Sunday, 7 January 2018

NOW IS THE TIME! SHOW YOUR SUPPORT AND MAKE THIS HAPPEN!


THIS POST WILL BE UPDATED OVER THE NEXT NINE DAYS! COME BACK FOR UPDATES AND PROGRESS!

THE CONVERSATION? IT WENT LIKE THIS. 'To pull something like that off, you'd have to have lots of added value' 'How do mean?' 'Well, working in that genre the audience expects to see names.' 'Names?' 'Yes, that's why something like this would never happen!. You have to have a cast that features prominent names that are associated with THE studio.' 'Oh, I see. Well, he's got them!' There was a three second pause. One 'What?' One for 'Did you just say just say, what I think you said?' and the last for, 'You DID!' 'And the concept?' "Yes?' 'Well, that's going to be amazing. What an amazing opportunity!'
 

THIS CONVERSATION happened over the phone, as I write, was four days ago.  I am talking to a close friend. Someone who I have known since we were teens. I went on to work in television and lecturing, he became an award winning script-writer, working in an international multi award winning show, with a cast made up of directors and actors with very respected names, the majority some of the most experienced and trusted actors in the business. He's a little jaded now. There isn't much that makes his eyes sparkle, make him sit up and listen. This conversation went on for another hour.  I was enjoying hearing him get just as excited as I am about this . . . .


'LET ME WRITE THIS DOWN. And, this is the guy we spoke about previously. 'The Dracula AD 2015?' guy?" 'Yeah!'   ''Remind me. His name?' 'Joshua Kennedy' 'And, the title?' 'House of The Gorgon!'. I could hear his smile down the phone. 'Of course. It had to be! Ha'





 
SO WE HAVE FOLLOWED JOSH KENNEDY'S journey over the past few weeks, as he launched his INDIEGO CAMPAIGN PAGE  the updates on THE HOUSE OF THE GORGON YOUTUBE CHANNEL and the HOUSE OF THE GORGON FACEBOOK FAN PAGE. It's a gamble. It seems there have been a few HAMMER film projects launched over the past few years. One in particular asked for a sizeable budget, for a concept that was nothing new, but seemed to get fans of the Hammer flicks excited. Sadly, fingers got burned. ...Cue 'I told you so'.... If it looks too good to be true, based on past experiences of some the people who were involved with that project, then you can bet it certainly is!

THE RISKS
'We are all professionals. Aside from the decades of experience our actors have in show business, writer-director Joshua Kennedy has written, produced, and directed fourteen feature films entirely on his own... in less than seven years... with little to no budget for any of them! The possibilities to make movie magic with this cast are endless with your help.' The HOUSE OF THE GORGON Indiegogo Campaign Site 

OTHER WAYS TO HELP!
Times are hard, it's that time of year, and if you are not able to contribute to this project... no problem!You CAN help by sharing this campaign with your family, friends, neighbors, pets, Hammer fans, Classic Universal fans, vampires living in your basement....The more we can spread the word, the better. How many chances will we ever have to see these FOUR TITANS TOGETHER in a Gothic Horror film? Let's make this happen! THE HOUSE OF THE GORGON Indiegogo Campaign Site 






AS JOSH SAYS in his promo trailer, 'This might be the last opportunity to see FOUR Hammer film actors appear together in a film!'. That fact alone, has to be worth some serious consideration, of an Hammer film fan?  I remember my youngest daughter asking me one time, many moons ago, 'Dad. how do you eat an elephant?' To which I replied, 'I have no idea, Lucy' 'ONE MOUTHFUL AT A TIME! She screamed laughing! She has a point. It's a sizeable budget, but even a dollar, ten dollars, twenty five dollars, as a contribution, all goes ion the pot. And eventually, he would get that budget. Problem is of course is, TIME. As I wrote there are just NINE DAYS until the closing of the INDIEGO CAMPAIGN PAGE. So, if you feel THIS IS something you would like to get behind, NOW is the time to send that lolly! No matter how small, it ALL adds to the total. THE HOUSE OF THE GORGON has a FLEXIBLE GOAL on Indigo. Basically, that means, the campaign will receive ALL the money it has raised even of it doesn't reach it's goal! So, you are backing a production, where the contributions really do count! I would LOVE to see this happen. Wouldn't you?




