WARNER BROTHERS ARCHIVE PCAS COMPETITION : ARE YOU A WINNERS? FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE BLU REMASTERED BLU RAYS

#CONGRATULATIONS to BOTH our #WINNERS of our #PCAS #Halloween #Competition this year, TED JOHNSON and KELLY SHAW! 🙂 You have each bagged yourselves copies of the EXCELLENT #WarnerBrothers REMASTERED BLU RAY of the #Amicusfilms classic ' From Beyond the Grave'!

YOU'LL FIND OUR PCAS full review of the #WARNERBROTHERS remastered 'FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE' #BLURAY with GALLERY HERE: CLICK HERE! 

THE ANSWER TO THE COMPETITION WAS 'HIGHGATE CEMETERY'!

'FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE' has an all star cast supported by #PeterCushing, who plays the keeper of the shop called 'Temptations Limited ..it's not your average Asda or Walmart, for sure!  IF you too are TEMPTED, this Warner Archive remastered blu ray is OUT NOW, set at 'region 0' .. and is certainly a addition worthy of any space on the shelf of any Cushing, Amicus films collector! 

ORDER DIRECT FROM WARNER BROTHERS ARCHIVE STORE: CLICK HERE!

THANK YOU to everyone .. the MANY, who entered our competition HERE and at the FACEBOOK PCAS FAN PAGE and MANY thanks to the team  at #WarnerBrothers, who once again supported another fabulous PCAS Competition! Keep a sharp eye OUT, for our NEXT PCAS #competition.. coming VERY soon. RIGHT HERE! 😃

 

THROWBACKTHURSDAY: TO VINTAGE HAMMER FRANKENSTEIN AND MUMMY ON SET

#ThrowbackThursday: A rare peep onto the set of Hammer films, 'Frankenstein Created Woman' at Bray studios, with Peter Cushing and Peter Madden all set for the camera to roll. Those you who know the film, will also know this scene is one of Cushing's Hammer Frankenstein vocal repore highlights, where his dialogue in the dock, shows how the Baron could, if needed, reduce authority figures into a bumbling half-wits. We would see it again,to jaw drop and marvelous effect in Cushimg and Hammer's next Frankenstein film, 'Must Be Destroyed', where his sharp tongue would 'slap the pomp and stupid' out of a party of toffs and top hatters 😉 Peter Madden would also appear, sadly briefly, in the last Hammer Cushing Frankenstein film, 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell' in 1974.

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY: January 11th 1971. An on set, off camera rare photograph of Peter Cushing as Professor Julian Fuchs and Valerie Leon as daughter Margaret Fuchs , during Peter Cushing's one day of shooting on the Hammer films, 'Blood From The Mummy's Tomb'. Sadly, it was a set and role to which Cushing would never return, Helen Cushing, Peter's wife was taken ill on this day and died shortly after, on January 14th 1971. Actor Andrew Keir would step into the role, just three days later. Cushing would return to work and Hammer films two months later, with the role of Gustav Weil in 'TWINS OF EVIL'.

FULL FEATURE AND STILLS GALLERY FROM 'TWINS OF EVIL' : The Collinson PUT THE BITE into HAMMER : CLICK HERE!

SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA MOMENTS OF TERROR RARE BEHIND THE SCENES CONTACT SHEET PHOTOGRAPHS

#MOMENTSOFTERRORMONDAY! 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula' The first of FOUR great fearsome clips for this week's themed post Little did we know when this scene played out on the big screen, that it would be the last time we would see Cushing's Van Helsing destroy Christopher Lee's Dracula for Hammer films . . . some felt a little cheated, by the method and staging of this symbolic scene. Dracula for them it seemed, has been thwarted by getting tangled in a bramble bush and poked by a piece of woodland fencing!!!!

I MAY BE in the minority . ..but I thought it was rather well done, and the pace of the scene, was a master stroke. It's almost graceful. Dracula is captured by his own thirst for revenge on the Van Helsing family. It is his anger and frustration that sees him trapped by the 'holy hawthorn' . ..the more he claws, the harder he pushes to reach Van Helsing, on the other side of the bush...the more the thorns hold him..until finally, he falls. Van Helsing doesn't even hurry to deliver that stake. 

AND THEN what appears to be a Crucifixion...and the pace changes again, what started as snarling and gnashing ...all slowly winds down. As time claws back the years, accompanied by the low musical score , flesh turns to bone, bone to ash...and finally dust. When compared to the blood and thunder action of all the other Hammer Dracula exits... this one is almost like a grotesque ballet. ....and the little nod to the final shot of the first Hammer Dracula in 1958, when only his signet ring remains . . . is a very good touch.

#MOMENTSOFTERRORMONDAY! VAN HELSING'S (Peter Cushing) granddaughter Jessica Van Helsing (Joanna Lumley) while investigating what appears to be a secret base for 'creepy goings-on' stumbles upon a cellar . ..with some unexpected creepies..and we don't mean spiders! Look out for actress Valerie Van Ost, who appeared with Peter Cushing in the pre slasher cult movie, 'Corruption' (1968) . .. Ost went on to leave the acting profession and become a theatrical agent!

#MOMENTSOFTERRORMONDAY!A bit of a shocking experience (sorry...) for one of Dracula's henchmen. In Hammer Dracula films of old school, he usually had one poor soul who did his bidding... one KLOVE played by Patrick Troughton in 'Scars of Dracula' (1970) and by Phillip Latham in the 1966, 'Dracula, Prince of Darkness' . .. now, there is an army of funky waitse-coated motor cycle ridding thugs, to protect him...complete with state of the art, CCTV! Michael Coles Inspector Murray, has a bit of a rough up with one, in this scene. Typical (see tv UK series 'The Sweeney') punch up, but with a very satisfying ending! Take that, villain!

