SEVERIN RELEASES UPGRADED AND UNCUT BLU RAY : AMICUS FILMS 'THE BEAST MUST DIE'

THE BEAST SKIPS ACROSS BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC! Back in June, Indicator / Powerhouse films released a much awaited blu ray remastered limited edition of one of the last horror films that Peter Cushing made for Amicus films, 'The Beast Must Die'.... also originally planned for June, was Severin films own REGION 0 release of a remastered blu ray of 'THE BEAST MUST DIE'. This release was scuppered by on going issues internationally with a real horror of a different kind... but now, I am very pleased to announce, Severin has everything in hand and their release hits the streets on AUGUST 25th 2020... orders have been panting in, since July! 

ABOVE: CALLUM MCKELVIE'S great review of Amicus films, 'The Beast Must Die' along with a growlingly PCASUK rare still gallery of images and pic fro  the film: RIGHT HERE! 

IT'S GREAT THAT PETER CUSHING FANS and admirers of the film on both sides, can now enjoy a remaster of a Amicus Cushing Classic! I'll be posting a review of both releases and their remasters later. I would guess there would little if any quality differences BUT.... the extras, do differ on the two blu rays extras.. I would love to hear from anyone who has the Powerhouse release... and if you have ordered Severin's? 

BELOW is rundown of the SPEC of the Severin films release..... 

Audio Commentary with Director Paul Annett and Filmmaker Jonathan Sothcott.

'And Then There Were Werewolves' – Audio Essay By Horror Historian Troy Howarth.

Directing the Beast – Archival Interview with Director Paul Annett.

Audio Interview Excerpt of Milton Subotsky on BEAST MUST DIE – Interviewed by Philip Nutman.

Audio Interview with Producer Max J Rosenberg – Interviewed by Sothcott.

Original Theatrical Trailer with Optional Commentary by Genre Scholars Kim Newman and David Flint.

'The Beast Must Die'
1 DVD disc
Label: Severin Films
Pre-order Started: 7/28/20 Street: 8/25/20
MSRP: $19.98
UPC: 663390004067

Catalog #: SEV94067

'THE BEAST MUST DIE', when released, was actually asking a LOT from your average 'Peter Cushing' fan. Not only was the script.. interesting, the score, but Cushing's appearance as Dr Lundgren . .  the crop cut wig AND THAT sweater?? Too much?? ....maybe..... 

MPAA Rating: NR
Genre: Horror
Color, 92 minutes in English and Spanish with English subtitles
Anamorphic Widescreen 1.66:1
Dolby Digital Mono
Region: 0

Production year: 1974
Director: Paul Annett
Cast: Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing, Marlene Clark

OVER AT THE UK PCASUK FACEBOOK FAN PAGE I am asking our friends and followers to identify THIS dog! I think MOST of us will. How about YOU? 😏😁 

COME JOIN US AT THE UK PETER CUSHING APPRECIATION SOCIETY FACEBOOK FAN PAGE! posts everyday, rare images and vintage photographs, features and prize competitions. Now with almost 34,000 followers and friends!

WARNING: TARKIN CUSHING GOES VERY BUFF AND VERY NASTY!

WARNING! For those of you who were miffed, not happy, annoyed and horrified at the CGI Cushing / Tarkin in the movie, 'Rogue One' . . you might want to turn... look away from your monitor, tablet or phone, right now......

I AM NOT A COMIC READER, except for the stray Beano or Dandy that drifts my way😊 So it's a shock, to see that for some time, the Star Wars comics have been busy revealing just how dark, brutal, and vicious Grand Moff Tarkin really could be. Ripped and half naked, the Moff looks quite something 😮😯 Cushing too, until the early 1970's was quite the athlete, muscles and the works from playing rugby, swimming and sports! But here in Cushing's likeness, the comic Tarkin is more than a little 'fit' he's ... vicious! But for all that, I don't think anyone was prepared for...... this! These frames of comic art are just a sneak at what you can expect if you flick the pages of 'Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Grand Moff Tarkin #1', one of several one-shot comics intended to tell previously untold stories in the lives of some of the most iconic characters from the galaxy far, far away. Behind this is writer Greg Pak, and artist Marc Laming who have been hard at work, crafting this unbelievable chapter of Tarkin's life. Revealing a man whose 'cup of tea', you certainly would NOT want to nudge and spill....! Over at FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE we are asking, 'What do you think?' ..and getting some interesting answers . . 

I AM VERY grateful for the four issue covers images sent by Greg Anderson to us recently. Greg tells me the art work inside, is quite exceptional! Do YOU have any of these issues too?
 

THIS OF COURSE, isn't the first time Peter Cushing has been featured in comic art. There is a whole history... and you can find out more in a feature I put together some time ago . . . JUST CLICK HERE! 😉

 

THE MONSTER AT MACY'S THANKS GIVING PARADE

IF YOU HAVE EVER WONDERED just how popular, a certain Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee film had become in the USA, after it's release in 1957. Just WHO is that inflatable, floating down the street at the Macy's Thanks Giving Parade.... ?

