#MAKINGAWEREWOLF was a 'Dawg Gone Problem!', in 1974 . . that's for
sure. And as we will probably learn from some of the 'extras'
'interviews' included on the soon to be released BLU Ray from #Indicatorfilms
of Amicus films, 'The Beast Must Die'.. it was quite a job! Here are
some photographs from the on set shooting days on the film, where 'The
Beast' was needed and in residence. The 'experts on hand from Ted
Samuels, make up Paul Rabiger and John Hilling from wardrobe, all
appear to have had a hand in coming up with a solution. I am not expert
and no nothing about dogs, I have a dribbling, furry log, who looks
wild boar, that passes himself off as a pedigree PUG called Barney, and I
believe him! 😮😃What breed of dog they are using here, I have no idea! Maybe you do?
But with some added fur, teeth and attitude, they pull it off I think...
just about 😊
FANS APPEAR to be as torn as a pair of 'postman's ravaged pants', on
this film. Which I find odd. It's Amicus they did their own thing, only
one Gothic film, mostly contemporary settings. Milton and Max left the
tradition horror films to Hammer, who had more cash to bash a horror
film. Amicus did different and took risks too!
ANYWAY, here are some
more pics from the #PCASUK clutter for you to have a look at. I think
it's worth noting that #INDICATOR / #POWERHOUSE has started to really
build itself a sterling and quite trusted reliable reputation for BLU
RAY and BOX SETS of considerable quality and content! SEVERAL of their
#HAMMERFILMS collections have treated fans and collectors alike to very
interesting titles supported with quite a stash of surprising extras
(The recent Indicator Hammer Box Set 'FACES OF FEAR' VOLUME FOUR'
included an impressive 4k remastering of 'The Revenge of Frankenstein'
with the inclusion of some very rarely seen 'On Set' and Behind the
scenes trims and footage of the #Braystudio floor during shooting with
#PeterCushing, Francis Matthews, Eunice Gayson and Oscar Quitak) As,
hoped, the '#THEBEASTMUSTDIE' blu ray also comes with its own bank of
extras and goodies! It's open for pre-orders of it's LIMITED release
right now 😉 - Marcus
#PCASUK NEWS FEATURE THAT WAS POSTED HERE A FEW DAYS AGO : SOME GREAT NEWS FOR PETER CUSHING AND AMICUS FILMS FANS FOR JUNE 2020!!The last of Amicus’ famed horror productions, 'The Beast Must Die' (1974) makes it's UK PREMIERE on BLU RAY in the UK on JUNE 29th 2020!
Audio commentary with director Paul Annett with writer Jonathan Sothcott (2003)
Interview with Max J Rosenberg (2000): archival audio recording of the famed producer in conversation with Sothcott
The BEHP Interview with Jack Hildyard (1988): an archival audio
recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project,
featuring the Oscar-winning cinematography in conversation with Alan
Lawson
The BEHP Interview with Peter Tanner – Part Two, 1939–1987
(1987): an archival audio recording, made as part of the British
Entertainment History Project, featuring the acclaimed editor in
conversation with Roy Fowler and Taffy Haines
Introduction by Stephen Laws (2020): appreciation by the acclaimed horror author
Directing the Beast(2003): archival interview with Annett
Super 8 version: cut-down home cinema presentation
Image gallery: publicity and promotional material
Original theatrical trailer
Kim Newman and David Flint trailer commentary (2017): short critical appreciation
New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Neil Young, an
archival article on Amicus Productions, a look at the James Blish short
story which inspired the film’s screenplay, an extract from the
press-book profiling actor Calvin Lockhart, an overview of contemporary
critical responses, and film credits
UK premiere on Blu-ray
Limited edition of 3,000 copies
BBFC cert: 15 REGION B
INDICATOR'S 'THE BEAST MUST DIE' is a LIMITED EDITION and is now available for PRE ORDER RIGHT NOW from POWERHOUSE RIGHT HERE!
NEWS:SCREAM FACTORY have announced they are to release HAMMER FILMS 'SHATTER' (1974) starring STUART WHITMAN and PETER CUSHING on BLU RAY! It has a planned RELEASE DATE of APRIL 28TH 2020 is a REGION A release , but no news or details of SPEC or EXTRAS. We'll keep you posted here ;)
FOR THOSE OF YOU who have never come across this one, in the Cushing Filmography, it's an interesting role. It's a GUEST STAR appearance, but a performance that even though brief, gives screen time, to a Cushing relaxed 'turn' that surprisingly boarders at times, to the edge that Cushing gave to his performance of Baron Frankenstein in Hammer's 1969 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed'! 'Shatter' also known as Call Him Mr ShatterandThey Call Him Mr Shatter is a 1974 British-Hong Kong action film starring Stuart Whitman, Lung Ti, Lily Li, Anton Diffring and Peter Cushing in his last film for Hammer Studios. It was the second and final international co-production between Hammer Studios of England and Shaw Brothers Studio of Hong Kongas part of the 'Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires'
package. The film was shot entirely on location in Hong Kong and was first released in 1974 in UK.
