NEWS: TWO AMICUS HORRORS COME TO BLU RAY IN UK

NEWS: More good news Amicus's THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD and ASYLUM both starring #PeterCushing and a whole HOST of British Horror amicus stars are AT LAST coming to blu-ray in the UK from Second Sight Films. MORE NEW when we get it. At the moment, no NEWS on EXTRAS or a RELEASE DATE. STAY TUNE!

OUR PCAS FEATURES AND GALLERY ON THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD HERE!

OUR PCAS GALLERY AND FEATURE ON AMICUS FILMS ASYLUM  along with Cushing's performance and working with old friend actor BARRY MORSE and others CAN BE RIGHT HERE!

#thehousethatdrippedblood #amicusfilms #petercushing #bluray #news #christopherlee #asylum

DISCOVERED IN LONDON VAULT : SHOCKER HORROR FILM COMES TO BLU RAY FOR FIRST TIME!

NEWS : SEVERIN FILMS TO RELEASE 'THE UNCANNY' on Blu Ray

 for the FIRST TIME!

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 Celluloid Diaries 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

OUR PCAS FEATURE AND GALLERY ABOVE RIGHT HERE! 

#petercushing #theuncanny #cats #severinfilms #bluray #creepy

REVIEWED! SCREAM FACTORY LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES BLU RAY RELEASED TODAY!

LIKE MANY HAMMER FILM and Peter Cushing fans, for the last few years, I've both a mental and physical 'wish list' of movies, |I have hoped would some day, get the remastering blu ray treatment. I am very happy to now look at my shelves and see most of those titles have not only received a re-release and remaster, but also 98% of them have been blessed with a remastering, quite beyond my expectation! It's wonderful to see many Cushing features, that for years looked destined to never be seen again, the way I had once watched them in the cinema. It took quite a while, with the arrival of DVD's to weed out the duds, and not fall foul of a 'bootlegged home made burned copy of a years old TV recorded copy of a VHS recording' to a legit marketed commercial DVD copy to arrive. For quite sometime, we were very happy with DVD quality, and then the sometimes sparkling definition of a BLU RAY! Could it ever get any better. we asked? 'Oh, Yes . . .', said the distributors, 'Take a look a this!' The REMASTERED 1080p high definition Blu Ray.... can be at times, quite thing of beauty. Sometimes if the copy house gets it wrong though, it can also become a never ending chorus of lethal barbs, personal opinions and wrath, at forums and internet groups. 



THANKFULLY, that has not happened too often with Cushing films. There will always be the wish and bucket list, of people who have high expectations and yet low funds and shallow pockets. The remastering process is an expensive business and in the current lolly-no-lolly climate, things tough. Though there will always be, the customer who also expects, a perk! Some of the better remasterings, have arrived without any extras. No new documentaries, no galleries of images and rare stills.. but the quality of what it offers on the label, is very, very high. The FILM is a knockout! And with that, I am happy to share that, SCREAM FACTORY has delivered a VERY nice release, that meets the standard we have come to expect and a much needed and very entertaining package of extras too, for a film that has been on THAT 'Wish List', for quite sometime . . .    

I AM NOT GOING TO BORE YOU with the story, plot details and 'CHOP' of Hammer films and Shaw Brothers, THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES. If you are a Cushing, Hammer or Horror film fan, you WILL know the plot like the contents of Famous Monsters Of Filmland, Issue ONE or page six of Alan Franks excellent, 1976 edition of The Movie Treasury of 'Monsters and Vampires!' If seeing Cushing play Van Helsing in a more traditional sense, rather than in 70's swinging London, as in the outstanding remasters from Warner Brothers of both 'Dracula AD 1972' and 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula' However, if you NEED the plot, you may find a PCAS feature, with that and a whole skip full of stills, RIGHT HERE and HERE!.

