WHAT MAKES THIS PHOTOGRAPH UNUSUAL AND RARE?

OVER AT THE OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PCAS FAN PAGE we've posted this little pic and asked, 'What makes this photograph, unusual and rare? Well, do you know? If you do, then why not come and tell us 😉

A TALENT TO TERRIFY: our nine part series, covers the best of and interesting films, that both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee both appeared in, though not always in scenes together! PART ONE is HERE! 

QUESTIONS AND GIFS TO TAX YOUR KNOWLEDGE! ITS GIF WEDNESDAY!

#CUSHINGGIFWEDNESDAY! HERE IS is week's selection of animated sequences from some of the BEST films of PETER CUSHING and as usual, a few quizy questions, to test you on your knowledge of CUSHING'S work and life. IF you think you have the answer to ANY zip us a quick email to the PCAS account and if you get them all on the BUTTON, we'll celebrate your very neat achievement by creating and  posting your very own BANNER the week after here at our next #CUSHINGGIFWEDNESDAY! Good luck! HERE is our email: petercushingpcas@gmail.com

HERE IS A ROLE which  CHRISTOPHER LEE said he enjoyed very much. It is a shame that it didn't do that well at the box office. WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THIS FILM? THE FILM ENCOUNTERED A PROBLEM DURING PRODUCTION, WHAT WAS THAT PROBLEM? THE CAT IN THE FILM WAS ACTUALLY, a) CHRISTOPHER LEE'S b) STEPHEN WEEKS THE DIRECTOR'S c) PETER CUSHING'S?

HAMMER FILMS, TWINS OF EVIL stars PETER CUSHING as Gustav Weil and DAMIEN THOMAS as Count KARNSTEIN. THOMAS was born in a) WALES? b) LONDON c) EGYPT d) FRANCE.  The film  is part of the KARNSTEIN TRILOGY. IS IT THE SECOND OR THIRD ENTRY IN THE TALE? There were quite a few RATS on the floor of the set on THIS CRYPT. HOW DID THEY GET THE RATS TO STAY IN SHOT? a) WITH STRINGS? b) THE RATS WERE ANIMATED AND NOT REAL? c) WITH PEANUT BUTTER? d) WITH CHEESE?

JAMES VILLIERS and CHARLOTTE TRAMPLING in AMICUS FILMS ASYLUM in 1972. VILLIERS was quite a prolific actor, who nearly always played sardonic and upper class gentlemen. He worked for both AMICUS and HAMMER FILMS. HOW MANY FILMS DID HE APPEAR IN FOR HAMMER FILMS? VILLIERS appeared to be of aristocratic background, BECAUSE HE WAS A DESCENDANT OF THE EARLS OF CLARENDON. TRUE or FALSE?  Descendant of the Earls of Clarendon.

MORE ON AMICUS, ASYLUM, CUSHING AND VILLIERS in our PCAS FEATURE. JUST CLICK HERE!

CHRISTOPHER LEE as COUNT DRACULA being assisted by Hammer films regular actor, THORLEY WALTERS as  Ludwig in DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966). WALTERS MADE HOW MANY FILMS IN WHICH PETER CUSHING APPEARED TOO? IN HOW MANY SHERLOCK HOLMES FILMS DID WALTERS APPEAR?

LAST WEEKS ANSWERS: The BEST and MOST CONCISE answers we received to  all FIVE of the questions came from MARCIA LOISEL. . . and HERE they are!

QUESTION ONE: THE INTERIORS in this GIF from THE MUMMY was filmed WHERE? WHICH TWO ACTORS who appeared in this film, originally wanted to be an OPERA SINGERS?

ANSWER ONE: The Mummy's interiors were shot at Bray Studios, Down Place. One of the actors who had wanted to be an opera singer was Christopher Lee. The OTHER name we were looking for WAS Yvonne Furneaux!

