We mention the sad departing of the guy who wore “The Creature From The Black Lagoon” costume UNDERWATER for that great Universal monster series. The underwater sequence where the Creature mirrors the movie heroine’s movements is basically a well-choreographed ballet. Pretty amazing.
We thank you, Ricou, for your great contributions to the moving image!
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.
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.
What a cool concept! A haunted house walk through at Universal Studios in Hollywood of psycho Michael Myers’ various killing grounds. In this scenario, you go toward the hulking Shape and he and other scary figures jump out at you. No nasty slashing or blood spilling is involved. You may soil your shorts but at least you’re doing this in the dark. You may get away with no one seeing it.
