HAPPY 54TH ANNIVERSARY OF HAMMER FILMS 'THE GORGON' : JOSHUA KENNEDY AND HOUSE OF THE GORGON!

TODAY HERE and at our FACEBOOK PCAS FAN PAGE we are marking the anniversary of the release of #hammerfilms THE GORGON starring Peter Cushing and Christopher lee, with Barbara Shelley, Richard Pasco, and directed by Terence Fisher 🙂 At the Facebook Fan Page, the text went like this...'We've covered this film many times here and at the website, it's still one of the most atmospheric and beautifually photographed films that Hammer made. It's got an amazing cast and an amazing musical score by James Bernard. Patrick Troughton, Michael Goodliffe are great too. And according to some fans, It's probably also.... hang on I'll wait for Joshua Kennedy to make his annual annoucement on the thread below.... ANY time now . . ' 😉 AND at THAT POINT, he did! HAPPY BIRTHDAY 'THE GORGON' !

HOW WE MARKED the GORGON anniversary a few years ago. Josh's comment was there on the post as usual, but this year, so was JOSH!

FOR THOSE OF YOU who don't know JOSH and the remarkable films he has made over the years, he has just probably leaped a further few giant steps in the opinions of his fans and friends. Josh is a life long fan of Hammer films, 'THE GORGON' having first seen it when he was just NINE years old. For the past ten years, I have made a tradition of posting a celebration banner, marking the release of THE GORGON, and every year, without fail, Josh has posted the same comment, in the thread below onour Facebook PCAS Fan Page or here at the website, 'THE BEST FILM EVER MADE'  

DRACULA AD 2105 and the promotional poster for HOUSE OF THE GORGON designed by artist Graham Humphrey

AT FIRST, when it appeared, I thought it was just a highly supportive comment, from a Cushing / Hammer film fan, who  was probably on a high, having just seen the film. BUT, no THE GORGON is Josh's favourite Cushing Hammer film. So much so, he has just made his OWN Gorgon movie, as a tribute to the film, that was made back in 1964. Josh has made some impressive tribute films to various Hammer and fantasy genre movies over the years. My favourite being DRACULA AD 2105. A superb full length feature, which also contains many tributes and key scenes, to the whole Hammer film Dracula series. You can catch our feature and review on the film HERE! 

THE HOUSE OF THE GORGON SYNOPSIS:

Filmed in the vein of the classic Hammer and Universal films of yesteryear: The year is 1896, and the lovely Isobel Banning travels with her mother, Anna, to the village of Carlstadt to marry her university sweetheart, Dr. Julian Pritchard. Along their journey they meet the mysterious Father Llewellyn, the local priest, who refuses to explain why the villagers appear to be in a state of mortal fear… as if the town is hiding a terrible secret. Frightened and confused, Isobel and Anna readily accept an invitation from Dr. Pritchard to stay with him and his aunt, the Baroness Bartov, in their large chateau overlooking the town… unaware of the ancient horror that lies within.

HAVING SEEN THE CROWD-FUNDING trailer for 'HOUSE OF THE GORGON' and the prospect of it's jaw dropping cast, who have joined together to support Joshua and his film, makes the release of this film all the more VERY special. The cast includes, Veronica Carlson (Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, The Ghoul) Caroline Munro (At The Earth's Core, Dracula AD 1972) and Christopher Neame (Dracula AD 1972) and Martine Beswick (Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde). I am sure it is going be just as impressive, as Josh's other films, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Alpha Omega Man, Theseus and the Minotaur and many others. Scheduled for a 2019 release, I can't wait!

OUR FEATURE on the dancer and actress who played THE GORGON in the 1964 film: JUST click HERE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLINE MUNRO : PLUS NEWS OF HOUSE OF GORGON AND GEORGINA DOUGDALE

PLEASE JOIN US in wishing actress CAROLINE MUNRO a VERY Happy Birthday today! A wonderful actress and an absolute sweety! Her Peter Cushing connection is of course her appearance in Hammer films Dracula AD 1972' in which Peter Cushing played Van Helsing and her co starring role in Amicus films At The Earth's Core with Peter Cushing and Doug McClure. I know of no one who works harder on the convention circuit to make meeting her a special event! Many Happy Returns and Have Smashing Day, Caroline!

CAN YOU NAME ALL THE FILMS THESE

CAROLINE MUNRO GIFS WERE TAKEN FROM??

BY THE WAY, CAROLINE AND HER DAUGHTER, Georgina Dugdale are all set ready to appear TOGETHER in JOSH KENNEDY's 'HOUSE OF THE GORGON' INDIGOGO funded production in 2018. They NEED your support! HERE is a link to the production funding page: CLICK HERE!

REMEMBER! 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   

EXTENDED TIME ON HOUSE OF THE GORGON: CAROLINE MUNRO AND MARTINE BESWICKE IN UPDATE NEWS!

