Showing posts with label wanda ventham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wanda ventham. Show all posts

Saturday 23 May 2020

WONDERFUL WANDA : INTERVIEW : BLOOD BEAST : DOCTOR WHO : UFO AND MORE!


#WATCHWITHCUSHING! POSTING AND SHARING  a great INTERVIEW with actress WANDA VENTHAM today here and at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE certainly has taken off! It's a pretty neat interview with a very relaxed and most informative #WandaVentham! LOTS to learn here about the making of her and Peter Cushing's 'The Blood Beast Terror', on working with Cushing, the director Vernon Sewell, others in the cast, #DoctorWho, #PatrickTroughton, #Hammerfilms and the tv series #UFO! Mr H does well with the questions and some answers are quite surprising! Wanda has a great fan club site too RIGHT HERE!: Enjoy! Keep safe, stay well and look after each other πŸ˜€πŸ˜ŠπŸ˜‰- Marcus


ABOVE :  A #MONSTER MONDAY BANNER from a whole ago, when Wanda's MOTH went through our weekly MONDAY trial! 


ABOVE : PETER CUSHING AND WANDA VENTHAM'S 'THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR' is also part of our #WATCHWITHCUSHING! 2020 #LockedDown season of posts at the Facebook PCASUK Fan Page. YOU can still watch it! RIGHT HERE! 


ABOVE : PETER CUSHING  chats with producer Tony Tenser on location shooting 'THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR' 

Monday 6 April 2020

PCASUK WATCH PARTY TIGON CUSHING CLASSIC NOW LIVE!


#WATCHWITHCUSHING! 'The Blood Beast Terror' (1968) NOW LIVE at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FANPAGE WATCH PARTY! This is a film that for a long time had the sad reputation of being known as '#PeterCushing's least favourite film'! A rep that was probably misunderstood, as time has gone on to inform us, it was Cushing's 'on set' experience that scored the 'no brownie points'. Like with a lot of tight budget movies from this time, today we watch them with an 'understanding' maybe. Yup the effects could be better, but I've seen much worse in films that were produced with monster budgets, and no excuse! No one looks good in a costume that is supposed to represent a 'real creature' that is actually an inch to two inches in size, and every director should have a note to themselves that reminds them, 'save some money for the big finish' πŸ˜‰Director, Vernon Sewell sadly did not


BUT HE DID invest in a good cast, Robert Flemyng, replacing an ill #BasilRathbone gives a great turn, Wanda Ventham is quite convincing and committed, but I bet you she drew the line about wearing that costume, and Peter Cushing as ever, gives good value with a cracking performance, relaxed, charming and with some nice 'business' as Inspector Quennell. There's a nod to #Frankenstein and body-snatches '#BukeandHare' and the late Roy Hudd gets to make his first movie, with some well timed black humour as the morgue attendant showing a knack that even both #DonaldPleasence's Dr Seward in 'Dracula' and Cushing's Catflangue, in Legend of the Werewolf, would have been proud of!


 

Tuesday 6 August 2019

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WANDA AND TAKE YOUR PIC OF A FLICK AT WHITSTABLE!


YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD OF or know Wanda for a whole lot of reasons... the ace 1960's Brit TV series 'UFO', Peter Cushing's 'love it hate it' Tigon horror film about a killer moth 'The Blood Beast Terror', the fact she played a role in a terrific Hammer horror film, mumbling under a paper mache mask for a fair while . . or the fact that she is THE Mum to a quite internationally famous actor...? Personally I LIKE 'The Blood Beast Terror', I like UFO and I love Ventham too 😊 Join in if YOU too want to wish the super Wanda Ventham, A Happy Birthday too, TODAY at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE!


