Showing posts with label robert bloch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label robert bloch. Show all posts

Thursday 17 October 2019

RARE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL CUSHING PHOTOGRAPH PLUS ACTORS NIGEL GREEN AND ROBERT URQUHART REMEMBERED


A VERY RARE PHOTOGRAPH OF PETER CUSHING in 1948 FEB until OCT!! Now That is a LONG tour! Granted 'Richard III was also part of the tour, but knowing how Cushing found the repetitive nature of eight or nine performances a week, extremely difficult... I don't know how he did it. But here is where he learnt his trade, skills and attitude, that would prepare him for tv work in the 1950's and days that could be long and draining on the set of film work . . come November 1952 and one of his first roles on LIVE BBC tv in 'If This Be Error' .. HE certainly, would not be making errors


TODAY we are marking the birthday of that fine English character actor NIGEL GREEN . . . Green left us at only 47 years of age, with a very impressive career already at that point. In our banner can be seen on the far right, in a little get together on the set of the cast of Amicus films THE SKULL (1965) with Peter, Patrick Wymark far left, Patrick Magee sat down on the right. Green had a small role of Inspector Wilson, in the film.






ABOVE: PCAS FULL REVIEW AND LOBBY STILLS GALLERY OF 'THE SKULL'  Just CLICK HERE!


ABOVE: FULL REVIEW FEATURE OF TWILIGHT TIME REMASTERED BLU RAY RELEASE AND GALLERY! 'Sword of Sherwood Forest' tarring Peter Cushing, Richard Green, Nigel Green and Oliver Reed : JUST CLICK HERE! 



BECAUSE OF HIS STRAPPING build and commanding height, (6 feet, 1 inch) & regimental demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action, in films such as Jason and the Argonauts, Zulu, Tobruk and The Ipcress File. His large physique also led to his being cast as Little John in Hammer films THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST (1960), with Peter Cushing.Green also appeared in a number of horror films including Corridors of Blood (1958), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), as the father of Jane Asher's character, The Skull (1965) also with Cushing, Let's Kill Uncle (1966) and Hammer's COUNTESS DRACULA with Ingrid Pitt(1971)
 

REMEMBERING Robert Urquhart. 'Quiet, well-read and a lover of classical music, Robert Urquhart was an actor who grew frustrated with his career as he grew older. It was, he bemoaned, an honourable profession but so much of the material he was offered did not deserve any respect...' Robert Urquhart Obituary. 'The Independent' newspaper, 24th March 1995. In the early 1950's Urquhart was building himself quite a reputation for his theatre work. A reputation that would eventually bring him to the attention of studio casting agents and land him supporting roles on the big screen. But it was in the medium of film, that Urquhart was not such a happy chap...


THAT ONE FILM WAS 'The Curse of Frankenstein' with Peter Cushing in 1957 for Hammer film. He detested it. It is said he left the premier screening, refused to make appearances to promote it and only in the last years of his revived career on television, could he find the stomach to even mention it, if it was brought up in interviews. By 1980, Urquhart had cooled off a little..and appeared in another Hammer production, the Hammer House of Horror' television series, in an episode entitled, - Children of the Full Moon. However, we remember him today for his sterling performance in The Curse of Frankenstein'!

Sunday 23 June 2019

COMPETITION: WIN FOUR COPIES! LIMITED EDITION AMICUS BLU RAY 'ASYLUM'


HERE WE GO EVERYONE! Many thanks to Second Sight Films for their sponsoring of this and our last AMICUS CUSHING COMPETITION!... Asylum is one of my all time favorite Amicus / Peter Cushing films, and I think this release is going to go quite crackers and sell out very quickly on its release day 29th July2019. You CAN PREORDER NOW RIGHT HERE! THIS COMPETITION is now LIVE at the FACEBOOK PCAS FAN PAGE. IF you feel like giving yourself a go!? The last PCAS competition to win FOUR COPIES of SECOND SIGHT FILMS LIMITED EDITION OF ' 'THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD' was very popular and already it looks like THIS comp will make and hit some new numbers for our entries again!


