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Post by johnnypt on Oct 23, 2018 10:27:32 GMT -5
The Hammer Quatermass. I saw it years ago, but was really looking forward to seeing it again. Ah well. It's seemingly on TCM every couple of weeks, but I just checked their calendar and it looks like it's done for the year.  Is it just me or does the fuzzy Martian (aka devil) look just a tad like Tars Tarkas? |
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Post by almuric on Oct 24, 2018 17:48:52 GMT -5
The Hammer Quatermass. I saw it years ago, but was really looking forward to seeing it again. Ah well. It's seemingly on TCM every couple of weeks, but I just checked their calendar and it looks like it's done for the year. Is it just me or does the fuzzy Martian (aka devil) look just a tad like Tars Tarkas? I feel really dumb right now. The third Quatermass movie was Five Million Years to Earth, the serial was Quatermass and the Pit. I double-checked my PVR and lo and behold, still there. Sigh. Hopefully I'll get to see it before the 31st. Like I said, this October has been a bit hectic. |
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Post by almuric on Oct 25, 2018 19:07:34 GMT -5
The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy (1958) - This one really doesn't live up to the promise of it's title. I mean, you know it's going to be schlock, but it might at least be entertaining schlock, right?
Wrong.
This is the third movie of a trilogy. But don't worry about not being up to speed, because the movie spends a few minutes recapping the previous two. 40 minutes, in fact. In a 65 minute movie. I guess it saved money and all, but damn. The evil Dr. Krupp, also known as The Bat for some reason, is after an Aztec breastplate guarded by an Aztec mummy, Popoca. Popoca is very clearly influenced by Universal, having the height of Frankenstein's Monster, the cross-phobia of Dracula and the slowness of Kharis. He made two previous attempts which failed, and then went into hiding for 5 years. Now he re-emerges with a new plan to . . . steal the Aztec breastplate, but using a robot with a human head to fight the mummy for it. I'm sure this is much more logical than, say, trying to steal a treasure not guarded by an undead creature. At least the last 15 minutes, with Krupp monologing like there's no tomorrow, followed by the two slowest, least-convincing monsters of all time clashing in the slowest fashion imaginable, are unintentional comic gold. But it's a long wait to get there.
Amazingly, more Aztec Mummy movies followed. I do not feel compelled to seek them out.
The Manster (1959) - Now that title, coupled with the poster showing a two-headed, knife-wielding monster, seems to promise pure schlock, but you know? This isn't that bad. This filmed in Japan thriller is an oddly effective riff on the "Wolf Man/Jekyll and Hyde" subgenre with one great moment of body horror. Reporter Larry Stanford (Peter Dynely) is sent to interview Japanese scientist Robert Suzuki (Tetsu Nakamura). Within minutes, Larry is secretly injected with a mutagen which will slowly change him into a new species of human, complete with extra head and murderous urges.
Yes, the extra head is a bit goofy (it "grows" by slowly inflating) but at least the camera never lingers on it. The scene where Larry discovers a new eye growing out of his shoulder is excellent. The Japanese setting lends it a lot of visual flare and it's just long enough to not get boring.
You could do worse than The Manster. You could be watching an Aztec Mummy movie, after all.
Next: Dracula Must Be Revived!
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Post by paulmc on Oct 26, 2018 9:28:21 GMT -5
It's seemingly on TCM every couple of weeks, but I just checked their calendar and it looks like it's done for the year. Is it just me or does the fuzzy Martian (aka devil) look just a tad like Tars Tarkas? I feel really dumb right now. The third Quatermass movie was Five Million Years to Earth, the serial was Quatermass and the Pit. I double-checked my PVR and lo and behold, still there. Sigh. Hopefully I'll get to see it before the 31st. Like I said, this October has been a bit hectic.
FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH was the American release title. In the UK, the Hammer movie was also named QUATERMASS AND THE PIT.
