Hammer’s copycat Quatermass picture stands apart from similar ‘mystery sci-fi monster’ thrillers by virtue of its serious tone and realistic presentation. Talk about a sober semi-docu style: there are no major female roles and the leading character is a mass of radioactive mud. (Is there an election year joke in that?) Hammer found a new writer in Jimmy Sangster, imported the Yankee name actor Dean Jagger, tried to hire the expatriate director Joseph Losey. Former child actor Anthony Newley has a small part, but he doesn’t get to sing X’s theme song: “Who can I turn to, when nobody needs me, because the flesh is melting from my skull?”
X The Unknown
Blu-ray
Scream Factory
1956 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 80 81? min. / X…the Unknown / Street Date February 18, 2020
Starring: Dean Jagger, Edward Chapman, Leo McKern, Anthony Newley, William Lucas, Michael Ripper.
Cinematography: Gerald Gibbs
Film Editor: Philip Leakey
Makeup:...
X The Unknown
Blu-ray
Scream Factory
1956 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 80 81? min. / X…the Unknown / Street Date February 18, 2020
Starring: Dean Jagger, Edward Chapman, Leo McKern, Anthony Newley, William Lucas, Michael Ripper.
Cinematography: Gerald Gibbs
Film Editor: Philip Leakey
Makeup:...
- 2/15/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
What ought to be appreciated as one of the most prescient of 1950s suspense films holds a place among the best science fiction movies ever — and it formed a style template for a thousand paranoid spy thrillers to follow. Val Guest pares Nigel Kneale’s fantastic storyline down to its essentials, making his scientist-hero the perfect secret agent to confront a sinister techno-political conspiracy… from outer space.
Quatermass 2
Blu-ray
Scream Factory
1957 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 85 min. / Street Date July 30, 2019 / 29.95
Starring: Brian Donlevy, John Longdon, Sidney James, Bryan Forbes, William Franklyn, Vera Day, Charles Lloyd Pack, Tom Chatto, John Van Eyssen, Percy Herbert, Michael Ripper, John Rae, Michael Balfour.
Cinematography: Gerald Gibbs
Film Editor: James Needs
Makeup: Philip Leakey
Art Direction: Bernard Robinson
Original Music: James Bernard
Written by Val Guest, Nigel Kneale from his teleplay
Produced by Anthony Hinds
Directed by Val Guest
Here’s yet another fine 2019 Blu-ray release...
Quatermass 2
Blu-ray
Scream Factory
1957 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 85 min. / Street Date July 30, 2019 / 29.95
Starring: Brian Donlevy, John Longdon, Sidney James, Bryan Forbes, William Franklyn, Vera Day, Charles Lloyd Pack, Tom Chatto, John Van Eyssen, Percy Herbert, Michael Ripper, John Rae, Michael Balfour.
Cinematography: Gerald Gibbs
Film Editor: James Needs
Makeup: Philip Leakey
Art Direction: Bernard Robinson
Original Music: James Bernard
Written by Val Guest, Nigel Kneale from his teleplay
Produced by Anthony Hinds
Directed by Val Guest
Here’s yet another fine 2019 Blu-ray release...
- 8/6/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The best of all Hammer horror pictures finally comes to Region A Blu-ray, with a bright transfer made to look like original Technicolor prints. This is where Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing came into their own as international stars, as the undead Count Dracula and the no-nonsense vampire killer Van Helsing. It’s the bridge between old-school gothic horrors and the modern age of sex and gore, and it’s as exciting as a breakneck action serial.
Horror of Dracula (Dracula)
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1958 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 82 min. / Street Date December 18, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling, Carol Marsh, Olga Dickie, John Van Eyssen, Valerie Gaunt, Janina Faye.
Cinematography: Jack Asher
Film Editor: Bill Lenny
Production Designer: Bernard Robinson
:Makeup Artist: Philip Leakey
Original Music: James Bernard
Written by Jimmy Sangster
Produced by Michael Carreras, Anthony Hinds, Anthony Nelson Keys
Directed by...
Horror of Dracula (Dracula)
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1958 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 82 min. / Street Date December 18, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling, Carol Marsh, Olga Dickie, John Van Eyssen, Valerie Gaunt, Janina Faye.
Cinematography: Jack Asher
Film Editor: Bill Lenny
Production Designer: Bernard Robinson
:Makeup Artist: Philip Leakey
Original Music: James Bernard
Written by Jimmy Sangster
Produced by Michael Carreras, Anthony Hinds, Anthony Nelson Keys
Directed by...
