IT'S A BIRTHDAY WISH FOR BRAM AND IS HOLLYWOOD PUPPETEERING THE DEAD?

BORN TODAY November 8th 1847 in Clontarf, Dublin, Republic of #Ireland… we mark the BIRTHDAY of  #BRAMSTOKER, creator of #Dracula and a hundred thousand nightmares! #HappyBirthday, Mr Stoker!!!

BACK IN 2016, for some it was an act too hard to accept. #PeterCushing's Grand Moff Tarkin featured nearly 20 years since his passing, kind of live and kicking courtesy of mega bucks CGI, presented on the big screen in the #StarWars epic, Rogue One. In a cinematic series where the footing is firmly rooted on a fantasy and other worldly canvas, those who wanted to embrace could. This week #Hollywood has announced the arrival of another CGI resurrection, in #JamesDean. Dean will be recreated in an action drama entitled #FindingJack through a mixture of old footage and computer-generated creations projected over stand-ins, as a secondary character called Rogan. The producer Anton Ernst said he will try to keep Dean's “legacy firmly intact”.

AND AS IN  the case of Peter Cushing, the 'estate' or family are on board. “We feel very honoured that his family supports us,” he said. “The family views this as his fourth movie, a movie he never got to make. We do not intend to let his fans down.” says Antin Ernst. Zelda Williams, daughter of the late actor and comedian #RobinWilliams, accused the producers of “puppeteering the dead” while #LordoftheRings actor #ElijahWood tweeted a simple “NOPE” in response to the news, while #Avengers star #ChrisEvans wrote: “This is awful... the complete lack of understanding here is shameful.”

 

OVER AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE we are asking what your opinion on this?! . .. Should the Cushing Tarkin CGI appearance be seen as an interesting 'one-off' and a good try, totally necessary to help embellish and tell the story of Rogue One . . Is this a CGI trick too far, bringing James Dean, once more to the big screen??

FIRST LOOK TRAILER FOR BBC 'DRACULA' PLUS HALLOWEEN 019 AT PCASUK!

FIRST TRAILER released today from the BBC supporting their eagerly anticipated new version of the classic Bram Stoker horror 'Dracula'. This series has been developed by #MarkGatiss and #StevenMoffat, the team behind the BBC series #Sherlock. Much of the filming for this three part series took place at Orava Castle in Slovakia and ... the iconic Bray Studios in England, home to #Hammerfilms and the location of many of #PeterCushing's and #ChristopherLee's classic Dracula and #Frankenstein films in the 50's and 60's.

PRODUCER #MarkGattiss has recently said, : “It’s seriously delightful that our new Dracula is being shot at #BrayStudios – the former home of Hammer Films! This wonderfully atmospheric and legendary studio gave birth to so many famous monsters and stars – most memorably Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. As we watch #Transylvania once again rise on the sound stages of Bray, it’s amazing to be able to say that Count Dracula has finally come home.” The cast includes Claes Bang as #Dracula . . John Heffernan, Dolly Wells, Mark Gatiss...and #DoctorWho, #Space1999 and Bond girl, #CatherineSchell. The series will be shown on the BBC first in the UK and on Netflix outside of the UK. It’s not yet been revealed when it will be screened on #BBC1 – however the festive period looks a fair bet. It's an interesting trailer.. what do you think?

THIS YEAR 019, we are going to mark our Halloween on Thursday Oct 31st, with a celebration of Peter Cushing's portrayal of THE fearless vampire hunter VAN HELSING! Some great pics, some very rare and never seen before archive photographs from the files of Hammer films, set designer Bernard Robinson, from Hammer's Dracula, Brides of Dracula, chat, facts and banners . . and if the support is there... TWO PCAS Competitions! 24 hours of a grand nod to one of Peter Cushing's most popular characters, who appeared in FIVE Hammer classic Horror movies! It will be fun. Come on IN or Miss Out! 😉 - Marcus

CHRISTOPHER LEE'S GOT MILK AND YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN WARNER BROTHERS HORROR OF DRACULA BLU RAY!

#THROWBACK THURSDAY! NO BLOOD, BUT GOT MILK! Lee drinks MILK, on the set of the 1974 Bond epic, 'The Man With The Golden Gun'. Like with several of Hammer films productions, the UK Milk Marketing Board filmed an on set visit during production, to grab several of the film's stars and crew, gulping and gagging down gallons of full cream pasteurised moo moo cream. It all made for some free publicity for the movie and some much needed free health promotion for the UK dairy farmers. 

I NOTICE THAT NEITHER Lee or Cushing, who did one for Legend of the Seevn Golden Vampires, From Beyond the Grave, Dr Who and the Daleks...are rarely actually SEEN swallowing it, though. They hold it to their chops, but there it seems to end! The UK Milk Marketing Board ran these promos in UK cinemas for many years. It was a neat way to get a peep at some of your fav actors and actresses on set, and a few mins away from cheap and tacky ad's for restaurants, hairdressers and mega bucks ads for killer cigarettes and 'mothers ruin' gin! Happy days 😉

 

MISS IT AND MISS OUT! NEXT WEEK!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAM STOKER : BORN TODAY NOVEMBER 8TH 1847

BORN TODAY November 8th 1847 in Clontarf, Dublin, Republic of Ireland… BRAM STOKER, creator of Dracula and a hundred thousand nightmares! Happy Birthday, Mr Stoker!!!

A VICTORY FOR ANY ACTOR : CHRISTOPHER LEE SATURDAY!

HERE IS A TWO PART POST that was shared on the FACEBOOK  PCASUK FAN PAGE today. There were some very interesting comments and opinions, which you can contribute to and read by just CLICKING HERE!

