I've read that Hammer's " To the Devil a daughter" was their attempt
To do an " Omen" type movie.
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
I have Marcus Hearn's book on the Hammer series somewhere - I really must dig it out and give it a read. I love Hammer's version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) too, starring Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes.
It's interesting to note too that The Devil Rides Out was Christopher Lee's favourite Hammer film.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Well, there's a memory of an old film bouncing around in my head and I think it was a Hammer film.
In the movie, I remember it was set in the early 1800s in England, and some people are getting killed in spectacular ways. Someone drowns a woman in a bathtub, a man is stabbed in the throat with a rapier...
It was so long ago, I remember it as a kid so it must have been the 1960s.
It was probably a crappy film and for some reason it just stuck in my mind....
Anyone have a clue what this film was?
"I don't know if the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or imbeciles who mean it."-Mark Twain
'Just because nobody complains doesn't mean all parachutes are perfect.'- Benny Hill (1924-1992)
I am discovering a whole new universe of films these days. The HAMMER Film Noir and Horrer era.
Lots of them have Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee starring. One of them or both. It is like delving into an alternate reality of the cinematic 50s, 60s and 70s. Very fascinating.
Among my favourite films- love them all!
oh cool! I have bought some that have come out in restored HD version on Blu-ray Special Editions with extensive Booklets (released on the German language market). Others I purchased digitally on iTunes in HD.
-The Hound Of The Baskervilles
-Dracula
-The Gorgon
-Taste Of Fear
those I have watched so far and love them all, simply fantastic!
I got Special Editions for "Horror Express" and "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors" too, both with Cushing and Lee, as I have started to collect their collaborations outside Hammer as well.
I love both of them, totally.
Great times ahead for me, I have ordered 16 more Hammer films on Blu-ray!!
I’ve been collecting the Hammer films on DVD & Blu-Ray for years. I don’t have them all, but do have all the ones starring Cushing & Lee as well as many of the others.
My favourite series is the Frankenstein one, closely followed by the Dracula series, though overall my top Hammer film is Quatermass And The Pit. I’ve watched all of these over and over, though not as much as the Bond movies of course. )
Amusing aside: my son said to me once that Peter Cushing must have been quite short.
I pointed out to him that Christopher Lee, Cushing's most frequent co-star, was about 2 metres tall, and that in the part most non-horror or Holmes fans would know him from
he's standing beside the even more huge Dave Prowse! (Who also was with him in one of the Frankenstein films.) Cushing was about 6 foot.
I saw Dave Prowse in person at a film fair in London in the 1990s. He is extremely tall. I'm 6ft 2 and my neck was straining just to look at him. Really nice guy, actually. He was signing Darth photos all day.
My favourite Hammer movies are Lee's Dracula's, especially the original and Dracula AD 1972, where he kills lots of hippies. Also loved the early Frankenstein movies with Cushing.
The Devil Rides Out still stands up, even with slightly dodgy special effects. It's really atmospheric and it has Charles Blofeld Gray as a villain. What could be better?
I remember seeing Devil in the cinema. It made a huge impact on me.
It was on a double bill with The Lost Continent, also based on a Dennis Wheatley novel. I do remember my young self being very impressed by Dana Gillespie.
I got Special Editions for "Horror Express" and "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors" too, both with Cushing and Lee, as I have started to collect their collaborations outside Hammer as well.
I like both of those. "Dr Terror" is an Amicus film, and they're very similar to the Hammer movies (not surprisingly, since they use many of the same stars and directors) though most of them use the anthology format, ie several short stories all tied together. Some of the shorter stories are good, some aren't.
First of all I want to thank my buddy @ToTheRight who is my mentor concerning Hammer Films. I discovered this fantastic film universe because of him.
My favourite decades for movies are the 50s and the 60s. Always have, always will be. I own quite an impressive amount of films of that era, a lot of them in restored HD as well.
I went for the Sherlock Holmes Hammer film first which I own on Blu-ray.
As Conan Doyle and the cinematic and TV universe of Sherlock Holmes is maybe my second favourite passion after James Bond it was the logical choice.
While Lee didn't impress me much in it, Peter Cushing made my jaw drop down, it's an incredible performance and Cushing has since become my favourite Holmes after Jeremy Brett. I also have recently purchased the DVD set with the 6 available Holmes TV shows with Cushing and Stock.
It's maybe the most original film version I have seen of The Baskervilles. The plot twist at the end came as a surprise to me, I expected the usual ending even if I became wary during the last third of the film if the bad guy could be someone else for a change.
The sets, the atmosphere, the directing, the music, the acting, the costumes, the lighting, it's all superb and I hoped that Baskervilles would not be the only Hammer film that is like that. Luckily I discovered that indeed there is a whole lot of such films.
