#MOMENTSOFTERRORMONDAY! SHOCK WAVES : FRIGHTENED CHASED AND A SCAR!!

#MOMENTSOFTERRORMONDAY! OUR usual MONDAY POST, but this week chosen one of the more unusual films that PETER CUSHING starred in during his long career, SHOCK WAVES. Everything about this low budget film is divided within the FAN community. It's a film that people either LOVE passionately, or simply HATE. In someways, you can understand why. It's still a mystery why CUSHING committed to a film, that on a brief paper synopsis, SHOULD have gained the same reaction he and his agent gave to John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN a few years later. BUT for no more really than his travel fair, bed and breakfast, CUSHING gained very little, at the time. 

ABOVE : PETER CUSHING reflected in the MAKE UP mirror, having his facial scar

applied to his look of SCAR in 'SHOCK WAVES' (1975)

LATER AFTER HE RETIRED, CUSHING explained he committed to the film, as he wanted to help, what appeared to be a team of dedicated amateur film makers. Considering CUSHING was a man who had always pushed AGAINST any proposed film work, that took him OUT of the country...MIAMI was a long way to go, when he was no longer a young man, and his health wasn't the best. BUT HE did it. And for those who LOVE this film, that is not their gain, but in later years, just like other characters like Tarkin, Dr Who and Sherlock Holmes...it helped bring him ANOTHER following. 

SHOCK WAVES was shot on 16mm, but later given the full treatment by BLUE UNDERGROUND who remastered the master print, cleared the sound, and presented the quite amazing BLU RAY of the film, to a HUGE SUCCESS. BLUE UNDERGROUND did even more with another, of the radar PETER CUSHING film called CORRUPTION. Remastered, and presented with a HUGE extra features support, BOTH films, are some of the best jobs ever made on a lesser known PETER CUSHING film . .

CUSHING'S DAILY WALKS : FANCY MEETING YOU HERE! : CAN YOU IDENTIFY THIS MAN?

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY How cool is this? Here's a photograph that was passed onto me over Christmas. As you know, Peter Cushing's walks through his home town were often opportunities for visiting fans to bump into Peter and have a chat, but also Peter had many friends in the town, he would meet on the street or beach, during his daily jaunt. One of these were the Hewlett family. Many UK followers here will I am sure recognise Donald from the extremely popular 1970's BBC tv comedy series, 'It Ain't Half Hot, Mum', in which he played Colonel Charles Reynolds 🙂 Peter was very good friends with the family. This photograph was taken on the beach just outside Peter's own front door 🙂 Did any of you ever 'bump' into Peter on the beach at WHITSTABLE? Do tell . . .

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY! OVER THE YEARS I have seen lots of strange and wonderful illustrations on VHS and DVD covers, that grace the covers of Cushing films. But this one would be sure to make any Hammer fan, raise their eyebrows! Both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee star in the film, contained in the box . . . but Lee certainly doesn't appear as Dracula, neither does Cushing play Baron Frankenstein. The image of Dracula has been lifted from the 'Satanic Rites of Dracula' (1973) press kit. Cushing's up to his elbows in Kensington Gore pic, comes from Hammer films, 1969 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' . .  along with Simon Ward who plays, the Baron's assistant Karl. . . and no, Ward doesn't make an appearance in 'Cuerpos Vivientes' either! It's certainly not the worst of bungled Cushing film covers and there are more to come . . .    

#WHOISTHAT? MICHAEL ANDREWS popped onto the PCASUK FACEBOOK FAN PAGE  today, and set you all this puzzler. Andrew asks: 'Does anybody recognise the gentlemen below? He has a certain Cushing look about him. He does actually have a connection with Hammer films!' If you can put a name to that face, we'd be pleased if you too can pop over to the PCAS Facebook Page and provide the answer!

 

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     

MORE SILENT BUT DEADLY GIFS FROM THE 70'S CUSHING ERA

#GIMMETHEGIFWEDNESDAY: THREE GREAT GIFS for you again this week. Requested by Roy Tremont, Trace Badden and Mitch Tarlin, great choices from the 70's when Peter Cushing appeared in over TWENTY horror films!

