A MODEL FIGURE OF EXCELLENCE : GILLMAN PRODUCTIONS

HERE ARE FOUR VERY IMPRESSIVE quarter scale figures of Peter Cushing, cast in resin by talented sculptor Jeff Yagher for Paul Gill's company, Gillman Productions. The  Van Helsing figure is part of their ongoing 'Hammer' series and along with Governer Tarkin, these I believe are unlimited editions. These figures belong to Mark' personal collection, BUT if you are interested and want to learn more about how you could own your own copies of these figures, ordering and prices, just skip along JUST CLICK HERE!  MANY thanks to Mark Jenkins for sharing these! What do you thnk of them??  - Marcus

 

ABOVE: A BRILLIANTLY DETAILED rasin figure of Peter Cushing as Phillip from 'The House That Dripped Blood' / 'Waxworks' story ... having had the chop, from Salome! This is a very cool creation of Peter's head, which actually looks far better than the actual head that appeared in this segment of the film. A very nice touch is that lovely detail on the Salome face being half skull, something that featured on some of the publicity Quad Crown Cinema posters. On many later VHS and DVD releases substituted the face of Salome with the face of a fanged #IngridPitt, snarling holding the platter! Ingrid appears in 'The Cloak' story, with Jon Pertwee and Geoffrey Bayldon, as Carla... with a secret 😊 This is a real quality figure, here awaiting it's paint job, that interprets the characters in this story very well. Can't wait to images of this when finished! - Marcus 

 

ABOVE: WE HAVE SEEN many figures of Peter Cushing's Grand Moff Tarkin, and this one is a very good one indeed. I can't see anything that looks off, wrong. I have heard many sculptors explain the Cushing is a difficult face to get right. Well, they certainly got it right and spot on here -Marcus 

 

ABOVE: PETER CUSHING AS ARTHUR GRIMSDYKE from 'Poetic Justice' a segment of the Amicus film, 'Tales from the Crypt' This figure has everything right, the clothing, the colour of the jacket, the teeth and the hair. Again this is a figure that others have tried, but nearly of of them did have the detail this one has. The heart is a nice touch too... and looks real. I think that is the clincher in all these figures, even more so when painted, as this one is... they look very real! Another great figure... - Marcus 

 

ABOVE: AND FINALLY, the completed, painted Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. I think it's a mix of both the 1958 Dracula and Brides of Dracula... but more Brides with the very cool additions on the based of the bust. I am not sure about the colour of Cushing's coat. But the coat text / fur looks great, as does Peter's face and hair. I have also shared these images and details, over at the Facebook PCASuk Fan Page today, please feel free to visit the post and in the comments thread, tell us what do you think??? - Marcus

 

YOU ARE MOST WELCOME TO JOIN US and over 34,000 others Peter Cushing followers at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features and prize competitions.. 

all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing  OBE 

RAID YOUR PIGGY BANK CASTLE DRACULA IS UP FOR SALE AGAIN : REMEMBERING HAMMER'S FIRST VOLUPTUOUS VAMP!

NEWS! Bran Castle, also know as the “Dracula’s Castle,” in Transylvania is up for sale, with a frightening £47 million (around $80 million price tag!😊 Now before we get too excited, as I sure most of you will be well aware, but you can never be too sure, THIS Castle is not the fine and quite frightening, Castle Dracula as seen in #PeterCushing's and #ChristopherLee 1958 Hammer film, 'Dracula' ... Nope this one, as you can see has none of genius set designer, Bernard Robinson's fantastic set dressing of lush drapes, twisted Turkish pillars, fab red and gold beautiful flak wallpaper, four poster beds and well... coffins! But THIS castle does have a horrifying history too, and shockingly, in this case, it's ALL TRUE! 

 

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS THE NOTORIOUS #BranCastle, a 13th-century palace near Brasov. It has had a long list of previous owners: from Saxons to Teutonic knights. But its most famous occupant was . . Prince Vlad the Impaler, an historical warlord who inspired Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, “Dracula”. For many years, this has been part of a tourist attraction. 

 

ACCORDING TO THE UK 'newspaper', the #DailyTelegraph , the castle is now owned by descendants of Britain’s Queen Victoria (Yikes! three siblings in their 70s with the last name “Habsburg”) after it was restored to their control following the collapse of communism. The main problem of the 57-room, 22-acre castle is the lack of lavatories and bathrooms. ( I never saw Dracula go to the loo or take a shower did you? So, no need 😉 ) These were provided for the tourist visitors, but were ripped out of the residential part of the castle by the communist regime.

