A Very British Horror

21/07/2024

I saw Last Voyage of the Demeter. Thought it was pretty good. Essentially a slasher movie, but at the same time it's really quite loyal to the book. The Dracula depicted here is of the Nosferatu school, so don't expect any elegance or vampiric sexiness. Great cast and really high production values. I had to watch it on Italian Blu-Ray, as the UK distributor went bust and so this movie has never been officially released in the UK. Well worth seeking out.

14/07/2024

This is what I've been working on....

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562733503188

09/07/2024

I recently re-watched both early 70s Frankenstein parodies, and actually enjoyed them pretty much equally. Which is weird given one is a beloved classic and the other is known chiefly for not having Peter Cushing in it.

I need your help here. Vote for the better movie.

Like for Young Frankenstein, Love for Horror of Frankenstein.

09/06/2024

The Curse of the Ninth was a fantastic Ghost Story for Christmas. Except it's June. But let's not split hares.

09/04/2024

Dracula AD 1972 and Karnstein Trilogy artwork by Bruce Timm.

05/04/2024

We don't cover too many CGI cartoons, as you might imagine, but last year's The Canterville Ghost is a genuine British ghost movie, based on the short story by Oscar Wilde. Perhaps the animation is a little ropey by Pixar standards, but the writing and performances are absolutely first rate. Also great to see Fry & Laurie reunited at last.

29/03/2024

Back to the classics last night, as I dug out my old Network DVD of Countess Dracula. It looks very different to other Hammer horrors, thanks to the Hungarian setting, and despite the name, isn't really a vampire movie at all. Some very assured direction from Peter Sasdy and splendid supporting performances from Nigel Green, Maurice Denham and others ensure a decent level of quality.

Ingrid Pitt in the title role looks fantastic, and the aging makeup applied whilst she is in the persona of the elderly Countess is actually really good. Inexplicably, Pitt's voice was overdubbed with that of another actor, although audiences already knew what she sounded like from The Vampire Lovers. It annoyed Pitt immensely at the time, and is still jarring today. Thankfully though, this creative misstep doesn't sink what is otherwise a pretty great movie.

24/03/2024

I saw Hammer Mk 3's Doctor Jekyll movie last night. Surprisingly, it was really good. Eddie Izzard's performance was extremely strong, laced with dark comedy but never undermining the horror tone. The creative choice to have Jekyll and Hyde as physically identical, so you're never quite sure which one you're looking at, really paid off.

I think it was a massive shame that the distributor seemed to lose confidence in the movie and so only released the trailer at the last moment and did almost zero promotion. The lukewarm reviews and intensely limited theatrical release became as inevitable as they were undeserved.

Oh and if you're worried that this is a culture war movie, don't be. Although Jekyll is a trans woman, it's totally irrelevant to the plot and there are basically zero references to gender politics.

20/02/2024

The Terror from 1963 has a poor reputation, perhaps because the circumstances of its production are so well known. Corman shot two days of footage with Boris Karloff on the sets of The Raven, without permission from AIP and without a proper screenplay. It was later cobbled together over the course of about a year by a succession of non-union crews. Despite this, the movie is actually great fun and there's quite a lot of Karloff in it.

By an extraordinary stroke of genius or luck, the then unknown actor that had to hold the movie together proved to have a big future ahead of him. Jack Nicholson was also a holdover from The Raven, though he has much more to do here, and there's consequently much more of his extraordinary talent on show. Oh, and if the scenes taking place at the beach seem strangely superb, there's a reason for that. They were directed by Francis Ford Coppola (who actually shot eleven days of principle photography, far more than Corman).

The final piece of the puzzle is Sandra Knight. Pretty much an unknown, this is almost her only major screen role, but she's fantastic in it as a mysterious ghost / sea hawk / love interest.

Chris

PS with the podcast currently dormant I'm not sure how long I'll keep posting here. Possibly until I run out of Karloff movies to talk about!

06/02/2024

Top 5 Boris Karloff performances from the 1960s? Here's mine:

1) Targets
2) The Sorcerers
3) The Raven
4) Die, Monster, Die!
5) Curse of the Crimson Altar

Chris

04/02/2024

Continued my revisitation of Roger Corman's Poe cycle by going back to his comedic entry into the series, The Raven (1963). The first half of the movie is weak, with Peter Lorre's tiresome performance and some ill-judged slapstick really dragging it down. Even Jack Nicholson's arrival as the juvenile male lead doesn't help much. However, as soon as Boris Karloff and Hazel Court turn up as a villainous power couple things dramatically improve. Both their performances are incredible. Then there's the climatic magic battle, one of the best ever committed to film. By the end, The Raven's status a classic is not in doubt.

Chris

03/01/2024

Ralph Bates was a very fine actor, though you can chart Hammer's attempts to replace Peter Cushing with Bates across their three movies directed by Jimmy Sangster:

Horror of Frankenstein - Bates replaces Cushing as Baron Frankenstein. This was a deliberate decision, as the movie was effectively a reboot of the franchise.

Lust for a Vampire - Bates again replaces Cushing, but this time due to Cushing having to withdraw from the role of Giles at short notice.

Fear in the Night - Both Cushing and Bates appear, though they don't share any screen time together. Bates is the main character but Cushing steals the movie.