AT THE TOP David Warner comes face to face with his personal phantom, a demanding specter, who resides in a mirror and has the appetite for blood, on a grand scale. From Beyond the Grave, stands out has one of the better portmanteau films that Cushing appeared in for Amicus films. There is the usual top cast and performances, with tight and terrifying script that has no fat, but plenty of meat and . . blood! 

DREAMS SEEM TO PLAY a large and active part in the fantasy genre film of Peter Cushing. If the Bard's question of 'What Dreams May come..?' is the question, the answer is 'many and in the shape of horrific nightmares! This dream-sequence from another Amicus offering, features in the 1971, 'The house That Dripped Blood'. Cushing's obsession for the female lead, drives him to the point of madness. Which is pretty impressive, considering she, never speaks, goes no where, is made of wax and lives in a wax museum! 

SHOCK WAVES is one of those films from Cushing's career that has since it's release in 1977, risen from obscure low budget quicky, to a cult classic, that now sits in today's extremely profitable and prolific ZOMBIE genre. The idea of zombie German troops is a good one and from it's release, Shock Waves, lead the way rebounding off  'Night of the Living Dead' and presented us with an interesting and imaginative twist that up until then, was ruled by Hammer films, 'Plague of the Zombies', White Zombie' and a few Universal and RKO titles. 

Cushing as the reclusive and sinister SCAR, lends a lot of weight to what could have been, a film of just scary moments, and the ol 'monsters chase, monsters kill, monsters die' plot. The images of the undead troop appearing out of the sea and coming on land to twist, kill and murder the unsuspecting, is potent stuff. Cushing sadly has little time on screen, but what there is, he makes the best of, and along with co star John Carradine, serves up a flick that has, because of it's almost gorilla-film-making-production-values, a rough and raw energy, far removed from the polished horrors, that keeps us on edge, as we never quite know what is going to come next...!

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST A GIF SEND YOU TITLE AND SCENE SUGGESTION TO US AT PETERCUSHINGPCAS@GMAIL.COM OR VISIT OUR FACEBOOK FAN PAGE  HERE AND MESSAGE  YOUR REQUEST!

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY: CUSHING TAKES A DIP IN THE BRINY!

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY: Cushing at Sea!! Peter Cushing taking at dip for the press in the mid 1960's and with Joyce Broughton a few yards from his front door at Whitstable!

 

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TRUE LOVE AND BENCHES : NOTTING HILL VERSUS CUSHINGS VIEW WHITSTABLE

I am a very romantic person. Anyone who has ever been subjected to my own special brand of sarcasm may find that hard to believe, but it's true: I'm really a deeply romantic girl at heart. So on occasion I love watching romantic films. They do need lots of humor and wit or suspense in them as well, otherwise I don't know, they're just a bit meh. 
 

Now when I first watched Notting Hill I did think for a moment I was watching Four Weddings and a Funeral in a rather flimsy disguise (quirky yet adorable people, the huggable gay character, the handicapped friend, the elusive American girl and not to mention Hugh Grant doing the awkward yet lovely British guy routine for the umpteenth time). It was good fun nonetheless. Hey, if the formula works, it works. Who am I to argue? Plus, the film contains one of my favourite quotes ever: 'happiness isn't happiness without a violin-playing goat'. Perfection.

In case you haven't seen the film yet: spoiler alert!

I loved it when Anna/Julia and William/Hugh were out walking and found their way into one of London's hidden gardens. In which they came upon a bench that had the following words carved in it:  

For June who loved this garden. From Joseph who always sat beside her.

To which Anna/Julia quietly says: 'Some people do spend their whole lives together.' And you can hear in her voice and tell from the look on her face that that is what she wants too. I know - only good acting.

Eventually they (of course!) do find each other and the whole thing ends with the two of them on a park bench in London, she lying heavily pregnant with her head in his lap. Ahhhh.

