Showing posts with label telly savalas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label telly savalas. Show all posts

Saturday 1 December 2018

BLU RAY NEWS! ARROW FILMS TO RELEASE REMASTERED UK AND USA HORROR EXPRESS BLU RAY!


RELEASE NEWS: Arrow Films have announced they are putting out a band new remastered blu-ray of Horror Express (1972) starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. This brings a REMASTERED blu ray to fan of the film in the UK for the first time!

RELEASE DATE: February 11th 2019 (UK) February 12th 2019 (US, CAN)




READ OUR PCAS FEATURE WITH GALLERY HERE! 


BLU RAY SPEC:
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 2K restoration from original film elements
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original Uncompressed mono audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary with Stephen Jones and Kim Newman
Introduction to the film by film journalist and Horror Express super-fan Chris Alexander
Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express – an interview with director Eugenio Martin
Notes from the Blacklist – Horror Express producer Bernard Gordon on working in Hollywood during the McCarthy Era
Telly and Me – an interview with composer John Cacavas
Original Theatrical Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys

FIRST PRESSING ONLY
: Fully-illustrated collector’s booklet with new writing by Adam Scovell

Sunday 25 March 2018

CALLUM MCKELVIE SUNDAY NEW SERIES: HORROR EXPRESS


WE START A NEW SERIES this week and it’s time for me to get all nostalgic- at least personally so. Each week I try and do something different with my little post for PCAS, not actually an easy thing when writing weekly about the films of one actor! Of course I’m not suggesting that Peter Cushing’s life and rich filmography doesn’t provide ample room for creativity within my column, but more along the lines of how I structure my post it can be difficult to come up with some new and exciting.  


ALWAYS HOWEVER I TRY to make it as personal as possible. I’m following in the footsteps of many a great contributor to the site and lest I repeat what someone else has already said (and probably in words far grander than I could ever conjure) I like to let my personal opinion come through as much as possible. Usually then, I tend to follow a review or a ‘list’ format, be that a simple discussion of a film or ‘my top ten…etc. etc.’, but for the next new weeks I’ll be trying something completely different. Beginning with this discussion on Horror Express I’m going to randomly select films from Cushing’s filmography that I have something of a personal history with and, if you’ll allow me dear readers, tell you about it.



ABOVE: YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO WATCH THE WHOLE FILM! 
JUST PRESS PLAY!




BY THE TIME I came into contact with Horror Express, I would have been around age thirteen or fourteen. I’d already encountered a healthy number of Hammer and Amicus pictures by this point along with the odd Cushing feature made by neither studio. I can’t remember how I first became aware of the title (most likely by browsing Amazon or a HMV store) but I do remember when my attention was attracted enough for me to scour You-Tube for clips. You see, the scene with the guard when the creature attacks him, turning his eyes white and causing him to bleed from them, was the first scene in a Cushing picture that actively scared me.


IT'S AN ODD THING fear and truth be told the attraction when watching Horror from this period for me was never the possibility of being scared, but mostly the rich gothic atmosphere which these films were soaked in. Of course there was the odd title that really did get to me, the sequence in House of Wax where Price’s wax face is smashed away springs to mind along with more obvious ones such as The Innocents (1960). Cushing films though? Not really.



THAT WAS UNTIL HORROR EXPRESS of course. When I finally watched it I found that indeed the effect still lingered. The opening sequence with Lee in the cave, the mystery at the station, the creature breaking loose. The opening fifty minutes or so of the film were soaked in an atmosphere so palpable, with the creature shot so wonderfully in almost total darkness, as to genuinely have a frightening edge to them. Then it got WEIRD. To my 13 or 14 year-old self the final half of Horror Express, whilst certainly entertaining, was a total let down. The body swapping alien plot seemed like an entirely different film and any genuine menace was sorely lacking. I put the DVD on my shelf, watched it occasionally and thought nothing more on the matter.


