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“Lady Frankenstein” (1972) – Debauched Baroness

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Either you will find this enjoyable or feel revulsion at its sordidness. Here is a version of “Frankenstein” that elaborates on the general tale and ends up pouring on excessive violence and twisted themes.

Dr. Frankenstein is practicing his favorite past time, namely, sewing together bits and pieces of dead bodies and reanimating the resultant corpse. Into this unnatural environment is the arrival of Frankenstein’s daughter, returned from university. She has an admiration for her father’s studies and wants to prolong his legacy by doing a bit of body stitching herself. Never mind that she is a bit afflicted with her own mental issues and a raging libido. After her father is destroyed by his own patchwork being, his daughter uses what she learned from dear old dad to affix her handicapped husband’s superior brain in the strong, flawless body of a half-witted servant who hangs around the castle and to whom she is madly attracted.

In the meantime, Frankenstein’s monster runs amok around the countryside, dispatching and murdering townsfolk. Anxious to build her own Perfect Man, Lady Frankenstein doesn’t give the rampaging monster much thought but first wants to fulfill her own creative, corpse building ambitions and take time to praise the great work of her father. Oh yeah. And jump in and out of the sack. lol.

This picture clearly borrows from Hammer Films and their reliance on gore and sexy women and the Italian Horror cycle which proliferated in the 1970’s. Roger Corman pitched in some money to make sure this travesty got completed and his New World Pictures distributed the film in America. Noted actor Joseph Cotton shilled for a paycheck in this bungle.

See also: “Horror of Frankenstein”, “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein”.

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“Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde” (1971) – Flippin’ Horror

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In celebration of the November 13th birthday of Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of classic “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, we look at a derivation of that work with the shake and bake Hammer picture, “Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde”.

Stevenson wrote the tale about Dr. Jekyll who developed a serum that would transform himself into a more self-assured, sinister, promiscuous version of himself so that he might more easily pursue some of his “unstated vices and not deal with the shame”. Thus, Mr. Hyde was born. Hyde is variously represented as a savage, violent, night reveler. He drinks, carouses, hangs out with ladies of the night and raises hell: basically, a retro rock star!

In this Hammer picture, Jekyll’s dark side transforms into a female version of himself but who is no less psychotic and destructive than your run of the mill male Hyde. A lot of ruckus, boob flashing, blood and gratuitous murder is the outcome. Your typical Hammer picture!

Just as a side note, in “Edge of Sanity” (1989), Anthony Perkins played a Dr. Jekyll whose experiments with the human psyche led him to develop a serum that combined ether and cocaine and thus unleashed the Beast, Mr. Hyde. Had to throw in that little tidbit. lol.

A wild time! Stevenson might be amused.

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“Horror In The Heights” – Kolchak Saves Humanity Again!

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I think “Horror In The Heights” was the best episode from the short lived “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” TV series. I have discussed Kolchak in prior posts but I watched this particular episode again recently. It was scripted by Hammer films vet, Jimmy Sangster, whose screenwriting credits included Hammer’s “Curse of Frankenstein” and “Horror of Dracula”. Very good credentials, indeed.

A series of ghastly murders are occurring in a neighborhood primarily populated by the elderly. What worse is that the bodies show the signs of being partially devoured! Our fearless reporter, Kolchak, begins to sense that the killings are far from ordinary. He comes upon the realization that an ancient Hindu supernatural being may be manifesting itself in this particular Chicago neighborhood and continuing its distasteful habit of man eating.

Very atmospheric and creepy television work on a level far above most. I definitely recommend you view it.

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“Horror of Dracula” (1958) – A Different (S)Take on Bram Stoker’s Novel, “Dracula”.

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I have always enjoyed Hammer Films’ “Horror Of Dracula” starring Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing, vampire authority, and Christopher Lee as the undead blood sucker, Dracula. I thought the movie was a very well done horror thriller. Lee is menacing and frightening as a very strong but cold parasitic beast bent on his own survival. Cushing is magnificent as the determined and brilliant expert on folklore and the Supernatural bent on ending the vampire’s reign of terror.

With the current pandemic raging on and being newly unemployed, I found time to finally finish Bram Stoker’s novel, “Dracula”. Now, comparing Hammers’ “Horror” with Stoker’s work, I found definite narrative differences. The Hammer film follows its own logic and twist on the story and is satisfying enough in its own right. Stoker’s work is of course The Source Material and being a 300 page novel having to be adapted by a scriptwriter for a 90 to 120 minute movie, many choice and not so choice bits are left out of the screen treatment for “Horror of Dracula”. I think these are two different visions sharing the same title character and some of the supporting players. Both versions are interesting and entertaining and it is worth investing time in reading the novel and getting a look at the original vision of author Stoker.

