PETER CUSHING 'THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR' VINTAGE FLYER AND REVIEW

CAST:

Peter Cushing (Detective-Inspector Quennell), Robert Flemyng (Professor Karl Mallinger), Wanda Ventham (Clare Mallinger), Vanessa Howard (Meg Quennell), Glynn Edwards (Sergeant Allan), David Griffin (William Warrender), Kevin Stoney (Granger), William Wilde (Frederick Britewell)

PRODUCTION:

Director – Vernon Sewell, Screenplay – Peter Bryan, Producer – Arnold L. Miller, Photography – Stanley A. Long, Music – Paul Ferris, Special Effects – Roger Dicken, Makeup – Rosemarie Peattie, Art Direction – Wilfred Woods. Production Company – Tigon British. 1968 UK.

SYNOPSIS:

Police inspector Quennell investigates a series of murders where the victims have been found drained of blood and with strange claw marks all over their bodies. His good friend, entomologist Karl Mallinger, knows of no creature that would leave such markings. As Quennell investigates, he discovers that Mallinger has been conducting experiments that have caused his daughter Clare to turn into a giant Deathshead moth who preys on and kills the men who are attracted to her.

COMMENTARY:

This entry from Hammer wannabes Tigon British – is there for the record any Tigon American, or any other country for that matter, to justify the national exclusivity? – is one of the dreariest films to emerge out of the Anglo-horror cycle of the 1950s-70s.

One would have thought the premise – a mad scientist’s daughter who is revealed to be periodically turning into a giant vampiric deathshead moth to suck dry the local youth – would have tipped somebody off that the film could well end up in the laughability stakes. The entire exercise is shot through with a touch of surreal lunacy – although nobody involved sees fit to play up the potential bizarreness. The script never offers any real explanation as to why Wanda Ventham keeps turning into a moth – which is probably wise anyway as anything would have sounded ridiculous.

The Blood Beast Terror is slow moving and statically directed. The barely glimpsed title creature looks disappointingly flat. Peter Cushing at least turns in his usual professional job, which is admirable considering the silliness of the material he has to work with. The most ridiculous scene is the ending, which looks to have been conceived because nobody could find any other way to wrap the show up, wherein Peter Cushing comes up with the ingenious scheme of lighting a fire, which the moth is naturally drawn to and burnt up in.

The Blood Beast Terror was one of the films made by Vernon Sewell, a minor director in the heyday of English horror cinema. Sewell also made:- The Medium (1934), Latin Quarter (1945), The Ghosts of Berkeley Square (1947), Ghost Ship (1952), House of Mystery (1960) and Curse of the Crimson Altar (1969). 

Review: Richard Scheib

PETER CUSHING CHRISTOPHER LEE SAMMY DAVIS: ONE MORE TIME: GUEST APPEARANCES

THEY'RE QUICK. BUT FUN WHEN THEY ARRIVE!

PETER CUSHING BY NUMB3RS: 'MORECAMBE AND WISE' : 367 PLUS TEN SHILLINGS!

Peter Cushing as King Arthur in his very first appearance with Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise in 1967.  Peter Cushing was the very first straight actor to guest on the show. Cushing's notoriety in the Morecambe and Wise story was his ongoing  appearances, over the next ten years, when he made repeated appearances to complain that he was never paid for his initial appearance.

HAMMER FILMS DIRECTOR: TERENCE FISHER ON FRANKENSTEIN

SUSAN DENBERG PETER CUSHING THORLEY WALTERS: 'FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN'

PETER CUSHING THORLEY WALTERS AND SUSAN DENBERG : FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN (1967) HAMMER FILMS (1967)

PETER CUSHING: GRIMSDYKE IN A BOX. STEVE THOMPSON DOES IT AGAIN!

Great new figure available from DISTINCTIVE DUMMIES of PETER CUSHING as ARTHUR GRIMSDYKE from the Amicus Film 'TALES FROM THE CRYPT' (1972). More details here: http://www.distinctivedummies.net/the_roy_ashton_collection.html

PETER CUSHING: THE TWENTY TWO SCREEN DEATHS OF PETER CUSHING

PETER CUSHING: 'KEEP CALM!' 'THE VAMPIRE LOVERS' HAMMER FILMS (1970)

Peter Cushing and Ingrid Pitt. 'The Vampire Lovers' (1970) Hammer Films Productions. keep Calm!

PETER CUSHING PORTRAIT: 'THE VAMPIRE LOVERS' HAMMER FILMS (1970)

Not one you see that often of Peter Cushing during the making of 'THE VAMPIRE LOVERS' for Hammer Films in 1970. There are some excellent photographs in our PETER CUSHING AND GALS VAMPIRE LOVERS Behind The Scenes Gallery! HERE

PETER CUSHING: 'BIRDS FROM MY WINDOW'

PETER CUSHING: 'BIRDS FROM MY WINDOW'

RARE PETER CUSHING: 'THREE MEN AND A GIMMICK' LIFE STORY FROM TV MIRROR MAGAZINE IN BOOK FORM!

'THREE MEN AND A GIMMICK' The book includes the 'life stories' (in their own words!) of three British institutions from the 1950's. Comedians Terry-Thomas ('What a shower!'), Arthur Askey (I thank you!) Sabrina, the 'gimmick' of the piece and a face that you could miss on television during the 50's, Peter Cushing. All the material in this book appeared in the TV MIRROR magazine. It's a great little read, quite rare and forgive me, a watermark to stop it walking!

Review copy slip that came with the book. Retail price: Nine Shillings and Six pence. Bargain even then.

The 'INTERESTING' titles on the back of the dust jackets from the same publishing house!

The front cover of the TV MIRROR where the contents of 'Three Men and a Gimmick' were originally published. Peter gracing the cover.