#CHRISTOPHERLEE SATURDAY! . . . PART ONE: Here's an interesting quote from the late Christopher Lee, taken from an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 2015. It's the first time I can recall, reading a quote from Lee where he compares his performance as DRACULA to other actors who played the role. This was also at a time when the mention of the 'D' word, was taboo in interviews, certainly interviews with the press. Lee ends this interview with the request, ' “Please don’t describe me in your article as a ‘horror legend’. I moved on from that.” . . .Was Lee's performance as the Count, just too good, he made a role from which he could not escape.. and that is why he became typecast? Or was it really about the attraction of the films were then pushing boundaries, in colour, blood, lust and horror, and that was the real attraction? What do you think?

#CHRISTOPHERLEE SATURDAY! PART TWO : As we have read in the previous post today and along with your very interest comments and opinions.. the role of Dracula was indeed one of Christopher Lee's finest. He often said, that he made too many, should have quit playing the Count earlier. Budgets and payments that should have been higher, better scripts . . he also mentioned these factors too. Personally, I never tired of watching any film that had Lee as Dracula and whatever he feelings were later about the role, he could not dismiss the fact, it was always good, Very good. For any actor, after a career as long as his indeed his was, in a business so fickle and unpredictable ...that has to be, for this actor... a sure victory?

#SILENTBUTDEADLY #GIFS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAM AND THE MANY DEATHS OF DRACULA

BORN TODAY November 8th 1847 in Clontarf, Dublin, Republic of Ireland… BRAM STOKER, creator of Dracula and a hundred thousand nightmares! Happy Birthday, Mr Stoker! . . I guess it would never have crossed his mind that his creation, would in the future, die SO MANY DEATHS!

 BELOW: 'Dracula' / 'Horror of Dracula' (1958)

'Dracula Has Risen From The Grave'  (1968)

'Taste The Blood Of Dracula' (1970)

'Scars Of Dracula' (1970)

'Dracula AD 1972' (1972)

'The Satanic Rites Of Dracula' (1972)

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  . .

SLAYING DRAGONS DRACULA AND SAINT GEORGE

#GETTHECUSHIONITSCUSHING! TODAY, for those who are patriotic, in the UK it is ST GEORGE'S DAY! St George is the patron saint of England and has become famous from stories that he slayed a dragon and saved a distressed maiden.... Peter Cushing made reference to St George when he was awarded with his Order Of the British Empire medal (OBE) back in 1989. TRIVIA: St George is also mentioned in Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula ' In the first chapter, the ill-fated Jonathan Harker is on his way to Count Dracula’s home, and has arrived in Romania on a very auspicious day. “Do you know what day it is?” asks the landlady at Bistritz. “It is the eve of St George’s Day. Tonight, when the clock strikes midnight, all evil things in the world will have full sway.” She does not help make him feel any better, needless to say. Happy St George's Day!

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 reach our 30K following total for Peter Cushing BIRTHDAY on MAY 26th 2017 AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!

NEWS CUSHING HOME RELOCATING TO ROMANIA!

NEWS: Peter Cushing's former home in Whitstable, Kent is to be moved 'brick-by brick' to a Dracula theme park in Transylvania, Romania later this year. The beautiful beach front home in Sea-Salter, Whitstable was home to the actor Peter Cushing and his wife, Helen from the late 1950's. The house attracts many visitors through-out the year, who want to take a snap of the 'blue-plaque' home that was once residence to the actor who is famous for having played the Dracula's nemesis and vampire hunter, Van Helsing in FIVE Hammer horror films.

Spokesperson for the Romanian Tourist Board, Ivan Youon said in a press release today, 'We are very excited and honored to soon have what was Peter Cushing's home in our theme park. We know it draws hundreds of tourists who want to see it every year in Whitstable. We have been in secret talks with the town council for many, many months, and now I can't believe, it is really about to happen. This summer we will under-take a huge exercise in moving the house to the site at our Dracula Theme Park, here in Transylvania, brick by brick. It is a very long, expensive and complicated process, but we were very successful in moving a summer house and garden shed from the one of Bram Stoker's homes a few years ago. Bram Stoker was the author of the novel Dracula and our museum at the park holds many rare items from Stoker's life, his writing desk, his bed and his beard grooming comb. The museum also holds many items and props that were used in the Hammer Dracula films: Dracula's cloak, used in the 1958 classic 'The Horror of Dracula', Christopher Lee's tooth brush,and a rare cinema poster from the film, thought to be worth £30,000. 'Cushing's home will be the perfect addition to the other Dracula themed attractions we have at the park' said Ivan.'I think it will be very popular'  

Work is expected to start on the site next month. Whitstable Town Council were unavailable for comment when this went item to post. - Marcus

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DRACS BACK ON BBC TWO AT 2AM SUNDAY!

HEADS UP! Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough and Melissa Stribling star in the classic 1958 Hammer film, 'DRACULA' BBC TWO at 2.10 AM SUNDAY AUGUST 7TH. The last time Dracula was broadcast on BBC TWO was Friday December 27th 2013, before that Friday February 7th 1987, and before that.... Friday December 27th 1984... now he's back!

LOOK OUT FOR UPDATE AND COMMENTS AFTER BROADCAST HERE ON SUNDAY AND AT OUR PCASUK FACEBOOK FAN PAGE!

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THE DRACULA BUSINESS: FROM CULT CLASSIC TO ICE LOLLY : DOCUMENTARY

From Cultural icon to Ice Lolly! A rare 1974 documentary that takes a long hard piecing stare at BRAM STOKER'S creation. The programme includes a rare interview with Hammer films CEO Michael Carreras, who at the time had just released THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA  Christopher Lee's last stand as the Count, for the company.

This and many other rare uploads can be found at the PCAS YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

Join over 21,000 other friends and followers at the Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook Fan Page. You'll be most welcome!