Monday 12 March 2012
Sunday 11 March 2012
PETER CUSHING, CHRISTOPHER LEE, VINCENT PRICE AND JOHN CARRADINE: HOUSE OF THE LONG SHADOWS: THE STORY BEHIND THE MAKING OF THE FILM!
'HOUSE OF THE LONG SHADOWS' A CAST TO DIE FOR! The story behind the script, the film, the edit...Starring Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and John Carradine! Loads of stills and some interesting facts from behind the scenes. Please following link: [http://theblackboxclub.blogspot.com/2011/09/house-of-long-shadows-part-two-cast-to.html]
Friday 9 March 2012
PETER CUSHING, JOHN WILLIAM MITCHELL MBE AND HAMLET: A GREAT PIECE OF CINEMA HISTORY!
PETER CUSHING, JOHN WILLIAM MITCHELL AND HAMLET:
John William Mitchell, MBE (or "Mitch" as he was sometimes known) was a production sound mixer/recordist. His credits included: 'Goodbye, Mr. Chips'; 'Great Expectations'; 'Kind Hearts And Coronets'; 'The Bridge On The River Kwai'; 'From Russia With Love'; 'The Spy Who Came In From The Cold'; 'Live And Let Die'; 'Le Mans'; and 'A Passage To India' among many others. His autobiography, 'Flickering Shadows' was published in 1997. This copy of 'Hamlet The Film And The Play' (published in 1948) belonged to Mitchell and was signed by several members of the cast and crew including: Terence Morgan, Felix Aylmer, Peter Cushing and twice by Laurence Olivier (in 1948 and 1972). Mitchell was sound recorder on 'Hamlet'. He was nominated twice for Academy Awards in the category of Best Sound and worked on over 150 films. This book was auctioned in late-2008 along with several other personal items from Mitchell's private collection.
Wednesday 7 March 2012
PETER CUSHING: EARLY MONSTER MAG FEATURE FROM 1974.
I'LL BE POSTING A NICE LITTLE NOSTALGIA FEATURE SOON ON THE HISTORY OF WHAT WAS PROBABLY THE UK'S MOST POPULAR MONSTER MAGAZINE EVER, 'MONSTER MAG'. IN THE MEANTIME, HERE'S SOMETHING THAT WILL TAKE SOME OF YOU BACK TO YOUR EARLY YEARS OF 'HAMMER WORSHIP'! AN INTERESTING PIECE ON PETER THAT 'MONSTER MAG' PUBLISHED AS PART OF ISSUE FOUR. A BIT SKETCHY WITH THE DETAILS, BUT FOR MANY OF US THIS WAS A REAL TREAT.
Tuesday 6 March 2012
HAMMER FILM PRODUCTIONS: 'DRACULA' 1958 PICTUREGOER MAGAZINE
AHH..I HEAR YOU NOW...THOSE WERE THE DAYS!
Monday 5 March 2012
Sunday 4 March 2012
PETER CUSHING: PAUL MCNAMEE'S PETER CUSHING MARATHON: COLLINSONS INGRID PEEL! LAP THREE
Scoff all you like at that most basic of puns (and really, I AM sorry) but I was chuffed to pieces when I thought of it after the latest of my triple-bill Cushenings. This week’s trio is thematically tied by bosoms bare and bared teeth, and I’ll throw in a little cinematic historical discussion while we’re at it (hey, as long as the history’s Hammer, I’m a grade A student with a major in weak metaphors.)