THE SECOND SIGHT FILMS release not only presents us with a very neat and much improved print of the film, which stars some of the best of not only past Amicus casts but a neat crew in 'post production' and behind the camera too. The film has a pretty tight story and each of the four tales of terror skip along, just pausing for breath under Peter Tanner's editing. Tanner has a very good understanding of the pace needed for Brit Fantasy and strange stories, having edited some of the best of the TV series 'The Avengers' in nine episodes during 65 and 66. Tanner worked a few Amicus films and was in demand until 1998, sadly passing at the grand age of 88 in 2002. 



CAMERA OPERATOR NEIL BINNEY, who made a very firm mark of quality on several of Amicus films rival, Hammer films over the years, makes everything appear in the set design of the titled 'Asylum' building, look every inch clinical, but not-quite-in-the-world-of-the-real! Roy Ashton, provides his skilled eye and hand on the make up of everything from quite nasty scars to 'what is trying to break out of that manikin?'  plus Douglas Gamley -  The City Of The Dead (61) , The Road to Hong Kong (62),  A Shot In The Dark (63) The Land Thar Time Forgot (74)- and moves the scrapes, thuds and off time clanks of Elisabeth Lutyens. Gamley thankfully was yet to discover the art of naff 'The Beats Must Die' score and sets a terrific and powerful kick off bringing in his arrangement of Mussorgsky's 'Night On Bald Mountain' and pieces of his own making, to make a film that not only looks frightening but also rips a score, that gets the toes a curling! So much to watch and hear. Along with this we have a VERY nice assortment of goodies in the EXTRA FEATURES department . .  


ABOVE: JUST LIKE AMICUS, the art and timing of the 'good build-up' in how we set the scene, ready for the lauch of this the SECOND AMICUS PCAS and SECOND SIGHT FILMS competition, was about to go live on facebook, shortly . . 


OUR PART FIVE of the FILMS OF PETER CUSHING which includes ASYLUM complete with rare stills gallery : HERE! 


THE EXTRA VALUE OF EXTRAS!
Audio Commentary with Director Roy Ward Baker and Camera Operator Neil Binney
 
Two’s a Company: 1972 On-set BBC report featuring interviews with Producer Milton Subotsky, Director Roy Ward Baker, Actors Charlotte Rampling, James Villiers, Megs Jenkins, Art Director Tony Curtis and Production Manager Teresa Bolland Screenwriter David J. Schow on Writer Robert Bloch Fiona Subotsky Remembers Milton Subotsky
 
Inside The Fear Factory: Featurette with Directors Roy Ward Baker, Freddie Francis and Producer Max J. Rosenberg
 
Theatrical Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys and original artwork
Limited Edition Contents

Rigid Slipcase Featuring New Artwork by Graham Humphreys
40 page booklet with new essays by Allan Bryce, Jon Towlson and Kat Ellinger
Reversible poster featuring new and original artwork
 


DID YOU MISS our FIRST AMICUS BLU RAY competition? IF SO, grab your opportunity to catch this one, at the FACEBOOK FAN PAGE of the Peter Cushing Appreciation Society : RIGHT HERE!

Tuesday 3 April 2018

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PC AND HITCHCOCKS PSYCHO! THIS WEEKS TUESDAY TOUGHIE!


HERE IS THIS WEEKS PCAS TUESDAY TOUGHIE! As the banner says, it ISN'T a connection with writer ROBERT BLOCH who did a great job of adapting and writing the scripts for a few of the AMICUS films that PETER CUSHING appeared in down the years. IT IS'NT the film THE SKULL which has an interesting BONE HEAD not unlike the preserved HEAD of  MRS BATES. Amicus films THE SKULL also has some nasty STABBINGS with DAGGERS and KNIVES, but they are not the connection either. SOME OF YOU may guess it, some of you will be MILES out, though it's nothing to do with distance, but certainly if you use all your SENSES, you might get it! THere's no prizes for guessing, but do feel free to drop us a link a petercushingpcas@gmail.com if you think you can SEE IT! Otherwise, ANSWER NEXT WEEK !