CUT TO SEVERAL YEARS LATER. Me and some friends are having a get together…with some refreshments of course and I’m asked to pick a film that will entertain us. Browsing my collection I go through the usual suspects before landing upon...Horror Express. For a short while my finger hovered over the plastic case, half remembering a few genuinely shocking moments, some genuinely funny moments (intentionally and not), some awful model work and a bizarre alien plot. Realising that there was enough there for even the tamest of drinking games I grabbed it. 







AS WE WATCHED I was surprised by how much the film was enjoyed by the gathering and not just in a ‘laugh-at-it-cos-it’s-bad’ way. There were genuine gasps of shock, a lot of laughs at the dodgy train shots, continuous whistling of the theme and a cheer as the creature is destroyed.




THUS TO ME, Horror Express will forever be Cushing’s perfect midnight movie. Camp, over the top, ridiculous, violent (compared to many of Cushing’s films) but incredibly and undeniably fun. If you’re not a fan of this one, perhaps put off by the mix of ridiculous scenes and genuinely chilling ones, grab yourself some mates, beers and experience it how I did. It may not change your opinion but it does mean you’ll be in a room full of people screaming ‘Monster, we’re British you know!’ and that’s no bad thing.







Sunday 4 February 2018

TELLY LEE AND GOLF : ROBERT STEPHENS AND CHRISTOPHER LEE PLUS A FACEBOOK GROUP THAT SCORES A TEN!

#CHRISTOPHERLEESATURDAY! Here are some highlights from a show that appeared on BBC TV back in the 80's and 90's. Various celebs were invited to play a few rounds of Gold in a Celebrity Tournament . . .Lee was matched with his 'Horror Express' co-star Telly Savalas. ' Tee Splitting Shots and Swipes' were par for the day . . . and Telly was quite the player!


HOUSE-KEEPING I just want to make you aware of a SUPERB facebook group, that's sitting there waiting for you to knock it's door and join them. The Robert Stephens Appreciation Society is curated by Joanna. She produces quite superb visuals to accompany her enormously informative and entertaining posts. Having my account set to when she makes posts, I sitting here daily, chin on carpet, at the rare archive material she shares.

 


STEPHEN'S was a one off, an actor like no other really, with a fascinating off screen life to match. I think Christopher Lee must have felt blessed the day, he received the call from Billy Wilder, to join him and Stephens in making 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'. Lee was VERY proud of his work in the film, and I believe one of the reasons, was Stephens ability to share on screen with him.... HERE is the link: Go visit this group, you wont be disappointed... and JOIN HERE!


YESTERDAY WE POSTED our TRIBUTE to actress and Dancer, PRUDENCE HYMAN in our CUSHING FEMME FATALES FRIDAYS! feature. The feature is broken down into three sections her ballet career, her film work and the later years appearing at gala's and comedy revues. There is rare footage of Prudence dancing in what was called The Dance Club in 1931, which laid the ground work for Ballet Rambert in the UK. 


RARE FOOTAGE from her appearance in BLUE SCAR, plus Pathe footage... all pretty cool stuff, that celebrates Prudence's life and reminds us, of what a genuinely super talented lady! You can see catch up and see it : BY CLICKING HERE! 


 
REMEMBER! IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA  

Tuesday 21 February 2017

#MONSTERMONDAY: HORROR EXPRESS CREATURE IN THE CRATE!


#MONSTERMONDAY: ....So, you've decided to go on that much needed holiday / vacation and opt for a long journey to your destination by...train. Two days in, the food is awful, there's always queues for the rest rooms are nasty AND blocked...and then, there's an ape like maniac loose on the train, who is roaming around in the dark, killing everyone. You wouldn't mind so much, but you suspect, he hasn't even bought a TICKET! Wow. What a Monster! To be fair, the 'primitive humanoid creature' at the center of this very popular horror film, was quite happy having nap for 200,000 years, when it was rudely woken, stuffed in a crate, and lobbed into a train wagon ... not even access to the buffet car or a second class ticket! I would be stomping around, fit to murder someone too! The choice is YOURS Monster or Victim?








