HAMMER HORROR 1961: (CURSE OF WEREWOLF, SCREAM OF FEAR, TERROR OF TONGS, SHADOW OF CAT)

THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961) d. Terence Fisher (UK)
SCREAM OF FEAR (aka Taste of Fear) (1961) d. Seth Holt (UK)
THE TERROR OF THE TONGS (1961) d. Anthony Bushell (UK)
THE SHADOW OF THE CAT (1961) d. John Gilling (UK)

**CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL YOUTUBE EPISODE**

While Hammer Films is most often remembered for its Gothic reimaginings of Dracula, Frankenstein, and other classic monsters, the year 1961 showcased an adventurousness and willingness to experiment with different styles of horror and suspense. Our four films up for discussion demonstrate Hammer’s evolving state in the early 1960s to impressive effect.

FEMALE VAMPIRES OF 1971: Forbidden Blood & Sapphic Shadows!!

DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1971) d. Harry Kumel (Belgium/France)
VAMPYROS LESBOS (1971) d. Jesus Franco (Spain)
THE VELVET VAMPIRE (1971) d. Stephanie Rothman (USA) 

TWINS OF EVIL (1971) d. John Hough (UK)
LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (1971) d. Jimmy Sangster (UK)
THE SHIVER OF THE VAMPIRES (1971) d. Jean Rollin (France)
THE WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN (1971) d. Leon Klimovsky (Spain)

**CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL YOUTUBE EPISODE**

1971 was a remarkable year for the female vampire — seductive, dangerous, liberated… and deeply entangled in the contradictions of exploitation cinema. Tonight, we’re exploring a remarkable cycle of films from that year, on both sides of the Atlantic, that transformed these immortal bloodsuckers into figures of erotic power and cultural tension.

THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957) 4K Blu-ray Review

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) d. Terence Fisher (UK)

Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), imprisoned and awaiting judgment, recounts to the local priest the dark path that led him to his fate. A brilliant, driven, amoral young scientist, Victor is obsessed with mastering life and death. With the reluctant assistance of his former mentor Paul (Robert Urquhart), he assembles a living creature from stolen body parts, convinced he is on the verge of a world-changing breakthrough. As Victor’s quest comes closer to fruition, his fiancée Elizabeth (Hazel Court) senses a disturbing shift in him, while the duplicitous maid Justine (Valerie Gaunt) grows increasingly frustrated with Victor’s waning attentions. Paul desperately tries to pull Victor back from the brink, but the reanimated being (Christopher Lee) proves far more dangerous and unpredictable than anyone could have expected.

THE VAMPIRES OF 1970 (COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE LOVERS, DARK SHADOWS, DRACULA, NUDE VAMPIRE)

COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE (1970) d. Bob Kelljan (USA)
HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS (1970) d. Dan Curtis (USA)
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970) d. Roy Ward Baker (UK)
COUNT DRACULA (1970) d. Jesus Franco (Spain)
THE NUDE VAMPIRE (1970) d. Jean Rollin (France)

**CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL YOUTUBE EPISODE**

1970 was a landmark for vampire cinema. No longer confined to fog-shrouded castles or Victorian settings, vampires were reimagined through the lenses of filmmakers across the U.S. and Europe, allowing the vampire mythos to explore shifting cultural and political attitudes with more sex, skin, and blood on full display. Tonight we’ll be looking at five significant films released that year, each offering a unique and transgressive spin on the undead.

UNWRAPPING THE MUMMY!!! (1932, 1959, 1999)

THE MUMMY (1932) d. Karl Freund (USA)
THE MUMMY (1959) d. Terence Fisher (UK)
THE MUMMY (1999) d. Stephen Sommers (USA)

**CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL YOUTUBE EPISODE**

One of the most enduring classic horror archetypes, The Mummy has appeared on film almost since the inception of cinema, with numerous silent efforts preceding Universal's landmark production in 1932 starring Boris Karloff.

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1939) / (1959): A CLASSIC REBORN!!