(also, the original serial, all six parts, is available on YouTube, for anyone curious to compare the two)
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Post by paulmc on Oct 26, 2018 9:28:56 GMT -5
The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy (1958) - This one really doesn't live up to the promise of it's title. I mean, you know it's going to be schlock, but it might at least be entertaining schlock, right? Wrong. This is the third movie of a trilogy. But don't worry about not being up to speed, because the movie spends a few minutes recapping the previous two. 40 minutes, in facy. In a 65 minute movie. I guess it saved money and all, but damn. The evil Dr. Krupp, also known as The Bat for some reason, is after an Aztec breastplate guarded by an Aztec mummy, Popoca. Popoca is very clearly influenced by Universal, having the height of Frankenstein's Monster, the cross-phobia of Dracula and the slowness of Kharis. He made two previous attempts which failed, and then went into hiding for 5 years. Now he re-emerges with a new plan to . . . steal the Aztec breastplate, but using a robot with a human head to fight the mummy for it. I'm sure this is much more logical than, say, trying to steal a treasure not guarded by an undead creature. At least the last 15 minutes, with Krupp monologing like there's no tomorrow, followed by the two slowest, least-convincing monsters of all time clashing in the slowest fashion imaginable, are unintentional comic gold. But it's a long wait to get there. Amazingly, more Aztec Mummy movies followed. I do not feel compelled to seek them out.
Yeah, I slogged trough that one, too. Really not worth the time, sadly.
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 26, 2018 12:39:44 GMT -5
The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy (1958) - This one really doesn't live up to the promise of it's title. I mean, you know it's going to be schlock, but it might at least be entertaining schlock, right? Wrong. This is the third movie of a trilogy. But don't worry about not being up to speed, because the movie spends a few minutes recapping the previous two. 40 minutes, in facy. In a 65 minute movie. I guess it saved money and all, but damn. The evil Dr. Krupp, also known as The Bat for some reason, is after an Aztec breastplate guarded by an Aztec mummy, Popoca. Popoca is very clearly influenced by Universal, having the height of Frankenstein's Monster, the cross-phobia of Dracula and the slowness of Kharis. He made two previous attempts which failed, and then went into hiding for 5 years. Now he re-emerges with a new plan to . . . steal the Aztec breastplate, but using a robot with a human head to fight the mummy for it. I'm sure this is much more logical than, say, trying to steal a treasure not guarded by an undead creature. At least the last 15 minutes, with Krupp monologing like there's no tomorrow, followed by the two slowest, least-convincing monsters of all time clashing in the slowest fashion imaginable, are unintentional comic gold. But it's a long wait to get there. Amazingly, more Aztec Mummy movies followed. I do not feel compelled to seek them out. The Manster (1959) - Now that title, coupled with the poster showing a two-headed, knife-wielding monster, seems to promise pure schlock, but you know? This isn't that bad. This filmed in Japan thriller is an oddly effective riff on the "Wolf Man/Jekyll and Hyde" subgenre with one great moment of body horror. Reporter Larry Stanford (Peter Dynely) is sent to interview Japanese scientist Robert Suzuki (Tetsu Nakamura). Within minutes, Larry is secretly injected with a mutagen which will slowly change him into a new species of human, complete with extra head and murderous urges. Yes, the extra head is a bit goofy (it "grows" by slowly inflating) but at least the camera never lingers on it. The scene where Larry discovers a new eye growing out of his shoulder is excellent. The Japanese setting lends it a lot of visual flare and it's just long enough to not get boring. You could do worse than The Manster. You could be watching an Aztec Mummy movie, after all. Next: Dracula Must Be Revived! The first time I saw RvAM was the Monday before Thanksgiving 1995 when Comedy Central revived a few of the Season 1 episodes of MST3K. Guess they didn't have the rights to Crawling Eye at that point so they started with this one, Ep 2 that season. Joel and the bots had a tough time with this one. It's just kind of there, cinematic inertia. Now The Manster is odd but worth a watch. When I see the scene where the head starts growing, I keep hearing Gilda Radner in my head-"Look, he's got an eye there...just like a little friend." Took me years to discover what that movie was in It Came From Hollywood. |
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Post by almuric on Oct 26, 2018 21:04:23 GMT -5
Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (1968) - Christopher Lee frequently vowed never to play Dracula again, until he did. This time he's resurrected by a priest bleeding into the ice where the Count was frozen at the end of Dracula Prince of Darkness. Pretty soon we're in the familiar territory of bloody murders and Dracula wafting into the bedrooms of busty young virgins for some unholy lovin'. The sex=vampirism metaphor was getting increasingly explicit as the Hammer film cycle.
Terrance Fisher, who helmed the first few, had to bow out due to illness, is replaced by Freddie Francis, Hammer's other go-to director. There's plenty of Hammer's trademark I have to raise some objections to the notion that staking a vampire doesn't work unless the person says a prayer over it. Lee did too. This hasn't been the case in previous movies. Here it's to create some tension at the climax, but it feels a little out of place.