'HORROR EXPRESS' was made for $300,000 (about £240,570 sterling at today prices) though you would never know it. With a sparkling cast, headed up by Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Telly Savalas, the story twists and zips along like Thomas the Tank engine on sherbert meets The Walking Dead. While often cited as being loosely borrowing it's format of 'The Thing from Another World' (1951) . . . this film that has much more going for it, than just that... and there is something for everyone...monster on a train, Cushing, Lee, zombies .. and a very humm-able theme tune, provided by John Cacavas, who also wrote the theme to 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula'.



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Saturday 21 January 2017

WHO LOVES YA? WE ALL DO!


WHO LOVES YA, BABY?...Today we remember the birthday of the late Telly Savalas. A much loved and larger than life man, on and off the screen. His Peter Cushing connection is his rip-roaring performance as the Cossack, Captain Kazan in the 'run-away-train-with-a-monster-and-zombies-onboard' epic from 1972, 'Horror Express'.
 

IT'S A FILM THAT NEVER STOPS going up gears through out it's tense 90 mins. When Savalas appears, almost an hour in, it really is full steam ahead! Along with Cushing and Lee, he makes the film a whole lot of fun. Most of us remember him as the lolly sucking cop in the excellent tv show, 'Kojak' and his quick to catch on catch phrase, 'Who Loves Ya Baby?'…… Who loves ya Telly? Why we do and always will.....



HORROR EXPRESS IS REVIEWED WITH RARE IMAGES HERE

Tuesday 12 April 2016

TELLY T SHIRT IS TOPS IN BRAZIL!


TELLY T-SHIRT IS TOPS IN BRAZIL! It's very flattering I see when other websites use our art work or people sell it on ebay.. but when they wear it...that's something else ! Aluizio Ignacio‎ from Brazil sent in a pic of a t-shirt he got made up featuring our banner for Telly Savalas that we posted last year lol He wears it with pride! I am quite chuffed too. Nice work Aluizio and thank you for sending us the pic too. - Marcus


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Saturday 6 February 2016

ON SET SATURDAY : BEHIND THE SCENES BACK IN 1972 WITH HORROR EXPRESS


Great entertainment may not always constitute great art in the eyes of highbrow critics and scholars, but there’s no denying the lasting appeal of certain films. Some of these films are the result of intense planning and preparation; they’re guided by a sense of purpose and have the benefit of a crack team of technicians and artisans at their disposal. Others more or less just happen. It seems safe to say that Horror Express falls into this latter category.


Legend has it that producer Bernard Gordon, having just overseen the filming of Pancho Villa (1972), starring Telly Savalas, had access to some elaborate miniature train sets from that production; itching to get his moneys worth out of the investment, he decided to get another picture on the rails right away. Enlisting the services of American screenwriters Arnaud d’Usseau and Julian Zimet (writing under the name Julian Halevy), Gordon gave them free reign to come up with a budget-friendly scenario that could be set aboard a train. Zimet and d’Usseau concocted a wild and wooly combination of horror, intrigue and science fiction, cribbing elements from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and The Thing (1951), with a touch of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, while scratching the surface of the more cerebral sci-fi fantasies of acclaimed screenwriter Nigel Kneale. The end result is something of a mishmash and it doesn’t really bear close scrutiny, but in the hands of director Eugenio Martin, it rattles along at such a fantastic pace, it really doesn’t matter much.


Key to the film’s success was the casting of horror icons Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. The two actors, with their contrasting styles - Lee, cool and introverted; Cushing, warm and jittery - had become modern answer to Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi thanks to the success of Hammer Films’ The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958) and The Mummy (1959), but few of the films they acted in really gave them much of a chance to interact with each other. In a typical Hammer horror, they’d have a few terse encounters, then they’d engage in a duel to the death at the end of the picture; given that Lee was typically cast as the villain, he seldom emerged victorious, needless to say.