I was quite disappointed therefore to learn that 'the' Notting Hill bench had been nothing more than a prop. There was never a June who died leaving a bereaved Joseph behind. With a garden and a bench and memories. The bench has now found its way to a park in Perth, Australia. It was never even a London garden bench. I know it was silly of me to want it all to be true because it was Just A Film after all. But there you go. Deep down I was miffed.

And then my mate KT took me to Whitstable a couple of weeks ago. As you may recall, I had never even heard of the place. Yes Mr. S.C. from E. - I did already admit that that was a huge flaw in my upbringing. Don't rub it in.

Here's the thing though: I might not have been familiar with Whitstable, but I had definitely heard of one of its most famous residents: actor Peter Cushing. You probably know him - he played opposite Christopher Lee in many a Hammer film. He was in Star Wars at one time. And he did Sherlock Holmes. He had just the face for it too. Some aquiline nose that was.

What a lot of people don't know about Peter Cushing, is the great love story of his life. Run for the hills now if you don't want to hear it.

Peter Cushing married his Helen in 1943. They were devoted to each other and felt they were meant to be together. That they had met before somehow. How lovely is that. They were inseparable until her relatively early death in 1971, leaving him heartbroken. He was quoted as saying: 'Since Helen passed on I can't find anything. The heart, quite simply, has gone out of everything. Time is interminable, the loneliness is almost unbearable and the only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that my dear Helen and I will be united again some day'. He kept feeling this way till the day he himself died in 1994. Helen had left him a letter when she died however, saying:

'Let the sun shine in your heart. Do not pine for me my beloved Peter as that would cause unrest. Do not be hasty to leave this world because you will not go until you have lived the life you have been given. And remember. We will meet again when the time is right. This is my promise.'

Some people might find their story too sentimental. And consider the fact that he never quite moved on after her death an unhealthy thing. There is something to be said for that. All the same I can't help myself, I still find it a very touching love story.

And wait - there's a bench in there too. And this one is real.

Peter and Helen loved the pretty coastal town of Whitstable and bought a house there in 1959. Peter had this bench placed at the spot that is now called 'Cushing's View'. It is said that this is where Peter used to sit and enjoy the view. The plaque on the bench says:

Presented by Helen and Peter Cushing who love Whitstable 

and its people so very much. 1990.

Sadly Helen never actually got to sit on this bench together with her beloved Peter. But at least the love story attached to it is real this time. And when I first saw it (before they got up and I could take a picture of it), a middle-aged couple were sitting on it, hand in hand, looking the very picture of contentment. Don't you think that's exactly what Peter and Helen would have wanted? I'd like to think so.

Feature written by Sacha

The original feature can be found on Sacha's blog, along with much , much more at 'Through The Orange Door' which you can find and join by clicking this link HERE.

My deepest thanks to Sacha for giving her permission for her feature to be shared here. Marcus 

 You can join us by clicking HERE

SHOCK WAVES IS BACK! BLUE UNDERGROUND 'SHOCK WAVES' REMASTERED DVD AND BLU RAY COMPETITION

For many Peter Cushing fans, Christmas has come early this year. A month to the day in fact, because on November 25th, marks the release date of a Cushing film much sort after, rarely seen in any kind of decent condition and often if you did get your hands on a copy, it looked like it had been badly transfered using a camera lens through cheese cloth! Blue Underground's remastered blu ray and dvd release for some, will arrive with a fanfare, and a sigh relief. What's on the discs as extra features? How does the quality of the transfer hold up, where can you PURCHASE it...or indeed WIN yourself a copy... all answered here!

Peter Cushing was recommended to Queens-born director Ken Wiederhorn by British producer Richard Gordon, who worked with Cushing on Terence Fisher’s Island of Terror (1966). Wiederhorn and his partner Reuben Trane had already won an Academy Award in 1973 for Manhattan Melody, a first in the dramatic student film category, and next wanted to make a $300,000 16mm horror opus. It was originally titled Death Corps and later blown up to 35mm. We know it better today as Shock Waves (’77).

