The Shadow Of The Cat (1961)

Mixing together elements of Poe, Hammer and also classic Ealing Studios fare (I, for one, felt a bit of a Kind Hearts & Coronets vibe running through the whole thing), The Shadow Of The Cat is a real treat for fans of the macabre.

Andre Morell plays the main role, a schemer who is shown killing his wife, and then burying her, at the start of the movie. He is helped in this matter by the butler (Andrew Crawford) and maid (Freda Jackson). There are no witnesses to the crime, except the cat owned by the deceased. While everyone involved tries to feign innocence and ignorance as the police investigate the disappearance of the victim, the cat starts to cause tension, and even seems to be deliberately plotting against the dastardly trio.

Written by George Baxt, and directed by John Gilling, this is standard stuff in many ways. The house in which all of the action takes place is full of dark corners and creaking floorboards, the assembled characters are, for the most part, not very nice, and the one true innocent (played by Barbara Shelley) takes a hell of a long time to realise that all isn't quite as it seems. The only main difference is the fact that revenge is being planned by a cat. That should make the whole thing quite laughable and ridiculous, but ends up making it quite amusing and brilliant.

Morell is as wonderful as he usually is in his role, and the scenes featuring him alongside Crawford and Jackson are all pretty great. Shelley is as lovely as ever, Conrad Phillips does his best to help her as the dependable Michael Latimer, a young man helping out the police in their investigation. Richard Warner, William Lucas and Vanda Godsell all do just fine as the other family members who arrive at the house to ensure that they're going to receive some inheritance, and Catherine Lacey plays the ill-fated cat owner for a minute or two at the start of the movie.

Well worth your time, The Shadow Of The Cat is an unjustly neglected slice of macabre fun that deserves to keep delighting fans who stumble across it.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-Cat-dvd-UK-Release/dp/B00IORRBN0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394309535&sr=8-1&keywords=shadow+of+the+cat

The Brides Of Dracula (1960)

While this is the second movie from Hammer to use the Dracula name it doesn't actually feature Dracula himself. But we're still in Transylvania and there are still fanged threats around, mainly thanks to the dapper Baron Meinster (David Peel), and when a young travelling woman (the lovely, though not overly endowed with acting talent, Yvonne Monlaur) finds herself in trouble she is more than a little relieved to be given a helping hand by the great Dr. Van Helsing (played again by the great Peter Cushing). But things don't stop there and it's not long before Van Helsing realises that there is more than one vampiric beast he needs to lay to rest in Transylvania.

Directed by Terence Fisher, and written by a quartet of people, The Brides Of Dracula may not quite manage to make you forget that you wanted to see Christopher Lee appearing in the title role but it certainly manages to make its own mark thanks to a mix of great atmosphere, spooky imagery and moments of originality (Van Helsing dealing with a bite wound springs immediately to mind).

Cushing is as good as he always is, Monlaur is very pretty, Peel tries hard with the character he's given and Martita Hunt and Freda Jackson do very well with their screen time. There's also a very small role for Michael Ripper as a coachman and the beautiful Andree Melly makes a great impression as Gina but this is all about the dread and foreboding ladled over everything and it works very well in that respect.

The finale may not be quite as intense and exciting as some other releases from the studio but it again impresses with a bit of originality and I enjoyed the use of that Gothic horror staple - the creaky old windmill - immensely. There's really only one thing I can hold against it, but it's a biggie, and that's the fact that the title is a big, fat lie.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brides-Dracula-DVD-Martita-Hunt/dp/B000W22234/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350321904&sr=8-1