THOSE OF YOU WHO ANSWERED 'Highgate' to our #WarnerBrothers / #PCAS Blu ray #competition last week, will recognize these really fabulous photographs 🙂 These stills were taken of Highgate Cemetery...located on Swain's Lane, Highgate, London . . by Dan and David Barratt 🙂
Dan is a friend and follower here on the PCAS facebook page, and kindly
offered to share his photographs here . . for anyone to see, what an
incredible and #magical place #HighgateCemetary truly is! Many, many of you recognized the location as the setting of the title sequence of #PeterCushing's 1974 #Amicusfilm,
'From Beyond The Grave' . . it was then and is now, such an incredible
place, a location that needs NO dressing!! I wonder how many of you,
reading this have visited there too? Any pics?? Many thanks to Dan and
David for sharing these 🙂 What do you think? - Marcus
Those of you who may want to comment on the photographs below, can do so by clicking HERE and going to the Facebook PCAS Fan Page post of this feature!
ORDER YOUR COPY of Amicus films, 'FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE' remastered BLU RAY from WARNER BROTHERS ARCHIVE HERE TODAY! JUST CLICK HERE!
#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 #WarnerBrothersREMASTERED 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! 😃
THE FILM 'TIME WITHOUT PITY' is an adaptation of Emlyn Williams' pot-boiler stage play entitled 'Someone Waiting',
a 1953 psychological thriller, which is something of a curio
if performed on a theatrical stage today. The great fictional focal English murder, is rooted in a 1956 middle
class, whose sayings and doings often strike a modern audience as more than
faintly comic. BUT within the context of a cinematic drama, produced just one year after Williams's staged debut of the play, directed by an American motion-picture director, whose highly personal style was often manifested in films centring on intense and sometimes violent human relationships... it is something far more sinister and real.
THE PLOT AND OPINION :
A young man wrongly convicted of murder (Alec McCowen), and the
last-minute hunt for the real killer by his dipsomaniac father
(Michael Redgrave). 'TIME WITHOUT PITY' was the first time Joseph Losey had filmed under his own name, since the trauma of the blacklist, and it shows in the interesting play with clocks, for instance, indicating not just that
Redgrave is racing against a 24-hour deadline to uncover the truth, but
that his alcoholism was a way of making time stand still, by shutting out
his responsibilities . . . to his son and to society.
BY SHIFTINGthe emphasis
from thriller to anti-capital punishment pleading, Losey also cleverly pulls on all threads of the plot, cranking up the cogs and dragging us all-in on the structure, the race against time and the whole thing slipping through the fingers of Redgrave's guilt ridden alcoholic, while the noose swings waiting too. The clever devise of letting the viewer KNOW who the true murderer IS, makes the the whole thing even more interesting, as we watch the bullying racked up murderer sweat and twist his himself away from being exposed, the father fighting off his dependency on drink and the innocent son, sink further and further into hopelessness, in his dingy prison cell, praying his father doesn't fail him..again. ! It is an undeniably powerful film.
PETER CUSHING was to appear in another black and white crime drama, just few years later for Hammer films called 'Cash on Demand' in 1962, where director Quentin Lawrence, would also apply similar tension triggers, but as much as 'Cash' delivers a sweet and justified ending, 'TIME WITHOUT PITY' deals with a much course and raw villain. Violence and murder against vulnerable women is one of the most frightening relations in the cinema crime family, and requires equally cruel and brutal comeuppance for the perpetrator in the end. So in quite a bit more than co star, here Cushing plays barrister Jeremy Clayton , who himself has no choice but to chase the clock too. Once again, as in 'Cash' Clayton plays on what was one of Cushing's great strengths, 'fear and tension for himself, and/or of others'. 'TIME WITHOUT PITY' is also superbly shot by Freddie Francis, a director who Cushing would work with on a further eight films over the next twenty years. The film is conceived with a
raw-edged brilliance, right from the brutal opening murder, that
accommodates even the symbolism of a Goya bull, with the real killer
(Leo McKern) finally cornered and goaded into a murderous/suicidal charge ..