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1939) d. Sidney Lanfield (USA)
THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959) d. Terence Fisher (UK)

**CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL YOUTUBE EPISODE**

Though not the first fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes is arguably the best-known. Over 25,000 stage adaptations, films, television productions, and publications have featured the detective, and Guinness World Records lists him as the most portrayed human literary character in film and television history. Tonight, we’ll be celebrating two film versions of Arthur Conan Doyle’s celebrated sleuth’s oft-adapted tale, The Hound of the Baskervilles.

HAMMER HORROR: THE GORGON (1964) / THE REPTILE (1966) Round Table!!!

THE GORGON (1964) d. Terence Fisher (UK)
THE REPTILE (1966) d. John Gilling (UK)

**CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL YOUTUBE EPISODE**

By the mid-1960s, Hammer Studios had exhausted its supply of classic Universal monsters, with vampiric counts, stitched-together reanimated corpses, lycanthropic curses, and bandaged Egyptian shamblers all present and accounted for. In response, the creative teams dug out their tomes of Greek mythology and exotic travel guides to conjure two original monsters, both – coincidentally or not – featuring female creatures levying doom on the locals.

PETER CUSHING AND THE HAMMER FRANKENSTEINS!!!

THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957) d. Terence Fisher (UK)
THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1958) d. Terence Fisher (UK)
THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN (1964) d. Freddie Francis (UK)
FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN (1967) d. Terence Fisher (UK)
FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED (1969) d. Terence Fisher (UK)
FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1974) d. Terence Fisher (UK)

**CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL YOUTUBE EPISODE** 

With over 130 film and television credits to his name, there are plenty of options by which fans can celebrate horror icon Peter Cushing’s 111th birthday on May 26. For our part, we’ve elected to showcase the half-dozen features that made Cushing (and his myriad onscreen creations) immortal: Hammer’s Frankenstein series!

THE QUATERMASS LEGACY/HAMMER FILMS

***CLICK LINK TO VIEW FULL YOUTUBE EPISODE***

 
Tonight, we’re going to be discussing the exploits of the most influential characters from one of the most influential writers, neither of which are talked about nearly as much as one would think: Professor Bernard Quatermass, sprung from the talented pen of British author Nigel Kneale.

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966) Blu-ray Review

One Million Years B.C. (1966) d. Don Chaffey (UK) (100 min)

“This is a story of long, long ago, when the world was just beginning. A young world, a world early in the morning of time. A hard, unfriendly world. Creatures who sit and wait. Creatures who must kill to live. And Man, superior to the creatures only in his cunning. There are not many men yet. Just a few tribes scattered across the wilderness. Never venturing far, unaware that other tribes exist even. Too busy with their own lives to be curious. Too frightened of the unknown to wander. Their laws are simple: the strong take everything. This is Akhoba, leader of the Rock Tribe... And these are his sons, Sakana and Tumak. There is no love loss between them. And that is our story.”

THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966) Blu-ray Review

The Plague of the Zombies (1966) d. John Gilling (UK) (91 min)

In a remote 19th-century Cornish village, a mysterious plague relentlessly consumes lives at an unstoppable rate. Unable to find the cause, Dr. Peter Tompson (Brook Williams) enlists the help of his mentor, Sir James Forbes (Andre Morell). Desperate to find an antidote, they instead find inexplicable horror: empty coffins with the diseased corpses missing. Following a series of strange and frightening clues, they discover a deserted tin mine where they discover a world of black magic and a doomed legion of soulless, murderous slaves... the walking dead.

TASTE OF FEAR (aka SCREAM OF FEAR) (1961) Movie Review

Taste of Fear (aka Scream of Fear) (1961) d. Seth Holt (UK) (81 min)

Following the recent death (by drowning) of her boarding school friend Maggie, wheelchair-bound Penny Appleby (Susan Strasberg) is beckoned to her estranged father’s seaside home in the south of France. After being literally picked up by the family chauffeur Robert (Ronald Lewis), she is informed by her stepmother Jane (Ann Todd) that despite the fact that her father has been suddenly called away on business, Penny is invited to consider this her new home. That night, Penny investigates a mysterious light in the summer house and sees what she believes to be her father’s corpse; in her hasty retreat, she falls into the adjoining swimming pool and is rescued by Robert. The cordial but stern Dr. Gerrard (Christopher Lee) quells her fears, telling her it must simply have been “a case of nerves,” but this marks only the first of Penny’s encounters with her pater’s inanimate form popping up in the most unlikely of places. It’s the kind of thing that could drive a person mad… and out of her inheritance.