- 12/8/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The day monster kids have dreaded for some time has arrived. Mournful, nostalgic, and melancholy – it’s the end of an era for more than one generation of horror fans. It seemed like Christopher Lee would live through all eternity, but unlike some of the characters he played, there’s no bringing him back to life this time. He made it to 93 and went out on a high note, appearing in the final Hobbit film just this past winter. He had an amazing career of fantastic performances and remains the greatest villain actor in film history. Rip to the last classic horror star and thank you for all the monster memories.
Christopher Lee was married to his wife Birgit (Gitte) for 54 years.
Here, according to Movie Geeks Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Sam Moffitt, and myself, are Christopher Lee’s ten best roles.
10. Frankenstein
It’s only fitting that The Curse Of Frankenstein,...
Christopher Lee was married to his wife Birgit (Gitte) for 54 years.
Here, according to Movie Geeks Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Sam Moffitt, and myself, are Christopher Lee’s ten best roles.
10. Frankenstein
It’s only fitting that The Curse Of Frankenstein,...
- 6/11/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Oh, to have been there at the drive-in in 1957 when this came out. Drive-ins were peaking in popularity, with over 4000 far and wide across North America providing countless hours of entertainment for youngsters, teenagers, and parents alike. However, if I was a little one and had seen this lurid and terrifying spectacle bleeding from the enormous outdoor screen, looming over the family car, I probably would have cried for my dad to rip off the attached speaker from the car window and make for the safety of home. And fast.
Released in the early summer of 1957, The Curse of Frankenstein was a huge hit worldwide, delighting audiences and – wait for it – appalling reviewers at the time. This isn’t much of a surprise. Curse is different from the Universal monster films of yore; even though it is set in the 1800’s, it has a direct, hip, and dare I say...
Released in the early summer of 1957, The Curse of Frankenstein was a huge hit worldwide, delighting audiences and – wait for it – appalling reviewers at the time. This isn’t much of a surprise. Curse is different from the Universal monster films of yore; even though it is set in the 1800’s, it has a direct, hip, and dare I say...
- 5/16/2015
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
By Tim Greaves
As British noir crime dramas of the Fifties go, The House Across the Lake (1954) is probably as good an example as you could hope to dip into. The tale unfolds in flashback, related by our main protagonist to another character (precisely who is not revealed until the final reel), is embroidered with expositional narration and, though clichéd and not in the least unpredictable, delivers atmosphere by the barrel.
The film is an early entry on the CV of writer-director Ken Hughes (the arguable highpoints of whose career, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Cromwell, remain perennial favourites, whilst his latter-day offerings, Night School and Sextette, are best brushed under the proverbial carpet). Hughes scripted The House Across the Lake from his own source novel, “High Wray”, and also commandeered the director’s chair. Nowadays understandably marketed as a Hammer film, it’s actually the fruit of the company’s earlier incarnation Exclusive Films.
As British noir crime dramas of the Fifties go, The House Across the Lake (1954) is probably as good an example as you could hope to dip into. The tale unfolds in flashback, related by our main protagonist to another character (precisely who is not revealed until the final reel), is embroidered with expositional narration and, though clichéd and not in the least unpredictable, delivers atmosphere by the barrel.
The film is an early entry on the CV of writer-director Ken Hughes (the arguable highpoints of whose career, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Cromwell, remain perennial favourites, whilst his latter-day offerings, Night School and Sextette, are best brushed under the proverbial carpet). Hughes scripted The House Across the Lake from his own source novel, “High Wray”, and also commandeered the director’s chair. Nowadays understandably marketed as a Hammer film, it’s actually the fruit of the company’s earlier incarnation Exclusive Films.
- 9/4/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Sam Moffitt, and Tom Stockman
The film career of legendary English actor Sir Christopher Lee began in 1948 and continues to the present day. Lee is best known for his roles in horror films, especially the string of seven Dracula movies he starred in for Hammer Studios between 1958 and 1974, but be may be best known to younger audiences for his roles in the Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. Almost all of the roles that Lee has played have been villains and here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are his ten best.
10. Frankenstein
It’s only fitting that The Curse Of Frankenstein, the film that truly began England’s Hammer Studios’ theatrical run of full color gothic horror epics, should team (well, they’re both in the 1948 Hamlet, but have no scenes together) their greatest stars, Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein...
The film career of legendary English actor Sir Christopher Lee began in 1948 and continues to the present day. Lee is best known for his roles in horror films, especially the string of seven Dracula movies he starred in for Hammer Studios between 1958 and 1974, but be may be best known to younger audiences for his roles in the Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. Almost all of the roles that Lee has played have been villains and here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are his ten best.
10. Frankenstein
It’s only fitting that The Curse Of Frankenstein, the film that truly began England’s Hammer Studios’ theatrical run of full color gothic horror epics, should team (well, they’re both in the 1948 Hamlet, but have no scenes together) their greatest stars, Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein...
- 8/6/2013
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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