 

EACH YEAR, 560,000 people pay £4 to visit the fortress. Even though there is a theory this castle, isn't  actually the home that Vlad actually nestled in at all! When this feature was posted and shared yesterday, at Facebook PCASuk Fan Page, many of you kindly shared your personal snaps you have taken on YOUR holiday trips to the area, and visited Bran AND Castle  Poinari, which is thought to be THE Castle Dracula! The castle is a ruin sadly, without roof, but has impressive views, but not as appealing and interesting to market to tourists, as Bran I guess. 

 

 

ABOVE: One of Castle Bran's authentic claims to fame is that it WAS visited by another DRACULA! Christopher Lee visited and strolled around the grounds, during the making of the 1975 documentary, 'IN SEARCH OF DRACULA' in full period costume, Lee is a dead ringer for VLAD TEPES DRACULA, aka VLAD THE IMPALER, the military governor, or prince whose cruel methods of punishing his enemies gained notoriety in 15th-century Europe...and that is why Bram Stoker, adapted some of Vlad's activities, to form his story of 'DRACULA' in his 1897 novel! 

 

DOING A LITTLE RESEARCH, I found that the whole business of the sale of Bran castle over the past few years has had more resurrections than Christopher Lee's Dracula and bit of a contradiction. So I have tried sourcing materials, to get to the basement / cellars of the story. Some of the issues are founded in promotion for a tourism based business, with the hope of selling the castle to another owner maybe holding several other attractions as part of their portfolio and even though the site was up for sale up to and beyond 2016, it seems if a ANOTHER prospective buyer was to claim interest, no doubt the cycle of publicity would be generated again. In our current climate, which has been fatal to some tourism sites, any publicity is, good publicity. 

 

IT CAN'T BE EASY for the man who actually owns “Dracula's castle” as he really wishes we wouldn't call it that. Seventy-nine-year-old Dominic Habsburg, spent his childhood at Bran Castle, where his grandparents Queen Marie and King Ferdinand I lived. He inherited the 14th-century castle in 2006.  Do you have deep pockets, need no loo or WC? Then, maybe this could be your dream cosy abode 😊- Marcus

 

REMEMBERING actress Valerie Gaunt: Valerie's short career on the big screen featured only in two films, and they were along side Peter Cushing. Just two roles, but they left a lasting impact, that would outlast many longer career! Her playing of Justine in 'The Curse of Frankenstein' (1957) and her performance in Hammer films,1958 'Dracula' hold a special place for lovers of fantasy cinema.

 

ABOVE : Our FULL FEATURE with RARE UNPUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPH GALLERY on actress VALERIE GAUNT you can FIND HERE!

 

BORN Valerie Shelia Gaunt, on the 9th July 1932 in Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, England, following an interest in amateur theatre, after leaving school embarked on a career as a model, before auditioning for Hammer and landing her first professional role in 1957. Gaunt married her husband Gerald Alfred Reddington on May 17th,1958. Valerie was survived by her husband, Gerald and their four children. . . 

 

YOU ARE MOST WELCOME TO JOIN US and over 34,000 others Peter Cushing followers at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features and prize competitions.. all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing  OBE      

HAVE YOU NOT GUESSED? #BANSHEESTUDIOS LATEST FIGURE #PETERCUSHING #AMICUS TERROR!

OF THE MANY POLLS and votes we have shared over the years, on the question of your favourite #PeterCushing role in an #Amicusfilm, it is usually a fight to the top role, and this one often wins.. Peter Cushing as Dr Schreck aka 'Dr Terror' in the 1965 film 'Dr Terror's House of Horrors'.

 

SO, IT IS PERHAPS, NO SURPRISE that the talented and skilled sculpture and artist Russell Robie of #BansheeStudiosUK chose Schreck as the latest figure to add to their already impressive gallery of amazing figures. The figure/ bust stands at 10 inches tall . . .

 

THE FIGURE IS QUARTER SCALE, comes in ten pieces and is part of a very limited edition. I personally think, it's his best figure yet! If you want to see more, have a look through the gallery of stills here in this post . . and for more details, why not take a short and careful click-trip, over to the Banshee Studios UK Facebook Page.. BUT DON'T go by train 😏😆

 

 

 

YOU ARE MOST WELCOME TO JOIN US and over 34,000 others Peter Cushing followers at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features and prize competitions.. all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing  OBE     

MARY COLLINSON 1952 - 2021

FOLLOWING THE VERY SAD NEWS, of the passing of actress, MARY COLLINSON announced at the Facebook PCASuk Fan Page Fan yesterday, here are a few more photographs of Mary, on set when she appeared with her late twin sister, Madeleine alongside #PeterCushing in #Hammerfilms '#TwinsOfEvil' in 1971, plus a few candid ones. 

