UNIVERSAL FILMS ANNOUNCE EIGHT FILM BLU RAY BOX SET

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT have announced  the release of their EIGHT HAMMER FILMS BLU RAY BOX SET for SEPTEMBER 13th 2016. The prints in this box set were what made Universal's THE FRANCHISE COLLECTION 'THE HAMMER HORROR SERIES' DVD BOX SET in 2005 the front runner for a long time in the US. Many UK Hammer fans bought the DVD set as an import and upgraded to a dual or non region DVD player in order to get these titles in their collection!

THE ARRIVAL OF THIS BOX SET now getting the BLU RAY treatment is good for US Hammer fans who over the past four years missed out on the release of many of these titles when they were released on BLU RAY in Europe. One hopes that ALL the titles in this set are going to be UPGRADED PRINTS, which brings us to one film in particular in the collection. At the time of the original release of this collection on DVD, 'The Brides of Dracula' print was by far the best print of the lot. THAT particular print we understand was was lost in a fire at SONY back in 2011, sadly affecting all subsequent releases of the film after that time. We have seen several BLU RAY releases though out Europe of this classic Cushing Hammer title on BLU RAY, but not one, was a mark up on the 2005 DVD release. So, maybe the benchmark of quality of all the other titles in this box set will be, as we have seen over the past five years in Europe, and sadly that will mean a below par print of 'BRIDES' too. I guess time will tell . . . 

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#MONSTERMONDAY RETURNS WITH REQUESTED VINTAGE IMAGES AND STILLS

First request for our REBOOT of #monstermonday comes from PAUL CHADWICK who has requested images from TWO Peter Cushing films, HORROR EXPRESS (1972) and THE CREEPING FLESH (1973). Hope you like the images, Paul!

A SIGNED promotion photograph from The Creeping Flesh. Spot Hammer film regular, Michael Ripper in the foreground here!

Christopher Lee plays  Peter Cushing's brother, James Hildren in The Creeping Flesh. Here we see him trying to piece how he can...well, that would be giving away the story....!

A terrified Peter Cushing in The Creeping Flesh...and if you had seen what he has seen, you would be terrified too!

A RARE PHOTOBUSTA from The Creeping Flesh (1973)

Christopher Lee takes on a zombie Cossack in HORROR EXPRESS. The excellent zombies in this film gave us our first new convincing undead frighteners, since Hammer films, 'PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES' .

Peter Cushing poses for a promotion photograph  on board the footplate of the train that was used in the film, Horror Express.

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BORN ON THIS DAY: WE REMEMBER FREDDIE FRANCIS

Today we remember the wonderfully talented director and cinematographer Freddie Francis, who worked for both Hammer and Amicus, directing such films as THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN and DR TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS and many more …

Hammer Films and Universal studios REBOOT the Frankenstein story with Freddie Francis directing THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN HERE

MORE Freddie Francis and Peter Cushing THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN HERE 

The work of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee under Francis direction in some of the films they made for AMICUS films is explored in PART THREE and FOUR and FIVE of  A TALENT TO TERRIFY HERE

Part FOUR of our series THE AMICUS FILMS OF PETER CUSHING also includes FREDDIE FRANCIS work with Cushing on Amicus films, 'TALES FROM THE CRYPT.

Finally, in our suggested Francis features, we take a close look at the 'magic of Francis' direction, in what he always suggested was an improvised scene in Amicus films, THE SKULL. Just click HERE

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SKULLS ROLLER SKATES AND IMAGINATION : WIN EUREKAS AMICUS NIGHTMARE 'THE SKULL' HERE

Anyone watching Amicus Films, THE SKULL starring the grand masters of terror, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee would not fail to be impressed by some of pretty nifty camerawork and special effects. Effects and trickery, that one wouldn't expect to see on a film with such a limited budget.

So, just how did they achieve that floating camera effect? This was way before the arrival of the 'Steadicam', a tool so commonly used in films today, one no longer takes notice of those effortless guiding tracking shots. What looked great and was a groundbreaker, on the steps of the city hall, where Sylvester 'Rocky' Stallone runs through the city and leaps up those steps, the camera following him ALL the way, is now taken for granted. But back in 1965, the laying of tracks and hiring of camera cranes took time and money. Money and time that this film, did not have.

Well, take a look at the photograph above. That's director Freddie Francis, award winning cinematographer, who even back then, obviously stood by the old adage of, 'I wouldn't ask you to do anything, that I wasn't prepared to do myself! The camera was required to glide and give us an effortless 'Point-of-View' shot, as if the camera were the 'Skull' floating across the room. For this, to be achieved cheaply and effectively, Francis strapped on a pair of rollerskates, had a simple harness made, which secured the camera to his chest. With a gentle push from an assistant, and another holding him steady, both camera and camera operator as one, glided across the hard studio floor, as if on ice!