I feel like the kid that discovered a new candy store )
Cushing nails Holmes and I was immediately fascinated by his performance and his look and the sets.
And after viewing it a second time I can honestly say, it is my favourite cinematic Sherlock Holmes film now. (Not counting the Rathbone films which I view as a series, even if they are technically cinema films).
The second, an under-rated one. Valerie Leon at her most desirable, Andrew Keir standing in admirably for Peter Cushing, and excellent atmosphere.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
Brides of Dracula B-)
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
First of all I want to thank my buddy @ToTheRight who is my mentor concerning Hammer Films. I discovered this fantastic film universe because of him.
My favourite decades for movies are the 50s and the 60s. Always have, always will be. I own quite an impressive amount of films of that era, a lot of them in restored HD as well.
I went for the Sherlock Holmes Hammer film first which I own on Blu-ray.
As Conan Doyle and the cinematic and TV universe of Sherlock Holmes is maybe my second favourite passion after James Bond it was the logical choice.
While Lee didn't impress me much in it, Peter Cushing made my jaw drop down, it's an incredible performance and Cushing has since become my favourite Holmes after Jeremy Brett. I also have recently purchased the DVD set with the 6 available Holmes TV shows with Cushing and Stock.
It's maybe the most original film version I have seen of The Baskervilles. The plot twist at the end came as a surprise to me, I expected the usual ending even if I became wary during the last third of the film if the bad guy could be someone else for a change.
The sets, the atmosphere, the directing, the music, the acting, the costumes, the lighting, it's all superb and I hoped that Baskervilles would not be the only Hammer film that is like that. Luckily I discovered that indeed there is a whole lot of such films.
I feel like the kid that discovered a new candy store )
Cushing nails Holmes and I was immediately fascinated by his performance and his look and the sets.
And after viewing it a second time I can honestly say, it is my favourite cinematic Sherlock Holmes film now. (Not counting the Rathbone films which I view as a series, even if they are technically cinema films).
Thanks for the shout out, Jason!
I love the Hammer films like I love Bond. I've been a Hammer film fanatic since I was 7 years of age and caught an 11pm airing of DRACULA-PRINCE OF DARKNESS one summer Friday night. Christopher Lee, with no dialogue, and probably a total of 7 minutes of screen time, commands such a presence as Dracula I just had to see the others. A few months later around Halloween I caught: FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN, a very different type of Frankenstein film, DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE and THE MUMMY. I was hooked. Before long I was collecting issues of Dracula Lives! reading anything and everything on Lee and Peter Cushing.
I'd be checking out various monster movie books from my school library as well as the public library.
My favorite series' were the Dracula and Frankensteins along with the Karnstein Trilogy.
VAMPIRE CIRCUS aired on the tube several times when I was a kid and for the longest time was unavailable on video format.
If I had to pick a top 5 list of Hammer Horrors it might be:
1. THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
2. HORROR OF DRACULA
3. VAMPIRE CIRCUS
4. THE VAMPIRE LOVERS
5. DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE.....................
or it might be............
1. FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN
2. SCARS OF DRACULA
3. HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES
4. DRACULA AD 1972
5. THE MUMMY
There are so many- I love the "modern" Dracs, THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (look for Desmond in a small role), Hammer's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA , BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY"S TOMB (just for Valerie), TWINS OF EVIL, CAPTAIN KRONOS,
What's interesting, is to me, even the less popular Hammers like SATANIC RITES, or LEGEND of the 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES are immensely fun.
I got Special Editions for "Horror Express" and "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors" too, both with Cushing and Lee, as I have started to collect their collaborations outside Hammer as well.
I like both of those. "Dr Terror" is an Amicus film, and they're very similar to the Hammer movies (not surprisingly, since they use many of the same stars and directors) though most of them use the anthology format, ie several short stories all tied together. Some of the shorter stories are good, some aren't.
Really love both films. Dr Terror could be a future favourite of mine, I love train scenarios. Even with Bond all the various train sequences belong to my favourite scenes overall.
Loved all five stories, the diversity is great, the killer plant was trashy and funny, the musician story with the voodoo was the "boring" one imo, but still, the music helps it a great deal.
My favourite is probably the "hand" with Gough and Lee. Very disturbing. Also the first one is what reminded me most of the Hammer films I've seen so far. And the ending is really great too. Love it, quite eerie.
Horror Express of course is fantastic too for the whole train set and the actors!! Telly as Kazan...oh I wish he would have had a bit more screen time. But he went out with a bang.
Love the model work at the end....totally, such charm and atmosphere.
