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 NEWS when we get it! At the moment, no NEWS on EXTRAS or a RELEASE DATE. STAY TUNE!
OUR PCAS GALLERY AND FEATURE ON AMICUS FILMSASYLUM along with Cushing's performance and working with old friend actor BARRY MORSE and others CAN BE RIGHT HERE!
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
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?
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!
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.
BREAKING NEWS........ Amazing NEWS! The long thought LOST 1970's film
'The Naked Eye' starring both #PeterCushing and #VincentPrice, is due
for release this summer. The Naked Eye, which was found last year, in the
private collection of film producer the late, Linton Buttzoctsky, was
never released owing to various production problems while shooting the
film. One particular set of problems, almost brought the film to a stand
still, when on location filming a banquet and dance sequence. Items of
props and costumes connected to both Cushing and Price roles were lost.
During a banquet scene, where Price's role of master chef Egbert Nosh,
revealed his main dish, with a large roasted chicken, the unveiled
cooked bird on the plateau was obviously an ostrich! It was later
revealed, the actual featured chicken dish, had been mistakenly eaten by
an extra. While filming a grand dance sequence, Cushing's dance shoes
could not be found or even a pair that actually fitted him. As a
compromise, his dance routine with actress, #IngridPitt was almost all
shot in close up. Despite this, Cushing could be seen to be waltzing in
wellington boots in some long shots of the ballroom. The news of the
release is expected to prompt much interest among fans and film critics
alike. We'll keep you posted 😉 -Marcus Brooks
MICHAEL
REDGRAVE was of the generation of English actors that gave the world
the legendary John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier,
#Britain three fabled "Theatrical Knights" back in the days when a
knighthood for thespian was far more rare than it is today. . . Sir
Michael Redgrave. A superb actor, Redgrave himself was a charter member
of the post-Great War English acting pantheon and
was the sire of an acting dynasty. According to his daughter, Vanessa,
and son Corin, Sir Michael's favourite film roles were in The Browning
Version (1951), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) The
Dam Busters (1955) The Lady Vanishes (1938) #1984 (1956) Dead of Night
(1945) and The Magic Box (1951) and many more gems . .
PETER CUSHING appeared in a 1955 stage production of The Browning Version as
Andrew Crocker-Harris in London, recorded and transmitted by BBC TV.
He co started with #PeterCushing in Time Without Pity, Cushing's role
as barrister, Jeremy Clayton is neat role. Cushing plays it with an
impatient sharpness , that makes you feel all the more sorry for
Redgrave's 'David Graham'. Just a support role, but in that added to
Cushing's already sizeable characters he had played in theatre, radio
and massiviely on television. Redgrave's opinion about working in film,
when he had made such a career of the theatre, was pretty much like
Peter Cushing also felt . .'I didn't think I'd be any good in films... I
couldn't imagine myself on the screen. Besides, there were such
exciting things to do in the theatre, so much to learn!'. Michael
Redgrave passed away on this day in 1985 only one day after his 77th
birthday.
If
you are not familiar with Time Without Pity, a little later we have posted and shared a clip over at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE, which features a scene with both Redgrave and Peter from the film. IF you
have seen the film, love to know, what do you think of it?
HERE ARE THREE rarely seen publicity photographs taken during the making of the BBC television series 'Sherlock Holmes' with #PeterCushing in 1968 during the making of 'A Study In Scarlet'. As you will probably know, most of the episodes were destroyed by the BBC during the great BBC Spring Clean, where hundreds of hours of material were wiped and tapes reused or skipped off to the skip! All that remains of Cushing's episodes, were compiled onto first a VHS then a DVD collection, and are now available to give us a taster of what was a very popular television series, no largely lost . .
SIGNED PETER CUSHING black and white photograph! Caught this on the net yesterday. It's great to see that Peter's autographed pics, can still command a good price and still have value. £365.00 is the asking price for this one Are you the proud owner of a signed Peter Cushing photograph, personalized or just signed?
WHICH PETER CUSHING Blu Ray release has presented the BEST items in it's
EXTRAS and BONUS features and what were those personal stand out items
for you?
OVER ATTHE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE followers are weighing up the best and most disappointing of DVD and BLU RAY EXTRA features of the last ten years of Peter Cushing releases. For many, that added attraction of also having interviews, short documentaries or galleries can sometimes be the make or break factor in IF they would purchase the release, often when perhaps they already own a copy of a film. These days it's not always given that a blu ray will contain any extras features. Some of the best remastered blu rays, seem to have maybe blown their budgets in making the remaster possible, that little if any lolly is left for a short documentary or interview. The finding of material and making of documentaries can be a costly buisiness. As the 'vaults' seem to have been well and truly emptied of free material, the making and presenting of new resources is sometimes well out of the reach of some distributors, it's always a very welcomed plus, to find new unseen features and faces on documentaries and bonuses. The ground is getting thin though. The kick off period of crammed extra menu's for Hammer, Amicus and Cushing films, maybe now over. However, we have been treated to some excellent goodies in the past . . .
R.WARREN: 'UK Blu-ray release of Dr Who
and the Daleks has some lovely, behind the scenes, black and white
footage, showing a small clip of Cushing and Roy Castle joking around on
set, sadly it has no sound but still lovely.'
F.SAINSBURY: 'Mine has to be The Curse of
Frankenstein bonus extras are superb especially and documentary called
Life with Sir which is about Peter Cushing's secretary she takes about
the death of Peter's wife and how he coped with his wife's death and
working with Peter she talks about Peter's death its truly emotional.'
I GULYAS: 'Well I don't have the Bluray of house that dripped blood, but the DVD has a nice discussion of amicus and making of.'
AND IN CHATTING about EXTRAS on dvd and blu rays... here is a heads up
to a re-shuffle and layout to come this week at our website! For those
of you who enjoyed or missed the huge selection of Peter Cushing reviews
and features by Callum McKelvie here and at the website, we are making
the library and galleries easier to find, by providing a great menu of
all of Callum's features, including the rare stills and extras!
Meanwhile, Here are links to TWO features that Callum wrote
on the contentious issue of Cushing and Dr Who. HERE and HERE! The 'Who' films on both DVD and Blu Ray,
contained one of the best examples of EXTRA features on a release and
still for some, takes some beating!
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.
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.
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???