By the 1970s, the two actors had gone down very different career paths. Cushing, devoted to his ailing wife and content among the familiar trappings of the English countryside, tended to stick close to home; Lee, an outspoken critic of the British tax system, relocated his wife and daughter to Switzerland for a period in the 1960s, and embarked on a campaign for international stardom by appearing in as many foreign language films as possible - it was a move that made him more immediately recognizable in other countries, especially since the multi-lingual actor was able to actually perform in their own language, without the aid of a dubbing artist. Cushing’s career was in a bit of a slump, thanks to a string of less than stellar vehicles that exploited his name and offered little in return beyond the sheer joy of working; Lee’s, on the other hand, was in the ascent - he had fought long and hard to achieve mainstream recognition, and felt vindicated when he was cast in his first western (Hannie Caulder, 1970) and, most notably, when he landed a plum supporting role in Billy Wilder’s big budget The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970). For Lee, fresh horizons were in evidence; for Cushing, his life was quietly crumbling about him, as his beloved wife Helen eventually succumbed to emphysema in 1971.


Cushing’s grief over her passing is legendary - his devotion to her is truly the stuff of great romance, and his only solution to shouldering the burden was to throw himself into more and more work. He literally accepted everything he could fit on his plate, sometimes to the detriment of his legacy - he may have always delivered a professional performance, but sometimes critics found themselves wondering what on earth compelled him to accept the films he agreed to appear in. On the other hand, Lee’s attempts to be choosy sometimes back fired - thus, faced with a suddenly empty slate after a string of proposed projects stalled, he would reluctantly don the cape of his most iconic role, Count Dracula; he loved the role, but hated what Hammer was doing to the bloodsucker, and he didn’t mind letting the press know it, either. Lee’s image as a prickly, opinionated man contrasts vividly with Cushing, about whom seldom a bad word is uttered. If Lee sometimes came off as arrogant and demanding, Cushing was the soul of gentility. One thing was certain, however - they had terrific chemistry (and unlike Karloff and Lugosi, they were good friends off screen) and their names together on a poster was a benefit to many low budget horror items. In preparing Horror Express, producer Gordon and director Martin were fortunate indeed to snag them both. While Lee’s presence in a Spanish horror title was nothing new (he had just recently completed several films for Spanish enfant terrible, Jess Franco), Cushing’s presence was much more unexpected.


Indeed, following Helen’s death, the once travel-shy Cushing broadened his horizons somewhat, accepting assignments in France and Greece, among other countries, though he remained fonder of working in England than anywhere else in the world. The two men had already appeared in numerous “home grown” pictures together, but Horror Express would mark their first - and last - collaboration outside of the UK. As it happens, the entire enterprise nearly fell through when Cushing attempted to bail upon arrival in Spain. As he explained to producer Gordon, the Christmas holidays (the filming took place at the end of ‘71) were nearing, and it was his first Christmas in many years without Helen at his side; a fit of melancholy ensued and he advised Gordon that he felt it best to resign from the picture in person, rather than doing so by cable.


A panic-stricken Gordon turned to Lee for assistance, and as the story goes, the outwardly aloof actor managed to make his friend and colleague feel at home and all talk of abandoning ship ceased. Lee and his family would even invite Cushing to spend the holidays with them, thus creating a little slice of Britannia for the grieving actor who otherwise might have felt adrift in a strange land.


Fans of these two fine actors therefore owe a debt of gratitude to Lee, for his  intervention ensured the completion of one of the most purely enjoyable films they would ever be a part of, either alone or as a team. Hammer consistently cast the two men as adversaries, thus ensuring that their screen time together was limited. It took a sojourn to Spain for their fans to finally see them carrying a film together - as equals, sharing barbs at each other’s expense and clearly enjoying the hell out of doing so.