THE MUMMY (1959) Blu-ray Review

The Mummy (1959) d. Terence Fisher (UK) (86 min)

In 1895, archaeologists Stephen Banning (Felix Aylmer) and his brother-in-law Joseph Whemple (Raymond Huntley) unearth the opening of Egyptian princess Ananka’s tomb, much to the excitement of Banning’s son John (Peter Cushing), who is laid up with a broken leg but refuses to leave the site until his father breaks the seal. A local follower of the god Karnak, Mehemet (George Pastell), cautions the Westerners with a dire warning: “Whomever disturbs the tombs of Egypt… dies.” They shrug him off, but within moments, Banning is rendered a gibbering idiot after his encounter with… something. Three years later, ensconced in a mental hospital, he emerges from his stupor long enough to warn his son that the curse of Ananka is real, and is shortly thereafter dispatched by the murderous hands of the princess’ guardian mummy, former high priest, and forbidden lover Kharis (Christopher Lee), resurrected by Mehemet. Whemple is next on the bandaged assassin’s hit list, followed by John, although the latter escapes his fate when his wife Isobel (Yvonne Furneaux) distracts Kharis with her striking resemblance to Ananka, awakening a centuries-old fire in its dessicated breast….

THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970) Blu-ray Review

The Vampire Lovers (1970) d. Roy Ward Baker (UK) (88 min)

In the late 18th Century, in the Austrian province of Styria, General Spielsdorf (Peter Cushing) holds a ball celebrating the birthday of his daughter Laura (Pippa Steele), who is engaged to the handsome Carl (Jon Finch). He is pleasantly surprised to see his old friend the Countess (Dawn Addams) along with her daughter, Marcilla (Ingrid Pitt), in attendance. When the Countess is called away to attend to a sick friend, Spielsdorf and Laura agree to care for Marcilla, with the two young ladies growing deeply attached. Sadly, Laura immediately falls ill to a wasting disease, punctuated by nightmares of being smothered by a large gray cat, and dies shortly thereafter, with Marcilla disappearing mysteriously into the night. Spielsdorf’s distant neighbor, Roger Morton (George Cole), comes across the aftermath of a carriage accident and takes in the passenger, Carmilla… who uncannily resembles Marcilla. Soon, Morton’s daughter Emma (Madeline Smith) is also under the exotic young woman’s spell and begins to experience the same nightmares and diminishing health. Meanwhile, the General, through his friend Baron Hartog (Douglas Wilmer), learns of the Karnsteins, an ancient family of vampires, and begins to put two and two (fangs) together….

THE GORGON (1964) Movie Review

Scare-A-Thon Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 12
Total First Time Views: 7
Amount raised for ALBANY PARK THEATER PROJECT: $583.80

The Gorgon (1964) d. Terence Fisher (UK) (83 min) (3rd viewing)

A series of strange and unexplained deaths plagues the rural town of Vandorf in the early 1900s, the latest victim being Sascha Cass (Toni Gilpin), lover of local artist Bruno Heitz (Jeremy Longhurst) (as in she is carrying his child, although I’m sure she’s fond of his painting as well). What makes the beautiful model’s demise so curious is she has been literally petrified to death, i.e. discovered having turned completely to stone. Inspector Karnoff (Patrick Troughton) conspires with Dr. Namaroff (Peter Cushing) and his assistant Carla (Barbara Shelley) to cover up the mystery, but when Bruno’s body is found in the forest hanging by the neck, the collective attentions of his professor father (Michael Goodliffe) and brother Paul (Richard Pasco) are raised, along with Paul’s colleague Professor Meister (Christopher Lee). In this dawning age of science and logic, could the spirit of Megaera, an ancient snake-haired monster of legend, be the culprit?