THE STORY 

The year is 1896 and the lovely Isobel Banning travels with her mother Anna to the village of Carlstadt to marry her university sweetheart Dr. Julian Pritchard.

Along their journey they meet the mysterious Father Llewellyn, the local priest, who refuses to explain why the villagers appear to be in a state of mortal fear... as if the town is hiding a terrible secret.

Frightened and confused, Isobel and Anna readily accept an invitation from Dr. Pritchard to stay with him and his aunt, the Baroness Bartov, in their large chateau overlooking the town... unaware of the ancient horror that lies within.

THE CAST



CAROLINE MUNRO AS BARONESS BARTOV
Embedded in the minds of fans worldwide for her work in AT THE EARTH’S CORE and THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD, Caroline Munro's stunning looks also made her an easy victim for Christopher Lee's Dracula in DRACULA AD 1972, and a vicious thwart to Roger Moore's James Bond in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. Her numerous fans throughout the globe have unanimously dubbed her "The First Lady of Fantasy."


MARTINE BESWICKE AS EURYALE
Martine currently holds the rare distinction of being one of the few "Bond Women" to participate in two James Bond films: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and THUNDERBALL; both opposite Sean Connery. She is also famous for her work in Hammer films fighting Raquel Welch in ONE MILLION YEARS B.C., lording over a kingdom of cavewomen in PREHISTORIC WOMEN and, of course, as the vicious villainess in DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE.


VERONICA CARLSON AS ANNA BANNING
Veronica is probably best known throughout the world for her career-defining performances in two of the greatest Gothic Hammer Films of all time acting opposite Christopher Lee's Dracula in DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE and Peter Cushing's Baron Frankenstein in FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED. Her other film roles include THE HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE GHOUL.


CHRISTOPHER NEAME AS FATHER LLEWELLYN
Known primarily for his role as Johnny Alucard in Hammer's DRACULA AD 1972, Christopher Neame has had an incredibly lengthy film and stage career, including the titular role in Shakespeare's ROMEO AND JULIET, guest roles on DOCTOR WHO, STAR TREK, THE A-TEAM, and Timothy Dalton's James Bond film LICENSE TO KILL. Christopher also played Chuck Norris’ antagonist, the Devil himself, in the film HELLBOUND.


GEORGINA DUGDALE AS ISOBEL BANNING
Having completed her Bachelors in “Costume for Performance” at the London College of Fashion, Georgina has also chosen to pursue acting through her membership in the National Youth theatre, the RADA Youth Group, and the Tricycle Youth Theatre. In addition, Georgina has also performed in a number of films including BECOMING, FOX TRAP, DRESS REHEARSAL, directed by Sam and George Clemens, and THE MILKY WAY, winner of “The Best No-Budget Feature” at the London Independent Film Festival.


JOSHUA KENNEDY AS DR. PRITCHARD
Joshua Kennedy is the 23 year-old writer, producer, and director of fourteen feature films. A graduate of Pace University in New York City, he has been nominated for four Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards for, among other things, his tributes to Gothic horror: DRACULA A.D. 2015 and THE NIGHT OF MEDUSA. His latest film, THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR, premiered at the Monster Bash Convention this past summer and is now available on DVD from oldies.com.

PAST JOSHUA KENNEDY AND GOOEY FILM PRODUCTIONS:




REMEMBER! 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    

WHEN MELVYN HAYES MET CHRISTOPHER LEE . . AGAIN!


#CHRISTOPHERLEESATURDAY! WHEN ACTOR MELVYN HAYES met Christopher Lee many years after he played a young Baron Frankenstein to Peter Cushing adult Baron in Hammer films first Frankenstein film, 'The Curse of Frankenstein' (1957) Christopher Lee was a virtual unknown actor at the time he appeared in the film as the 'creation' / 'monster' . .. which both Hayes and Peter 'MADE' in the movie. . . . .cringe....


