NEWS! MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT HAMMER FILM : ULTIMATE COLLECTION : 20 TITLES BLU RAY BOX SET

NEWS! WELL WE'VE NOT SEEN a package like this in a while!! Mill Creek Entertainment has announced the release of their 'Hammer Film - Ultimate Collection' a gathering of 20 Hammer films titles, ranging from the 1950's, 60's and 70's. Just two Cushing titles in there, 'The Revenge of Frankenstein' starring Cushing, Francis Matthews and Eunice Gayson, 'Cash on Demand' (1960) and 'The Gorgon' with Cushing, Christopher Lee and Barbara Shelley. Those of familiar with the Mill Creek stock, will recognise these titles from the triple and double bill releases of the last five years. But, if you missed your opportunity to bag them then and have gaps in your collection, here is an opportunity to bag them all together!

AT THE TIME POSTING, I am not aware if these titles are part of and the same 'remasters' we've seen over the past two years in Europe... but if that info is released, I'll let you know. The box set is available for PRE-ORDER NOW at $109.99 MSRP and has a street release of NOVEMBER 17th 2020. Below is the spec from Mill Creek 😉

'For more than four decades, Hammer Films’ unique blend of horror, science fiction, thrills and comedy dominated countless drive-ins and movie theaters. Enjoy this massive collection from the darkest corners of the Hammer Imagination!'

Featuring 20 Cult-Classics from the infamous Hammer Studios produced in the 50s, 60s and 70s available together for the first time in high-definition!

The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1963)
These Are The Damned (1962)
The Old Dark House (1963)
The Gorgon (1964)
The Snorkel (1958)
Maniac (1963)
Die! Die! My Darling (1965)
Scream of Fear (1961)
Stop Me Before I Kill! (1961)
Never Take Candy From A Stranger (1960)
Cash On Demand (1961)
The Stranglers of Bombay (1960)
The Terror of the Tongs (1961)
The Pirates of Blood River (1962)
The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964)
The Camp on Blood Island (1958)
Yesterday's Enemy (1959)
Creatures the World Forgot (1971)

Tech Specs:
Language: English
Discs: 10
Format: Blu-ray
Subtitles: English Subtitles
Run Time: 2065 min.
Rating: Not Rated
Region Code: Region A
Street Date: 2020-11-17
Color: Color/B&W

PLEASE COME JOIN US at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features ad prize competitions.. all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing OBE!

ROY ASHTON MAKE UP ARTIST REMEMBERED

REMEMBERING Master Make Up Artist, Roy Ashton, who was born today 17th April 1909! There is so much you could say about Roy, but his work kind of says it all! So many amazing creations in what was the golden era of Hammer films, Amicus and Tyburn too! I was very humbled to spend time with him at his home and while he was working, and during these times saw at first hand what a true gentleman he was and quite the perfectionist, with a lovely dry wit and friendly character. Roy sadly left us in 1995, but left behind for us, a wonderful and original body of work, that still entertains and frightens us today! Personally, his letters I still treasure, his work I still very much am in awe of, for sure

OVER AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE I have asked everyone to tell us and share their favourite 'Ashton Creation' in the comments below. BELOW is an impressive filmography of Roy's work. A #HappyBirthday, Roy Ashton a true magician and creator of things of nightmares and dreams too 

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Horror Dracula (1958)
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)
The Mummy (1959)
The Stranglers of Bombay (1959)
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
The Curse of the Werewolf (1960)
The Terror of the Tongs (1961)
These Are the Damned (1962)
The Phantom of the Opera (1962)
Night Creatures (1962) Captain Clegg
The Pirates of Blood River (1962)
 

ABOVE: A WHILE AGO in one of our weekly PCASUK TUESDAY TOUGHY questions, we celebrated ROY ASHTON'S work with PETER CUSHING in 'Tales from the Crypt' (1972)

Paranoiac (1963)
The Old Dark House (1963)
The Crimson Blade (1963)
Nightmare (1964)
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
The Kiss of the Vampire (1964)
The Gorgon (1964)
 

Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1964)
The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964)
The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964)
The Skull (1965)
She (1965)
The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
The Reptile (1966)
The Devil Rides Out (1968)
The House That Dripped Blood (1970)
Hands of the Ripper (1971)
The Devils (1971)
Tales from the Crypt (1972)
The Creeping Flesh (1972)
Asylum (1972)
The Vault of Horror (1973)
The Ghoul (1975)

SEE OUR POSTS every day at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE HERE! and the EXPANDED version here!! EXTRA IMAGES and FEATURES every day here at our WEBSITE!

