Thursday 30 January 2014

HORROR EXPRESS COMPOSER JOHN CACAVAS DIES 83


Sad to hear of the passing of composer John Cacavas. Famous here for his haunting theme to Spanish horror film, 'HORROR EXPRESS' and Hammer Films 'THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA' both starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee... Cacavas worked prolifically with some of the best known US tv shows, including 'Kojak'... I'd easily peg his 'Satanic Rites' theme in my top five Hammer themes, for sure. Cacavas was 83 and had been ill for some time.

Saturday 25 January 2014

WIN U.S. COLLECTORS EDITION BLU RAY 'FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN'


The US Blu Ray of Frankenstein Created Woman will get it's release this Monday, 28th January 2014...but you can win a copy TODAY in our competition, which opens TODAY at 6pm GMT / 12 C.T. with winners names announced TOMORROW.Competition ONLY at our Peter Cushing Facebook Fan Page

LEGEND OF HAMMER VAMPIRES COMPETITION: WINNERS


A Very BIG thank you to everyone who entered our competition over at our Peter Cushing Facebook Page . It was another record amount of entries. CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners named above. You have all won yourselves a copy of Donald Fearney's 'Legend of Hammer Vampires' DVD. You copies are on their way!

AUSTRALIAN HAMMER FILMS BLU RAY BOX SET



The AUSTRALIAN Hammer Films Blu Ray Box Set: 13 LOVELY DISCS! Includes 'Frankenstein Created Woman' and ' Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. 
Both starring Peter Cushing and directed by Terence Fisher.

Friday 24 January 2014

HEADS UP! ONE SEVERED AND ONE PLASTER!


HEADS UP! Peter Cushing with his 'axed nogging' from Amicus Film 'The House That Dripped Blood' (1971) and make up artist's Roy Ashton's plaster head of Peter, which he used to produce the latex prosthetic for Cushing's Arthur Grimsdyke in Amicus films 'Tales from the Crypt' in 1972.

Monday 20 January 2014

DONALD FEARNEY'S 'THE LEGEND OF HAMMER VAMPIRES' DVD DOCUMENTARY


The Legend of Hammer Vampires is a documentary created by Donald Fearney, the man behind the Hammer at Bray and Cine Lumiere events. Over the years Donald has managed to invite most of surviving members of the Hammer family to his intimate events. That he managed to do so without having his own website or even email address is an indication that nothing beats pure passion when it comes to organising events. Over the years, fans visiting his events have become accustomed to the idea that they may need to send letters to Don in order to purchase tickets or that in order to determine availability, you may even need to give him a long distance phone call. As a result, he has managed to be personally identified with these events and has established himself as one of Hammer fandom most recognisable personalities.



It's hardly surprisng  that Donald's first foray into Hammer documentaries often comes across as a veritable Who's Who of Hammer personalities and offers a good overview of the regular celebrity visitors that once frequented his events. In actual fact some of the interviews were shot during those occasions.



Contributors include John Forbes-Robertson, Edward De Souza, Jimmy Sangster, Carol Marsh, Janina Faye, Yvonne Monlaur, David Prowse, Christopher Matthews, Tudor Gates, Caroline Munro, John Cater. Additional older audio clips can also be heard with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing; Andrew Keir also makes a visual appearance from an historical archived clip.



Though the majority of the documentary is indeed very much interview focused, we also get to see lots of rare behind-the-scenes footage and pictures and clips from the various films. One of the most original aspects of this documentary are the introductory scenes, starring none other than Donald himself together with John Cater (Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter) as grave robbers on the run from a copper. After finding Dracula's ashes, all is revealed as a studio set with John Forbes-Robertson (The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires) stepping out of the shadows to introduce the subject matter of this documentary


Extras on this DVD include an audio interview with John Gilling, an interview with Tudor Gates and an overview over some set designs.

