Oakley Court hosts film fair as 'home of the horror genre'

A film and memorabilia fair featuring special guests and a screening of an iconic film will take place later this month.

Oakley Court Film and Memorabilia Fair will be held at the Oakley Court Hotel, in Windsor Road, on Sunday, October 28.

It will include more than 40 specialist dealer tables selling film posters, memorabilia, stills, books, videos and DVDs.

The event has been organised by poster collector and dealer Harry Malcolm and poster dealer Mark Hochman who, after doing fairs in London for the past five years, wanted to hold one locally.

Harry said: “Maidenhead was synonymous with film making. Maidenhead Town Hall was used to film a number of the Carry On films.”

Oakley Court was used as the backdrop for films including Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula and, Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly to name a few.

Bray Studios is well known for its association with the films made at the hotel and original props and displays from the studios will be on display at the fair.

As ‘home of the horror genre’, the hotel became an obvious choice when considering a suitable location for the fair.

Mark said: “We asked them and they were quite receptive, and we took it from there.”

Hammer author and historian Wayne Kinsey will be signing copies of his latest book and previous work, and celebrated poster artist Graham Humphries will be signing poster prints.

In collaboration with Excalibur Auctions the fair will also showcase memorabilia from Maidenhead Heritage Centre’s Maidenhead at the Movies collection.

Harry said: “What we want is for everybody to have a really, really great experience and do something completely different on a Sunday.”

Opening at 10am for general entry at the Windsor Suite the fair will go on until 4pm. An interlude of two hours will give people the opportunity to buy drinks and food from a ‘movie’ styled menu before a screening of The Brides of Dracula starts at about 6pm.

Tickets can be bought for £10 either on the door or from tickets@vintagemovieposters.co.uk. ‘Early bird entry’ from 8.30am costs £15.