WHEN CUSHING STOOD IN THE SHADOW OF NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL

WATCHING AND LISTENING to the news tonight, I am so sad and shocked by the horrific fire, that is destroying and consuming the beautiful and historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It's a place I have visited many times since I was a teenager. No time in Paris can be spent, without seeing 'The Cathedral'. With it's an amazing architecture, inside and out, the paintings, the sculpture... the history, you could sense so strongly when you walked inside. Peter Cushing visited it quite a few times too and loved it, very much. He sat and painted in water colours the spire, the arches and roof. It's truly, truly sad to see the iconic spire and parts of the first tower, now vanishing in the flames. To all our followers and friends in Paris and France... our hearts go out to you...

BACK IN THE EARLY 80'S, it wasn't unusual to sometimes meet up with some of the 500+ people back then, who were international subscribers to the PCAS Newsletters and Journals. PCAS was then a team of three people. We treated managing the society as a hobby! Often we would spend a weekend in London, Sheffield or Bristol, meeting many of those members who loved Peter Cushing, Hammer films and anything connected! We would always take gifts of some stills or a press book, for anyone we were meeting! One trip, I remember well, was a three day trip to Paris. It was a hoot! We arranged to meet outside Notre Dame Cathedral. Peter Cushing always had, and still does have, a very healthy crowd of 'fans' in France! I only knew one of the people we were meeting in that crowd, one Jacqueline Carron! We had spoken on the phone and written a few times. this was PRE internet, remember! My French was a joke, but her English, perfect! The group we were meeting all knew each other, so we were the visitors. They were the kindest, most polite people, generous with time, they didn't want us to leave! Some brought their partners and Mum's along too! We walked, talked and eventually, all as planned spent the evening at Jacqueline's home, watching anything and everything, we had managed to record or copy of Peter Cushing on video!  Jacqueline lived a short distance from the Cathedral, and the towers could be seen from her living room. The following morning, we met again for a coffee and took pics of our new 'Cushing friends' under the shadow of the Cathedral towers....it was a special time...

WHAT A LOT OF MOGGIES! SEVERIN FILMS REGION FREE PC BLU RAY SETS THE STANDARD!

WITH THE EXCELLENT news of Severin Films region FREE, cleaned up blu ray release of #PeterCushing's 1977 'THE UNCANNY' in May, it's interesting to see just how many versions of the film, have been released over the years! Super 8mm, VHS, DVD all of various grades of quality, but very popular! There are MORE! Here are ten of the releases, over at the FACEBOOK PCAS FAN PAGE we are asking . .do YOU own any of the above releases???

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW, JUST CLICK HERE for YOUR copy with the SLIP COVER (Limited to ONLY 1,500 COPIES) 

IN 1977, legendary Amicus co-founder Milton Subotsky (ASYLUM, AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS) teamed with Canadian producer Claude Héroux (SCANNERS, VIDEODROME) for the anthology shocker CelluloidDiaries calls “highly entertaining…the best killer cat movie there is!” Peter Cushing, Ray Milland, Donald Pleasence, Samantha Eggar (THE BROOD), Susan Penhaligon (PATRICK), John Vernon (POINT BLANK) and Alexandra Stewart (GOODBYE EMMANUELLE) star in this grisly portmanteau about a paranoid writer (Cushing) who must convince his publisher (Milland) that all cats are unholy fiends based on three tales of kitty carnage. Directed by Denis Héroux (NAKED MASSACRE) from a screenplay by Michel Parry (XTRO) with cinematography by Harry Waxman (THE WICKER MAN), THE UNCANNY is now scanned from an inter-negative recently discovered in a London vault.

