NEWS: HAMMER ANNOUNCES NEW FEATURE FILM FOR 2018 AND VINTAGE READING OF DRACULA WITH COMIC STRIP!

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY! : Using a recording made in 1966, here is an extract recording of Christopher Lee reading Stokers Dracula...obviously from a time, when he didn't get so prickly about the subject. It's nicely done, with music and a charming comic strip visual.. a weird period setting though? It's drawn by a US artist, I am sure... The whole thing is available on 'the TUBE', should you want some more.... You LIKE???

NEWS: FILMNATION ENTERTAINMENT TO FULLY FINANCE THE LODGE, THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM FROM GOODNIGHT MOMMY DIRECTORS VERONIKA FRANZ AND SEVERIN FIALA. LEGENDARY GENRE LABEL HAMMER FILMS TO PRODUCE.

FilmNation Entertainment announced today that they have acquired rights to finance acclaimed directors Veronika Franz’s and Severin Fiala’s THE LODGE. FilmNation will handle international sales and will co-represent the US sale with WME Global. 

The screenplay was written by Sergio Casci, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, from an original idea by Sergio Casci. Franz and Fiala (GOODNIGHT MOMMY) will direct as their first English language film. Hammer Films’ Simon Oakes and Marc Schipper are producing. Casting is currently underway and principal photography is set to begin in January.

FilmNation VP, Production & Acquisitions Brad Zimmerman brought the project in and will oversee on behalf of the company, and Aliza James is overseeing the project and executive producing for Hammer.

THE LODGE tells the story of a young woman and her new stepchildren who are menaced by a terrifying supernatural force while spending Christmas in their remote cabin. “We couldn’t be happier to be working with Hammer and FilmNation on our first English language film. As genre filmmakers, we are incredibly excited to add our movie to the Hammer canon, and FilmNation has demonstrated time and again bold decisions in choosing which films and filmmakers to back. With both of these companies behind us, we feel the support to make the movie as we see it in our heads, and we are excited to be moving forward,” said Franz and Fiala.  

“When we saw Veronika and Severin’s extraordinarily chilling and super smart first film GOODNIGHT MOMMY, we knew Sergio’s story was the perfect project to bring to them for their English language debut, and we have loved every minute of developing the project with the three of them. We are now absolutely thrilled that FilmNation have come on board to help make the film a reality. They are a hugely savvy outfit with a great track record of supporting creative filmmakers who make bold and distinctive quality films. From our very first conversations about the project, it was clear that FilmNation absolutely understood the film we’re all setting out to make, and we very much look forward to working with them to bring our collective vision to the screen,” said Hammer Films.

“We’re so excited to see Veronika and Severin’s style and wit applied to this mesmerizing story. We have ideal partners in Hammer and look forward to disturbing and thrilling audiences worldwide,” said FilmNation Entertainment Co-Heads of Production & Acquisitions Aaron Ryder and Ben Browning.

 

The deal was brokered with Hammer Films and WME Global by FilmNation’s Ryder and Browning and EVP Business & Legal Affairs Alison Cohen.

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 ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN : HAMMER FILMS ANNOUNCE REMAKE : REVIEW AND GALLERY OF THE CUSHING CLASSIC

In 1953, Nigel Kneale changed the face of television with his serial The Quatermass Experiment.  The play, broadcast live on British television, was a huge hit with the public, establishing Kneale as a force to be reckoned with in the science fiction and fantasy genres.  He would hit a nerve in 1954 with his adaptation of George Orwell's political allegory, 1984.

The teleplay starred Peter Cushing and it would help to make him into the country's first bona-fide TV star.  A reteaming seemed inevitable, and in 1955 they united for The Creature.  The play told of an expedition which sets out to prove the existence of the so-called Yeti, or abominable snowman, and of the in-fighting and conflicts within the group which lead to their eventual destruction.  It was yet another hit, though sadly the BBC couldn't be bothered to make a recording of it.  Thus, the original version of Kneale's thoughtful sci-fi adventure is lost to the mists of time, along with the performances of Cushing and Stanley Baker, cast in the opposing roles of kindly scientists Dr. Rollason and crassly commercial Tom Friend.

Around this same time, Hammer Films had optioned Kneale's first Quatermass adventure for the cinema - the resulting film, The Quatermass Xperiment (the "X" serving to emphasize the "adult" nature of the material), would become a hit for the company, thus steering them in the direction of sci-fi and horror.  Following the success of The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957, Hammer continued with more Kneale adaptations, bringing their own versions of the 1955 Quatermass 2 and The Creature to the screen; the latter would be rechristened as The Abominable Snowman or The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas, depending on the print.