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TOP 5 MOVIES FOR MY HALLOWEEN VIEWING

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I have given a minute or two of thought to what I would enjoy most viewing on Halloween.  I would most definitely need to take the day off of work because this lineup would probably consume a good 10 hours.  Sacrifices must be made!  Granted this is the first of what may be a series of some of my most adored movies piled together in one marathon viewing.  These movies are what came off the top of my head at the time and can definitely be mixed and matched and replaced with other selections.  I think that makes sense.

  1.  5 Million Years To Earth – 1967 – A Hammer Films science fiction entry that postulates that some long ago Martians visited our remote ancestors and planted the seeds of intelligence in our shaggy, far removed, ancient ape-like relatives.  Is the recently uncovered spaceship located in the London underground still harboring a Martian presence?
  2. The Mummy – 1959 – This is a great one to curl up with your favorite snack and beverage and soak up the suspense.  Very entertaining and satisfying mummy on the loose tale.  Christopher Lee is mainly silent and heavily bandaged as the title character.  Peter Cushing is out to stop The Mummy’s diabolical rampage.
  3. The Fearless Vampire Killers – 1967 – Roman Polanski directed and co-starred in this hugely atmospheric comedy/horror piece about a couple of bumbling monster hunters who try to rescue a damsel who is fortified in a castle full of undead vampires.  Great sets!
  4. Horror Express – 1972 – Another Cushing/Lee vehicle set aboard a trans-Siberian train that transports an ages old ape man found frozen in ice.  The recently unearthed specimen seems to not be fully dead and can swap human hosts!  A true hoot.
  5. Invasion – 1966 – A hospital is literally held hostage as an alien presence temporarily makes a stop on Earth and has to recover its lost property before it can again go back to outer space.  It’s bad enough being in a hospital, as it is!

Like I said, I will make another list of five more films that it would be Heaven to just spend Halloween day watching back to back.  Maybe I’ll defer it until Thanksgiving or Christmas.  I’ve got time off then.  Check some of these films out and enjoy!

 

 

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HAMMER HORROR FUN – DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966)

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Back when Hammer Films were all the rage and knocking horror fans dead at the box office, “Dracula: Prince of Darkness” marked the return of Christopher Lee to the title roll of the infamous undead vampire king.  He had gone away from the role after his turn as the blood sucker in the remarkable “Horror of Dracula” (1958), one of Hammer Films’ first stabs at rebooting the Universal monster cycle from films decades before.  Lee appeared in Hammer Films such as “The Gorgon” (1964) and “She” (1965).  He just wasn’t interested in playing Dracula.  But through whatever form of alchemy and monetary incentive, Lee menaced again in “Dracula: Prince of Darkness”.  It had to be money that got him back because this is not the juiciest script that Lee could have gotten.  He has no lines of dialogue but sneers and hisses a lot and manhandles his intended victims.  This is a fun view, though.  Dracula has a life long human servant who makes sure that two couples spend the night in Dracula’s old castle.  You see, Dracula is now no more than collected dust from the last time he was destroyed in “The Brides of Dracula” (1960).  Lee didn’t appear in that entry.  But, anyway, the servant dispatches one of the guests in the bloodiest way possible in order to bathe Dracula’s ashes in the life giving, red stuff.  Before long, the King of Vampires is back terrorizing the countryside in his endless quest for fresh blood.  Plenty of atmosphere, moody music and heroics from Peter Cushing as Van Helsing and Hammer veteran Andrew Kier.

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The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) – Assorted Debauchery

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Gruesome Hammer Films reinterpretation of the classic Universal monster movie vehicle of a mad, maverick doctor and his attempts to bring life to dead bodies.  Made in 1957, this horror remake is a graphic, Technicolor chronicle of the despicable practices that Dr. Frankenstein engages in.  Portrayed as a kind of sadistic, cold-hearted deviant, Peter Cushing is marvelous as the doctor.  Cushing carries on an affair with his housekeeper even while his long suffering fiancé is sleeping upstairs in the castle.  Having previously promised the housekeeper marriage, as well, Cushing laughs in her face and says he never had any such intention.  When he learns that the housekeeper is pregnant and threatens exposing his behind closed door hobby of reanimating dead things, the good doctor locks the lass in the lab with the hideous creature and lets him rip her to pieces.  Christopher Lee is more a less seen as one of the unluckiest characters in movie history.  The “creature” never asked for this treatment but endures a horrific, miserably short lived existence.  The brute stumbles out of Frankenstein’s estate and out in to the countryside.  Killing at least one other unfortunate he has come across, the Creature is put out of its misery with a bullet to the head by Frankenstein’s assistant.  If that isn’t enough, Dr. Frankenstein brings the beast back to life and the brain damaged result is converted in to a shambling, semi obedient pet following Frankenstein’s commands.  It is a pathetic sight indeed.  Frankenstein’s dream of creating the perfect “Superman” does in fact turn into a compete failure.  This Hammer Films reboot makes that point quite painfully clear.