THE SHADOW OF THE CAT (1961) Blu-ray Review

SCARE-A-THON Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 22
Total First Time Views: 13
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $1,657.04

The Shadow of the Cat (1961) d. John Gilling (UK) (79 min) (1st viewing)

Wealthy Ella Venable (Catherine Lacey) is brutally murdered by her manservant Andrew (Andrew Crawford) at the behest of her cold-blooded husband Walter (Andre Morell) and the two, along with long-suffering housekeeper Clara, conspire to bury the corpse in the forest; at the same time, they produce a brand-new will and testament that conveniently leaves Ella’s fortune to Walter. So far so good, as far as murders go. However, the one spanner in the works is that Ella’s beloved feline, Tabitha, has witnessed everything and is seemingly intent on driving the trio insane and/or into their own shallow graves. The battle lines are now drawn, with innocent (and disinherited) daughter Beth (Barbara Shelley) caught in the middle of a full-on war of wills where humans tumble down stairs, drown in quicksand, suffer heart attacks, or fall from parapets while cats purr with demonic delight.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1962) Blu-ray Review

The Phantom of the Opera (1962) d. Terence Fisher (UK) (84 min)

When tragedy strikes Lord D’Arcy’s (Michael Gough) London opera house during an opening night performance, it’s soon clear that the “accident” is the work of a deranged madman – The Phantom (Herbert Lom). After Christine (Heather Sears), cast as the lead in this new version of Saint Joan, is contacted by the shadowy specter, her producer/lover (Edward De Souza) investigates, tracking the ghostly Phantom to his secret underground lair. Disfigured and nearly destroyed, the former composer and musician now demands hellish revenge on those who have wronged him, with Christine, the sole glimmer of light in his dark, violent life.

KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (1963) Blu-ray Review

Kiss of the Vampire (1963) d. Don Sharp (UK) (88 min)

When their automobile runs out of fuel on the way to their honeymoon, newlyweds Marianne (Jennifer Daniel) and Gerald Harcourt (Edward de Souza) find themselves stranded in a remote Bavarian forest. Towed by a horse-drawn wagon to the nearest village, they are invited by the hypnotic and aristocratic Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman) to attend a masked ball at his nearby castle. When Ravna reveals himself to be the leader of a dark arts-worshipping family of vampires, with an eye on Marianne as their most recent recruit, the young couple is plunged into a nightmare of horror and deception with the tortured Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans) their only potential savior.

THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961) Blu-ray Review

The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) d. Terence Fisher (UK) (93 min)

Set in 18th Century Spain, this (very) loose reworking of Guy Endore’s 1933 novel The Werewolf of Paris sees a ragged beggar (Richard Wordsworth) entering the disenchanted village of Santa Vera where a corrupt nobleman, the aptly named Marques Sinestro (Anthony Dawson), holds sway. In “service” for his supper, the Marques has the hapless homeless bark and crawl about like a dog before being imprisoned and forgotten by everyone except the jailer and his mute daughter (Yvonne Romain). 10 years of isolation drive the poor soul out of his mind such that, when the jailer’s daughter is thrown into his cell for refusing the lecherous Marques’ advances, he rapes her and promptly dies. Upon her release, the young victim murders the evil lord before escaping into the countryside, where she is discovered, pregnant and on the brink of death, by a kindly aristocrat, Don Alfredo (Clifford Evans). Her offspring, dubbed Leon (Oliver Reed), is raised by Don Alfredo to manhood where it is revealed that his unfortunate family tree and birth date (Christmas) have cursed him with bestial leanings whenever the moon is full and lust is on the rise….

THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (1968) Blu-ray Review

Scare-A-Thon Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 20
Total First Time Views: 9
Amount raised for AMAZON WATCH: $1,595.20

The Devil Rides Out (aka The Devil's Bride) (1968) d. Terence Fisher (UK) (95 min) (3rd viewing)

The debonair Duc de Richleau (Christopher Lee) has been entrusted with the care of his deceased friend's son, Simon Aron (Patrick Mower). The Duc discovers that the young man has been seduced into joining a satanic cult headed by the diabolic Mocata (Charles Gray), who is intent on making Simon and the lovely Tanith Carlisle (Nike Arrighi) card-carrying disciples of the Devil. Having rescued Simon from a bloodied ritual with the aid of his friend Rex (Leon Greene), de Richleau is pursued by Mocata, who will stop at nothing to destroy the Duc and his friends, even summoning the Angel of Death itself.