THE TEC SPEC! 
AND SO TO THE LINE, that is the divider or decider in such releases as this. A title now arrives on blu ray, that most parties or individuals will probably already own and may have in several formats, purchased and added to those creeking shelves, over the years. The question: Is THIS release an improvement and worth parting with your hard earned lolly? The ANSWER is certainly! I have found over the years, it is the past reputations of such companies as Shout / Scream Factory, that will define if fans are going to cry, 'Once Bitten, Twice Shy' having been stung with past purchases, where the excitement and anticipation of a blu ray release worth having, following lots of promotion and word of mouth, sinks faster, after the opening credits than a trout with belly full lead! Scream Factory has an excellent record and this release again puts the seal of approval on they give what they promise. This release is 2.35:1 anamorphic and SCREAM FACTORY'S transfer presents visually a real bonus, to anyone who has seen the film before, and experienced not too sharp an image, to put it bluntly! The 50GB disc is an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer. Having said that, some would consider the transfer to not quite be of reference quality. AT LAST we can now see, what is happening CLEARLY, CRISPLY! Nothing that I could see in my TWO viewings of this release, dropped from an excellent clarity, a viewing of this film, I had never seen before. Blurring, sudden softness of what two seconds ago was a sharp image, with solid contrast of a shot, filmed in shadow, can be a real distraction, if seen too often while enjoying your recent purchase. 

WATCHING THIS RELEASE was full of visual surprises. Details in costumes, actors expressions and of course, the fight scenes, was a real treat! The transfer brings out so much detail compared to previous releases. The audio is DTS-HD MA Mono. The levels are clear and for some might hint at being TOO clear! All dialogue in Seven Golden Vampires, was created during ADR. It was very common practice in the industry in Hong Kong at this time, that little if anything that was recorded during production was used in the final theatrical release, everything was dubbed in post. So it's very fair to say, the levels are well balanced is free of any obvious or noticeable hiss problems or distortion. James Bernard's excellent score has never sounded better! Optional subtitles are provided in English only.



THE EXTRAS:
REGULARS TO HERE AT THE PCAS website and the PCASUK FACEBOOK FAN PAGE will not be strangers to the work of BRUCE G HALLENBECK. As well, as writing and publishing several very good books on Hammer and Amicus films, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and many many others, Bruce has also contributed several exclusive features and series about Cushing, Hammer / Amicus and many of Cushing's supporting casts and characters for this website. You find links to many on the right column of this site! Bruce contributes and narrates a very entertaining feature on this SCREAM FACTORY release. Lots of new factoids and details about Hammer films, the history of why Hammer made a 'Vampire / Kung Fu' features at a time when Hammer had long left his Dracula role and how it almost didn't get made, as Warner Bros threatened to pull their money, unless Dracula was included in the film. Well done, Bruce! 

A FEATURE WITH AUTHOR RICK BAKER, is also here if you have an interest in Kung Fu Cinema. 'KUNG FEAR' does a nice job of sharing the background of Hammer's partners in making 'Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires' The Shaw Brothers. Baker who is author of several books on Hong Kong cinema shares his knowledge while 'Golden Vampires' co star David Chiang gives a neat little interview, with memories on working on the film and Peter Cushing! Also included is the 75 min 'alternative' edit of the film, re-titled 'The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula'. It's minus much of Cushing's Van Helsing footage and anything that didn't have the minimum at least five chops or three foot sockings! Interesting!

OVERALL
Scream Factory's REMASTERED Blu Ray release of Hammer Films 'The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires' is a very nice and long awaited addition to my little collection. It's fabulous to watch Cushing in his last outing as Van Helsing, Julie Ege, Chiang and Robin Stewart are a great support also. John Forbes- Robertson is very entertaining to watch in a 'Hong Kong' swing of Dracula. Complete with THEIR nod to his make up and style, it answers the question of, what would a Dracula not played by Christopher Lee, in a Hammer film, look like! THIS release gets a BIG thumbs up and thank you from us all at PCAS!. .

SCREAM FACTORY REMASTER of LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES BLU RAY was REALASED TODAY APRIL 9th 2019 and is REGION A.
 

NEWS: SCREAM FACTORY SET TO RELEASE HAMMER FILM CLASSIC FOR USA!