Twins Of Evil is a misleading title, but Twin Of Evil And The Other Twin hasn’t the same schlocky ring so I’ma let it go. The film opens with a fairly weak scene in which a witch (aha) is burned for her presumed sins under the authority of Gastav Weil (pronounced Vile, and altogether descriptive of his general demeanour). Weil is played by Cushing of course, and at first I had trouble getting into the film as Christian crusaders against the morally unjust really turns me right off a movie, but it wasn’t long before the sheer energy of Cushing’s performance won me over (I think it was around about the time he roars “by BURNING THEM!” in response to a query on how best to deal with the devil’s dearies) and by the end of the film I was struggling not to root for him despite his general nastiness and unrootforability. I think in any other actor’s hands the role wouldn’t be as sympathetic but this is a Cushing Classic right off the bat and his Weil is unforgettable, from his handling of a cane to his two-fingered point (now officially my favourite point in movie history, and I AM a point enthusiast). His sunken cheeks belie his state of health but there’s no denying that look defines the force of Cushing throughout the decade.
Despite his starring role, at times it feels as though the film is an expose for its titular twins Madeleine and Mary Collinson, Maltese Playmates and occasional actors who don’t help confusion by dressing identically from the very beginning of the film. When they’re introduced they’re observed sharing a coach with an elderly pair who seem to disapprove of their very being young and youthsome, not to mention their Venetian origins (after all, if these girls are from Venice then they’re not from HERE, which won’t do at all. “We didn’t mean to offend you”, the nicer of the sisters offers, but I’ll tell you what I reckon, right, I reckon they DID, for these are no mere twins, but Twins...Of Evil (really driven home as Cushing despairs “the devil has sent me...twins of evil”, which is the best shoehorning of a film’s title into its dialogue I’ve ever seen and won a gen-yoo-ine Arms Up in celebration).
The basic plot of the film is that the twins (OF...oh, I’m sure you know which twins by now) have been sent to live with their God-bothering, Bible-blasting uncle (Weil) who’s swanning about the village looking for wenches to burn to slake his thirst for violence and general bastardry. One such scene sees he and his merry, murderous mob descend upon a woodland shack outside which sits a broom in one of the least intentionally humorous moments in Hammer history. Within, Count Karnstein (the implausibly fey Damien Thomas) is up to badness with a local lovely and his machinations are caught just short of copulation by the invading Weil whose actions point ultimately to a subtly-implied spiritual impotence that, again, in lesser hands would make him hard to get behind. Karnstein is an enjoyable villain but is undermined by Thomas’ resemblance to Rowan Atkinson, making the claret-fond fop look most often like a particularly nasty, camp Edmund Blackadder.
The nasty twin decides to get embroiled with Count Karnstein (whose Matte Painting home is visible from her window) because she’s just a bit of a bad ‘un really, despite her sister’s protests. Soon enough Weil gets wise to her vampirism but not before a bankable switcheroo (if the best episodes of Sister Sister have taught us anything it’s that twins MUST be switched over during the course of any work of fiction starring them). Needless to say promiscuity is punished and prudence praised, though Cushing’s crusades go unrewarded as he plunges to his death, an axe in his back.
Elsewhere, we have an Anton (box: checked), some impressive eyebrows, phallic candle abuse, fairly pervy camera attention paid to the bust of a bust of Karnstein’s ancestor and a character named Ingrid Hopper, Prim And Proper. Fair enough, that’s not her actual title, but it sums her up perfectly and anyway, I’m in charge here, sonny boy. When Karnstein bites the dust we’re treated to the usual Hammer vampire demise of various layers of decomposition but most notably Karny goes bald before decaying into a slab of skull meat. The Cushing Ruckus is fairly ongoing, though his speedy decapitation near the end of the film is easily the highlight. There’s a Hammer Scream in there, too, and what Hammer would be complete without those distinctive ugly gulders wrenched from the throats of poor doomed chaps?
Twins Of Evil is a fairly expensive looking production and I couldn’t help feeling that the nudity cheapened affairs somewhat, though for a film whose driving force concerns sexual attitudes it’s hardly a fair gripe. Most importantly, after a weak start it emerges as a great film, and it’s not only one of the most enjoyable Hammers but one of my favourite Cushing performances to date. Still, if gratuitous boobage annoyed me in Twins, I was hardly prepared for what was to come...