DO YOU STILL HAVE THIS KENNER FIGURE?

THE KENNER Peter Cushing TARKIN figure. Most of you collectors will know the story of this Kenner series figure 🙂 But over at the facebook pcasuk fan page we are asking, just how many of you actually STILL have it? And there are a LOT of answers and comments!

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 NEWS 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

WHEN SIRE OF ACTING DYNASTY APPEARED WITH FANTASY ICON REMEMBERED

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?

WITHOUT GETTING PLASTERED TARKIN MAY NEVER HAVE RETURNED PLUS A HAMMER GLAMOUR BIRTHDAY!

THINK ABOUT IT! This #THROWBACK THURSDAY post at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE today, has prompted some memories. Make up artist, the late STUART FREEBORN was responsible among many other excellent creations, like the appearnce  #STARWARS YODA, made the prosthetic giant EYE for Cushing Book Store character in the 1984 film, 'Top Secret'. The practice of getting an actor to come into the workshop, and have his ENTIRE face in latex rubber or plaster, was common practice back in the day. Hammer make up artist, Roy Ashton had a whole collection of actors and actresses faces and heads, that he used to produce the latex attachments of some of the studios, best monsters and creatures! 

I GUESS, Freeborn would never have guessed that HIS plaster face of Peter Cushing would go on to be quite central and MAJOR and contentious step in the creation of the CGI Grand Moff Tarkin in the film, 'ROGUE ONE'. FX creators Industrial Light and Magic, found there was little on file, of actual helpful and accurate reference material on Cushing's features and face. A mass of artwork, but only Freeborn's plaster head, could provide the measurements and dimensions that were needed, along with footage of Peter Cushing's performance on the big screen as Tarkin in 'Star Wars: A New Hope, from 1977, to make the CGI possible. The role of the Book Store Owner, was a small guest role and one that Cushing could have easily have passed on. A fact no doubt, that could have effected the potential of making Tarkin's return, along with Guy Henry's assistance . .  a non starter! 

TODAY WE ALSO MARK the birthday of Stephanie Beacham. Beacham has had a very full career on stage, screen and television. Star of tv's 'Tenko', 'The Colbys' 'Dynasty' 'Bad Girls' and 'SeaQuest'... she has also slipped in an episode of 'Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense'. Her Peter Cushing connection links to two films, 'Dracula AD 1972' playing Jessica Van Helsing, granddaughter to Peter Cushing. and 'And Now, The Screaming Starts'... Please join us in wishing her a Happy Birthday!

STEPHANIE BEACHAM: 'My mother Joan had chicken pox when she was pregnant so I was born with no nerve endings in my right ear. I’m totally deaf in that ear and I have just 80% hearing in my left ear. I’ve never heard in stereo and where most people’s hearing is three dimensional, mine is all on the same plane. Background and foreground sounds flatten, out so a car coming down the road is as loud as a person’s voice right next to me. I was taken to a specialist when I was four. They said, ‘She’s perfectly intelligent,’ and my mother said very snappily, ‘I realise that. I know she’s intelligent, she just can’t hear’.
 

'ONE OF THE BIGGEST problems was that deafness and stupidity were often linked together because a speech defect often accompanies the deafness. I’ve never had a speech defect but I still got called ‘Deaf Steph’ at school and because I often didn’t know people were talking to me I’d walk right past them and they assumed I was snooty. In my adult life I’ve always struggled with people sitting to my right at dinner parties as I can’t hear a word and I’ve had to avoid pop concerts or noisy clubs because of my lack of nerve endings. As for my future health, I fully intend to age naturally without cosmetic surgery and there’s nothing that can be done about my saggy neck, apart from a bulldog clip. I’m convinced mental and physical flexibility is the secret to staying young and yoga provides that for me. I’m also aware that you become what you eat so I’ll continue to steer clear of fizzy drinks and too much sugar or salt." - Daily Mirror Newspaper 2107

 

#TUESDAYTREATS : VAMPIRE VINYL WAS A WINNER BEFORE VHS AND BLU RAYS!

SOMETHING NEW for Tuesday's ...since we have put our 'Tuesday Toughy' to sleep for a while. TREATS for TUESDAY! Do you own these and if so, do you play them... or do you have the cd's?? These were amazing when first released and the Dracula quadrophonic sound was quite a blast back then! A great shame the third album was never released ☹️😦 Over at the Facebook PCASUK FAN PAGE we have asked, do you know what the theme of that album was? It was narrated by #PeterCushing! 😊You can hear BOTH albums complete over at the PCASUK YouTube channel,  LINKS BELOW!

SHE LIVED FOR HIM AND HE LIVED FOR HER : REMEMBERING HELEN CUSHING TODAY

TODAY January 14th marks the 48th anniversary of the passing of HELEN CUSHING. Peter and Helen were married for nearly 28 years. They were a devoted couple. She lived for HIM and he lived for HER. . .. the story of the effect on Peter of Helen's passing is well documented here on the page and website. Both of them thought their meeting was kismet, meant to be . . . years after, she would remember their first meeting, as if it were yesterday ...