Monday 23 April 2018

CHRISTOPHER LEE IS MR BLAKE AND PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE REOPENS!



INDEED, MR BLAKE and very nasty with it! Amicus films, I MONSTER was a big disappointment, for just about everyone all round...including Christopher Lee and Director Stephen Weeks... they BOTH did their very best! The story of producer Subotsky's drive, for the film to be shoot in a weird and hopeless cheapo version of 3D failed...Weeks did shoot a little to keep the producer happy, but soon carried on production, dropping the useless 3D idea. What you get is a very good film, it's pace is slow...but spot on. Christopher Lee makes a very good Mr Blake and Dr Marlowe. YUP, IT IS Jekyll and Hyde.





PETER CUSHING does as expected , as Utterson Mr Marlow's friend. The sets look very good, on set work was shot at Shepperton on what was left of the musical OLIVER. But when it was released, it didn't do very well..in the UK. Europe MUCH better though! It would be very nice if this film one day did get a remaster and blu ray release. Extras including an opportunity for director Stephen Weeks to at last finally tell HIS story, on the making of something that could have been so much better, and his time with Cushing and Lee. Here also are some stills taken behind the scenes, rare pics of all three Cushing, Lee and Weeks obviously working well together on the set . .





LET US KNOW YOUR OPINION of this film. All the interesting emails of your comments will be added to THIS FEATURE! OUR EMAIL is  as usual petercushingpcas@gmail.com


ALSO ON SATURDAY The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook Fan Page REOPENED after an absence of six weeks from our Fan Page. There was no big announcement , no fanfare or fuss. Issues that were causing problems with the page, that has over THIRTY THREE THOUSAND followers, have now been fixed and sorted, along with a change in the style of posting. Had it not been for a over a month of emails and messages to this website and my personal facebook account, the page might never have reopen. Just a visit to the page and the mass of Messages and Comments from very pleased members of the page, truly displays not only a HUGE love and affection still for Peter Cushing and his work, but also for the work and role of our PCAS facebook fan page...   


PCASUK FACEBOOK REOPENED AND LIVE, BUT NOW MINUS OVER SEVEN YEARS OF ARCHIVED RARE PHOTOGRAPHS AND POSTS . .  

WITH FACEBOOK having issues and losses over the last year, some of the rules and opportunities that made the PCAS FACEBOOK such a success, have changed in the past six months, making the chance of seeing our non profit, unfunded or facebook boosted posts, very difficult even if you were a member. The opportunities taken by some other facebook pages, reposted our rare images, and removed the guide watermark from the still. Several rare hi res images were also copied and sold on ebay. For us this was the final straw, we give away stills and images, on which many we own copyright, with the understanding the watermark is there, to tell anyone who sees the photograph' were they can find us and join..it photographs are not posted for anyone's financial,  it's for helping keep the page and memory of Peter Cushing alive! ALL these issues have now been resolved. Sadly, over seven years of posts and their photographic content have now been deleted and removed from the reopened facebook page. It's a sad cost, for the people who have supported the page since it's launch, and a smack in the wallet from those who have no care for the memory of Peter Cushing. The PCAS Facebook Fan Page is now live . . . . 


Sunday 22 April 2018

HAPPY EARTH DAY 2018 AND THE CALLUM MCKELVIE PROMO FOR NEXT WEEKS DOUBLE BILL!


#HAPPYEARTHDAY 2018! NOT ONLY is it EARTH AWARENESS DAY, but it's also a holiday for CALLUM MCKELVIE who usual gives us his latest PETER CUSHING themed feature on Sunday's! BUT I have posted some banner and links to previous articles from Callum and a little PEEP on what to expect form him, when he is all refreshed and bouncing NEXT SUNDAY! 


CATCH THIS FEATURE RIGHT HERE! 



THE SUNDAY REVIEW ALONG WITH THE ENTIRE FEATURE FILM IS
 RIGHT HERE complete with rare stills gallery!


READ CALLUM MCKELVIE'S FEATURE and watch HORROR EXPRESS


DOUBLE BILL ON TENDRE DRACULA AND INCENSE FOR THE DAMNED 


THE TOP FIVE NON PETER CUSHING FILMS


BOTH HAMMER FRANKENSTEIN CLASSICS WITH GALLERIES OF 
STILLS AND MORE : CLICK HERE! 


THE SKULL AND THE CREEPING FLESH : GIFS STILLS 
AND CALLUM'S FEATURE CREEP HERE!


TWO GREAT FEATURES LOADED UP WITH XTRAS all part of CALLUM's  PASSION for Doctor Who and the TWO CUSHING 'DR WHO' DALEK FEATURE FILMS, RIGHT HERE AND HERE! 


A PEEP AT NEXT WEEKS FEATURE! JOIN US DO!

Thursday 19 April 2018

#THROWBACKTHURSDAY! TARKIN TIME!