JUST A FEW DAYS AGO, I was put on the spot! A message come though on the FACEBOOK PCASUK Fan Page, with a question, that really got me thinking. 'We are planning a FILM NIGHT at the Whitstable Castle, we would like to dedicate the film we are screening, to Peter Cushing, and are foxed as to which Cushing Hammer film we should screen. Any ideas? I don't know about you, but on the rare occasion I have a spare evening to sit and enjoy one of Peter Cushing's many titles, I usually end up cruising the spines of all 80 odd dvd's and blu rays, then studying the covers, a little dusting and rearranging, before I know, three hours or more has passed, with distractions and procrastination, resulting in not a one disc sliding into the player! I really am the last person to ask, but I did manage after at least an hour or chewing on it, one title. However, knowing often my suggestion may not fit their plans or thinking, I instead suggested the making of a token PCASUK banner very qucikly and throwing the question out to the entire following of the PCASUK FAN PAGE. The many, many, come back suggestions and results were very interesting indeed. If YOU want to add your suggestion to the list in the comments thread, PLEASE do! Here is a link to THAT post, join it with a click HERE! ANY news on the planned evening, I will share as NEWS here at the website, FACEBOOK and other PCASUK social platforms. Stay TUNED πŸ˜‰   

Sunday 29 October 2017

THE TEN THINGS I NOW LOVE ABOUT . . . THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR! CALLUM MCKELVIE FESSES UP!



THIS HALLOWEEN I’ve decided to give what many would consider a real ‘horror’ a second chance. Few films are as openly lambasted within the Cushing-Canon as The Blood Beast Terror, Peter himself even went as far as to label it his worst….ever. Only the fledgling Tigon productions second Horror film, after the remarkable The Sorcerers from 1967 the debut of director Michael Reeves, The Blood Beast Terror seems something like a step backwards. Whereas The Sorcerers concerned contemporary social and youth movements, Blood Beast is a period piece, featuring a dogged Victorian policeman hunting down a fearsome monster created by a mad-scientist.




It’s pretty trope-filled stuff. Not only that, but The Blood Beast Terror is directed by veteran director Vernon Sewell, who at this stage was reaching the twilight of his career. When viewed in this light and compared to the other films Tigon was putting out (Witchfinder General, Blood On Satan's Claw even lesser films such as The Beast in the Cellar show slightly more inventiveness) it’s easy to see why Blood Beast Terror gets the wrap it gets. Also….it’s pretty bad in places. However with that said, I for one DON’T think its Cushing’s worse and so compiled here is a little list of ten things I like about The Blood Beast Terror.



1: It’s pure Victorian pulp . . .
So if The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula / Horror of Dracula are adaptations of classics of Gothic literature, then Blood Beast is the closest thing the 60’s brit-horror boom got to bringing a cheap, lurid penny dreadful, that’s been lost to time to the screen. Ok so its trope filled. Ok so the character stereotypes are out-dated and over used, but who doesn’t love a mad scientist, sinister butler and femme-fatale monster? The film utilises a number of gothic horror tropes but revels in them, whilst certainly not new or exciting, it’s a fun little escape into that lurid Gothic world . .



2: It knows what it’s doing and has fun with it . . .
Building on point one, the film apparently has fun with these tropes. In one memorable sequence there is an amateur dramatic performance of a horror play, spoofing some Frankenstein films. Now I’m not saying the film is in anyway being Meta in a particularly clever way, but it seems somewhat self-referential, a slight wink and joke to an audience that are watching a film based on the more lurid aspects of penny-dreadfuls and the Grande Guignol




3: Robert Flemying . . .
So it’s pretty well documented now that the part of Doctor Mallinger was to be played by legendary horror actor, Basil Rathbone. Needless to say the idea of Rathbone matching wits with Cushing is certainly an appealing one but sadly shortly before shooting began, Rathbone was taken ill and died suddenly. Needing a replacement fast, Tony Tenser, the legend behind Tigon films remembered the actor Robert Flemying who had appeared in a film he had distributed, 1962’s The Horrible Dr Hitchcock. Now it’s easy to get caught up in what could have been, which is unfair as it takes away from what is actually a powerful performance. Flemying and Cushing play off each other very well, particularly towards the latter half of the film when each has a suggestion that the other knows more than he is letting on. . .



4: Wanda Ventham . . .
The Moth-Lady herself, Wanda Ventham (known for making three prominent appearances in several episodes of Doctor Who throughout the years) is given plenty of screen-time and looks striking. Her performance is a powerful one and her scenes with Flemying have a genuine level of tension and menace . . .