THE VERY FIRST TIME I ever saw MELVYN HAYES, was on the big screen in a SATURDAY MORNING FILM CLUB for children when I was about nine years old. He played a character called ALBERT, that I loved very much, in a weekly film serial that was screened as part of the morning's entertainment called, Here Comes The Double Deckers!'. It was produced by the UK Children Film Foundation, which I believe provide funded by RANK CINEMAS, who provided all the films we watched. Maybe some of you from the UK may remember this?


IN THE COURSE of my duties managing PCASUK in the 80's I finally got to meet Melvyn. He was extremely friendly, loved to talk and share stories. Melvyn also appeared in other films that starred Peter Cushing, 'VIOLENT PLAYGROUND' (1958) which as he said, is a REAL time piece and as Daft Jamie in 'FLESH AND THE FIENDS' (1960) and finally in,  'A TOUCH OF SUN' (1980) which was one of the lost film features in our 'LESSER SEEN PETER CUSHING FILMS' season. It can be seen at our PCAS YOUTUBE CHANNEL 



REMEMBER! 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  

Friday, 5 January 2018

WATCH BATTLEFLAG AKA THE STANDARD LESSER SEEN CUSHING FILMS SEASON

BATTLEFLAG AKA THE STANDARD (1977) was the first of four Peter Cushing films that were produced after "Star Wars", that sadly sank without a trace at that time, of their release. Unlike "Son of Hitler," "Touch of the Sun," and "Black Jack," this co-production between West Germany, Austria, and Spain never found a distributor outside Europe, so never received a theatrical release in the UK or the US. My thanks to Jean Layette, who sourced this film for us to share at our PCAS YOUTUBE Channel and facebook fan page.





REMEMBER! 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 

BEHIND THE SCENES RARE STILLS GALLERY PART ONE: THE CUSHING DOCTOR WHO MOVIES


#THROWBACKTHURSDAY!! PRESENTING  PART ONE of a TWO PART PCAS SPECIAL GALLERY featuring many rare photographs from behind the scenes and ON-SET during the making of the two DALEK / DOCTOR WHO MOVIES starring Peter Cushing, Jennie Linden, Bernard Cribbins, Roy Castle, Jill Curzon and little Roberta Tovey. . . .and of course THE DALEKS. Here is an opportunity to view for many, will familiar scenes for different angles, in stills taken by BERT CANN (DIE2150AD) and TED REED (DWATD) the unsung and uncredited stills camera men who captured many of the images you see below, and in PART TWO of the PETER CUSHING DOCTOR WHO MOVIES GALLERY Part Two, VERY SOON! ENJOY!


YOU CAN FIND a whole TARDIS load of information about DR WHO AND THE DALEKS (1965) AND the sequel movie 'DALEK INVASION EARTH 2150 AD' by clicking THESE BLUE LINKS or clicking the LINKS UNDER the feature BANNERS BELOW!


CLICK FOR PART ONE THIS FEATURE AND GALLERY HERE!


CLICK FOR PART TWO OF THIS  PCAS FEATURE AND GALLERY HERE!


















#THROWBACKTHURSDAY! WE CLOSE GALLERY ONE win a very special photograph. A reunion of the cast of Cushing's 'DR WHO AND THE DALEKS' film from back in 1965. This photograph was snapped at BBC television Centre during the making of the '30 Years In The Tardis' documentary in 1993. The late Roy Castle didn't actually take part in the documentary, as he was working on his BBC show 'RECORD BREAKERS'.


LOOK OUT FOR PART TWO SOON! HERE AT THE PCASUK WEBSITE!



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 . .  

Thursday, 4 January 2018

GIFS WEDNESDAY REMEMBER MILLAND AND THE DOCTOR PAYS A VISIT TOMORROW!