OPINIONS ON THE CGI TARKIN that appeared in the 2016 film 'ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY' will probably be forever divided. Some say, it ALMOST works. Others, that it's just not LIFE LIKE, let alone CUSHING as TARKIN. While some like myself believe, it DOES . ..  98% of the time. I have always seen each STAR WARS movie, as a separate movie...despite the continuity thread of the stories. 



EACH FILM IS NEW. Each film has it's own time to entertain and work. Despite whatever the prequel or any other releases signal or flag up, the job is to work. Many audiences today, judge the success and entertainment value, on what has happened before. If it is a remake, a sequel of prequel, it takes that test. It applies for completely NEW films too, with NO association to a series or similar theme.


WE SUSPECTED here at PCAS, like many others, that the CGI was coming. Just for a short time, CUSHING was BUZZING! When the release of the film arrived, newspapers, tv news, magazines and the net, carried opinions and images. For five months, CGI brought Peter Cushing BACK to world. I think ROGUE ONE is an amazing film and the appearance of a CGI Peter Cushing as Tarkin, is magic. For me, it always will be . . 






LITTLE DID PETER CUSHING  know back in 1976, when he was shooting STAR WARS, that one little decision he made, after feeling the PINCH of his leather TARKIN boots, talk about his performance would not only be about how he played such a tyrant . .  but the word SLIPPERS, would also be forever associated too.   





NEXT WEEK: CHRISTOPHER LEE'S TIME WITH STAR WARS AND DOOKU!

Wednesday 18 April 2018

QUESTIONS AND GIFS TO TAX YOUR KNOWLEDGE! ITS GIF WEDNESDAY!


#CUSHINGGIFWEDNESDAY! HERE IS is week's selection of animated sequences from some of the BEST films of PETER CUSHING and as usual, a few quizy questions, to test you on your knowledge of CUSHING'S work and life. IF you think you have the answer to ANY zip us a quick email to the PCAS account and if you get them all on the BUTTON, we'll celebrate your very neat achievement by creating and  posting your very own BANNER the week after here at our next #CUSHINGGIFWEDNESDAY! Good luck! HERE is our email: petercushingpcas@gmail.com


HERE IS A ROLE which  CHRISTOPHER LEE said he enjoyed very much. It is a shame that it didn't do that well at the box office. WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THIS FILM? THE FILM ENCOUNTERED A PROBLEM DURING PRODUCTION, WHAT WAS THAT PROBLEM? THE CAT IN THE FILM WAS ACTUALLY, a) CHRISTOPHER LEE'S b) STEPHEN WEEKS THE DIRECTOR'S c) PETER CUSHING'S?




HAMMER FILMS, TWINS OF EVIL stars PETER CUSHING as Gustav Weil and DAMIEN THOMAS as Count KARNSTEIN. THOMAS was born in a) WALES? b) LONDON c) EGYPT d) FRANCE.  The film  is part of the KARNSTEIN TRILOGY. IS IT THE SECOND OR THIRD ENTRY IN THE TALE? There were quite a few RATS on the floor of the set on THIS CRYPT. HOW DID THEY GET THE RATS TO STAY IN SHOT? a) WITH STRINGS? b) THE RATS WERE ANIMATED AND NOT REAL? c) WITH PEANUT BUTTER? d) WITH CHEESE?



JAMES VILLIERS and CHARLOTTE TRAMPLING in AMICUS FILMS ASYLUM in 1972. VILLIERS was quite a prolific actor, who nearly always played sardonic and upper class gentlemen. He worked for both AMICUS and HAMMER FILMS. HOW MANY FILMS DID HE APPEAR IN FOR HAMMER FILMS? VILLIERS appeared to be of aristocratic background, BECAUSE HE WAS A DESCENDANT OF THE EARLS OF CLARENDON. TRUE or FALSE?  Descendant of the Earls of Clarendon.




MORE ON AMICUS, ASYLUM, CUSHING AND VILLIERS in our PCAS FEATURE. JUST CLICK HERE!


CHRISTOPHER LEE as COUNT DRACULA being assisted by Hammer films regular actor, THORLEY WALTERS as  Ludwig in DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966). WALTERS MADE HOW MANY FILMS IN WHICH PETER CUSHING APPEARED TOO? IN HOW MANY SHERLOCK HOLMES FILMS DID WALTERS APPEAR?

LAST WEEKS ANSWERS: The BEST and MOST CONCISE answers we received to  all FIVE of the questions came from MARCIA LOISEL. . . and HERE they are!

QUESTION ONE: THE INTERIORS in this GIF from THE MUMMY was filmed WHERE? WHICH TWO ACTORS who appeared in this film, originally wanted to be an OPERA SINGERS?

ANSWER ONE: The Mummy's interiors were shot at Bray Studios, Down Place. One of the actors who had wanted to be an opera singer was Christopher Lee. The OTHER name we were looking for WAS Yvonne Furneaux!

QUESTION TWO: NAME THE TITLE OF THIS FILM, name the ACTRESS in this shot AND which very famous ACTOR did THE actor almost REPLACE in a BLOCK BUSTER SCI FI film based on a TV series AND WHICH ACTOR was playing SHERLOCK HOLMES in the TV series he once appeared in?