Subsequently Bates didn't work for Hammer again, whereas Cushing returned as Frankenstein, and continued in leading roles for Hammer, right up to the company going dormant.

26/12/2023

Lot No. 249 wasn't remotely a ghost story, so I guess Mark Gatiss is a bit bored with those. Instead he's made a full-on Hammer pastiche, complete with clearly recognisable facsimiles of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Fantastically good fun, even with the newly added twist-ending (which I found to be hilarious). However, this does feel like the end of the cycle.

Chris

24/12/2023

It's that time of year again. The time of year for Ghost Stories!

I treated myself to the new Stephen Fry collection and last night greatly enjoyed his reading of Bram Stoker's The Judge's House.

Don't forget, either, that Mark Gatiss's latest Ghost Story For Christmas is on the BBC this evening.

I'd just like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and, insofar as is possible in this day and age, a majestically Happy New Year!

Chris

15/12/2023

I've recently re-watched the first two of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptions. Two things immediately struck me about these really excellent movies:

1) They really look like Hammer movies. Clearly the effect that Curse of Frankenstein and (Horror of) Dracula had on American cinema was profound.

2) Pit and the Pendulum is essentially a remake of House of Usher, with a pit and a pendulum shoe-horned into the finale.

Chris

24/10/2023

The new Hammer movie, Doctor Jekyll, gets a limited UK cinema release from Friday. If you're hoping to catch it on the big screen then click the link to see what your options are.

Watch the trailer, find screenings & book tickets for Doctor Jekyll on the official site. In cinemas 27 October 2023 brought to you by Hammer Studios. Directed by: Joe Stephenson. Starring: Eddie Izzard, Scott Chambers, Lindsay Duncan, Simon Callow, Jonathan Hyde, Morgan Watkins, Robyn Cara

19/10/2023

Really enjoyed Netflix's new gothic horror anime, Castlevania Nocturne. This is a follow up to the Castlevania series, which was also great. Hammer horror through the prism of Japanese video games. Heartily recommended. - Chris

05/10/2023

Please consider backing this brand new comedy horror Kickstarter, masterminded by Alex Finch (guest host on the Garth Marenghi episode) and featuring our very own Chris Denton in a leading role. Link in the comments.

04/10/2023

New episode, coming soon!

19/09/2023

New Amicus movie Kickstarter is live! (Link in the comments).

13/09/2023

Following the recent news of Amicus' revival, it seems Hammer are way ahead of them. Doctor Jekyll starring Eddie Izzard is out next month.

20/08/2023

Some of the films we've almost covered, but then due to scheduling issues not actually recorded an episode about:

Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter
Paper House
A Study In Terror
The House That Dripped Blood

So, if we could go again with one of these movies (and nothing is actually stopping us), which would it be?

17/08/2023

Somewhat surprisingly, a new Amicus film is in the works!

06/08/2023

Last night I poured myself a large glass of port and watched Torture Garden (1967), the second in Amicus's series of Portmanteau horror films.

We have Columbia to thank for the eclectic cast - they insisted on two Americans, which is why we are treated to memorable performances from Burgess Meredith (essentially playing The Penguin) and Jack Palance, though that meant there was no room/budget for Christopher Lee.

Still, the classic British contingent was well-served, with Peter Cushing, Michael Ripper, Barbara Ewing and Michael Bryant, to name but four.

The deft direction by Freddie Francis doesn't quite disguise the lethargic nature of much of Robert Bloch's screenplay, but there is still plenty to enjoy. Such as the killer piano, and the head-eating cat. Definitely worth watching/re-watching.

- Chris

02/08/2023

I recently saw the English-language version of Werner Herzog's Nosferatu remake, for the first time.

Klaus Kinski gives an absolutely remarkable performance in the title role. I now rank Kinski as the greatest of the 1970s Draculas (and he is literally playing Dracula, the character's name having been changed from Count Orlok in the original).

A new and, I would expect, profoundly non-German version of Nosferatu is on the way next year, from director Robert Eggers.

- Chris

30/07/2023

Thirty years ago I watched Demons of the Mind and hated it. Last night I finally watched it again....

Actually, Demons is pretty good. The concept is very clever - basically a typical Hammer movie, except the creepy old aristocrat is just a creepy old aristocrat and the mad scientist is an ineffective fraud. We still get plenty of grisly murders, and a flame-toting mob at the end, there's just nothing supernatural about any of it.

The casting is inspired, too, led by Ghost Story for Christmas refugees Robert Hardy and Michael Hordern. They certainly make an interesting contrast to the familiar Cushing & Lee double act.

I now regard Demons of the Mind as one of Hammer's most interesting, and most under-rated films.

- Chris

25/07/2023

A silent short film adaption of Whistle and I'll Come To You from 1956. Produced by amateur cinema enthusiasts, but the ghost is really quite impressively realised.

A decade before the BBC's version of M R James supernatural classic came this chilling version from the North Downs Cinematograph Society

22/05/2023

Who is this? Wrong answers only.

18/05/2023

We go back to 1989 via 1691 to chase down Julian Sands as the Warlock (1989). We find out how best to track a witch, why all New World settlers were Scottish and reveal the darkest secret of this film, what did Brian May do? Contact us: Facebook: facebook.com/AVeryBritishHorror Twitter: ...

11/05/2023

Serious question: Warlock 2, yes or no?