The Vampire Lovers actually precedes Twins Of Evil in Hammer’s oft-called Karnstein Trilogy but the connection is scant and not worth observing them in order or succession. On the whole, the film is a lot weaker thanks in no small part to Sir Pete’s “and Peter Cushing as” credit as opposed to the hallowed “Peter Cushing IN” which spells a starring role and most often something worth looking forward to. Alas, his role here is a supporting one, and coming off the back of Twins Of Evil it suffers in comparison to the sheer bombast of Weil. Still, it was worth it if only to pick up on some Hammer Staples and make a few cackhanded observations about sexuality and the studio’s steady metamorphosis from class to trash.
First off, the Ms in the Hammer title card are in italics which bothered me to no end ‘til I forgot about it seconds later. Confusing further is the night’s second (but chronologically first) appearance of the name Joachim, which I’m hesistant to add to the list of Hammer Staples until I spot a third use, though two films in a row is pretty good going for a new entry. Fairly quickly we’re introduced to a much nicer Matte Painting for our cast to live in (or be murdered at) than that of Twins Of Evil and a spooky prologue set in a spooktacular graveyard just bloody rife with spooktastic spookening. In less infuriating terms, there’s a lady roaming about in a sheet while someone who looks a bit like Doctor Who watches her from a window on high and in a voiceover that soon vanishes altogether informs us that she’s a vampire and he’s wrecked her bed so she just has to wander about until he graciously sends her head on a holiday a few minutes later. Our first Hammer Scream comes early on and is courtesy of a toothy sex git who probably deserved to have it torn from his throat.
As the credits roll I am given double cause for concern as in addition to Sir Pete’s reduced role I spy that one John Forbes Robinson from Legend Of The Dancing Hopping Vampires is also in it. If you don’t recall my not inconsiderable distaste for his big silly self, well, there you have it. I’ve just declared it. Introduced to Cushing, we learn that he’s really just background noise as the film is ultimately a vehicle for the undeniably enthralling Ingrid Pitt. Another Hammer Staple box can be ticked off as within moments we have an INSTANT CARL. Carl, Hans, Paul, Anton – there’s always one...
Moments later (I should mention this is all set at a thoroughly boring looking party) the film’s lesbian agenda is confirmed as one male character comments that dear Ingrid (whose character boasts names innumerable and shall be ‘Ingrid’ throughout) is in fact checking out his girlfwife who, like Ingrid, ALSO HAS OVARIES. An awfully pale Forbes-Robinson enters in a black and red cape and you begin to wonder if there might be something suspicious about him. Also he’s a vampire. At first I thought it might be a sort of red herring, something to throw us off the scent. After all, most of the characters in this film are...shhhhh...(not heretosexual). But no, yeah, he’s totally a vampire. Fangs and everything.
One thing these early scenes hammer (hehehe) home is how much Cushing changed physically in the immediate wake of his wife Helen’s death. Here, around a year beforehand, he is his classic, handsome self, but Twins Of Evil (from a year or so afterwards) presents the later, gaunt and altogether mesmerising Cushing who’s perfectly suited to just about any major villain or even in that film’s case a hero who’s hard to root for.
Now, one of the defining images I had for Hammer before I really began digging into its canon was that sex and gore were the films’ primary ingredients, though a few years’ study has proved that to be the opposite. The majority of Hammer’s 60s output is at best thoughtful, tasteful and often iconic, and at its worst inoffensively redundant or straight-up bad, but it wasn’t until it rolled into its last decade of filmmaking that that nudity quotient really became a calling card, and in terms of mainstream exposure it is this film that serves as that calling card. This isn’t heaving cleavage, this is teeth marks on bared breasts, and it’s less an obsession with sex than smut. Vampirism, as these films go, carries certain sexual connotations by default – this increase in fleshtime is titillation.