IT'S ENOUGH TO PUT you off chest freezers for life! What a wicked way to go though? Here is MICHAEL TODD, matinee idol of the 40's and 50's. appearing in AMICUS FILM 'ASYLUM' (1972) As ever, Milton Subotsky, pulled together a fine cast, with then likes of Peter Cushing, Barry Morse, Sylvia Syms, Charlotte Rampling, Patrick Magee, Herbert Lom, James Villiers, Geoffrey Bayldon and Britt Ekland. All fine actors with long careers and experience behind them . . part of the secret that made the Hammer films and Amicus movies so entertaining were the actors, who knew their trade, not only gave value in the billing, to get bottoms on seats, but were very good at their jobs! Amicus may have low budgets, and were often seen as a bit low brow . . .but how often did a mainstream entertainment film carry a cast like this one??


POOR OL ROBERT HELLER, his plan appeared to be going like clock-work in Hammer films 'FEAR IN THE NIGHT' (1972), the last thing he expected under that sheep was MOLLY! Me too. I have mentioned this before, but I must be one of the few, certainly in my group of friends, who watches a movie, I mean WATCHES the movie. I get so pulled in by the story, I am not distracted by trying to work out, what happens next. So, this film was very enjoyable for me! When we met and interviewed RALPH BATES and JUDY GEESON back in the early 1980's, the memory of making this film and working with Peter, was still very fresh in the minds. They LOVED it. But, I don't think Joany, did though.....! Pity.  


PROBABLY THE ONE FILM we get request for GIFS from, than any other from Peter Cushing's long career! This chase taken from Hammer films, 'DRACULA' (Horror of Dracula) is one of Hammer's most iconic scenes, it never git better. Fisher repeated a chase through the castle (below) in Hammer's next Van Helsing film, good as it was, it didn't reach the drama that this one created. Peter Cushing was a very athletic man and actor . . .he swam in the sea ever morning, at his beach-side home in Whistable!! Christopher Lee, not so much. In fact, I have spent some time while posting these gifs, thinking of I have ever seen Christopher RUN in any other films? I can't think of any. Cushing was graceful, Lee despite highly skilled at mime which he studied was, by his own admission quite a clumsy man! But, with the help of some technical twiddling, dubbing OUT Dracula footsteps, during this chase, he whips along like a hunted gazelle! 


PETER CUSHING AS VAN HELSING chases Baron Meinster, though the chateau in Hammer films, 'THE BRIDES OF DRACULA' (1960). Again, like the 1958 DRACULA, this scene was shot at Hammer's home studio at Bray. A small studio, with not very big stages at this time. But, if you look carefully, you can spot many props and furniture, that Van Helsing would have past, during his early chase scene with DRACULA in 1958!


WE CAN'T LET TODAY go by with remembering this chap! The much loved and  very talented actor Ray Milland, whose screen career lasted from the 30's all the way into the 80's… and covered multiple genres with his most notable films being The Lost Weekend (1945) (for which he won an Oscar) , Dial M For Murder (1954) and the horror classic's The Premature Burial (1962) X The Man with the X-ray eyes (1963) both for Roger Corman. He starred with Peter Cushing in The Uncanny (1977) and The Masks Of Death (1985) ….. Do you have a favorite Milland film?


LARGE PHOTOGRAPH SCAN: Here's a wonderful behind the scenes shot from Dalek Invasion Earth 2150 AD, one of many . . . . plus a few unseen pics from the film... I'll be sharing here tomorrow, for #Throwbackthursday. In the film, this scene really does look like an exterior location. Lighting camera men really knew there jobs back then, and the crews worked hard to archive great results like this one. LOOK carefully and you can spot one, way up in the lighting gantry, just over RAY BROOKS, who is standing on the set demolished building . . MORE TOMORROW! SEE BELOW!



THE FIRST of a TWO PART GALLERY featuring behind the scene rare images and photographs from BOTH Peter Cushing DOCTOR WHO DALEK movies from the 60s! PART ONE ARRIVES HERE TOMRROW #THROWBACKTHURSDAY!



REMEMBER! 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  

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