 

Shock Waves is exactly the kind of horror flick they might make for todays market, only now it might be intentionally funny. Like Piranha 3D (‘10), it could look like a throwback to the slapdash days of DIY guerrilla filmmaking. That's not to say that Shock Waves was intended to be bad or funny. Quite the contrary. The film seems more like a Larry Cohen/It's Alive exercise in genre rubbing rather than true drive-in exploitation fare. It's not all slapdash either. The underwater photography by Irving Pare is quite memorable, for any budget. The pulsating synth score by composer Richard Einhorn, who currently suffers from sensory neural hearing loss, is equally expressive.

The plot: a group of passengers on a chartered boat trip, captained by a cantankerous John Carradine, happen upon an island whose sole inhabitant (Cushing) is the elderly leader of an elite Nazi SS group of zombie-like U-boat soldiers who somehow survived the war. It's possibly a fallacy to call these storm troopers “zombies” even though that's how they’ve always been billed. They don’t seem interested in consuming flesh as they stalk, drown and garrote their victims.

The story is told in flashback by a battered-looking Brooke Adams (Days of Heaven, ‘78; Invasion of the Body Snatchers, ‘78) whose narration bookends the film. This was the era of Jaws (‘75) and The Deep (‘77). Shock Waves fits rather nicely into that sub-genre of suntan-thrillers. A cute bikini-clad Adams snorkeling underwater quickly gives way to the other classic horror star in the movie, Carradine. I can remember watching his imposing presence as a kid in just about every conceivable film genre there was. My favorite Carradine role will always be his sadistic guard in John Ford's The Prisoner of Shark Island (‘36). I suppose it was only fitting that ol' John should find himself once again back on the high seas toward the end of his vast and varied film career. For an actor with over 300 credits to his name, it must have seemed like just another troll around the island.

The people on board the boat actually unearth the “Death Corps”, or “Der Toten Korps”, before making their way to the island. The seafloor rattles like a radiation detector on THX overload as one of the young heroes has the nerve to say: "Did you hear something?" Equally amusing is a scene when the ship's co-pilot, a Nick Nolte lookalike, dryly proclaims: "Jesus, look at the sun" as the whole screen is awash in a piss-colored haze. Carradine, eyes bulging and slurring lines like “old fart”, makes his performance a minor classic in its own right. One must remember this isn’t The Godfather -- hell, it isn't even Disco Godfather -- but it never fails to entertain, especially when inducing chuckles.

The abandoned hotel itself is a grand setting for what could have been some truly creepy haunted house happenings. Unfortunately, they settled on some overgrown weeds scattered about the floor for unknown effect. The shipwreck setting -- the real SS Sapona off the coast of Bimini -- proves to be a far better atmospheric set piece. The Corps emerge from underneath like balletic stalkers moving in slow motion along the ocean floor. Their jackboots and blond hair give them away long before any swastika could. Their eye-goggles hide a deeper secret, but is it worth the big reveal soon to come?

The underwater action shots with mounting score really are quite fascinating. The expressionless head with waterlogged skin slowly rising from the water is almost as indelible an image as the foot-long scar across Cushing's face. His entrance is perhaps one of the most perplexing of his entire career. A swell of orchestral music starts playing on a phonograph off screen, the halls seem deserted, and the not-so-bright looking cast members wander around wondering where the source of the outburst is coming. The nerdy guy in the plaid shorts and his annoying wife stumble upon it first. The others appear not soon after and stare at the antiquated player as it immediately begins to cease functioning. The music dies and that familiar voice booms from out of nowhere: "I am near, but also far." A little like his pseudo-German accent in the film that also comes and goes.

The troupe's exchange with the off-screen Cushing is at once painful and comical. They seem like models that have wandered in off the boxes of Wheaties cereal ads. Then he appears silhouetted on a balcony in the distance, says a few words and disappears again. When next we see him a few moments later he is running through the island brush as lithe as a cat on the prowl. This is all soon eclipsed by one of the Death Corps walking straight into the water until completely submersed. The film is not without it's memorable moments, such as Cushing staggering around the beach like a scarecrow on Romney Marsh. He often looks positively exhausted in the part and allegedly agreed to take it because he thought his name might help the modest little project along. One wonders if he enjoyed anything about his four-day shoot at Florida's Biscayne Bay other than the buckwheat pancakes he obsessed over at the nearby IHOP. The sad truth is, this may be the last satisfying straight horror performance Cushing ever gave, not counting his last hurrah for Hammer Films with the Hammer House of Horror episode Silent Scream (’80).