A page from the serialized life story of Peter Cushing that appeared weekly in TV MIRROR. Over the weeks it published some great pictures and I think it was the first published appearance of Peter's (Mother dressed me like a little girl!) family photographs.

PETER CUSHING AND BARRY MORSE: 'ASYLUM' AMICUS FILMS (1973)

Peter Cushing as Mr Smith and Barry Morse as the Bruno, in the tale of the 'Weird Taylor' segment in Amicus Films 'ASYLUM' (1972) Dir: Roy Ward Baker.

PETER CUSHING: TYBURN FILMS: 'LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF' GALLERY AND REVIEW

CAST:

David Rintoul (Etoile), Peter Cushing (Professor Paul Cataflaque), Lynn Dalby (Christine), Ron Moody (Marcel Duvic), Stefan Gryff (Inspector Max Girard), Hugh Griffith (Maestro Pomponi), Marjorie Yates (Madame Tellier), Roy Castle (Photographer), John Harvey (Police Chief)

PRODUCTION:

Director – Freddie Francis, Screenplay – John Elder [Anthony Hinds], Producer – Kevin Francis, Photography – John Wilcox, Music – Harry Robinson, Photographic Effects – Charles Staffell, Makeup – Jimmy Evans & Graham Freeborn, Art Direction – Jack Shampan. Production Company: Tyburn. UK 1974

Peter Cushing rules! Our TV listings incorrectly called this a Hammer horror, but it's an understandable mistake. Like "Hoover" and "Perrier", "Hammer" has become one of those brand names that's widely confused with the product itself. It's a slightly stagey seventies British horror movie - what else could it be but Hammer? Of course Hammer's time had passed in 1975 and this is more tongue-in-cheek than Hammer's horror output tended to be, but on the other hand it stars the magnificent Peter Cushing. Even in a mediocre role he's always good to watch, but here he's having the time of his life in one of his finest roles (Professor Paul Cataflanque). Cushing isn't just the best thing in this film. He is the film. The story's half over before he appears, but he still outclasses everyone and everything else on screen put together.

Cushing plays a professor of forensics who's been told by his superiors not to investigate some inexplicable deaths. You might as well tell a child to keep away from the candy store. Cushing plays Paul Cataflanque as the perfect gentleman (I adored the scene where his investigations lead him to a whorehouse) but also with enormous curiosity and a sense of mischief. He even does something interesting accent-wise. Legend of the Werewolf is theoretically set in 19th-century France, but only Cushing and Max the policeman deliver their lines in anything but classically trained Royal Shakespeare Company tones. Max is French throughout, but Cushing does something subtler. He's normally his usual impeccably cut-glass self, but when drinking he briefly lapses into Inspector Clouseau. Cushing is presumably suggesting that Paul Cataflanque worked hard at deliberately eradicating his boyhood accent, just as Cushing himself ditched his native barrow-boy accent before becoming an actor. Man, there's nothing I don't admire about his performance.

Everything else could be summed up in five words: "Cushing fantastic; the rest okay". The other characters are fine - not brilliant, but watchable. They're broader than you'd get in a Hammer horror, though, at times almost Dickensian. I'm not trying to imply that Legend of the Werewolf is classic literature on the level of Charles Dickens, but it's a 19th-century story that's full of larger-than-life caricatures (at times bordering on grotesques) rather than more realistic characters, including overt comic relief (Roy Castle) and a cardboard hero. The eponymous werewolf is ostensibly the film's lead, but he spends most of his screen time being angry, confused or unhappy. He's a country boy who's come to Paris, raised by wolves and not understanding much that happens to him. We might have been following Wolf Boy's life right from birth, but it's Cushing's movie and no mistake.

Things I learned from watching this movie:

(1) When meeting a girl for whom you have romantic feelings, swing from a cage and hoot like a monkey.

(2) Werewolves' eyes are novelty marbles.

(3) Even pre-pubescent grunting wolfboys who've been raised by wild animals will wear furry loincloths to hide their naughty bits.

Sometimes we see in glorious wolf-o-vision, in which the screen turns red. This might be more realistic than you'd think, since I seem to remember that dogs only see in monochrome - and a wolf is basically just a big cuddly doggie. The werewolf astonished me by looking good; even today's movie werewolves look crap, but this is a wolf-man. He's man-shaped but with fangs, red-marble contact lenses and a haircut like Wolverine from the X-Men. On the other hand, even I can't find an excuse for the day-for-night filming, except to note that it's a Hammerism. In particular it doesn't help that these sunny scenes are side-by-side with actual night filming!

Mind you, I liked the historical detail, e.g. Roy Castle's darreugotype and its three-minute exposure time. Quite a bit of French flavour comes through despite the obvious Englishness of the production, mostly due to the Paris sets and the whorehouse, and it definitely feels 19th-century. The bits that don't star Peter Cushing are nice, with an unsophisticated sense of humour, but they aren't the reason why you should watch this film. It stars The Man. Bow down and worship.

MORE ON 'LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF' AND AN INTERVIEW WITH PRODUCER KEVIN FRANCIS AT OUR BLACKBOXCLUB.COM WEBSITE HERE:CLICK HERE 

Review: Finn Clark

Here

Images: Marcus Brooks

PETER CUSHING: TARKIN: BERMANS AND BOOTS' THE STORY OF THE MOFF TARKIN SLIPPERS IN PETER CUSHING'S OWN WORDS!

The story of the Star Wars: Grand Moff Tarkin Slippers in Peter Cushing's own words!

PETER CUSHING AND CHRISTOPHER LEE CANDID PHOTOGRAPH: 'HOUSE OF THE LONG SHADOWS'