DID YOU CATCH Callum McKelvie's SUNDAY CUSHING FEATURE this WEEKEND? IF NOT, NOW is your chance to click and catch it! FULL of GIFS, PICS and Callum's story on how he first came to SEE and REALLY appreciate Hammer films, BRIDES OF DRACULA and PETER CUSHING. JUST CLICK  HERE!

Sunday 11 February 2018

THE CUSHING DOUBLE BILLS NUMBER 2 : THE SKULL AND THE CREEPING FLESH : CALLUM MCKELVIE ON SUNDAY


BEGINNING LAST WEEK, I started a series examining three pairs of films that I felt would make ideal ‘Cushing Double-Bills’, concentrating primarily on thematic links.  Last time, I looked at Hammer's The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and its first sequel The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958). We continue this week with a pair of films slightly less obvious than our previous selection, 1965’s The Skull and 1972’s The Creeping Flesh. Ostensibly two unrelated films (excluding the fact that both feature Cushing and Christopher Lee and are directed by Freddie Francis) our discussion this week concerns the dark thematic subtext that links both.


MADE IN 1965, The Skull is often cited as one of Cushing’s very best whilst The Creeping Flesh (despite getting a great deal of attention from fans and this page in particular) is still sadly something of an undiscovered gem. The Skull is one of Amicus’s non-portmanteau features and is based on the short story The Skull of the Marquis De Sade by Robert Bloch. A masterpiece of atmosphere, The Skull has a powerful dreamlike quality that manages to be supremely unsettling. The Creeping Flesh, on the other hand, is one of Tony Tenser’s Tigon productions and is far more visceral in its execution, with some genuinely disturbing scenes..


SO WHAT THEN IS IT, that causes me to group these two films in particular? Well to begin with both demonstrate British horror studios attempting to do something different with the Hammer mould and are incredibly experimental in nature. The Skull, as well as being a modern day piece it’s far less explicit in exactly what its threat is than Hammer tend to be, preferring  a slower, subtler build-up. Visually The Skull is particularly arresting, be it the haunting shots from the Skull’s perspective or the Kafka-esque dream sequence. Similarly the film embraces a darkness to an extent that Hammer rarely did, from the depressing ending to the character of Maitland himself.



ABOVE AND BELOW: THE KAFKA-ESQUE POV SHOTS APPEAR IN 
BOTH 'THE SKULL' AND 'THE CREEPING FLESH'


MAITLAND, whilst not unlikeable, is hardly a charmer and as an audience we are invited to look upon his morbid hobby with a critical eye. We care about him and wish him no ills but the obsessiveness that permeates his character causes us to question his gruesome pastime. 'The Creeping Flesh' on the other hand is from, arguably, the most radical British horror studio in business from the mid 60’s to mid-70’s. 



ABOVE: THE OBSESSIVE MAITLAND OF 'THE SKULL' (1965)



IT MUST BE REMEMBERED that whilst Tigon were behind the gothic pot-boiler The Blood Beast Terror (1967), they were also the studio famed for producing Michael Reeves his magnum opus, Witchfinder General (1968) and his earlier The Sorcerers (1967). Away from Reeves, Tigons output is rich with a ‘radical’ and ‘alternative’ sentiment and whilst not always successful never cease to be interesting. Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), Neither the Sea nor the Sand (1972), The Flesh and Blood Show (1972), The Beast in the Cellar (1970) and of course Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971) are among the most innovative and experimental British horror films in this period.




ABOVE: BORIS KARLOFF AND IAN OGILVY IN TIGON FILMS 'THE SORCERERS' (1967)



ABOVE: THE EQUALLY OBSESSIVE EMMANUEL HILDER FROM THE CREEPING FLESH (1972)

THUS The Creeping Flesh similarly contains elements that go against the traditional mould. Namely, like The Skull, there are few likeable characters and our main this time, Emmanuel Hildern is equally as obsessive as Maitland. This time it is science and particularly the desire to make a great discovery, rather than collecting that absorbs him. The same can be said of his sadistic brother James (Lee), who covets his brother’s success. The film questions the nature of evil and in particular uses the Victorian scientist to do this. The usual hero of Hammer is here reverted to selfish obsessors whose desire for success and discovery makes them far more horrific, than the devil-creature that appears at the climax.