RARE THE GORGON BEHIND THE SCENES COLOUR PHOTOGRAPH PLUS CUSHING IN OZ!

HERE'S A VERY NEAT colour photograph of Peter Cushing and actress Barbara Shelley during the making of The Gorgon at Bray studios. I purchased the original negative for this publicity photograph back in the late 1970's, it's been posted here once before, but it's a good one.

You can follow and catch our posts FIRST at the Facebook PCASUK 

Fan Page here! 

WHEN THIS PIC WAS POSTED at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE yesterday someone asked if I wasn't worried about posting such a rare pic, on Facebook... So I explained, I post pics for people to do exactly that, to share. Anything I have, own or is sent to me by good folk out there I share. BUT I also include a bit of promo text on the pic, to share where it has been cleaned and repaired if necessary... here. In the majority of cases these are pics on which, we do not own the copyright, this is a hobby, no money exchanged or made. :) There are authors and collectors out there though, that are under the impression that the little watermark is implying I or we own them... nope. This pic today I do own, hence my name. Happens rarely. If you post something on the net, it's gone, the world owns it today. If anyone wants to repost or share a pic that's wonderful. If you want to take it and take off the watermark, that's not really the game.. but your choice, so many here are posted for the first time, so people who know their stills... know where it has come from and that someone has lifted the watermark. Weird that people would do that, unless they maybe dislike or hate the page 😄😉... or us having fun and a reward for working so hard on the posts for fans and keeping the memory of Peter Cushing alive and relevant. . . who knows???  But, I am sure... some do 😉😊

THE LATEST painting by artist, #DARYLJOYCE 😊 This one is a cracker, you think? 😊 After the not so roaring success of the sequel to #DrWho and the Daleks (1965) film, 'Dalek Invasion Earth 2150 AD' (1966) the planned next #Dalek / Dr Who / #PeterCushing feature film, based on the #BBC tv episode 'The Chase' sadly didn't happen... BUT what a treat it could have been, if it HAD! Congrats to Daryl on another fine piece of work! 😊😉

REPOST : CUSHING IN AUSTRALIA 1977!  The text taken from Cushing's second book Past Forgetting: Memoirs of the Hammer Years published in 1988.

'In western Australia, where I thoroughly enjoyed working with John Izzard of swan television in 1977, I had quite an extraordinary experience with an ostrich, a tobacco addict! It stalked me, its beady eyes watching my every move and each time I lit a cigarette, it shot its neck out (like a chameleons tongue catching some runaway insect) and snatched the fag from my lips!! Perhaps Rod Hull encountered that same bird, and got the idea for his act with emu?'

CHRISTOPHER LEE once said that Peter Cushing had a laugh that could clear a restaurant in 30 seconds flat! And it must be said, if you ever get the chance to catch a clip of Peter laughing, it was a belter!

Photos in panel:
Top Left:#PeterCushing and close, life time friend,Peter Gray.
Next right: Cushing in costume with lead actor Robert Stack on the set of John Paul Jones (1959)
Next Right : With CEO of #Hammerfilms, James Carrreras at the premier of The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957
Middle: Peter and wife #HelenCushing on holiday in #Norwich.
Far Right: Peter and #ChristopherLee, on set at Bray studios during the making of Hammer films, 'The Gorgon' (1965)
 

BEHIND THE SCENES ON HAMMER FILMS 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula' a full feature with #contactsheets and press stills! RIGHT HERE!

BARBARA SHELLEY IN GORGON MAKE UP : THE FILM FATES OF CUSHING AND CENTENARY OF SHERLOCK'S NIGEL STOCK

FOLLOWING ON from the rare behind the scenes clips we shared with you last week...here's a question for you, again concerning Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee's Hammer film the 1964 'THE GORGON' . .. it's known that actress Barbara Shelley who played Megaera's 'other side' Carla Hoffman, was quite happy to also play the make up laden, three pound head-dressed Gorgon Megaera too! She also stated she wasn't afraid of 'snakes' if they had to be used in the head-dress too! It was Shelley's contractual commitment to other work, that prevented her from playing the role. The whole planning and design of the Gorgon make up had taken much longer than planned.. she HAD to leave and move on to other work.

BUT LOOKING at her in the make up, makes you wonder . . what kind of Gorgon do you think she would have made on the screen. A point that is often made on the hit miss results of the big reveal and drama of the ending of the film... has been, would it have been easier to except the dual identity, if The Gorgon DID look a little like her other identity played by Shelley.... Over at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE, we've asked what do YOU think?

THE MANY FILM FATES OF PETER CUSHING . . . in his own words, text from his second autobiography 'Peter Cushing: Past Forgetting' 1988, Weidenfeld & Nicholson. Cushing had many a dramatic ending for some of his roles, not as many as his good friend, Christopher Lee though 😮😃 . . AGAIN, over at our Facebook PCASUK Fan Page, we are asking . . which PC character 'bow-out' do you find the most interesting, dramatic, emotional? - Marcus

A HEADS UP! a VERY popular series that kicked off  when PCASUK first came to FACEBOOK, 'The Twenty Two  Screen Deaths of Peter Cushing', wrapped through lack of time, quite sometime ago. For those  who enjoyed these posts, you'll be pleased, maybe . . to hear we are  picking up where we left off, in just a few days time 😀😃 Look out for additions to the series soon . .

TODAY ALSO MARKS the Centenary of the birthday of actor, NIGEL STOCK! Stock, played a superb Watson in the BBC 'Sherlock Holmes' television series of the 60's, with Peter Cushing as Holmes. Sadly, Stock left us in 1986, aged 66. The marking of remembering Stock today, is being well supported with comments and opinions at the PCASUK Facebook Fan Page. .  

#CHRISTOPHERLEESATURDAY! Ok... The last time two of these people were on screen together, the set up was quite different...there was a table then too, but the 'lady' was the meal 😮What film was that? Who are the two sitting at the table and name THIS film too! Btw.. we posted the little insert photograph a few weeks ago, but no one then could site where that strange photograph car from...well, today you just might find the answer 😉 At the PCASUK Facebook Fan Page we are suggesting to Lee fans, they SHOULD now nail this quite quickly . . yes? -Marcus

RARE BEHIND THE SCENES 'ON SET' FOOTAGE FROM HAMMER FILMS 'THE GORGON'

A REAL AND RARE TREAT! Here are some short GIFS taken from some very rare behind the scenes footage taken during the making of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee's 1964 Hammer film Classic, THE GORGON. Director Terence Fisher had a real job on his hands. The script was fine and had the making of an original horror / romantic / thriller. The key to the drama was a creature that lived holed up in Castle Borski, who on certain evenings took to meeting visitors, not with a warm welcome, but a STARE that turned them into stone! The creature was Megaera, long thought to be a fantasy of Greek mythology. Not only was she real, but she also had a dual appearance and personality. This no doubt suited actress Barbara Shelley, who played the meek and sensitive Karl Hoffman, Megaera's 'other side', as whoever was to appear as Megaera, would have to endure a few weeks of experiments and painful head-dresses, while make up men and props department Roy Ashton and Phil Leakey tired to solve the problem of producing a convincing Gorgon, who floated on air, while snakes wriggled and writhed on her head! No easy, with such a small budget!

ABOVE we see actress and classical dancer, Prundence Hyman, who stepped up for the role. Fisher believed that someone who could move with grace, like a dancer, would be best suited for the role. Prudence had worked in film, theatre and ballet for many years and had almost retired from her long and quite distinguished career.But she rose to the challenge. Here we see make up artist fit Prudence with Haptic contact lenses, a make up device that Roy was probably if not certainly responsible for bringing into horror films at this time, his first use was in Hammer's 'The Curse of Frankenstein', it was another first in bringing together Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee on screen.

AFTER MANY EXPERIMENTS the solution of using a series of strings and pulleys, all controlled through a cable to a crank box, was used to make the snakes twitch! The head device weighed seven pounds, and was worn under the wild and thick black wig, much like a crash helmet! It took some rigging, was not reliable and took several takes to 'do its thing' on command, after the Gorgon floated on casters into shot, over a floor of thick dry ice. ABOVE here is Hammer's Phil Leakey carrying the crank box, Prudence marches from the make up room at Bray studios, and down the stairs to the castle set, carrying the cabling over her shoulder, ready for her '...Close Up, Mr Fisher!'

ABOVE ON THE SET Prudence Hymen hits her mark,the crew turn the cranks on the box, the snakes twitch, the wind blows and she makes her exit, not walking forward, but keeps her balance, even with the weight on her head as she is  pulled backwards over the floor of the Castle Borski set at Bray studios . .. and CUT!

PETER CUSHING IN COSTUME and Christopher Lee out, both on set at Bray studios, during the making of Hammer films, 'THE GORGON'

 

FINALLY, HERES IS Hammer films make up artist Roy Ashton in some VERY rare footage in his make up room at Bray studios, demonstrating some 'fangs' he made for a particular Baron, who was the only vamp to have actually got his fangs into Peter Cushing's Vampire Hunter, Van Helsing . .!

TWILIGHT TIME RELEASES SUPERB LIMITED EDITION HAMMER FILMS SWORD OF SHERWOOD : REMEMBERING SIMON WARD

NEWS: TWILIGHT TIME has announced the release date of OCTOBER 25TH 2018 for their limited edition of only 3,000 copies of Hammer Films’ 'Sword of Sherwood Forest' (1960) Probably the best of the Hammer Robin Hood series, this ofcourse is a big-screen adaptation of the popular television series, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-59); and stars the same dashing actor, Richard (Tales from the Crypt 1972) Greene, as the aristo man of the people. The film is directed by Terence Fisher, a Hammer favorite to many Hammer fans, who also helmed many of the series episodes too. TWILIGHT TIME has a very sound reputation for releasing  high quality blu rays and dvd's, managed by harden fans and enthusiasts of cinema, these guys KNOW what lovers of film want and expect. With several other Cushing releases they have worked hard to maintain that reputation, from the technical quality of the disc right through to interesting and original concept art work on their covers and case designs. Sword of Sherwood Forest, is another that ticks all those boxes.

AS IN SO MANY ADAPTIONS of the classic tale, we have the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham, played by a superb Peter Cushing, the lovely Maid Marian (a plush Sarah Branch), and a handful of terrific actors: Niall (Curse of the Demon) MacGinnis, Richard (The Gorgon) Pasco, Jack (Jason and the Argonauts) Gwillim, Nigel (The Skull) Green, and even – in a tiny role – Oliver (Night Creatures) Reed. Visuals :1080p High Definition / 2.35:1 / Color, Audio: English 1.0 DTS-HD MA, duration 80 mins. Region FREE. Special Features: Isolated Music & Effects Track / Original Theatrical Trailer. COMPETITION: LOOK OUT for your chance to bag a FREE copy of this Limited Edition in our PCASUK Competition shortly. MEANWHILE, place your ORDER HERE!

REMEMBERING: Born today, Simon Ward. If you take a look at the raft of obituaries for Simon Ward who sadly passed away in 2012, it's a common fault that they state that his career was kick started when he was 'plucked from obscurity' and appeared in Richard Richard Attenborough’s 'Young Winston' in 1972. Maybe that is how the press and publicity agents remember it....but for Ward, it was not so . . 

BRAIN SURGERY! CUSHING AND SIMON WARD MAKING 'THE POINT' IN HAMMER FILMS 'FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED' (1969)

SIMON WARD AS ARTHUR HOLMWOOD IN THE DAN CURTIS PRODUCTION OF 'DRACULA' STARRING JACK PALANCE IN 1974

WARD ACKNOWLEDGED Hammer films 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' made in 1969 as the film 'that started it all' and the generous help and assistance from his co star Peter Cushing, that made anything afterwards possible... In a interview with pcasuk in 1979, Ward acknowledges his debt to Cushing, who he said, '..had time and patience with me. I knew nothing of the technique needed for working with a camera or about the studio floor. Peter was extremely kind, taking time to explain the simple but very important rules of pace and nuance, so the editor can get in there. This and try to not fall over the cables. He did so much for me. Quite extraordinary. I mean, no one has the time to do that, everyone is busy. But he did it for me, many times through out the film. And it's something I've always remembered, and not come across since... a very kind, gentle, gracious man. He really did save my skin'.

SIMON WARD sadly left us in 2012

SIMON WARD WITH CUSHING, GIVING USUAL 'ALL' TO THE FIGHT SCENE IN 'FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED' (1969)