Don't forget the most horrific Hammer's of all.....................ON THE BUSES, MUTINY ON THE BUSES and HOLIDAY ON THE BUSES (although for some strange reason I find this one moderately funny ) (Nooooooooooooooo aarrrggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!) ( Runs away screaming ) )
Seriously, I just love all the Hammer Horrors, Frankenstein is my favourite series, Cushing is superb in all those.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
When I said I collected the Hammer movies, I wasn't meaning those ones! )
Watched "Horror Express" again last week (not a Hammer) and enjoyed it. Bride of Barbel is used to me watching Cushing & Lee, and was surprised when Telly Savalas turned up.
Already watched it twice in brilliantly restored HD. Absolutely in love with this film.
Peter Cushing again is simply irresistible. Can't stop watching him.
But the rest of the cast is fantastic too. Especially Richard Pasco as Paul Heitz, the leading man of the film really.
As I don't know much about Hammer films and how they rank in general with the fans I can't really just now judge where to put those films in perspective with the whole Hammer era.
Personally I find The Gorgon wonderful, beautiful and quite touching as well. I soon suspected who Medusa is and when it became clear it is so I knew I would like the end of the film. The beast is defeated but at a high price.
Another film with both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. After seeing half a dozen films that feature both actors I begin to suspect that this is one of the best film actor duos ever.
Dalton Rulez™
superadoRegent's Park West (CaliforniaPosts: 2,656MI6 Agent
I'm now watching a Hammer-like production, From Beyond the Grave that stars Peter Cushing. As Halloween nears, more of the Hammer films will come up on different channels, as I still have The Revenge of Frankenstein saved on my VCR from last year. Another Hammer-like favorite is Frankenstein's Bloody Terror, originally in Spanish, and it has little to do with Frankenstein's monster but more about Werewolves. Looking forward to rewatching the Christopher Lee Draculas later this year!
"...the purposeful slant of his striding figure looked dangerous, as if he was making quickly for something bad that was happening further down the street." -SMERSH on 007 dossier photo, Ch. 6 FRWL.....
I own a few of the Hammer horror films including Dracula, The Mummy, Curse of Frankenstein and Hound of the Baskervilles. Recently I have been thinking of adding to my collection and spotted the Ultimate Hammer collection which contains 21 films. I know of some of the films it contains but am unfamiliar with most of them. Does anyone know of this collection and is it worth buying?
Comments
Just sayin'.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
"The Green Mile" (1999)- an absolutely beautiful book to film conversion.
To do an " Omen" type movie.
It's interesting to note too that The Devil Rides Out was Christopher Lee's favourite Hammer film.
A marvellous Holmes. -{
In the movie, I remember it was set in the early 1800s in England, and some people are getting killed in spectacular ways. Someone drowns a woman in a bathtub, a man is stabbed in the throat with a rapier...
It was so long ago, I remember it as a kid so it must have been the 1960s.
It was probably a crappy film and for some reason it just stuck in my mind....
Anyone have a clue what this film was?
'Just because nobody complains doesn't mean all parachutes are perfect.'- Benny Hill (1924-1992)
I’ve been collecting the Hammer films on DVD & Blu-Ray for years. I don’t have them all, but do have all the ones starring Cushing & Lee as well as many of the others.
My favourite series is the Frankenstein one, closely followed by the Dracula series, though overall my top Hammer film is Quatermass And The Pit. I’ve watched all of these over and over, though not as much as the Bond movies of course.
Amusing aside: my son said to me once that Peter Cushing must have been quite short.
I pointed out to him that Christopher Lee, Cushing's most frequent co-star, was about 2 metres tall, and that in the part most non-horror or Holmes fans would know him from
he's standing beside the even more huge Dave Prowse! (Who also was with him in one of the Frankenstein films.) Cushing was about 6 foot.
My favourite Hammer movies are Lee's Dracula's, especially the original and Dracula AD 1972, where he kills lots of hippies. Also loved the early Frankenstein movies with Cushing.
The Devil Rides Out still stands up, even with slightly dodgy special effects. It's really atmospheric and it has Charles Blofeld Gray as a villain. What could be better?
(1) To take advantage of improved special effects, which as you say was a weakness of the film
(2) His character was meant to be an older man, say in his 70s, and Lee was only in his 40s at the time of shooting.
It was on a double bill with The Lost Continent, also based on a Dennis Wheatley novel. I do remember my young self being very impressed by Dana Gillespie.
My brother-in-law is 7ft 2, the same as Richard Kiel. When we first met I had to ask that we sat down to talk, for the same reason!
I like both of those. "Dr Terror" is an Amicus film, and they're very similar to the Hammer movies (not surprisingly, since they use many of the same stars and directors) though most of them use the anthology format, ie several short stories all tied together. Some of the shorter stories are good, some aren't.
My favourite decades for movies are the 50s and the 60s. Always have, always will be. I own quite an impressive amount of films of that era, a lot of them in restored HD as well.
I went for the Sherlock Holmes Hammer film first which I own on Blu-ray.