QUESTION TWO: NAME THE TITLE OF THIS FILM, name the ACTRESS in this shot AND which very famous ACTOR did THE actor almost REPLACE in a BLOCK BUSTER SCI FI film based on a TV series AND WHICH ACTOR was playing SHERLOCK HOLMES in the TV series he once appeared in?

ANSWER TWO: The title of the film in the GIF was 'Twins of Evil'. The actress playing Countess Mircalla is Katya Wyeth. Unknown to many, DAMIEN THOMAS was primed to take the role of SPOOK from Leonard Nimoy in the first STAR TREK movie. Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes in the DEVIL FOOT episode that THOMAS appeared in for Granada television. .

QUESTION THREE: The GIF was of PETER CUSHING in the BBC TV series SHERLOCK HOLMES and production of THE BLUE CARBUNCLE. Cushing  used a magnifying glass in quite a few FILMS. HOW MANY can you name? GIVE US the TITLES!

ANSWER THREE: Marcia certainly provided the BEST answer we received to this question. Her answer was . . . Top Secret, Hound of the Baskervilles, Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas, Curse of Frankenstein, Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell, The Creeping Flesh, The Mummy, The Skull, Horror Express, Blood Beast Terror. He didn't use but handed a magnifying glass to Watson in Masks of Death. . . and we will go with that!

QUESTION FOUR: CAN YOU NAME the COUNTRY where this film was released in 1980?  This film also had a member of the cast who was more famous as a theatrical performer and street artist! NAME that cast member! Can you name one of the alternative  TITLES that this film was also know as? titles 

ANSWER FOUR: featured a gif from the Cushing film, FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE.  showing Ian Ogilvy in The Door. In 1980 the film was released in the USA as a re-release. The actor who was famous as a theatrical performer and street artist was Marcel Steiner. The alternative titles: Creatures From Beyond the Grave, Tales From Beyond the Grave, Tales From the Beyond, The Undead, The Creatures.

QUESTION FIVE: This question has been made VOID as we were given THE WRONG INFO!!!!!

HORRIBLE DEATH WEDNESDAY 2: WITH CALLUM MCKELVIE

SO TODAY is of course our new theme, ‘Horrible Death Wednesday’, where we highlight some of our favourite dispatches for a multitude of memorable characters in Cushing’s film. It’s a pretty good line-up if I say so myself, featuring one film I’ve regularly mentioned as a personal best, another that featured in my ‘Choicest Cushing’ article and one that I haven’t as of yet praised- but will shortly. 

FIRST UP is the aftermath of the titular creature’s death from ‘Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell’. During the final moments, the creature (having of course been on the rampage) is set upon by the inmates of the asylum and quite literally ripped apart. A particularly gruesome moment, it’s one of a number of gory sequences that feel at odds in what is essentially a throwback film. None the less, it feels right in what is an exceptionally dark film (even for the Hammer Frankenstein series) and a fitting end to one of the more sympathetic creatures in the series.

NEXT UP is a sequence from a film I’ve regularly mentioned to be a personal favourite, though haven’t as of yet written anything substantial on it. Christopher Lee’s death in The Skull has long been one of my favourites and I think it’s down to the very subtle elements of black comedy in the scene. Bar one sequence at the opening, Lee and Cushing only ever appear playing Billiards together, so it’s little surprise when Cushing batters Lee over the head with a ball. Unlike the above sequence, there’s very little on-screen gore but it’s the context that makes this particularly gruesome. Subotsky had a particular flare for introducing gruesome elements into his films, but somehow instructing directors to keep the high levels of violence off screen (the ‘Blind Man’ sequence in Tales from the Crypt springs to mind). This is a prime example. 

FINALLY we have a sequence from The Mummy. The Mummy is full of a number of great death sequences, Daddy Banning’s and Mehemet Bay’s spring to mind, but today’s is the death of Cushing’s uncle played by Raymond Huntley. Huntley is a familiar British character actor and he’s such a friendly and likable character that his death, strangled as Lee’s titular walking cadaver crashes through a door, proves to have something of a resonance to it.

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  .