5: The Title . . .
Need I say more?


 


6: The Supporting Cast . . .
The Veteran actor, perhaps best known to fans of Doctor Who as two of its most memorable villains, Tobias Vaughn in The Invasion and Mavic Chen in The Daleks Masterplan is particularly creepy as Granger. Glynn Edwards Sergeant Allan has some particularly humorous moments of dry wit with Cushing leading too…


7: That last-line . . .
Edwards: ‘They’ll never believe this at the yard
Cushing: ‘They’ll never believe it anywhere’




8: The Moth . . .
Whilst certainly not going to win any awards for best monster make-up of the decade…there is something undoubtedly charming about the giant furry Moth costume. The final flying sequences are….pretty damn awful, but the Moth’s appearance is distinctive enough to be entertaining in its own right . . .


9: Roy Hudd . . .
I’ve mentioned a lot of the cast in this, but as of yet have made no mention of the best actor (aside from…well you know who) in the film. Roy Hudd as the Morgue attendant makes this whole thing worthwhile. Hudd stated that he and Cushing worked together, rejigging the sequence to make it funnier and the result is the highlight of the film equalling any of Miles Madison’s scenes in the earlier Hammer pictures  . . .



10: Peter Cushing . . .
Ok so a bit predictable maybe, but was he ever not going to be on this list? The Blood Beast may not have the meatiest of roles for him in the character of Inspector Quennell, but it does give a good example of Cushing giving his all…in a production which some would argue doesn’t deserve it. Whilst there’s plenty to enjoy in this film, the real joy is Cushing nailing it against all the odds . . .
 






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  . .  

Sunday 17 September 2017

#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! A MEGA MILESTONE AND STILL IN FLAP ABOUT MOTH-GIRL?


#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! #MEGATHANKS!
Many Many thanks, everyone . . . for your continued support, comments, posts, shares and ...all of the likes! You are the BEST πŸ™‚ - Marcus


#SECOND THOUGHTS?
OK. Last post on this one for a while... and then it goes back in the box! HOW MANY of you had an opinion of the 1968 Cushing film, 'THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR' . . .and if you have seen it, since it's legit release on blu ray . . . or an official dvd, have changed your opinion??




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   

Monday 7 August 2017

WATCH: THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR : PETER CUSHING VENTHAM AND ROBERT FLEMYING



#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! It's up on our PCAS YOUTUBE, it's taken a lot of flack over the years, it holds a damning branding that Cushing actually bestowed on it of....'The worst film I have ever appeared in..!' upon it's fluffy head.! Yup I did say fluffy. You'll see. For me, I actually like this film MORE every time I see it. Yes, it does run out of steam, because it ran out of MONEY! But, despite Cushing knocking it, I am guess he made that statement BEFORE he had made Tender Dracula, Devil's Men, Hitler's Son etc...




IT'S ANOTHER CUSHING film of MOMENTS. Yup, I know isolated moments do not make a whole film, but... there are plenty of more MOTH HOLES ..see what I did there πŸ˜‰ .... in some of his Hammer film outings, and Amicus too, that I feel we can put this one in the, 'could do better' box. Who knows, if Rathborne hadn't died before his slated appearance in this film, it might have attracted more lolly from the suits and then maybe produced with a realistic budget. So, give it a chance, hide the moth-balls, your best suit and it might not be 'curtains' for this movie... let me know what you think?

 

TRIVIA: The MORGUE KEEPER is played by actor comedian ROY HUDD who narrates the 'Amicus Vault Of Horrors' documentary that we have posted here over the last four weeks..The Blood Beast Terror was released in the US under the title: 'The Vampire-Beast Craves Blood' AND  was directed by Vernon Sewell who directed Peter Cushing in the little seen thriller, 'Some May Live' 1967: Cushing's co star Vanessa Howard went on to star as Sybil Vane in Shane Briant's 'Picture Of Dorian Grey' film in in 1973 and in PANTO with Cliff Richard and Arthur Askey....She also stared as the dizzy 'pottage' party girl, with Cushing in 'Corruption' in 1968.







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   
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