 

BOTH MARY AND MADELEINE, made just a few appearances together at meetings and conventions in the UK, during the last 30 years, with Madeleine sadly passing in 2014.  Probably the most outstanding appearance was during a 'rare ticket' event, organised by Donald Fearney in London... where both Mary and Madeleine wore their costumes, along with actor Damien Thomas from 'Twins of Evil' and a banquet with Count Karnstein and the Weils sisters.. was quite an evening!! If you have any pics of when you met Mary or Madeleine or both, please feel free to share them over on the thread at the PCASuk facebook fan page. Thank you - Marcus

 

YOU ARE MOST WELCOME TO JOIN US and over 34,000 others Peter Cushing followers at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features and prize competitions.. all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing  OBE   

WIN #SCREAMFACTORY 'THE VAMPIRE LOVERS' #HAMMERFILM REMASTERED BLU RAY!

 

NOW LIVE AND LAUNCHED TODAY, on the ANNIVERSARY of, star of 'The Vampire Lovers'  actress #INGRIDPITT's BIRTHDAY, our PCASuk COMPETITION, where you could win your very own copy of #ScreamFactory's, remastered blu ray! 

 

THIS PCASuk COMPETITION can ONLY be entered at our Facebook PCASuk Fan Page. You have a choice one of TWO questions to answer! To enter the competition, just send your answer to us via the Facebook Page MESSAGE BUTTON only. The competition CLOSES at MIDNIGHT GMT Saturday 18th December 2021. Do have FUN and Good Luck!

 

BELOW our FULL SPEC of the Scream Factory blu ray of 'The Vampire Lovers' Collectors Edition with full extras content! The blu ray has a street release date of DECEMBER 21st 2021 and is a REGION A release.

 

 

SYNOPSIS:

'A diabolical female vampire ravages the young girls and other townsfolk of a peaceful hamlet in eighteenth century Europe in revenge for the killing of her fellow vampires years earlier. A rousing hunt for the vampiress ensues as a group of men follow her bloody trail of terror through the countryside. Adapted from J. Sheridan Le Fanu's novella Carmilla, this "rather erotic Hammer chiller" (Leonard Maltin) stars Ingrid Pitt (Countess Dracula), Madeline Smith (Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell) and Peter Cushing (Horror Of Dracula, The Curse Of Frankenstein)'.

 

EXTRA FEATURES

• NEW 4K Scan From The Original Camera Negative
• NEW Audio Commentary With Film Historian/Author Dr. Steve Haberman And Film Historian/Filmmaker Constantine Nasr
• NEW The Rapture Of Cruelty: Carmilla In Classic Cinema – An Audio Essay Read By Actress Madeline Smith
• NEW To Love A Vampire – An Introduction By Actress Madeline Smith
• NEW Carnal Crimson – Film Historian/Author Kim Newman On The Carmilla Legend
• NEW Fangs For The Memories – Film Historian/Author Jonathan Rigby Remembers THE VAMPIRE LOVERS
• Audio Commentary With Director Roy Ward Baker, Actress Ingrid Pitt, And Screenwriter Tudor Gates
• Audio Commentary With Film Historians Marcus Hearn And Jonathan Rigby

• Feminine Fantastique – Resurrecting THE VAMPIRE LOVERS
• New Blood: Hammer Enters The 70s – Film Historians Discuss Hammer Films During The 70s
• Madeline Smith: Vampire Lover – An Interview With Actress Madeline Smith
• Reading Of Carmilla By Actress Ingrid Pitt
• Deleted Shot Of The Opening Beheading
• Trailers From Hell: Mick Garris On THE VAMPIRE LOVERS
• Theatrical Trailer
• Radio Spots
• Photo Galleries – Movie Stills, Behind-The-Scenes Stills, Posters, And Lobby Cards

DISCS: ONE RUNNING DURATION: 88mins  ASPECT RATIO: 1:85:1  COLOUR: COLOUR  LANGUAGE: ENGLISH  REGION: A  RATING: R  SUBTITLES: ENGLISH  

 

 YOU ARE MOST WELCOME TO JOIN US and over 34,000 others Peter Cushing followers at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE! With posts every day, rare images and photographs, features and prize competitions.. all celebrating the LIFE and CAREER of Peter Cushing  OBE