“The Woman in Black” hit theaters this past weekend, marking the return of classic British horror studio Hammer Films, which produced the new movie.

If you’ve been following my work over the past few months, you might remember that I did a fun piece on Inside the Hammer Vault, a hardcover book that offers a look at some of the cool stuff in the Hammer Films archives and a great little history lesson about the legendary studio. As part of IFC’s coverage of “The Woman in Black,” I also wrote up a list of the five Hammer Films movies that are must-see material for anyone who wants to know what all the fuss is about when it comes to Hammer Films.

Here’s an excerpt from the list:

“The Plague of the Zombies” (1966)

Several years before George Romero put his stamp on zombie cinema, Hammer Films released this bizarre film that clearly influenced the work of Romero and many subsequent undead-friendly filmmakers. Rather than present the zombies as barely moving, minimal threats, “The Plague of Zombies” had them chasing down victims and wreaking some serious havoc on the living. While the notion of brain-munching hadn’t entered the zombie scene yet, director John Gilling took big steps in this film toward making the cinematic version of zombies closer to what it is today.

You can read the rest of the list at IFC.com…

Oh, and just in case you missed it, make sure to check out my review of “The Woman in Black.”