Lee starts the film in typical stuffy fashion. He portrays the eminent anthropologist Sir Alexander Saxton, who has uncovered what appears to be the fossil of a missing link while on an expedition in Manchuria. Saxton is abrassive, opinionated, imposing, intimidating - in short, very much the usual Christopher Lee we’ve grown to know and love. As the film unfolds, however, the character grows in an interesting way. His so-called fossil thaws out and goes on a killing spree. He is as incredulous as he is intrigued, but his initial iciness begins to melt, as well, and he becomes determined to fix the wrong he has unintentionally inflicted on the other passengers. Along the way he strikes a few romantic sparks with a beautiful Russian countess (Silvia Tortosa), and he presents as a dashing man of action. It’s a good part, and he’s simply delightful in it.


Cushing is also cast very much to type. He portrays the impish and devious Dr. Wells, a rival of Saxton’s who unknowingly speeds the catastrophe along by bribing a baggage attendant to open Saxton’s myserious crate and “take a peek at what’s inside.” Cushing clearly relishes deflating Lee’s pomposity, knowingly pushing his buttons and stirring the pot in a marvellously sly manner. Cushing, too, takes a romantic interest in one of the passengers - in his case, a sexy Russian spy (Helga Line, veteran of many Spanish horror items, including Paul Naschy’s Horror Rises from the Tomb, 1973). This leads to some marvellous comedic situations, notably when Saxton manages to get his own back at Wells by barging his way into the cabin when the latter is eagerly trying to console the young woman. Truth be told, the Wells character is a bit of a meddling jerk, but he, too, becomes more heroic as the action unfolds.


In addition to the wonderful central performances by Lee and Cushing, Horror Express has a grab bag of familiar “Euro cult” performers. Julio Pena (Werewolf Shadow) is excellent as the stern police inspector who becomes possessed by the alien, Jorge Rigaud (A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin) brings sly humor and gravitas to his role as the condescending Count, and the aforementioned Helga Line is wonderfully sly and sexy as the spy. Best of all is Alberto DeMendoza (The People Who Own the Dark), cast as a “mad monk” named Pujardov. The character is clearly modeled on that of Rasputin, and the wild-eyed DeMendoza plays the part for all it’s worth.


Given that Lee had previously played the “real” Rasputin so memorably (albeit in a palid film, Hammer’s Rasputin the Mad Monk, 1965), it’s amusing to see him reacting with such disdain and contempt to Pujardov’s biblical rantings. Last but not least, let us not forget Telly Savalas, who shows up just when things are threatening to run out of steam - he isn’t the most likely Cossack ever seen on screen, but no matter… he’s a hoot in the role, and he knows it. Savalas chews the scenery with abandon, and his confrontation with stiff upper lip Brits Lee and Cushing (whom the Greek-American actor would later recall with respect and admiration) is a joy to behold.


Added to the wonderful cast, Horror Express has much to laud in the technical department as well. John Cacavas contributes a haunting, Ennio Morricone-inspired soundtrack, while ace cinematographer Alejandro Ulloa (Jess Franco’s The Diabolical Dr. Z, 1966) helps to disguise the low budget with some elegant lighting and camerawork. Director Martin, who would later helm several other (but less memorable) horror items, keeps the pace moving at breakneck speed. He also displays an appreciation of the script’s sly, tongue in cheek wit, ensuring that Horror Express is always first and foremost a fun film. It may not reinvent the wheel or aspire to make profound social comments, but this is horror entertainment at its finest, acted and directed with an incisive mixture of commitment and irony. It is also, arguably, the only Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing film that really properly exploits the tremendous chemistry these two men had on screen. On that level alone, Horror Express is essential viewing for all Lee and/or Cushing fans.


The text in this feature first appeared in a feature post on our site, in February 2013. It can be found with full colour gallery, at it's original posting : HERE 

Feature: Troy Howarth
Images: Marcus Brooks


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