The movie is nothing groundbreaking by Hammer standards, but it moves along nicely and has plenty of their trademark blood and boobies, so who's to complain? Even an average Hammer can be a lot of fun.
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) - A collector of rare artifacts stumbles across the bloody finale of the previous movie in time to steal Dracula's jewelry, cloak and blood. Jumping in space and time, we leave Hammer's usual Germanic stomping grounds for Edwardian England. We meet young Alice Hargood (Linda Haynes) whose father (Geoffrey Keen) disapproves of her showing interest in boys. We then follow her father as he goes to perform charity in the East End . . . by going to a brothel and cavorting with women young enough to be his daughter.
Family values!
A dissolute young Satanist (if it's not vampires, it's devil-worship in these movies) offers Hargood and his hedonistic friends the chance to become vampires by, er, tasting the blood of Dracula. The nobleman was supposed to become a vampire himself, when Lee initially passed on the film. The ritual fails, causing Dracula to rise from the grave yet again and seek vengeance on those who tried to take his immortality for themselves.
It's pretty good, even if Dracula is largely absent until the midway point. Lee may not have much screen time, but they always make the most of it. He doesn't make one dramatic entrance in a movie -- every time he appears it's a big deal. Of course there's heaving bosoms and flowing blood and Dracula is destroyed-forever-this-time-we-mean-it. Hammer knew what they did well, and kept doing it. Who am I to complain?
After this one, Lee vowed never to play Dracula again . . . until he did.
Next: A bag full of Hammers
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Post by almuric on Oct 29, 2018 19:04:35 GMT -5
Curse of the Werewolf (1961) - Hammer's only take on the werewolf legend takes a long time setting up the tragic chain of events which lead to the birth of a child cursed by lycanthropy (Oliver Reed). The werewolf makeup is excellent, but it doesn't appear in all its glory until near the end. If this film could have cut to the chase a bit quicker, it could have been a classic.
Night Creatures (1962) - Okay, this is technically a film about piracy and smuggling, but this film (also titled Captain Clegg) does have Peter Cushing and some "marsh phantoms" so close enough, right? You know that Cushing's kindly vicar is more than he seems because he's played by Cushing. This one has great performances, strong characterization, period detail and yes, marsh phantoms.
Five Million Years To Earth (1967) - When prehistoric human remains are found in proximity to a crashed alien vessel under London, Professor Quatermass (here played by Andrew Keir) is brought in to investigate. This is the best of the Quatermass films, the only one in color and with the budget to (mostly) do its ambitious story justice. There's a bit of Lovecraft and the story (originally written in the late '50s) anticipates the Ancient Astronaut theory by a few years. While the effects used to depict the Martian memories aren't the best (a common problem with Hammer), the apocalyptic climax where possessed Londoners run amuck amidst a storm of psychokinesis is first-rate.
The second Quatermass film wasn't aired on TCM this year, and I can't recall it airing before, nor have I ever seen it on disc. Curious.
Next: The Dark Eyes of Monogram
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Post by Aryeh on Oct 29, 2018 21:21:12 GMT -5
Regarding The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), it s an attempt at adapting Guy Endore's novel The Werewolf of Paris. This novel is a wonder. KiramidHead did a review of it, which I recommend (you can find it here:
Of course, as soon as one starts watching the film version, one can notice on opening credits it is an adaptation of The Werewolf of Paris, but the film starts in some Spanish village, so one knows right from the start something is very wrong with this picture. Terence Fisher, who directed it, was the greatest Hammer director, who successfully reinvented both Dracula and Frankenstein (and apparently tried to bring something new into the werewolf genre by relying on Endore's book; also, he tried to do something with the Phantom of the Opera, but that was his weakest movie). I think I read somewhere the budget was the issue with this one, because Terence Fisher was a very capable filmmaker. One last thing that comes to mind here: for some reason werewolf here hisses like a cat--I have no doubt this then inspired Michael Jackson's/John Landis' were-cat in the Thriller music video. |
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Post by zarono on Oct 30, 2018 6:41:08 GMT -5
I'd recommend Hammer's 1971 vampire flick "Twins of Evil". You get all kinds of goodies with this one; the hot Collinson twins in the title roles, satanic rituals, and Peter Cushing is superb as the obsessed witch hunter Gustav Weil (I've often wondered Cushing's appearance and role in this movie had some effect on the idea some people have of Solomon Kane being a "witchfinder" type of character)  Hmm, there's some interesting foreshortening going on in that photo - took me a moment to work out what was what and what was where. ......  Those hammer directors were crafty with those camera angles  |