The basic scenario isn’t much different from the main Dracula series and on the whole it’s not that compelling either. I would go as far as to say, for all its revolutionary attitudes towards the presentation of sexuality within that medium, it still manages to feel overfamiliar and even a little stale. The typicality of the predator role has been reversed but the victim remains the same. A Hammer film with male vampire fodder may have fared a little better, historically, and I can imagine that the studio thought they’d struck a goldmine with this new “this time, the vampire is a WOMAN...A GAY WOMAN” mindset, not to mention a way of prolonging the ailing franchise, but it’s little more than opportunistic and exploitative from a group that really should know better. Like I said, it’s a solid showcase for Pitt, but not in any real way a good film.
Honestly, once Sir Pete left I basically turned off upstairs. The film ran apace but I didn’t engage with this like I did with Twins Of Evil. Still, I noticed another Hammer Staple in the off-roaded horse and cart, as well a reuse of that shot that appears in Twins Of Evil of the woodland shed in the opening prologue with the broom outside. There’s, um, also, well, there’s a horse named Jupiter, which is cool I guess...
Um...
Yeah. Oh, I was at least mildly amused by another imitation of subversion by having Ingrid’s portrait disingtegrate rather than her actual vampire self like in the rest of the Hammer set, but I’m clutching at straws here and rather fancy nipping off for a sandwich.
Ultimately, Sir Pete is superfluous in this ‘un, and really there’s nothing to see. Well, no, there’s piles and piles of naked ladies to see if that’s your bag, but you’re not on the Naked Ladies Appreciation Society’s website (and if you ARE reading this there, I did NOT authorise this reproduction, you pesky boob fans!)
Skip it.
Last up...
Last night’s final screening (you know, for me and all the dust bunnies in my living room) consisted of Hammer’s second “Dracula” film, The Brides Of Dracula, in which neither Christopher Lee or some gangled substitute make an appearance. Instead, Cushing (as the thoroughly heroic Van Helsing, allowing me to cheer him on without so much as a trace amount of guilt for the first time this night) turns his attention to Baron Meinster, a rather crap vamp who’s making for himself an army of subservient lady wives… and a whole heap of trouble! (That’s how you speak if your life is one big long comedy trailer).
Amongst his conquests is a little French teacher of a thing who agrees to marry him after nothing more than a kiss of the hand, a pair of indistinguishable raven-haired waifs (who Van Helsing is quick to burn alive, er, undead) and, most disturbingly, his own mother, especially when you consider the whole sexual element of cross-gender vampirism.
Now, there, SEE, ya got me doing that! Sigh. I was supposed to watch this film as part of my A-Level Media Studies course way back in my youth but seeing as it wasn’t on DVD then we settled for Horror Of Dracula instead. I’ve not seen it ’til now, and I couldn’t help treating it like the type of film you’re usually exposed to on a course of education. As such, I felt compelled to address (up in my thoughtscape) that the fact the heroine was wearing a red dress in the final scene meant she was in DANGER, as well as developing half-hearted notions about gender scrutiny and identifying symbols and all manner of involuntary media studies reactions. This is the bedrock of film criticism but, as I'm sure you've gathered, it's not how I operate.
That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the film, because despite Lee’s absence it still manages to be one of the better films in the troubled Drac Canon and the face melting, windmill-focused antics of its finale are particularly thrilling, but I couldn’t help feeling a little worn out by it and didn’t make a lot of notes, though I did enjoy seeing Michael Ripper’s childface and there’s a brief appearance by Henry Oscar whose stiff theatrics make the lines “you shameless little hussy” and “I’m no tenant of yours, you young jackass” a riot.
Other than that, it’s the usual yada yada yada, with top notch direction and photography and not a lot to fault. In the end, Vampire Lovers sort of ruined things for me and Twins Of Evil surprised me altogether by setting a benchmark right off the bat. Also, that bat I just mentioned? It’s a vampire bat. Geddit?
NEXT WEEK: AMICUS!