NEWS: Scream Factory have announced they are putting out Hammer's 'Frankenstein Created Woman' on blu-ray! SCREAM say in their press release that 'It’s the year of Hammer Films for us as you can already tell and we have yet another one planned for the Summer. FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN (starring legendary star Peter Cushing) is being prepped in Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release!'

HERE ARE THE EARLY DETAILS we have at present time, there are no details to IF this will be a REMASTERED release.

• National street date for U.S. only (Region A) is June 11th.
• Release will come with a slipcover (guaranteed for three months after its original release date).
• The newly-commissioned artwork pictured comes to us from Mark Maddox (Dracula: Prince of Darkness). This art will be front-facing and the reverse side of the wrap will the original theatrical poster design.
• Extras and specs are still in progress and will be announced later in May.

#petercushing #hammehorror #frankenstein #screamfactory #susandenberg #terencefisher

WARNER BROTHERS AND 'FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE' PLUS MARKING THE BIRTHDAY OF JACK PALANCE

TODAY WE REMEMBER ACTOR:  JACK PALANCE, born on this day in 1919....everyone has a favourite Palance movie and there's many crackers to choose from..Shane, Batman, Sword of the Conquer, Hawk the Slayer, City Slickers...or even his performances as Dracula in 74 or Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 1968.

ABOVE AND BELOW: When Canning and Wyatt were included in our Monday Themed posts, #MONSTERMONDAY a few years ago . .

A RARE STILL: PALANCE STRIKES A POSE  for the studio stills photographer, to be included in the press packs, this shot was not included in the edit of the film, 'Torture Garden'

ABOVE: JACK WITH HIS BROTHER, IVAN in the 1962 film, 'Sword of the Conquer'

 

THE NUTS AND BOLTS of the film and Cushing and Palance's performances is covered in our THE AMICUS FILMS OF PETER CUSHING : PART TWO SERIES! Click that thread and enjoy the skip load of rare images and photographs! 

THE CUSHING CONNECTION would his be crackling performance as Ronald Wyatt in 'The Man Who Collected Poe' story in 'Torture Garden' (Amicus films 1967) A man of few words off the set, he owned his own cattle ranch and displayed other creative sides as a exhibited painter and published poet.

OUR SECOND POST of today at the Released in 1974, Peter Cushing as the 'shop keeper' and Ian Ogilvy as William Seaton in 'The Door' part of the four stories that made the Amicus films portmanteau movie, 'From Beyond The Grave'. I have often thought while walking around Cushing's home-town of Whitstable in Kent, that on turning a corner, up a narrow alleyway, that a little shop called, 'Temptations Ltd' was going to melt out of the sea-side fog!

A WHISPER.... PCASUK is.. fingers crossed... planning a something quite unusual and exciting in that little town in a few months time.

THE FILM'S SCRIPT is adapted from four short stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes strung together about an antique dealer (Peter Cushing) who owns a shop called Temptations Ltd. and the fate that befalls his customers who try to cheat him. Stories includeThe Gate Crasher with David Warner who frees an evil enity from an antique mirror,An Act of Kindness featuring Donald Pleasence,The Elemental, and The Door. As Warner Brothers still owns this Amicus classic, we have over at the Facebook PCASUK FAN PAGE been discussing, if the success of Warner releasing the Hammer Horror Classic these last few months, might make them think about releasing THIS long time awaiting a blu ray release, soon? 

 

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The PCASUK WEBSITE: petercushingappreciationsociety.com

The PCASUK YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE!

 

The PCASUK TWITTER ACCOUNT : HERE!