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 30, 2018 7:21:58 GMT -5
Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (1968) - Christopher Lee frequently vowed never to play Dracula again, until he did. This time he's resurrected by a priest bleeding into the ice where the Count was frozen at the end of Dracula Prince of Darkness. Pretty soon we're in the familiar territory of bloody murders and Dracula wafting into the bedrooms of busty young virgins for some unholy lovin'. The sex=vampirism metaphor was getting increasingly explicit as the Hammer film cycle. Terrance Fisher, who helmed the first few, had to bow out due to illness, is replaced by Freddie Francis, Hammer's other go-to director. There's plenty of Hammer's trademark I have to raise some objections to the notion that staking a vampire doesn't work unless the person says a prayer over it. Lee did too. This hasn't been the case in previous movies. Here it's to create some tension at the climax, but it feels a little out of place. The movie is nothing groundbreaking by Hammer standards, but it moves along nicely and has plenty of their trademark blood and boobies, so who's to complain? Even an average Hammer can be a lot of fun. Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) - A collector of rare artifacts stumbles across the bloody finale of the previous movie in time to steal Dracula's jewelry, cloak and blood. Jumping in space and time, we leave Hammer's usual Germanic stomping grounds for Edwardian England. We meet young Alice Hargood (Linda Haynes) whose father (Geoffrey Keen) disapproves of her showing interest in boys. We then follow her father as he goes to perform charity in the East End . . . by going to a brothel and cavorting with women young enough to be his daughter. Family values! A dissolute young Satanist (if it's not vampires, it's devil-worship in these movies) offers Hargood and his hedonistic friends the chance to become vampires by, er, tasting the blood of Dracula. The nobleman was supposed to become a vampire himself, when Lee initially passed on the film. The ritual fails, causing Dracula to rise from the grave yet again and seek vengeance on those who tried to take his immortality for themselves. It's pretty good, even if Dracula is largely absent until the midway point. Lee may not have much screen time, but they always make the most of it. He doesn't make one dramatic entrance in a movie -- every time he appears it's a big deal. Of course there's heaving bosoms and flowing blood and Dracula is destroyed-forever-this-time-we-mean-it. Hammer knew what they did well, and kept doing it. Who am I to complain? After this one, Lee vowed never to play Dracula again . . . until he did. Next: A bag full of Hammers We didn't discussed Dracula Prince of Darkness, did we? It's among the best of the Lee Dracula films, probably right behind Horror. They certainly saved on the dialogue in the picture! And his demise is really unique, they rarely ever utilize that aspect of holding off a vampire. |
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 30, 2018 7:33:11 GMT -5
Curse of the Werewolf (1961) - Hammer's only take on the werewolf legend takes a long time setting up the tragic chain of events which lead to the birth of a child cursed by lycanthropy (Oliver Reed). The werewolf makeup is excellent, but it doesn't appear in all its glory until near the end. If this film could have cut to the chase a bit quicker, it could have been a classic. Night Creatures (1962) - Okay, this is technically a film about piracy and smuggling, but this film (also titled Captain Clegg) does have Peter Cushing and some "marsh phantoms" so close enough, right? You know that Cushing's kindly vicar is more than he seems because he's played by Cushing. This one has great performances, strong characterization, period detail and yes, marsh phantoms. Five Million Years To Earth (1967) - When prehistoric human remains are found in proximity to a crashed alien vessel under London, Professor Quatermass (here played by Andrew Keir) is brought in to investigate. This is the best of the Quatermass films, the only one in color and with the budget to (mostly) do its ambitious story justice. There's a bit of Lovecraft and the story (originally written in the late '50s) anticipates the Ancient Astronaut theory by a few years. While the effects used to depict the Martian memories aren't the best (a common problem with Hammer), the apocalyptic climax where possessed Londoners run amuck amidst a storm of psychokinesis is first-rate. The second Quatermass film wasn't aired on TCM this year, and I can't recall it airing before, nor have I ever seen it on disc. Curious. Next: The Dark Eyes of Monogram It seems Universal may have tried to invoke Endore's novel from 1933 when they did Werewolf of London, but just didn't pull it off. Then when doing the Wolf Man, they just went off on their own...and it