If you remember, the camera while floating was actually looking THROUGH the 'Skull's' eye socket! For this, Francis had a simple light weight 'mask' made of paper-mache, bolted onto a framework, that held the sockets, in front of the camera lens. Enabling, the camera to see THROUGH the sockets!

Cheap? Yes. Eccentric looking? Yes. Effective? Certainly. And THE SKULL looks all the better for it. They say, 'Necessity is the mother of invention!'. Indeed, when there is no money in the pot, the script is 30 mins short, skilled technicians like Freddie Francis, found a way.

Amicus films, THE SKULL is a master class in how to get the most from your director and cast, with as little money as possible. Producer, Milton Subotsky made sure his productions that had casts, that some main features, with triple his budget, could only dream of. The secret, was to write characters that only appeared in three or four scenes, before you either kill them off or they leave the action. This is how THE SKULL boasts a cast of Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Patrick Wymark, Jill Bennett, Nigel Green and Peter Woodthorpe. The wonderful thing about Amicus productions is, they may not have cost much to make, but I suspect every penny, and we may well be talking about pennies here... is up there on the screen!

You can WIN one of THREE copies up for grabs in our SKULL COMPETITION. A brand new, remastered BLU RAY and DVD DUO package, from EUREKA! Check out the panel below, answer the question and send it to us at theblackboxclub@gmail.com ... and try your luck. Like Freddie and the effects team, have a go, you could be right. You might just crack it!

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED HERE ARE THE WINNERS!

You can PREORDER your copy of THE SKULL blu ray/dvd dual edition RIGHT NOW from AMAZON.CO UK. HERE 

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THAT FEMININE TOUCH: PART THREE: KATY WILD AND CAROL GARDNER : EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN

The Revenge of Frankensein in 1958 - one part horror, one part black comedy, one part love story - was a high water mark of Hammer's Frankenstein series. It wasn't until 1964 that the Baron returned, for the first time directed by someone other than Fisher. Cameraman turned director Freddie Francis took the helm this time and the female aspects were somewhat 'muted.'

In fact, one of the female characters in the film is a mute, played by twenty-two-year old redhead Katy WIld, who had appeared in such television series as The Avengers and The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre. Her role as 'Beggar Girl' in The Evil of Frankenstein was the closest the film had to a leading lady, despite the fact she had no dialogue.

The only other woman of note in the cast was Caron Gardner, a buxom blonde who had decorated Robert S Baker's and Monty Berman's The Hellfire Club (1960) and served as the foil to Benny Hill on television. Gardner would find herself elevated to a higher 'plane' later in 1964 when she was cast as one of the pilots in Pussy Galore's Flying Circus  in the third 007 movie, Goldfinger.

Meanwhile, she was Evil of Frankenstein's sex bomb, 'Burgomaster's Wife.' Hammer's approach to sex was becoming more and more blatant, and Gardner filled out the character's corselette deliciously.

Financed by Universal, Evil was a throwback to their Frankenstein series of old, and Cushing's Baron - in a screenplay written this time by Anthony Hinds under his pen name of John Elder - certainly seems to have mellowed with age. Interestingly enough, Frankenstein actually defends a lady this time, when the Machiavellian hypnotist Zoltan (Peter Woodthorpe) attempts to force himself on the Beggar Girl. Zoltan is eventually kicked out of the Baron's castle.

In fact, the Baron seems to be the one who is put-upon in Evil. Having created a Karloff-like monster (Kiwi Kingston) years before (there is virtually no continuity to the two previous films), he returns to his ancestral home to find that most of his possessions have been stolen. To recover his property, he stages a raid on the Burgomaster's house that is something of which Douglas Fairbanks would have been proud.

As the burgomaster's voluptuous wife graces a bed that was once Frankenstein's own, the police arrive and attempt to gain entry into the bedroom, which he has locked. Frankenstein grabs the bedclothes and ties them to the bedpost, climbing out of the window on his makeshift rope. He bids the fair lady 'Goodnight' before leaping out the window, pulling the bed across the room in the process.

This is one of the most enjoyably light-heared scenes in the entire series, a tribute to Cushing's dashing dexterity and to Gardner's sweetness as the bemused wife. 

Written by Bruce G Hallenbeck

Images and Design: Marcus Brooks Jamie Sumerville

DID YOU MISS PART TWO? CLICK RIGHT HERE