UNLIKE HAMMER FILMS 'Cash on Demand' and 'The Naked Edge' (1961) with Cushing again playing another barrister and Gary Cooper in sadly his last film, along with another thriller called 'Suspect' in 1960 . . 'TIME WITHOUT PITY' Cushing was still delivering on the gain he made on his tortured and broken Winston Smith in the BBC's 1984 in 1954, just three years before 'Pity'. Interestingly, 'The Curse of Frankenstein' was made the SAME year, as 'Time Without Pity'and in some ways could be said to have a more frightening monster. A working class man, who has worked his way up, to new money by grafting, but also by beating and crushing anything that gets in his way. Public position and cash, he thinks gives him the right and authority, to bend the rules, the law and to manipulate and abuse any woman who associates with him, certainly in his domain of his workplace.
HOW INTERESTING that a film, produced by a man who was seen as an outcast in his industry over 65 year ago, manages to reflect the dangerous and often manipulative practices of many a powerful and trusted man, working with women in the workplace . . the mirror might have been made in 1957, but sadly the chipped and flaking reflection we are seeing is today . .
INDICATOR REMASTERED BLU RAY
THE VISUAL:
The good news about the INDICATOR premier release on blu ray of 'TIME WITHOUT PITY' is it actually looks, VERY good and just as we hoped it would, when we first heard about this planned release a few months ago. So, visually it is WONDERFUL! Thankfully, the visuals are as they should be and at 1080P, the contrast is often deep, a nice layer through out. For a film from this period you would expect some grain, and what you see is totally in keeping with how a theatrical presentation of this release of a monochrome film would indeed look. It's HD, it's monochrome, and the results from that combination, trusting on a very well looked after print, are always impressive.
THE AUDIO:
Indicator has used a linear 24-bit PCM mono track in the original English
language.The soundtrack is clear, no buzz, no clicks. It IS very sharp.The score written by the late Tristram Cary, who also provided the musical scores for Hammer films 'Quatermass and the Pit' and 'Blood from the Mummy's Tomb', the 1955 classic 'The Lady Killers', Peter Cushing's 1963 'Violent Playground' and . . .as he was a pioneer in electronic music, having become inspired by his WWII
Royal Navy training in radar, and built the first electronic studio at
the Royal College of Music, was also instrumental in the invention of the
synthesizer. .. he wrote the music for 27 episodes of Patrick Troughton's 'Doctor Who' from 1964-66 .. here provides a dramatic score for the often teasing tensions, threats and contrasting rumblings and then unexpected outbursts from a major bully and psychotic murderer. It's all there, can be heard and appreciated . . Dialogue is also clear, no distortions when the audio is carrying high pitched vocals, and manages low background audio atmosphere, when dramatic mix of music and action visuals drop suddenly. Overall, the audio is a very impressive and compliments the visuals.
THE EXTRAS:
One of the first extras I couldn't wait to use, was the very interesting facility that allows you to play the film, while listening to a John Player Lecture from 1973, with director Joseph Losey himself! The 80 minute conversation with very knowledgable film critic Dilys Powell at the National Film Theatre, is a very entertaining treat to access on maybe a second viewing. Plenty here, on a career that was never dull, and full of its own dramas. But it's Losey's thoughts and experience on how, he looked for other levels in plots, scripts and characters, how he used the camera and blocked a scene, that I found most interesting. This is the man who worked with Bertolt Brecht and directed Dirk Bogarde in 'The Servant' and ' The Accident', I am all ears! Many viewers and collectors, may find this extra as a 'no bonus' and of 'little interest' especially as the recording was never intended for public use or broadcast, the audio quality is a little weak. Indicator flags this up, within its title menu. Personally, for me it's a certainly a gain. I am the kind of viewer that wants the lot. Whatever is available, include it on the extras. My purchase then viewing experience has always been to, if possible, without sounding like an anorak / geek, have a good-time and learn all I can about a film I have just shelled out, good lolly for!It's all part of the journey and the learning! So, for me this was no injustice, poor show or problem... I just turned up the volume. Simple.