ANSWER TWO: The title of the film in the GIF was 'Twins of Evil'. The actress playing Countess Mircalla is Katya Wyeth. Unknown to many, DAMIEN THOMAS was primed to take the role of SPOOK from Leonard Nimoy in the first STAR TREK movie. Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes in the DEVIL FOOT episode that THOMAS appeared in for Granada television. .

QUESTION THREE: The GIF was of PETER CUSHING in the BBC TV series SHERLOCK HOLMES and production of THE BLUE CARBUNCLE. Cushing  used a magnifying glass in quite a few FILMS. HOW MANY can you name? GIVE US the TITLES!

ANSWER THREE: Marcia certainly provided the BEST answer we received to this question. Her answer was . . . Top Secret, Hound of the Baskervilles, Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas, Curse of Frankenstein, Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell, The Creeping Flesh, The Mummy, The Skull, Horror Express, Blood Beast Terror. He didn't use but handed a magnifying glass to Watson in Masks of Death. . . and we will go with that!

QUESTION FOUR: CAN YOU NAME the COUNTRY where this film was released in 1980?  This film also had a member of the cast who was more famous as a theatrical performer and street artist! NAME that cast member! Can you name one of the alternative  TITLES that this film was also know as? titles 

ANSWER FOUR: featured a gif from the Cushing film, FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE.  showing Ian Ogilvy in The Door. In 1980 the film was released in the USA as a re-release. The actor who was famous as a theatrical performer and street artist was Marcel Steiner. The alternative titles: Creatures From Beyond the Grave, Tales From Beyond the Grave, Tales From the Beyond, The Undead, The Creatures.

QUESTION FIVE: This question has been made VOID as we were given THE WRONG INFO!!!!!

Tuesday 17 April 2018

TOO COOL TUESDAY TOUGHY QUESTION AND LAST WEEKS ANSWER


SINCE PETER CUSHING'S PASSING IN 1994, some interesting details about his career and life have surfaced, for sure. I suspect many in the industry knew about this, and this little fact has been several  published, but I suspect that this might get many you thinking. IF you do think you know the answer and want to added to the banner of 'those who cracked it' next week. Drop me a line : petercushingpcas@gmail.com . . . ANSWER NEXT WEEK. LAST WEEKS TOUGHY ANSWER BELOW . . .




THE ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S TUESDAY TOUGHY!
THIS CORRECT ANSWER COMES FROM MARCIA, who correctly identified the THREE following CUSHING SHERLOCK productions. But THERE IS we find, ANOTHER one TOO! MARCIA'S answers are:  


ANSWERS:
1) The Abbot's Cry, the follow-up to Masks of Death.
2) Peter was offered a part in Jeremy Brett's 'The Last Vampyre' as the clergyman Merrydew
3) Not positive about this one, but producer Kevin Francis wanted to remake 'Hound of the Baskervilles' with the Hound animated by Ray Harryhausen, with Peter as Sherlock.



THE ADDITIONAL entry is what was to have been a one man show with Cushing as Sherlock. Peter passed on the opportunity and another actor filled the role.

Worth noting is Marcia's kind message about the website too! "Thanks for the notice on the Zoo Gang bluray and the great Doctor Who article. As neat as Moffat's including Peter's Doctor is, I still think of Peter's Doctor as an actual part of the canon, not just as an actor playing a role. I love his two films as the Doctor. And finally, I love The Last Meeting clips!! I watch them repeatedly and enjoy every minute. Look forward to this page everyday!"
Best wishes!
Marcia Loisel 

MOMENT OF TERROR MONDAY! LET THEM ALL SEE! TWINS SHOCKER!


#PETERCUSHING Moment of Terror Monday. School teachers have quite a hard job to do these days, but had they been around back in the day, and worked in the school where Gustav Weil's nieces attended, today would seem like working in Disneyland! This weeks Moment of Terror clip, features one of Peter Cushing best villains. 



HE RARELY EVER PLAYED what would be thought of a visual 'monster', fangs or face of fright, but characters like his BARON FRANKENSTEIN were outstanding, and 'UNCLE' Gustav comes very close to passing the Baron's line. Gustav doesn't kill to create, far from it, he murders to SAVE! TWINS OF EVIL is one of Hammer films better films of the 1970's. It ticks the box for so many who would have seen it back in the day, moments of terror, vampires, a head male vamp, the dreaded Hammer Karnstein's, Hammer's trick of providing eye candy for the dirty mac brigade . . they are still with us... and executions! By BURNING THEM! 



 THE PCAS 'TWINS OF EVIL' FEATURE AND GALLERY CAN BE FOUND RIGHT HERE!


LOTS TO LIKE about this films, if you have not seen it. Beautiful cinematography, lighting, musical score, direction, 80% of the performances are very good and Peter Cushing roaringly evil, on a race and crusade to stamp out vampirism, where not even his family are safe! In this clip Gustav provides what could have been the greatest moment in a biology lesson. A bit off key for a music lesson though . .




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