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  . .

THE MAN IN THE MIRROR: FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

#MONSTERMONDAY: His name is Marcel Steiner, an actor who probably had less screen time than most creepies in an AMICUS film, but his few seconds in the story, 'The Gate Crasher' has left a lasting impression, on everyone... all these years SINCE the film was made in 1975. If you have seen the movie, FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE you'll know this guy well, and what did to poor David Warner...or did he??? Over at our FACEBOOK FAN PAGE we have asked our friends to decide is he another one to add to our weekly MONSTER list or Is just a NEEDY guy?

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 : MILL CREEK RELEASES CREEPING FLESH AND TORTURE GARDEN BLU RAY PACKAGE

For those of us who have been waiting A LONG TIME for a blu ray release of Cushing's 'The Creeping Flesh', it looks like, Mill Creek, have answers our prayers!-Marcus

NEWS: Under the 'ROLL UP, ROLL UP' rollicking title of PSYCHO CIRCUS, MILL CREEK have announced the release of a three film collection blu ray... TWO of the films featured are Cushing related... #TORTUREGARDEN and a much welcomed, first time, long awaited release on blu ray, #THECREEPINGFLESH. The third film in the package 'The Brotherhood of Satan' (1971) is an interesting addition to the collection. No preview copies to view as yet. The release is available now for order and purchase for a very reasonable $14.98  A download stream is also on offer. See LINK below.....

 ORDER : HERE

OUR FEATURE ON 'THE CREEPING FLESH' HERE

OUR FEATURE ON 'TORTURE GARDEN' HERE

COME AND JOIN OVER 28,000 PETER CUSHING FANS AT OUR OFFICIAL PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE: HERE

#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY: ANOLIS FRANKENSTEIN HOLLENMONSTER BLU RAY REVIEWED

Released by: Anolis Entertainment
Released on: September 9th, 2016.
Director: Terence Fisher
Cast: Peter Cushing, Shane Briant, Madeline Smith, David Prowse, Bernard Lee
Year: 1974

Video: Having owned FATMFH on both VHS and DVD, I was very satisfied of the increase in detail and resolution of the blu-ray. Fine details like in the (rather cheap) monster suit are even more pronounced, for better or for worse. Many of the close-ups, like on Shane Briant, for instance, allow us to see the skin pores and sweat on the actor. Some other details like the dummy of Prof. Durendel during the brain transplant sequence are even more noticeable with the improved resolution, although the brain transplant itself, as well as all other gore, are very well done. There are some softer shots which are inherent to the film, such as Peter Cushing's entrance - always a bit soft on other releases.

I didn't notice any edge enhancement or DNR. I also didn't notice any blemishes or marks on the print, but I also don't recall there being any from prior transfers. I did notice a few examples of shimmer or artifacts on some surfaces but they were fleeting and didn't distract me too much. While other recent Hammer releases have been rushed and done on the cheap, FATMFH seems to have been much better treated.

 

 

I always found the older releases to be somewhat dark and hard to see, hiding some of the details. Many of the shadows and blacks were quite crushed, for example. It almost seems like someone turned on a light in the movie for this release. Nothing is too bright (it IS an asylum after all), but I have a feeling this is just how Terence Fisher wanted it to be seen. It should be noted that this DOES include the famous artery clamping scene where Cushing holds an artery with his teeth. This was cut for most of the other releases and I was happy to finally get a chance to see it.

Audio: If there has to be a downside to the release, it has to be the audio. While dialogue is generally good and audible, I found the music to be a tad muffled and restrained, although this might have something to do with the technical limitations of how it was recorded or the time period. I thought the music, dialogue, and sound effects were somewhat constricted in the space and would've liked a bit more clarity. Still, it was adequate for the movie.

Extras: 

Extras start off with an audio commentary with Dr. Rolf Giesen and Uwe Sommerlad that is in German only without any subtitle. However, the menu does give you the option to choose ‘English’ and when you do that, rather than a traditional commentary you get a thirty-nine minute featurettes with Gisen and Sommerlad speaking in English about the history of the film. They cover the details of the set, the involvement of various players including the film’s producers, the state of Hammer in the early seventies, how they’d been grooming Briant in hopes of making more Frankenstein pictures with him and of course, Peter Cushing (describing him as Edwardian rather than Victorian) and the actor’s very specific ideals and old fashioned beliefs.

Carried over from the Australian and UK discs, however, is and English language commentary with Madeline Smith and Shane Briant moderated by Hammer historian Marcus Hearn. This is quite a good track, with Smith and Briant participants in good spirits and seemingly quite keen on talking up their work on the picture. They both look back on Cushing quite fondly but also talk about their experiences working under Fisher, some of their thoughts on the picture and more. When they aren’t talking, Hearn does a fine job of offering the listener his expertise in terms of who did what, the locations and sets, the costumes, the music, the film’s censorship issues and loads more. This is a pretty interesting track, one definitely worth taking the time to listen to.
 
I enjoyed seeing the surviving cast members talk about the film and, of course, about Cushing. I had assumed the monster's suit was more of a foam rubber material but Shane Briant commented on how plastic it felt. Interesting. The documentary on Terence Fisher was a bit brief but I appreciate that they included it at all.

*** out of **** stars. A solid Hammer release.

PURCHASE AND ORDER HERE 

JOIN US AT OUR FACEBOOK FAN PAGE : HERE