#CHRISTOPHERLEE SATURDAY : THE BEST TWO OF THE BUNCH AND TWO FIT TO TERRIFY !

THREE GREAT POSTS, with big responses for FRIDAY and #CHRISTOPHERLEE SATURDAY happening right now at FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE!  Here is the FIRST ABOVE: In all, Lee played Dracula ELEVEN times: seven films for Hammer Productions, once in a guest appearance in 'The Magic Christian' (1969)...once for Jesse Franco's Count Dracula (1970), uncredited in Jerry Lewis's One More Time (1970) and Édouard Molinaro's Dracula and Son (1976).... of Hammer films 'Dracula / Horror of Dracula' 'Dracula, Prince of Darkness' Dracula Has Risen From The Grave' 'Taste The Blood Of Dracula' Scars of Dracula' Dracula AD 1972' and finally, 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula' At the POST we are asking, if you can pick your TWO favourites????... AND WHAT a response!

OUR FIRST POST FOR #CHRISTOPHERLEE  SATURDAY is a request for a banner I made sometime ago, it promoted quite a few great comments from friends and followers back then, and hasn't failed today either!

FINALLY: HERE IS A DOUBLE IMAGE POST with BOTH Cushing and Lee, looking QUITE different from how we would usually see them and we are asking you to comment! To play a vampire hunter, Baron Frankenstein, Dr Who, Tarkin or Sherlock Holmes... or Count Dracula, A Bond villain, Count Dooku or the evil wizard Saruman... you certainly HAD to be... FIT .... ladies AND gentlemen, how do you rate them? 😏😁

ACTOR FREDDIE JONES DIES AGED 91

THE VERY SAD NEWS of the passing of actor FREDDIE JONES reached us last night, has been marked with many comments and shared messages of condolences at the PCASUK Facebook Fan Page, yesterday and today. Freddie was 91 and had an impressive film, television and theatre career that stretched over a very busy sixty years.  Most #Hammerfilm and #PeterCushing fans will know him for  two Hammer classics, first Hammers Frankenstein Must be Destroyed and 'The Satanic Rites Of Dracula'. 

MORE ON FREDDIE JONES and 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' HERE!

IN 'DESTROYED' Freddie gave us a Baron's creation that was full of pathos and sadness. Who can forget his duel with Cushing in the final moments, where Professor Richer cranks up the tension by trapping Cushing's Baron in a blazing house!? Jones's portrayal of Frankenstein's indulgence, is probably is most complex of all Hammer films 'Frankenstein Monsters', who manages to spin the title of 'Monster' neatly into the lap of Cushing's Baron. There are few actors who could so convincingly share the interplay between Cushing Hammer characters and themselves. The tension and  dread was pushed even a little further in the scenes which Freddie Jones and Cushing shared in #hammerfilms 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula'. Freddie's Professor Julian Keeley wobbles and sways from fear, to dread, lust and disgust in a shared A two-hander scene with Cushing, that is probably the highlight of the film. 

MORE ON FREDDIE JONES and 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula' in our PCASUK GALLERY and REVIEW : HERE!

FREDDIE JONES also frequently worked with David Lynch with roles in 'The Elephant Man' (1980), 'Dune' (1984) and 'Wild at Heart' (1990 ) His role as Inspector Baynes in Granada television's 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes' in 1988, with Jeremy Brett as Holmes is a gem. Freddie Jones always brought much to every role. You never knew quite what was going to be on the table, but it was always entertaining, convincing and very real.

HAMMER FILMS PRODUCER ROY SKEGGS DIES AGED 83

VERY SAD TO HEAR ROY SKEGGS, one of the very few left of the Hammer films 'home guard' sadly passed away on the weekend. Roy was a producer for Hammer Films and began his connection with the company way back at Bray studios in 1963 as production accountant. Roy was then promoted to 'company accountant' and secretary. He became production supervisor in 1970 and (with Brian Lawrence) took over the reins of the company when it fell into receivership in 1979. Was latterly chairman of Hammer films, based in Elstree.

ROY WAS BORN in 1934. He was a very capable and respected producer and production manager, and probably best known for his work with Hammer films. He was responsible for Peter Cushing's last return to the company with the tv series, Hammer House of Horrpr' in 1980. The series expanded into 'Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense' in 1984, and became a winner overseas and the US. He worked alongside Peter on 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell' (1974), Dracula AD 1972 and The Satanic Rites of Dracula. 

A PERIOD OF ILLNESS took Roy away from his love of Hammer films in the 1990's... but in the last few years, although always having been a very shy man, he stepped out to one or two conventions and signing days .. and was surprised not only how much he enjoyed the attention...but how fans and the public remembered him and his work with Hammer films. A hard worker, very good at 'math' and was responsible for bringing Hammer back to the small screen and Cushing's final bow as Frankenstein. Thank you Roy 

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  . 

NEWS FINAL CUT ANNOUNCES HAMMER COLLECTION FOR NOVEMBER

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY: Distributor FINAL CUT are all ready to release a 5 Disc Blu Ray Boxset featuring four classic Hammer films plus a disc of extras. The titles include: Brides of Dracula, Kiss of the Vampire, Captain Clegg, Curse of the Werewolf. These releases are presented as a Hammer Collection, following their single release over the past three years by FINAL CUT. The discs are REGION TWO(2)The Box Set is due for street date release of NOVEMBER 7th 2016. Look out for the PCAS Competition!!
MAKE YOUR PRE-ORDER HERE

JOIN US AT OUT FACEBOOK FAN PAGE RIGHT HERE

CHRISTOPHER LEE. THE FLAT TYRE AND THE FAINTING FARMER

Christopher Lee shares the story of how on a rural journey with his wife Gitta, a simple flat tyre throws him into an encounter that one farmer and his dog, will never forget! 

JUST CLICK HERE AND PRESS THE LIKE BUTTON!

WARNER BROS RELEASE VOLUME ONE OF HAMMER FILMS CLASSICS ON BLU RAY

And so Warner Bros have released the details of their HAMMER HORROR CLASSICS VOLUME ONE blu ray release. FOUR hammer classics, TWO starring Peter Cushing the fantastic 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' starring Veronica Carlson and Freddie Jones and 'The Mummy' starring both Cushing and the late Sir Christopher Lee. PLUS there's 'Taste The Blood of Dracula' with you know who as Dracula....AND 'Dracula Has Risen From the Grave'....again with Christopher Lee as Dracula supported by Veronica Carlson, Michael Ripper and Rupert Davies.

FOUR terrific titles... THREE available on blu ray for the very first time. The disc will be available on Region A/1 NTSC and will be officially released on October 6, 2015. They are available for PRE-ORDER from Amazon right now for $54.96 & FREE Shipping. It goes without saying...BUT I'll say it...for us guys in the UK and Europe, these discs will NOT play on our blu ray players...but as there is another Volume promised in the new year, NOW may be the time to invest in that REGION FREE blu ray player?

So, just want to say, A BIG Thank You Warner Bros! Needless to say...we will be offering some of these sets in the Fall/Autumn in two competitions ....and talking of competitions..LOOK OUT for our NEXT POST in about AN HOUR!

 

CINEMA ICON SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE DIES AGED 93

It is with extreme sadness that we write to tell you friends, that Sir Christopher Lee passed away on SUNDAY 7th June at 8.30am at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, after being hospitalised for respiratory problems and heart failure. The family gave permission for the announcement of Lee passing to be released to press agencies this morning. Christopher Lee was 93. Our thoughts are with Sir Christopher's wife Gitte and daughter Christina.

 Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ 1922 - 2015. RIP.