Review: Paul McNamme
Images: Marcus Brooks
Saturday 3 March 2012
HAMMER FRANKENSTEIN FRIDAYS: THIS WEEKS COMPETITION: 'THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN' COLOUR STILL UP FOR GRABS!
ANOTHER GREAT STILL TO BE WON COURTESY OF HORRORUNLIMITED.COM!
Each rare photograph that is offered as a prize in the HAMMER FRANKENSTEIN FRIDAYS competition is developed on professional Kodak ENDURA Metallic paper. It has a glossy finish and striking appearance. This creates an image with exceptional visual interest and depth. In addition to delivering rich, vibrant colors and flattering flesh tones, this exceptional paper offers century-plus image stability.... and it's yours for free in our competitions posted every two weeks!
Saturday 25 February 2012
PETER CUSHING AND THE TUDOR TEA ROOMS VIDEO CLIP
THE TUDOR TEA ROOMS:
A QUICK LOOK AROUND THE TUDOR TEA ROOMS, WHITSTABLE. IN THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS OF PETER'S LIFE MOST DAYS HE WOULD TAKE THE SHORT WALK TO HIS FAVOURITE HAUNT FOR HIS LUNCH.
HE ALWAYS SAT AT HIS RESERVED TABLE, WHERE TODAY A FRAMED PHOTOGRAPH AND PLAQUE BEARING THE INSCRIPTION: 'IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR DEAR PETER CUSHING. A SADLY MISSED FAMILY FRIEND'
A QUICK LOOK AROUND THE TUDOR TEA ROOMS, WHITSTABLE. IN THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS OF PETER'S LIFE MOST DAYS HE WOULD TAKE THE SHORT WALK TO HIS FAVOURITE HAUNT FOR HIS LUNCH.
HE ALWAYS SAT AT HIS RESERVED TABLE, WHERE TODAY A FRAMED PHOTOGRAPH AND PLAQUE BEARING THE INSCRIPTION: 'IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR DEAR PETER CUSHING. A SADLY MISSED FAMILY FRIEND'
Friday 24 February 2012
OUR FIRST WINNER! HAMMER FRANKENSTEIN FRIDAYS COMPETITIONS EVERY FORTNIGHT!
OUR FIRST WINNER! Here's a snap of our first winner in our fortnightly Horror Unlimited / Hammer Frankenstein Fridays Competitions! Colin Beardmore poses proudly here with his prize. A terrific still from Hammer Films 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell'.
'Having been the lucky winner and recipient of the competition at The UK Peter Cushing Appreciation, a few words to endorse what a... lovely surprise and what a fantastic photograph of Shane Briant and Peter Cushing from Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell . It is remarkably reproduced and I seen nothing like this before . Clear imagery which looks like 3 D! Especially the plate of brains in the photograph . Thank you to Marcus for a wonderful gift and for the opportunity to own it . Greatly appreciated!' Colin Beardmore.
We be announcing the WINNER TONIGHT of LAST WEEKS COMPETITION here at petercushing.org.uk. theblackboxclub.com and theukpetercushingappreciationsociety FACEBOOK PAGE.
Tuesday 21 February 2012
PETER CUSHING: 'TORTURE GARDEN' SOWING THE SEEDS! PROMOTION GIMMICKS!
THE TRAILER FOR AMICUS FILM PRODUCTIONS 'TORTURE GARDEN' IN 1967. A TIME WHEN CINEMA WAS FUN AND GIMMICKS TO PUT 'BOTTOMS ON SEATS' WAS PART OF THE GAME. HERE THE PAYING PUBLIC WERE PROMISED A PACKET OF 'SEEDS' TO GROW THEIR OWN 'TORTURE GARDEN'!