MORE NEWS FROM  the GOOEY FILMS CAMP on the progress of FUNDING JOSH KENNEDY'S HOUSE OF THE GORGON, the film that will BRING and REUNITE FOUR HAMMER FILM ACTORS on screen for the first time since their days at Hammer!

THE GREAT NEWS IS  the INDIGOGO FUNDING WINDOW IS TO BE EXTENDED PAST it's original closing date, to FEBRUARY 7th 2018! So, STILL TIME to make YOUR contribution to the BUDGET POT! SO DON'T DELAY. DO IT TODAY! 

IF YOU MISSED OUR POST ALL ABOUT how YOU can become a part of this this amazing unique  opportunity THE LINK IS : HERE! 

REMEMBER! 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     

STABBINGS CORPSES AND BAD BEDS : THIS WEEKS GIF GIF GIF WEDNESDAY!

#CUSHINGGIFWEDNESDAY: MICHAEL RIPPER as we all know, was one of the Hammer repertory players of Hammer films. He played lots of small supporting roles, but occasionally he got a larger slice and a larger role in a film. Amicus films, 'TORTURE GARDEN' features Ripper in a supporting role, that is quite a surprising 🙂 Do you have a favorite MICHAEL RIPPER role??

#THEGORGON is a Peter Cushing Hammer film, that has suffered from a quite horrible symptom since the first day of its release back in August 1964. I am not referring to the death gaze of Prudence Hyman's Magaera's baleful spell. The 'SNAKES". And as Hammer film fans, we all know it. The film IS a 'Hammer film Classic' made during that ten year golden era, of those Bray studio Magical Gothic Nightmares, that made Hammer more than just a step above, most that had gone before. THE GORGON has the perfect ROMANCE TRIANGLE, it has TRAGEDY,  CONFLICT, superb direction, art direction and cast, but ever Hammer Horror HAS to have a figure that truly frightens. That with the help of Cushing, Lee, Shelley and Co however fantastical, is believable. Pru looked and performed amazingly. Those serpents however and that 'head' on the deck, did not then and doesn't now. The story of the struggle that the props and effects department had with the 'twitching head set', is well documented, so we'll pass here. 

 OUR FEATURE AND GALLERY on Hammer films

 'THE GORGON' (1964) CLICK HERE!

IN OVER FORTY YEARS, cries have remained largely the same, 'Shot with too much light!' 'You see her, too early' 'Why didn't they surround her in mist, dry ice, fog . . .anything!?' It's true. In 90% of Magaera's shots, she IS seen. Clearly. I still do love the film, I love the sets, the costumes, it looks beautiful. There were enough of the sets and props left around from the 1958 'Horror of DRACULA' 'Curse of FRANKENSTEIN' and 'Revenge of FRANKENSTEIN' that the film can clearly been seen to be more than a cousin, of those other Hammer classics.  Such a pity. Maybe the tweaks and 're-imagining' of the SPIDER and the horse-bound ANGEL OF DEATH, should be tried on MAGAERA too? Not that Studio Canal or anyone else will ever be in a hurry to try that out again. Like some great Greek Shakespearean tragedy, 'Some quarters, they doth protested too much, methinks' . . . .


JOSHUA KENNEDY HAS PLANS to produce an amazing NEW FILM called, 'THE HOUSE OF THE GORGON' which will star Hammer film actors, Veronica Carlson, Caroline Munro, Martine Beswicke and Christopher Neame! FIND OUT MORE and how YOU can help to make this film a reality in our PCAS FEATURE CLICK HERE!

#CUSHINGGIFWEDNESDAY! The film, 'ISLAND OF TERROR' (1966) has always been very popular here. The love for those Silocates is always evident whenever, we post an image of them. Considering the budget for this film, it looks as though someone had the foresight to understand, a monster film, has to have convincing monster and pose a threat that looks real. Someone, maybe director Fisher thought to make sure a sizeable slice went to making the special effects.

THAT SHRIVELED CORPSE that Cushing's Dr Stanley finds, was quite a moment for me when I first saw this film when I was around ten. In ANY Cushing film, can you think of any effect 'special or otherwise' that made an impression on you when you first saw it???

AMICUS FILMS 'MADHOUSE' (1974) is a film that revels in the many cliques and well trod dramas and dilemmas of the celebrated  thrillers and horror films of the 30's, 40's and 50's. Vincent Price plays Horror film star PAUL TOOMBES, driven crazy when off screen life unravels and starts to imitate the scripts of his DOCTOR DEATH movies. Like his 'PHIBES' films and 'THEATRE OF BLOOD' (1973) lots of ingenious scenarios of 'horrible deaths' follow and Peter Cushing's HERBERT FLAY tries his best to help his desperate friend, but despite his best efforts, DOCTOR DEATH came after TOOMBES time after time. Just like in the above GIF ;)

PART SIX of 'The Amicus Films of Peter Cushing' covers MADHOUSE and includes a gallery of RARE images. You can find it HERE!

REMEMBER! 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