ABOVE: THE SADISTIC BROTHER JAMES, PLAYED BY CHRISTOPHER LEE IN 'THE CREEPING FLESH' (1972)



AS PERHAPS I’m already beginning to demonstrate, 'The Skull' and 'The Creeping Flesh', are without doubt two of the most sub textually rich and intelligent films that Cushing has been involved with. In both, it’s possible to feel that perhaps more than his other Gothic productions Freddie Francis is able to identify themes and motifs throughout the stories that interest him visually. Building on themes of obsession, madness is a prominent factor in both and indeed can be one of the central elements of fear that emanates from the films. In 'The Skull' we are invited to question whether Maitland is actually going insane and the nature of his haunting is a highly personal one, attacking his mind over his physical body (at least until the films climax). 


ABOVE: MAITLAND HIGHLY PERSONAL MADNESS

ONCE AGAIN in The Creeping Flesh we are invited to wonder whether our main character is indeed mad, though far more explicitly. Here the framing structure of the film has Cushing narrating his story, before at the end revealing that he is an inmate in the asylum ran by Lee. A final shot leaves us to wonder whether his story is true or not. However the theme of madness permeates the story far deeper than this, with Cushing living in fear of hereditary madness that leads him to inject his daughter with the serum grown from the remains of the skeleton.




IN SHORT, I think of all the double bills I’ll be discussing, this is easily the most personal. Whilst I love the films of Hammer these two simply blew me away with relentlessly dark tales that made comments on obsession, madness and the nature of evil. Whilst calling them Cushing’s two ‘Artsy’ horrors may sound somewhat insulting, I think it perhaps sums them up best. These films are Freddie Francis’s masterpieces and demonstrate a sub textual and visual storytelling intelligence far above and beyond any of his other horror work. Whilst Dracula has Risen from the Grave is certainly beautiful to look at and contains interesting commentary on religion, it’s not as rich or as subtle as these two films. 


IT'S A REAL SHAME that whilst The Skull has r been given a superb Blu-ray treatment, The Creeping Flesh is neglected to a mill-creek triple feature. One lives in hope that boutique label along the lines of Arrow will recognise the merit in the film and surprise us with a brand new HD transfer and a wealth of features. If you’re looking for two of Cushing’s darker, less comfortable films then these make the perfect double bill.


THE BEST OF A DOUBLE? CASTING AND FILMS, CUSHING AND LEE IN 'THE SKULL' (1965) AND 'THE CREEPING FLESH' (1972)




OH AND THEY BOTH feature skulls. Just saying. Join me NEXT SUNDAY, for another classic DOUBLE BILL!


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 

Tuesday 30 January 2018

MOMENT OF TERROR MONDAY! CUSHING IN 'THE SKULL' CLIP



THIS WEEK'S #MOMENTSOFTERRORMONDAY! comes from Amicus films, 'THE SKULL' (1965) starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee . .and here, Peter Woodthrope, who some of you may recognise from his portrayal of Zoltan the hypnotist, Hammer films, 'The Evil of Frankenstein' also with Peter Cushing from the same year. The floating SKULL of the The Skull of the "Marquis de Sade" was a true device of terror, and a concept devised by author and screenplay writer, Robert Bloch. Bloch worked on a few Amicus films, The Skull probably being the best of the bunch.



PETER CUSHING plays the tormented Christopher MAITLAND . . .a surname that is a death sentence in an Amicus film, as script writer and producer has used the surname so many times in his films! This is great clip. I LOVE the way that Woodthrope's ,Bert Travers falls through no one, but TWO glass skylights...and if you listen carefully, it sounds as he went through another too . .. . A TRUE Moment of TERROR! BEST print on the market, would have to be the EUREKA BLU RAY. GReat visual quality and sound...and a load of extra features too PLUS It's REGION ZERO! ENJOY! - Marcus


MORE ON THE SKULL IN OUR FEATURE AND GALLERY : HERE!





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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