IF YOU ENJOY extras that inform and educate too, then a new audio commentary with author Neil Sinyard, of 'British Cinema In The 1950's : A Celebration' maybe well 'float your boat' too! It's a neat and interesting extra too. I have always personally preferred, enjoyed packages of extras, that contain, what I haven't seen before, different. It doesn't have to be another menu of often seen press stills the size of postage stamps or another chance to see THAT grubby trailer that has sat on Youtube for the last eight years. No, give me, that grainy end segment of an film interview, found in a dusty vault or some long gone film collectors garage . . 'and you only have the last three minutes, out of the 20 that were shot? Fine. Let me SEE it!' I am your man! Which is why, I leaned closer to my TV when I came across the option for ' A vintage Horlicks malted-hot-drink commercial . . directed by Losey too! It's great 😀😃😉 Next is film maker, Gavrik Losey, son of Joseph Losey in a new 15 minute video interview entitled 'The Sins of the Father' where he details the making of 'Time Without Pity' and it's place in his father's impressive body of film work as a director, of reputation and who created often a different persective. The Indicator blu ray package also has a LIMITED EDITION and EXCLUSIVE 40-page booklet, with a new essay by Robert Murphy, Joseph
Losey on Time Without Pity, Jeff Billington on the MacMahonists and Time
Without Pity, an overview of critical responses, and film credits. This
is LIMITED to just 3,000 copies.
SO IN CONCLUSION .. The Indicator Blu Ray release of 'TIME WITHOUT PITY' ticks the box for very good 1950's tense drama, it's quality Brit Noir, it possess an excellent cast, Leo McKern and Michael Redgrave, are at different ends of a career, and BOTH fill that screen, with talent you just don't see today. This release also stands as a more than worthy addition to your Peter Cushing collection, this is a VERY good example of why critics 'kicked off a long running, biting their pencils and punching their type-writers' in what was a what they saw as a justified mega-strop, stating that Cushing had copped out of quality work, and slipped into the fantasy cinema market'! THIS was what Cushing actually excelled at, and what's more, he knew that too. Choices huh? If you have never, for whatever reason, never experienced a Joseph Losey directed movie, THIS is a very good place to start. Lastly, if you already own the dvd of the film, this is a very commendable upgrade... that I can assure you, won't be around long. Nope it's not a hard sell, it's a fact. Indicator is very lucky but deservedly so, to have earned themselves quite a LARGE and quite dedicated clientele . . collector's who buy in bundles, out of choice, predominantly just Indicator releases. Why? Check out their website or facebook page and you'll see past releases of very interesting releases in limited runs and copies. They SELL.
PACKAGING is always of a very good standard, matching other releases . . collectors LOVE matching or colour coded spines of great quality cases and above all, specific and well researched sleeve notes and COVER ARTWORK. They very rarely drop the ball in their remastering, they are often exclusive but always... quite classy! 😉 That's why this release comes highly recommended . .
Marcus Brooks
TIME WITHOUT PITY: THE SPEC:
Release date: 28 October 2019 Limited Blu-ray Edition (World Blu-ray premiere)
Following his blacklisting in the McCarthy HUAC hearings, director Joseph Losey (Eva, The Damned, Secret Ceremony) moved to the England in the 1950s. The gritty British suspense thriller, Time Without Pity was the first film he made in the UK under his own name.
In a BAFTA-nominated performance, the great Michael Redgrave (Goodbye Gemini, Connecting Rooms, Dead of Night)
stars as an anguished father whose son is convicted of murder and
languishing on death row. In a desperate race-against-time, he attempts
to prove his son’s innocence whilst bringing the real murderer to
justice.
With photography by Freddie Francis (The Elephant Man), and a superb supporting cast including Ann Todd (Taste of Fear), Leo McKern (X the Unknown), and Peter Cushing (Corruption, The Beast Must Die), Time Without Pity is brilliantly accomplished slice of Brit-noir, and a potent cry against capital punishment.
INDICATOR LIMITED BLU-RAY
EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:
High Definition remaster
Original mono audio
The John Player Lecture with Joseph Losey (1973, 80 mins): the celebrated filmmaker in conversation with film critic Dilys Powell at London’s National Film Theatre
New and exclusive audio commentary with Neil Sinyard, co-author of British Cinema in the 1950s: A Celebration
The Sins of the Father (2019, 16 mins): filmmaker Gavrik Losey, son of Joseph Losey, discusses Time Without Pity
Horlicks: Steven Turner (1960, 1 min): vintage commercial for the malted milk drink, directed by Joseph Losey
New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Limited edition exclusive 40-page booklet with a new essay by Robert Murphy, Joseph Losey on Time Without Pity, Jeff Billington on the MacMahonists and Time Without Pity, an overview of critical responses, and film credits
World premiere on Blu-ray
Limited edition of 3,000 copies
#PHILTD154 BBFC cert: PG REGION FREE
Blu-ray
Release Date:
October 28th,
2019
Transparent
Blu-ray Case