As Conan Doyle and the cinematic and TV universe of Sherlock Holmes is maybe my second favourite passion after James Bond it was the logical choice.
While Lee didn't impress me much in it, Peter Cushing made my jaw drop down, it's an incredible performance and Cushing has since become my favourite Holmes after Jeremy Brett. I also have recently purchased the DVD set with the 6 available Holmes TV shows with Cushing and Stock.
It's maybe the most original film version I have seen of The Baskervilles. The plot twist at the end came as a surprise to me, I expected the usual ending even if I became wary during the last third of the film if the bad guy could be someone else for a change.
The sets, the atmosphere, the directing, the music, the acting, the costumes, the lighting, it's all superb and I hoped that Baskervilles would not be the only Hammer film that is like that. Luckily I discovered that indeed there is a whole lot of such films.
I feel like the kid that discovered a new candy store
Cushing nails Holmes and I was immediately fascinated by his performance and his look and the sets.
And after viewing it a second time I can honestly say, it is my favourite cinematic Sherlock Holmes film now. (Not counting the Rathbone films which I view as a series, even if they are technically cinema films).
Cushing as Holmes ranks up there with Rathbone and Brett, I'd say.
Basil Rathbone
Peter Cushing
Christopher Lee
Benedict Cumberbatch
Jonny Lee Miller
All have played Holmes, but all have played Frankenstein (or the monster, and in some cases both!) as well.
The second, an under-rated one. Valerie Leon at her most desirable, Andrew Keir standing in admirably for Peter Cushing, and excellent atmosphere.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
list stuff right there (does sid james dirty laugh)
Thanks for the shout out, Jason!
I love the Hammer films like I love Bond. I've been a Hammer film fanatic since I was 7 years of age and caught an 11pm airing of DRACULA-PRINCE OF DARKNESS one summer Friday night. Christopher Lee, with no dialogue, and probably a total of 7 minutes of screen time, commands such a presence as Dracula I just had to see the others. A few months later around Halloween I caught: FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN, a very different type of Frankenstein film, DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE and THE MUMMY. I was hooked. Before long I was collecting issues of Dracula Lives! reading anything and everything on Lee and Peter Cushing.
I'd be checking out various monster movie books from my school library as well as the public library.
My favorite series' were the Dracula and Frankensteins along with the Karnstein Trilogy.
VAMPIRE CIRCUS aired on the tube several times when I was a kid and for the longest time was unavailable on video format.
If I had to pick a top 5 list of Hammer Horrors it might be:
1. THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
2. HORROR OF DRACULA
3. VAMPIRE CIRCUS
4. THE VAMPIRE LOVERS
5. DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE.....................
or it might be............
1. FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN
2. SCARS OF DRACULA
3. HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES
4. DRACULA AD 1972
5. THE MUMMY
There are so many- I love the "modern" Dracs, THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (look for Desmond in a small role), Hammer's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA , BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY"S TOMB (just for Valerie), TWINS OF EVIL, CAPTAIN KRONOS,
What's interesting, is to me, even the less popular Hammers like SATANIC RITES, or LEGEND of the 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES are immensely fun.
Really love both films. Dr Terror could be a future favourite of mine, I love train scenarios. Even with Bond all the various train sequences belong to my favourite scenes overall.
Loved all five stories, the diversity is great, the killer plant was trashy and funny, the musician story with the voodoo was the "boring" one imo, but still, the music helps it a great deal.
My favourite is probably the "hand" with Gough and Lee. Very disturbing. Also the first one is what reminded me most of the Hammer films I've seen so far. And the ending is really great too. Love it, quite eerie.
Horror Express of course is fantastic too for the whole train set and the actors!! Telly as Kazan...oh I wish he would have had a bit more screen time. But he went out with a bang.
Love the model work at the end....totally, such charm and atmosphere.
Seriously, I just love all the Hammer Horrors, Frankenstein is my favourite series, Cushing is superb in all those.
Watched "Horror Express" again last week (not a Hammer) and enjoyed it. Bride of Barbel is used to me watching Cushing & Lee, and was surprised when Telly Savalas turned up.
Lucky bugger!
Already watched it twice in brilliantly restored HD. Absolutely in love with this film.
Peter Cushing again is simply irresistible. Can't stop watching him.
But the rest of the cast is fantastic too. Especially Richard Pasco as Paul Heitz, the leading man of the film really.
As I don't know much about Hammer films and how they rank in general with the fans I can't really just now judge where to put those films in perspective with the whole Hammer era.
Personally I find The Gorgon wonderful, beautiful and quite touching as well. I soon suspected who Medusa is and when it became clear it is so I knew I would like the end of the film. The beast is defeated but at a high price.
Another film with both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. After seeing half a dozen films that feature both actors I begin to suspect that this is one of the best film actor duos ever.