It's long in the tooth at times and the over acting from the ensemble is more than occasionally grating. Yet, it somehow remains satisfying on a zero-expectations sort of level. That “zombie” photography really is superb. I am also convinced the movie TRON (‘82) borrowed heavily from this soundtrack. Eventually, it all degenerates into a student film version of Deliverance (’72), with the not-so-frightened but pensive cast rowing -- and at one point trudging along the ocean floor -- in a small boat. My favorite laugh-out-loud moment in the entire film might be when the guy with the James Caan hair freaks out in the giant refrigerator room. He then inexplicably ends up in a swimming pool filled waste-deep with murky water and pseudo Nazi zombies. Eventually poor Brooke Adams and a dingy are all that's left.

Wiederhorn has since gone on to become a fairly notable film and television director, with the 21 Jump Street TV series and Return of the Living Dead Part II (’88) to his credit. His producing partner Trane gave up filmmaking to become something of a mad inventor and innovative boat builder. Brooke Adams is still active in television and film. John Carradine passed away in 1988 at the ripe old age of 82 while in Milan, Italy. Peter Cushing shuffled off this mortal coil in 1994, leaving behind a legion of dedicated fans and admirers the world over. What more can be said of Shock Waves except that it could be a cult film in search of a cult. Now that it’s officially out on Blu-ray, Cushing fans can only hope that day has come...

"Shock Waves is really a throwback to a simpler kind of horror movie. There’s nothing overly complicated or ambiguous about it. Despite the fact that it’s about Nazi zombies, monsters that could (and have) been given a far more visceral and shocking treatment, the movie is surprisingly non-exploitative. The movie chills more than it horrifies, sneaking up on you with lingering imagery you won’t soon forget. It’s far from perfect but it’s a ride worth taking.
thedigitalbits.com 

Blue Underground first released SHOCK WAVES on DVD in 2003, and the transfer was taken from the director’s own vault print since the original negative mysteriously disappeared, so the film seemed an unlikely candidate for a Blu-ray facelift. Now freshly transferred and fully restored in High Definition from the only surviving materials, for a film shot in Super 16mm and blown up to 35mm, it looks quite nice and greatly improved over the previous DVD. Presented in 1080p and in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, detail is greatly improved, especially in the daytime outdoor scenes and underwater scenes, which now have a good amount of depth to them. Naturally, grain is present and heavier in some of the night-time scenes, but never excessively problematic, and colors have a nice saturation to them. The audio is presented in a DTS-HD 1.0 option and is well balanced, with sound effects and music coming through fine and dialog being clear. Optional subtitles are included in English SDH, French and Spanish.
dvddrive-in.com

“Shock Waves” is as cultish as horror films get. It caters to a niche audience that does not care for glamorous over-produced horror fare, but instead appreciates the raw inspiration and translation of a vision. Typically, these kinds of films get the short-shrift by studios and never make their appearance on Blu-Ray or, if they do, their release, quality and features are very limited. Not here. Blue Underground once again sticks to its guns and impresses us with a top notch presentation for such a small and obscure film, and with extras that are nicely put together with a touch that shows love and appreciation for the movie. Nazi zombies aren’t something you see every day, and with the veritable Peter Cushing in one of the leads, you know that you’re getting some solid acting, so make sure you give this disc a try when you’re in the mood."
dvdreview.com

'The real delight of Shock Waves is that the monsters work so well! The Death Corps troopers are genuinely creepy!' 
 eccentric-cinema.com

'A master piece in the genre of zombie cinema. Not since the original Night Of The Living Dead' have zombies been so frightening!
horrordigital.com