THE FINAL TOUGH THOUGHT FOR TUESDAYS

TODAY WE HAVE the LAST of our PETER CUSHING TUESDAY TOUGHIES! Quite a few unnumbered but 27 in this series. Tuesday has been the day, to think hard and crack the toughy. Now, it's time to give your brains a rest for while 😉😀

TOMORROW is #CushingCollectors Wednesday! Warner Brothers remastered blu ray of Hammer films Satanic Rites of Dracula starring Peter Cushing as Van Helsing and Christopher Lee as Dracula... together for the last time 😉 Catch our review at the website with highlight extracts at the FACEBOOK PCAS FAN PAGE 😉 - Marcus

#petercushing #christopherlee #dracula #vampires #thesatanicritesofdracula #hammerfilms #warnerbrothers

ON SET FOR WHEN #DRACULA ROSE AND FELL AT #PINEWOODSTUDIOS : RARE FULL COLOUR PRINTS!

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: Christopher Lee up in the roof top set of Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, at Pinewood studios. 'Grave' I have often thought was one of the few in the series that would have really been so much better with some Cushing Van Helsing in the plot! No?😊😌😊

THIS FILM WAS number THREE in the Lee Hammer Dracula series is often reported to be Hammer films most successful film? Over at the FACEBOOK PCAS FAN PAGE, I have asked if anyone can provide evidence as to why that would be thought so??? Feel free to give us your theories! 😉

ANOTHER ONE THAT IS rarely posted on facebook groups or Hammer films websites.. a full colour transparency from 'Dracula Has Risen from the Grave'. Lee in respose, the last we see of the Count before he is no more. Always thought it was a leap too far, from flesh to slime and ash in this death scene. Hammer and Les Bowie Special Effects team were always so good at the 'big pay off' visuals of Dracula coming back from the dead and dying sometimes the most gruesome, yet quite inventive death!

MORE ON HAMMER FILMS and the QUEENS AWARD in 1968 : HERE!

NEWS 'LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES' COMES TO BLU RAY : REMEMBERING GEOFFREY BAYLDON TODAY

NEWS: Scream Factory have announced they are putting out Hammer Films and Shaw Brothers THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES On Blu-ray starring Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, with Julie Ede and Robin Stewart . . SCREAM RELEASED a press note today stating : Starting 2019 on a high note: THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES - a highly-requested title from the Hammer Films catalog - kicks its way onto Blu-ray April 9th! Extras are in progress and will be announced on a later date. The big news to confirm today though is that we will be presenting two cuts of the films -- Hammer's original uncut version and its edited US version called The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula!'

 

 

 

MANY ARE ALREADY hoping for maybe a full version of the 'LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES'  music soundtrack. An album was released by Hammer films of this, along with the story narrated by  #PETERCUSHING back in 197. Also a cleaned up print of the MILK MARKETING BOARD short feature, that was shot on location with the cast and crew in Hong Kong, would be a winner too. Fingers Crossed! You can share your thoughts on this release at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE where the CHAT and opinions have already started on the thread and newsfeed! 

 

 

 

 

#MOMENTSOFTERROR #MONDAY! Back in the day, 1959 to be exact, Peter Cushing as #SherlockHolmes looms down from giant sized billboards in central London, promoting his first performance as Sherlock in Hammer films, only Holmes movie, 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. Billboards were certainly impressive displays back in those days, as were the cinema posters!

 

TODAY MARKS WHAT would have been the birthday of actor GEOFFREY BAYLDON. He would have been 95 years old! Geoffrey passed in 2017 and PCAS posted quite an extensive obituary at the time. 

 

 

The PCASUK GEOFFREY BAYLDON OBITUARY FEATURE  CLICK HERE! 

 

 

 

HE WAS VERY MUCH ADMIRED, loved and respected actor and extremely popular with the army of fans and admirers of his work. Many films and tv credits go way back to Hammer films first Dracula with Peter Cushing, some of Amicus films finest like 'Asylum', 'Tales from the Crypt', 'The House that Dripped Blood', Hammer's 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed', 'The Risk' / 'Suspect with Cushing in 1969, his tv series 'Catweazle'. 

 

 

 

GEOFFREY appeared with Jon Pertwee in 'Worzel Gummidge as The Crowman from 1979 until 1981, the BBC's Dr Who in 79 and 'The Avengers tv series in the 60's. Geoffrey is still very much missed. A gentleman and such a Gentle Man 😉