Special Features:
The Cat’s Victim – Interview with actress Susan Penhaligon
Trailer
Exclusive Slipcover (Available on Severin Website)
REGION FREE
RELASE DATE: May 28th 2019

54 YEARS AGO THIS MONTH : THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD!

54 YEARS AGO, this month Hammer films, 'SHE' starring #PeterCushing, Ursula Andress, Christopher Lee and Bernard Cribbins opened in the UK on April 18th 1965! At the time of the opening Andress was billed as the most 'Beautiful Woman In the World'...maybe. Our PCAS album today, features Ursula in the role Ayesha, 'She Who Must Be Obeyed!' in the movie. These three posed 'on set' shots were taken by the studio photographer and quickly sent to the press publicity office... though few made it into the newspapers and magazines, which is a shame considering how amazing she looks. Blessed with a beauty that the camera loved, it was Hammer make up artist, Roy Ashton's job, to devise a whole series of make up's that turned Ursula into a woman of several hundred years old...and dust! How do you rate Andress with the many other attractive actresses who starred in Hammer / Cushing films?

#petercushing #bondgirl #pinup #hammerfilms #obey! #hellodarling!"

HERE IS A PCAS feature and a pretty comprehensive guide to the various SHE cinema adaptions over the years  and a GALLERY including #PeterCushing's role of Holly in Hammer films 1965 production! JUST CLICK HERE! 

NEWS: THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD : SOUNDTRACK VINYL LP LIMITED RELEASE

NEWS: JUST LAST WEEK, 'Kritzerland' exclusively released something that would look and SOUND very nice in anyone's Amicus Films collection, the soundtrack vinyl LP to the 1971 portmanteau thriller / horror, THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD . . and very nice it sounds too! I have never been a fan of most of the Amicus scores, but composer Michael Dress certainly offers more than what was often quite abstract and contemporary and personally the 'tunes' of Elisabeth Lutyens or the swings of Douglas Gamley in Amicus' The Beast Must Die', didn't do much for me.

HOWEVER, the score of THTDB has some gems. Not a lot is known about composer Michael Dress, but his very short filmography does include some very interesting films and scores, including Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx, which starred a very young Gene Wilder, and an interesting sci-fi film, The Mind of Mr. Soames, as well as A Touch of Love, starring Sandy Dennis.

FEATURE AND GALLERY ON CUSHING AND 'THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD' HERE!

DRESS CREATED a wonderfully atmospheric score – some of it lives in the world of Humphrey Searle’s The Haunting, but Dress’s music is his own and it really gives the stories in the film an interesting texture and feel. There’s a lot of percussion and weird effects, organ, a solo female voice floating in the air, harpsichord, vibes, strings – it’s all very hallucinogenic and off-kilter and really wonderful. This is the premiere release of The House that Dripped Blood. The transfers were made from the 35mm magnetic music-only mixing elements and the mono sound is crisp and clear and really excellent. You can find more details about this release later today at the PCAS website and a source were you can sample a few tracks. It's wonderful news that even though this is a very limited release, for those who appreciate and collect such rare items, this is now available to add to your collection Is there a AMICUS score you would love on CD???

MORE ON PETER CUSHING and AMICUS FILMS, THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD HERE! 

 

TO PLACE YOUR ORDER for THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD soundtrack CD and to sample some TRACKS just CLICK HERE! 

SCREAM FACTORY'S 2K REMASTERED GOLDEN VAMPIRES EXTRAS DETAILS ON DEBUT RELEASE!

NEWS: SCREAM FACTORY has just announced the additional details about their upcoming blu-ray of Hammer's 1974 'The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires'. This BLU RAY is a locked Region A release. And has a street date planned for April 9th 2019.

THE FINAL LIST list of extras for their upcoming release of the the entertaining kung-fu/horror hybrid from Hammer Films is as follows:

• NEW 2K scan of the original film elements

• NEW Audio Commentary with author/film historian Bruce G. Hallenbeck

• NEW When Hammer Met Shaw – an interview with actor David Chiang

• NEW Kung Fear – an interview with Hong Kong Film Expert Rick Baker

• Alternate U.S. Theatrical version – The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula (in HD with some standard definition inserts)

• Theatrical Trailers

• TV Spot

• Stills Gallery

UPON POSTING THESE DETAILS over at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE we soon received lots of comments and messages of excitement about the release from people who have long wanted a super clean blu ray version of this Peter Cushing last appearance as Van Helsing . . . but it seems whenever this film is mentioned, like DRACULA himself, there arrives a resurrection of negative comments and critiques of actor, John Forbes-Robertson's performance and appearance as Count Dracula. Where do you stand on this? Please feel free to join in on the comments and give us your thoughts too 😉

 

THE LUCKY THIRTEEN! CAN YOU PICK YOUR FIVE ON THIS BIRTHDAY?

