Nov 1913		27 Jan 1979	65	32	11	43
Supervising Editor	James Needs	46	17 Oct 1919		4 Feb 2003	83	110	1	111
Wardrobe	Rosemary Burrows						36	5	41
Uncredited
Ast. Make-up Artist	Richard Mills						3	4	7
Focus Puller	Bob Jordan							16	16
Second Ast. Director	Hugh Harlow	26	17 Jun 1939	17.06.1939		83	3	28	31
Special Effects Ast.	Terry Schubert	28	1938	01.01.1938		85		6	6
Stunts	Peter Diamond	36	10 Aug 1929		27 Mar 2004	74	4	23	27
Stunts	Bernard Barnsley	33	1933	01.01.1933		90		1	1

Cast


Character	Actor	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	Click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Alice Thompson	Jacqueline Pearce	22	20 Dec 1943		3 Sep 2018	74	2		2
Clive Hamilton	John Carson	38	28 Feb 1927		5 Nov 2016	89	4		4
Constable Christian	Dennis Chinnery	38	14 May 1927		29 Feb 2012	84	1		1
Denver	Alexander Davion	36	31 Mar 1929		28 Sep 2019	90	2		2
Dr Peter Thompson	Brook Williams	27	22 Jan 1938		29 Apr 2005	67	1		1
John Martinus	Ben Aris	28	16 Mar 1937		4 Sep 2003	66	1		1
Manservant	Louis Mahoney	27	8 Sep 1938		28 Jun 2020	81	2		2
Martinus	Marcus Hammond	28	1 Jan 1938	01.01.1938		85	1		1
Sergeant Swift	Michael Ripper	52	27 Jan 1913		28 Jun 2000	87	34	2	36
Sir James Forbes	Andre Morell	56	20 Aug 1909		28 Nov 1978	69	9		9
Sylvia Forbes	Diane Clare	27	8 Jul 1938		21 Jun 2013	74	1		1
The Vicar	Roy Royston	66	5 Apr 1899		7 Oct 1976	77	1		1
Young Blood	Tim Condron	39	22 Oct 1926		19 Jul 2006	79	1	2	3
Young Blood	Bernard Egan	33	1 Jan 1933	01.01.1933		90	1		1
Young Blood	Francis Willey						1		1
Young Blood	Norman Mann						1		1
Uncredited
Coach Driver	Joylon Booth	33	1 Aug 1932	01.08.1932		90		1	1
Gravedigger	Ron Gregory	46	1920		25 May 2018	98		2	2
Graveyard Zombie	John Cam							2	2
Landlord	Jerry Verno	70	26 Jul 1895		29 Jun 1975	79	1		1
Lone Villager on Steps	Fred Wood	44	26 Oct 1921		25 Jan 2003	81		19	19
Man at Funeral	John Adams							4	4
Man at Funeral	Roy Lansford	37	25 Feb 1928		6 Feb 2009	80		4	4
Man in Pub	Ernie Rice	69	17 Nov 1896		1979	85		7	7
Pub Patron	Jim O'Brady	58	13 May 1907		1 Jan 1991	83		18	18
Pub Patron	Chris Adcock	43	7 Apr 1922		1 Jan 1998	75		4	4
Pub Patron	Eric Kent	28	16 Jul 1937		5 Dec 2012	75		6	6
Pub Patron	Dickey Luck							4	4
Undertaker	George Holdcroft							3	3
Zombie	Peter Diamond	36	10 Aug 1929		27 Mar 2004	74	4	23	27
Zombie	Reg Harding	35	1931		1997	66		1	1
Zombie	Keith Peacock	38	1928		1 Nov 1966	38		1	1
Zombie	Del Watson							1	1

Production


FILMING BEGAN	30 June 1965
UK RELEASE	9 January 1966
STUDIO	Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England
LOCATION	Black Park Lake, Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England	Forest
	Frensham Ponds, Farnham, Surrey, England	Moorlands

Footnotes

This film marks a high water mark in Hammer’s history, and the five-minute graveyard sequence – part reality, part nightmare – is justly considered to be one of the most frightening in the British cinema.

Jacqueline Pearce’s characters at Hammer did not have a good time and no sooner had she been ‘zombiefied’ and beheaded in this film, she was promptly doomed to become “The Reptile”. Perhaps she should have taken the advice of the title of the Carry On film “Don’t Lose Your Head”, in which she appeared in 1967! More recently, she gained a cult following for her role as Servalan in the BBC TV sci-fi series “Blake’s 7”.

Diane Clare was no newcomer to scary films, having also had parts in Robert Wise’s “The Haunting” (1963) and Don Sharp’s “Witchcraft” (1964).

Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection