PASSINGS AND BIRTHDAYS MARKED AND CELEBRATED TODAY

IT IS VERY SAD TO TO HEAR about the passing of actor, Windsor Davies tonight. Windsor Davies was a Welsh actor who performed in many films and television shows between 1964 and 2004. And probably not that well know over the Atlantic, unless you are a Hammer film /Cushing fan too. Davies played the Police Sargent, who investigated the home of Veronica Carlson's home.. which was also the hidden lab and slaughter house of one, Baron Frankenstein, played by Peter Cushing. 

IT WAS ONE of the most tense scenes I can remeber in a Cushing Frankenstein film. And, Windsor played it very well indeed. To everyone else, he is best known for playing the part of Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the British sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum. His deep Welsh-accented voice was heard extensively in advertising voice-overs. Goodnight Windsor, you were a thundering force on stage and screen. Noson dda, Bendithiwch chi a Diolch. . .😌😉

BORN TODAY and remembered, EDGAR ALLAN POE. Such a talented and clever writer, such a sad and tragic life. Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre, which at times have adapted to the big screen very well, for Vincent Price in particular. The Peter Cushing connection is a short story which made part of the Amicus films, 'Torture Garden' collection in 1967. It presented one of the most interesting pieces of casting for Cushing, with Peter locked in a battle of possession, ego and wits with Jack Palance. I think Poe would have loved it! Happy Birthday Edgar. You are so missed and appreciated . . 

FIND OUT MORE about CUSHING AND PALANCE in Amicus films 'TORTURE GARDEN' in PART TWO of our Amicus Films  of Peter Cushing PART TWO : HERE!

TODAY also please join us in wishing, the lovely Linda Hayden a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY today! A talented actress best known her her roles in Hammer's Taste The Blood Of Dracula (1970), Tigon's Blood On Satan's Claw (1970) and Amicus/AIP's Madhouse (1974) with Peter Cushing and Vincent Price. We have spent motre than a little time in the past celebrating the career and roles of Linda's over the years, and one click and question into google or here at  our posts at the PCAS WEBSITE ON LINDA, will present you with Galleries and Feature! Happy Birthday, LINDA HAYDEN! 😊😉😀

A TWO PART GALLERY OF MANY RARE photographs, including LINDA HAYDEN can be found at PART ONE and PART TWO of MADHOUSE HERE!

#SILENTBUTDEADLY! : RAZOR BLADES GUNS AND TONGUES GIFS!

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE? Anyone who is a fan of the Amicus portmanteau films, or has been watching the uploads I have been making over the last four weeks of #DonaldFearney's 'Amicus Vault Of Horrors' #documentary, will know, every one of those Amicus movies contain two things, a so-so story and a really fantastic story . . . or maybe two fantastic tales! In the case of 'From Beyond The Grave' their last multiple story movie, seemed to crack the formula, where every story was a winner....sadly this happened just as they packed up shop, and Amicus were no more! This #GIF is from one of the more popular stories, from the film 'Tales from the Crypt' and it's a story with frightening moral, called 'Blind Alleys'. I won't give anyway any plot spoilers, to anyone who hasn't caught this film yet but, those of you who HAVE seen the film, will probably recognize the shot in the #GIF. If you were faced with the same dilemma as Major William Rogers ... BLADES or DOG? Which one would you choose?

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! : WHEN PETER CUSHING announced in a 1971 interview that he was currently working with AMICUS FILMS in the role of a certain MR SMITH, he made the role sound quite uninteresting and quite pedestrian. Anyone who has watched Cushing play Mr Smith will agree...the role is anything but usual or uninteresting.  ASYLUM would be the first in quite a few characters that Amicus would press on Cushing to play men who suffered great personal loss, of family or...wife. Watching Cushing emotionally dissolve while clutching his revolver is a strange experience to watch, and would wobble even the stiffest lip . . .

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! : Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein resetting the 'evil meter'!  'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' presented us with a Frankenstein that reminded us that, it wasn't for nothing that Cushing's portrayal made the Frankenstein franchise one of the more profitable series in the Hammer film portfolio.

#SILENTBUTDEADLYWEDNESDAY! THE FAMOUS TONGUE cutting shot in Hammer films, 'The Mummy' must have had audiences twitching and cringing back in 1959, in much the same way as it does now on blu ray and late night screenings on tv. IMAGINE what the 'CONTINENTAL' audiences felt, when they were treated to the full-on, bloodied 'tongue in the tongs' version?? It was hoped when Lionsgate and Hammer launched their restoration project, to bring the THREE Cushing / Lee Classic Hammer marquee titles up to scratch, scratch-less, uncensored and complete, and in this case including the Kharis offending Lingua! Despite searches that did turn up the magnificent missing 'Dracula Death' shot, wandering eyeballs  in a jar and teeth clenching artery shots from 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell', and a few other once snipped out pieces, that were thought far too upsetting for the delicate tastes of the European audiences. The Kharis Tongue sadly, remains allusive . . . 

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   

#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! THE TERROR OF ROOM 101

#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! Last week we shared an interview clip, with Peter Cushing speaking about the impact of the live BBC production of George Orwell's 1984 and THIS scene was probably the one that upset the viewers of 1954 even more so... I think it fits our weekly Sunday theme perfectly! How do you think this scene has aged? Does it still deliver an impact?

If you LIKE what you find posted here . . Please visit us at our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE and help 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.

REMEMBERING SHELIA KEITH

TODAY WE REMEMBER British character actress SHELIA KEITH, whose career spanned nearly 40 Years. She made a number of appearances in British TV programmes during the 60's and 70's. However, she is perhaps best known for her frequent collaborations with horror director, Pete Walker who she worked with in FIVE FILMS!

IN HER OBITUARY, The Times described her as an "Actress of film, stage and television who became a ‘British horror icon’"...... It was with her portrayal of sinister, sadistic and deranged women in the horror movies of the director Pete Walker, that she acquired her most devoted following"

KEITH CO STARRED with Peter Cushing in 'The House Of The Long Shadows ' (1983) as Victoria Grisbane, daughter to John Carradine's, Lord Elijah Grisbane sister to Vincent Price and Peter Cushing. She was Pete Walker's first choice when veteran, Elsa Lanchester was thought too frail to travel to the UK and work in the film.

Please visit us at our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE 

and help 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.

NEWS : MILL CREEK RELEASES CREEPING FLESH AND TORTURE GARDEN BLU RAY PACKAGE

For those of us who have been waiting A LONG TIME for a blu ray release of Cushing's 'The Creeping Flesh', it looks like, Mill Creek, have answers our prayers!-Marcus

NEWS: Under the 'ROLL UP, ROLL UP' rollicking title of PSYCHO CIRCUS, MILL CREEK have announced the release of a three film collection blu ray... TWO of the films featured are Cushing related... #TORTUREGARDEN and a much welcomed, first time, long awaited release on blu ray, #THECREEPINGFLESH. The third film in the package 'The Brotherhood of Satan' (1971) is an interesting addition to the collection. No preview copies to view as yet. The release is available now for order and purchase for a very reasonable $14.98  A download stream is also on offer. See LINK below.....

 ORDER : HERE

OUR FEATURE ON 'THE CREEPING FLESH' HERE

OUR FEATURE ON 'TORTURE GARDEN' HERE

COME AND JOIN OVER 28,000 PETER CUSHING FANS AT OUR OFFICIAL PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE: HERE

ROOM 101 AND MONSTERMONDAY : THEY ARE WATCHING

#MONSTERMONDAY : O'BRIEN. A MONSTER? I've pulled one from the Cushing Gallery of Rogues this week, that goes back to a time before he had even dipped a toe in the waters of 'petrifying pics'! Andre Morell's O'Brien is at the centre of the story of Orwell's classic tale of the world gone to hell in a bucket, ruled by one Big Brother, leaders and others, who use cruelty and torture as their primary method of control. O'Brien is relentless once he gets our man Winston Smith played by Cushing, strapped to a table, in order to, through torture, make Winston "perfect," and to "save" him. But such is the 'power of love' Winston proves a difficult nut to crack..'My poor friend, you are almost well!'..and so with the help of the contents of 'Room 101', O'Brien plays his last card... 

'You once asked me what was in Room 101. It is there we have the means to root out the last lingering deception. What happens in Room 101, is the worst thing in the world. It varies from individual to individual. It can be death by burning, burial alive..or something quite trivial, not even fatal...In YOUR case, we both happen to know 'What The Worse Thing in the World'...happens to be....!' 

WHAT FOLLOWS SHOCKED the tv audiences of the live 1954 broadcast on Sunday 12th December, and also scored the highest tv rating in the UK since Queen Elizabeth's II Coronation! But furious critics and watchdogs complained and campaigned for the second live performance of the play, a few days later to be canceled. Michael Barry head of drama at the BBC refused to concede, the broadcast went ahead and recorded for posterity.

NOTE: JUST SIX DAYS AGO, (Tuesday) the New York Times announced that ' George Orwell's famed dystopian novel of life in a totalitarian state, was suddenly No. 6 on Amazon's bestseller list. On Monday, too, the book hovered between No. 5 and No. 7 on that same bestseller list'. . . It's worth noting that this isn't the first time "1984" has seen a sales spike in recent years. The book also hit Amazon's bestseller list in 2013 after Edward Snowden revealed the extent of the National Security Agency's surveillance program.

WE AWAIT THE RELEASE of the BFI REMASTERED blu ray of Peter Cushing's BBC production of 1984, Andre Morell, O'Brien and all.. THREE times the release has been announced, three times it has been canceled. Rumors put Orwell's estate to blame, for allegedly blocking the release (??) One would have thought that the BFI would have looked into rights issues before embarking on a costly remastering? Maybe that isn't the reason at all? Anyone one would think there's a force who doesn't want us to WATCH it...for whatever reason?? Are they WATCHING us too?

COME FIND US ON ALL THESE MEDIA PLATFORMS AND AT THE OFFICIAL FACEBOOK FAN PAGE OF PCAS : JUST CLICK HERE!

ATROPOS GODDESS OF DESTINY : WHO IS THAT GIRL?

CONTINUING THE THREAD from yesterday's #MONSTERMONDAY post. Here is  ATROPOS, GODDESS OF DESTINY; in the left hand, the skein of life, in the right, the shears of fate. Each coloured thread represents a human life, and the shears have the power to cut it short.”...but who is the actress that played her in Amicus films, 'Torture Garden' (1967). We'll have the ANSWER HERE tomorrow..

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TAKING OFF THE WRAPS WEEKEND FEBRUARY 23RD 2014

Through fear of losing my tongue too..my lips are sealed! Look out for this AND another pcasuk competition. SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23RD at our

UK Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook Fan Page