worked! Curse is fairly good despite its limitations but not up to the Lee-Cushing revamps from the 50s. Hard to believe Night Creatures has a prequel...done by Disney! I believe Disney had optioned the Dr. Syn name for their series with Patrick McGoohan so they made darn sure Hammer didn't use the name in their picture. This movie has way more in common with the 1937 George Arliss film than the Scarecrow series. I don't think the 2nd Quatermass film has ever been on TCM either. I do remember it on the Channel 10 Saturday afternoon movie out of Philly back in the early 80s, but I remember just a few images here and there. Looking it up on imdb and Amazon, United Artists seems to have gotten rid of their copy, and Hammer may have a color version in their archives. At the moment, there's a DVD-R available of what looks like a videotape dub. FMY2E is really first rate, Lovecraftian is a very good description of it. |
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Post by almuric on Oct 30, 2018 16:46:50 GMT -5
The Dark Eyes of London (1939) - The name Edgar Wallace doesn't mean much to modern readers, but back in the '20s and '30s, Wallace reigned supreme. The absurdly prolific British author wrote 170 novels during his career, and one of them provided the plot for this movie. Lugosi is Dr. Orloff, who runs an insurance company. Men are being found drowned all over London, all them insured by Orloff. This movie is memorable for Orloff's henchman, Jake (Wilfred Walter), deformed and blind. It falls more towards mystery than horror, probably to appease the notoriously picky British censors. It's not bad, but insurance fraud, even with the mad science twist here, seems a bit small time for the actor who once played Dracula and Roxor. The movie garnered an "H" certificate (for "horrific"!) in Britain and was released a year later by Monogram in the US.
The Corpse Vanishes (1942) - This one actually is a Monogram movie, with all the insanity that implies. Brides across the unnamed city are falling dead at their weddings and having their corpses mysteriously stolen afterwards. To the surprise of no one, Lugosi, here playing Dr. Lorentz, is to blame. This one moves at a good clip, and while it doesn't make much sense, it's never dull and the constant stream of absurdity, with dropped plot threads and plot holes and a dwarf with a really disturbing laugh.
Maybe this was the beginning of the end for Lugosi as a serious actor, but it's still a lot of fun. The same year Universal wasted in him Night Monster in a butler role. But on Poverty Row, his star still shone.
Happy Halloween, folks!
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Post by kemp on Oct 31, 2018 6:38:48 GMT -5
Myself, I am a fan of the 1970's Count Yorga movies.  |
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 31, 2018 7:04:52 GMT -5
The Dark Eyes of London (1939) - The name Edgar Wallace doesn't mean much to modern readers, but back in the '20s and '30s, Wallace reigned supreme. The absurdly prolific British author wrote 170 novels during his career, and one of them provided the plot for this movie. Lugosi is Dr. Orloff, who runs an insurance company. Men are being found drowned all over London, all them insured by Orloff. This movie is memorable for Orloff's henchman, Jake (Wilfred Walter), deformed and blind. It falls more towards mystery than horror, probably to appease the notoriously picky British censors. It's not bad, but insurance fraud, even with the mad science twist here, seems a bit small time for the actor who once played Dracula and Roxor. The movie garnered an "H" certificate (for "horrific"!) in Britain and was released a year later by Monogram in the US.
The Corpse Vanishes (1942) - This one actually is a Monogram movie, with all the insanity that implies. Brides across the unnamed city are falling dead at their weddings and having their corpses mysteriously stolen afterwards. To the surprise of no one, Lugosi, here playing Dr. Lorentz, is to blame. This one moves at a good clip, and while it doesn't make much sense, it's never dull and the constant stream of absurdity, with dropped plot threads and plot holes and a dwarf with a really disturbing laugh. Maybe this was the beginning of the end for Lugosi as a serious actor, but it's still a lot of fun. The same year Universal wasted in him Night Monster in a butler role. But on Poverty Row, his star still shone. Happy Halloween, folks! Oh boy, another season 1 MST3K treasure! The Corpse Vanishes episode was on the next after RvAM back in 1995. There's a great exchange between the reporter and her editor: Reporter: What happens if the bride drops dead again? Editor: Makes sure you tell what she was wearing! Joel: That's cold! I remember when Night Monster came out of DVD about 10 years ago and it was one of those people on the web were REALLY excited for! I'd never heard of it, so I watch it...and if I was a kid I would've been really annoyed. Where was the Night Monster?!? It's a decent horror film along the Old Dark House lines and one of Bela's last good roles in a good-ish film. |
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