TODAY WE ARE MARKING THE BIRTHDAY of director TERENCE FISHER. He was a director who still, certainly needs no introduction to anyone who regularly visits this page. But when looking down the list of some of Cushing best Hammer films, it's Fisher's name that is usually attached to the finest. Fiher also believed that you should give audiences, opportunities to see beyond, what could be happening on the screen. His trade mark blend of fairy-tale, myth and sexuality, gave us some of Cushing's and Hammer films greatest hits. 'The Curse of Frankenstein', 'Dracula', 'The Mummy', 'The Gorgon', 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed'..... and many, many others. All absolute gems. 

HERE IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY, to try and pull from the list of THIRTEEN TITLES that Fisher made with Cushing, a 'must watch' FIVE. The idea of this task cmae from a personal experience during the holidays last Christmas, to treat myself to an indulgent  weekend, of movie watching. It wasn't easy, but it was very enjoyable! Over at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE visitors and friends have started compiling and posting their TOP FIVE. Please feel free to join them, and help us mark the Birthday, of probably Hammer films, most popular director . . . 

Terence Fisher at home, with his wife, Morag!

Old Friends... Terence Fisher and Peter Cushing at the

Festival du Film Fantastique de Paris in 1974

PETER CUSHING and Martita Hunt in Terence Fisher's THE BRIDES OF DRACULA

TERENCE FISHER'S first film, for Hammer with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN

CUSHING AND THORLEY WALTERS in Fisher's THIRD Frankenstein for Hammer, FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN 

PRUDENCE HYMAN AND PETER CUSHING in Hammer films THE GORGON

THE HEAT IS ON with Peter Cushing in Terence Fisher's  NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT

THE MAKING OF A VERY MODERN GENERAL : HOW TO WEAR A COSTUME WITH STYLE

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY! MANY OF YOU have often mentioned Cushing's wonderful ability to ware costumes, like they were his every day wear and wear them SO WELL! The role of General von Spielsdorf in Roy Ward Baker's 'The Vampire Lovers' for Hammer in 1970, gave Cushing the opportunity to play another Vampire Hunter, but unlike his Van Helsing, here Cushing notonly plays the role, he also actually WEARS it! Silk dressing gown, general unforms, high collars and hunting cloaks, few actors wore a costume like Cushing in Hammer movie. Indeed, Christopher Lee looked every inch the Count in his cloaks, but look at both actors in Amicus productions, 'I, Monster'.... Here are few rare colour images of Peter looking his best. Without saying a line, as soon as he appeared on the screen in this movie, you knew Ingrid Pitt's Carmilla had met her match . . in supernaturally and style . . .

PETER CUSHING WAS ONE of those very lucky actors, who could wear a Victorian horses nose-fed bag, and still look very much fitting into the period and quite amazing! This uniform so suits him, and unlike the Tarkin 'slipper-episode' these boots fit him, like a glove

PETER CUSHING and actress Pippa Steel. Pippa would also go on to appear in Hammer films, 'Lust For A Vampire' in 1971. A film that Cushing was also set to appear in. Sadly Helen Cushing's health and passing, prevented him from appearing, and Ralph Bates played a re-written version of the role of Giles Barton . .

A DRAMATIC SHOT in colour transparency of Peter Cushing as General von Spielsdorf on set at Elstree film studios, then called Associated British Picture Studios . .the studio photographer probably spotted Peter, waiting during blocking of a shot, and slipped in to take this shot. It's an amazing pic!