PETER CUSHING JACK PALANCE: 'TORTURE GARDEN' REVIEW AND GALLERY
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Director: Freddie Francis. Screenplay: Robert Bloch, Based on his Short Stories. Producers: Max J. Rosenberg & Milton Subotsky. Photography: Norman Warwick. Music: Don Banks & James Bernard. Makeup: Jill Carpenter. Art Direction: Don Mingaye & Scott Simon. Production Company: Amicus film Productions.
CAST:
Burgess Meredith : Dr Diablo. Enoch:- Michael Bryant: Colin Williams. Maurice Denham: Uncle Roger. Terror Over Hollywood:- Beverly Adams: Carla Hayes. Robert Hutton: Bruce Benton. John Phillips: Eddie Storm. David Bauer: Mike Charles. Bernard Kay: Dr Helm. Mr Steinway:- Barbara Ewing: Dorothy Endicott. John Standing: Leo. The Man Who Collected Poe:- Jack Palance: Ronald Wyatt. Peter Cushing: Lancelot Canning.
THE PLOT:
At a carnival exhibit, Dr Diablo takes five customers to a back room where he offers them glimpses of their futures. Enoch:- Colin Williams goes to stay with his uncle, determined to get hold of his fortune. He withholds his uncle’s medicine to force him to tell him where the money is, but instead the uncle dies. Afterwards, Colin meets a cat Balthazar that talks to him and demands that he conduct other killings in return for which it will show him where the fortune is. Terror Over Hollywood:- Aspiring actress Carla Hayes determinedly pursues a part in a film. Cast, she soon finds herself falling for her leading man, the enduring star Bruce Benton. But then she finds the secret of movie stars youthful longevity – that they are being replaced by robot doubles. Mr Steinway:- Journalist Dorothy Endicott goes to interview the introverted concert pianist Leo. They become romantically involved but when she tries to draw Leo away from his beloved grand piano Utopie, it becomes jealous. The Man Who Collected Poe:- Ronald Wyatt, a dedicated Edgar Allan Poe collector, goes to visit Lancelot Canning, one of the foremost Poe collectors in the world. Getting drunk, Canning shows him his secret collection of unpublished Poe works. Wyatt then makes the shocking discovery that Canning has brought Poe back to life to write new stories.
COMMENTARY:
Amicus Films had had great success with the portmanteau anthology Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1964). They returned with Torture Garden, reuniting director Freddie Francis and star Peter Cushing. Burgess Meredith, in an appallingly fake-looking beard, is clearly cast in the same mold as Peter Cushing’s Dr Schreck in Dr Terror, as a sinister figure introducing the segments on the pretext of showing people their future. On script, Amicus imported American horror author Robert Bloch who was then in the public eye as a result of Alfred Hitchcock’s wildly successful adaptation of his novel Psycho (1960). For Torture Garden, Robert Bloch adapted several of his own short stories published in the 1950s into a script. Bloch later went on to become a mainstay of Amicus, contributing to several other anthologies such as The House That Dripped Blood (1970) and Asylum (1972) and original films like The Skull (1965), The Psychopath (1966) and The Deadly Bees (1967).
Torture Garden is one of the lesser among Amicus’s mostly worthwhile anthologies. The first two stories are flat, Terror Over Hollywood being the especially weak link in the chain. But the next two are sharp and original – compare them to Dr Terror’s humdrum revamping of standard B-movie themes and it becomes clear just what Bloch manages to bring to the party. Freddie Francis brings his customary stylism and sharp pictorial contrasts between fore– and background. Memorable images abound such as Barbara Ewing being chased about the house by a grand piano. The Edgar Allan Poe segment works the best where Jack Palance and Peter Cushing are clearly enjoying themselves. The linking segment is slight. One might also note that, despite the title, the film features no torture, nor any gardens. For that matter, despite the title Terror Over Hollywood, the segment is actually set in an English studio. Much better anthologies would emerge from Amicus – see Tales from the Crypt (1972), From Beyond the Grave (1973) and the aforementioned Bloch titles.
Review: Richard Scheib
Images: Marcus Brooks
Sunday 19 February 2012
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