#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY: THE ACID BATH AND THE HEAD

#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY: #GIF  Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart) looks on as Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) drops the crow pecked disguarded head from the body he is resurrecting into the vat of acid. In the thread below, I have posted a rare colour photograph, taken by John Jay the films still photographer, for publicity.

It's not known IF director Terence Fisher actually shot the footage that we see represented in the photograph, ...additional footage where the camera sees the face of the head AND the acid melting the head in the acid bath...... It's too easy to say, 'Nah, never happened!'. But the #incredible footage recently added to #HAMMERFILMS classic 1958 #HORROROFDRACULA started as a rumor too...AND a colour photograph ...! 😉 What do you think?

#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY! The skillful performance of #ChristopherLee as Frankenstein 'Monster -Creation' hasn't weakened over the years. It must have been a pretty daunting idea to try and follow in the footsteps of all the other amazing actors who had played the 'monster' at #Universal, #Karloff, #Chaney, #Lugosi, Strange . . . the make up may have not looked as impressive, but any short fall was well and truly made up with a performance that nailed a new thinking about the Baron's 'monster' . . .Lee would do the same again in less than a year, with his portrayal of Dracula. 

The Curse of Frankenstein was a tremendous financial success and reportedly grossed more than 70 times its production cost during its original theatrical run. Cushing was already a household name in the UK, but his intelligent and driven Baron, would make him an international film star.

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    

WHAT WE DIDN'T SEE! DRACULA 58 HARKER'S VAMPIRE #MONSTERMONDAY

Today's MONSTERMONDAY features something that has been part of Hammer films lore for as long as I can remember. With the emergence of unseen publicity stills and contact sheets from Hammer films 1958 Dracula, the prompting of all kinds of theories around the missing or censored shots from the final cut of the film can be read on many forums on the net. The release of the remastered blu ray a few years ago, caused a few of us to smile smugly about the inclusion of the footage of Dracula's disintegration. We suspected it was shot, the problem was finding it! Most of that hunch was based on a colour photograph of Lee's Dracula in the final moments of the film, lying on the floor wearing make up that hinted of another stage in his grisly death appearance.

The still of John Van Eyssen as Jonathan Harker in our banner, hints at maybe something similar. We know the character is bitten by Valerie Gaunt, we see Peter Cushing's Van Helsing stake him, finding him in the castle crypt and judging by Van Helsing's grimace on looking on his vampire state, he wasn't a pretty sight! For whatever reason, what Van Helsing saw, was snipped out of prints for the European market. Though, it could have been included in the Japanese print, which provided the source of the missing footage of Dracula's death. As reels 1,2,3 were rendered unusable and damaged after finding the print, the scene where this shot appeared in the feature, was lost to us. Many argue the point that this shot was never included in ANY print, it was never shot...but I'll go with the point I made when the Dracula death photograph was found...Director Terence Fisher I suspect, would not have spent time setting up this scene, without shooting it. Time was premium at Hammer and was never wasted. Cushing himself has stated multiple takes were rare, because of costs...and I can't see Anthony Hinds signing off on a SFX - Make Up head of Harker, with no intention of using it! Hammer did not waste money on a budget that was already tight...

VALERIE GAUNT as the Vampire Woman from

Hammer films'Dracula' / 'Horror of Dracula' (1958)

 ...and Harker's VAMPIRE undead-head at the left

 of the photograph...

 Dracula (1958 film) Hammer Horror from Warner Bros. Christopher Lee

 

Still it looks great, a pity we have yet to see this shot in the film. There is further evidence of this make up head in a publicity photograph of Valerie Gaunt, included in the thread below. It's an interesting pic and story...and for that reason alone, we present it as this week's icky item for ‪#‎MONSTERMONDAY‬ ...what do you think? - Marcus
 

Hammer Horror from Warner Bros. Christopher Lee Horror Film