Legend of Hammer Vampires [ 2008 ] UK
Directed by: Don Fearney. Language: English

Runtime: 96 min.
Aspect ratio: 4:3 (Full Screen Standard)


Price: UK and EUROPE: £10.00 inc postage and package
USA: $23.00 including post and package

SHOCK ENTERTAINMENT CREATES BLU RAY WINNER : FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN


Frankenstein Created Woman was not the easiest of Hammer's Frankenstein films to see throughout the 1980s and 90s, but it eventually was released to laser disc, VHS and DVD through Elite Entertainment and Anchor Bay.  The old transfer was washed out and soft, but looked pretty good to viewers at the time who had been waiting to see the film.  Happily, the new transfer available on blu ray through the Shock label in Australia corrects all of that.  Their new transfer looks quite good, with accurately rendered colors and strong detail.  The image is framed at 1.77, which is a little tighter than the 1.66 ratio used in the previous DVD release, but it does not significantly affect the compositions in one way or another.  Suffice it to say, if the new ratio is wrong, it doesn't look it.



The film is completely uncut (not that cuts were ever much of an issue, though some gore was trimmed from the version aired on TNT in the US) and the print is in very good shape, with only some minor speckling to indicate the film's age.  The mono English soundtrack is in good shape, too, which greatly benefits James Bernard's lilting score and Peter Cushing's clipped delivery; it does show up how obvious it is that Denberg and Alan MacNaughton were dubbed, however... but more on that in a minute.


Extras include a documentary titled Hammer Glamour, which assembles interviews with such Hammer beauties as Caroline Munro and Madeline Smith, among others, as they discuss their feelings on being part of the Hammer exploitation machine.  It's an interesting featurette though it could have benefitted from better editing.  Best of all is a new commentary with co-stars Derek Fowlds and Robert Morris, moderated by Hammer historian Jonathan Rigby.


Rigby does a terrific job of keeping the two actors on task and the track is loaded with great information.  The two men were in their late 20s when they appeared in the film and it's fun to hear them reminisce about their youth and experiences on the film.  Among the many topics addressed include their feelings on Peter Cushing, their observations on the beautiful Denberg (whom Fowlds claims to have gotten rather close to during filming, if you catch my drift) and their memories of being directed by Terence Fisher.


 

They also discuss the fact that the German setting inspired Alan MacNaughton to affect a German accent, which seemed a totally appropriate choice at the time; however, he was the only one to go to such extremes, and he ended up having to go back and redub his role with his "normal" accent!  It's a lively and informative track, well worth listening to.


Review: Troy Howarth.
Blu Ray Screen Captures: Here

Saturday 18 January 2014

WIN YOURSELF A COPY OF DONALD FEARNEY'S 'THE LEGEND OF HAMMER VAMPIRES' DVD TODAY


A heads up to our competition TODAY! Five copies of Donald Fearney's 'The Legend of Hammer Vampires' dvd documentary up for grabs. The competition will be posted at our UK Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook Fan Page from 6.30 pm gmt (12.30 pacific time) TODAY. Competition closes tomorrow Sunday 19th  January 2014.


Friday 17 January 2014

KRISTEN STEWART IN 'EQUALS' : A YES IT IS / NO IT ISN'T BIG BROTHER '1984' REMAKE


Peter Cushing's portrayal of Winston Smith in the 1954 BBC production of George Orwell's '1984'... stills holds a special place in most Cushing fans hearts. So maybe the last thing you want to read are the words 'remake - Kristen - Stewart..!' Find out more : HERE

Monday 13 January 2014

ALEXANDRA BASTEDO 1946 - 2014


We are very sad to hear of the news of the passing of Alexandra Bastedo tonight. Model, actress and animal rights campaigner, Bastedo starred alongside Peter Cushing, John Hurt and Veronica Carlson in Tyburn Film production of The Ghoul in 1975. You can find out more about Alexandra's life and work at her website:http://alexandrabastedo.com/


Sunday 12 January 2014

HOW TO BE SHERLOCK HOLMES : CHRISTOPHER LEE ON PETER CUSHING CLIP


REPOST REMINDER : Peter Cushing is featured in the BBC FOUR documentary 'How To Be Sherlock Holmes' at 10.00pm gmt TONIGHT. Here's a clip of Christopher Lee taking about Peter Cushing's performance as Sherlock Holmes..and that 'finger' http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01nwb3y
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...