Hammer enlisted Kneale to write the screenplay, as the writer had been extremely vocal of his criticism of the changes made by director Val Guest on The Quatermass Xperiment, and also saw fit to retain Cushing as one of the leads.  Sadly, they elected to go the "American name" route in casting Tom Friend, however, thus leaving Stanley Baker out of the picture.  Happily, the actor they cast to replace him proved quite capable: Forest Tucker.  The imposing and very brash character actor may have seemed an odd choice for Hammer Horror territory, but he brings just the right attributes to the role of Friend.  He's loud, he's aggressive, he's patently phony in his desire to help further "science," and he plays beautifully off of Cushing's English reserve and sensitivity.

Despite Kneale's issues with his handling of The Quatermass Xperiment (and Quatermass 2, which Kneale was more closely involved in bringing to the screen), Hammer brought Val Guest in to direct.  Guest broke into films quite by chance after slagging Chandu the Magician (1932) in a print interview and boasting that he could write a better film himself; the film's director took him up on the challenge and Guest took to screenwriting like a duck to water.  He would begin directing unassuming programmers but would go on to direct some eclectic and very interesting pictures.  He was precisely the kind of director Hammer liked: strong and authoritative on set, but capable of bringing in the film on budget without succumbing to hubris and excess.  Guest would later describe The Abominable Snowman as a disappointment, citing Hammer's unwillingness to allow him to film on location, but the end product is very well crafted and continued Kneale's trend towards thoughtful, low-key sci-fi with much emphasis on characterization.

The entire cast does a fine job, notably Arnold Marle as the wizened Dalai Lama figure who seems to hold some key to the mystery of the Yeti, but the emphasis is very much on the clash between Cushing's idealist and Tucker's showman.  The two actors do a magnificent job of playing off one another, with Cushing adding depth and nuance to what could have been another stock character.  Cushing's fondness for improvising with props  led director Guest to dub him "props Peter," while his concern over realism prompted him to question Guest as to whether or not one could actually light a cigarette at such a high altitude; Tucker's reply was along the lines of, "I don't care if you really could or not; I'm smoking anyway, so you may as well, too."  Both actors thus take time to visit flavor country while stressing out over the severity of their situation.

Despite Guest's protestations of penny pinching, the film looks impressive.  Arthur Grant would later become Hammer's DP of choice when Jack Asher's meticulous methods made him too expensive for the company, and his later work tended to be functional but uninspired.  For whatever reason, however, he did splendid work in widescreen and black and white: thus, The Abominable Snowman joins Joseph Losey's These Are the Damned and Freddie Francis' Paranoiac as one of the best-looking films he photographed.  The mood is highlighted by a spare, ominous soundtrack by Humphrey Searle, who did far too little work for Hammer.  It may lack the "star value" of Hammer's better-known monster figures, but The Abominable Snowman is an unappreciated gem in their overall body of work and shows once again why Guest was the company's best director of science fiction properties.

Text: Troy Howarth
Banner and Images: Marcus Brooks

PRESS RELEASE: HAMMER FILMS PLAN THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN REMAKE

 

NEWS: HAMMER FILMS PRESS RELEASE: U.K.-based genre banner Hammer Films, a division of Exclusive Media, plans an updated version of the 1957 iconic horror movie.

LONDON – U.K. genre banner Hammer Films, a division of Exclusive Media, plans to bring an updated version of 1957 iconic horror movie The Abominable Snowman to the big screen.

Billed as a modern take on the Yeti myth, the update sees a scientific expedition’s illegal ascent of the peak of one of the world’s most formidable mountains accidentally awakening an ancient creature.

The original screenplay by Matthew Read (Pusher, Hammer of the Gods) and Jon Croker (The Woman In Black: Angel of Death) updates the 1957 film from Hammer’s classic library.

The update is being developed by Hammer in association with producer Ben Holden, whose resume boasts The Quiet Ones and The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, both with Exclusive.

The project marks a continuation of Hammer’s ongoing aim to maintain a heritage of producing enduring British horror films, which are original, current and relevant for modern audiences.

It follows The Woman in Black, which starred Daniel Radcliffe and became the most successful British horror film of all time at the box office.

Hammer president & CEO and Exclusive Media vice chairman Simon Oakes said: "The success of Let Me In and The Woman In Black has shown that there is an appetite for quality horror films, so it is exciting to draw on Hammer’s unparalleled source material in this genre, which can be re-imagined and updated for a new audience."

Holden is currently working with Hammer on The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, which is in production in the U.K. now.

Still in the early stages of planning, there is no director, start date or cast attached for Snowman.