The Snorkel (1958)

Although Hammer are well known, and celebrated, for their crimson-filled reworking of the archetypal icons of the horror genre, they had quite a bit of variety in their output. There were the TV shows being moved to the big screen (but a lot less people are in a rush to revisit the likes of On The Buses), epic fantasy films made on less-than-epic budgets, and wonderfully strange attempts to deliver interesting psychological horrors (the disappointing Demons Of The Mind and enjoyably bizarre Straight On Till Morning being the most memorable examples). And there were the thrillers, which I believe actually outnumber their horror movies when you add every film up that made the total output from the studio (the classic incarnation anyway, as it were).

Which brings us to The Snorkel, a thriller from the studio that I had previously never heard of, and one that will hopefully be (re)discovered by film fans nowadays, and given some of the love that it deserves. Not only is this an enjoyable thriller, it's beautifully simplistic in the cleverness of the central conceit, providing a killer with a modus operandi so fiendish that it allows him to be more brazen and arrogant than most killers while authorities understandably never put two and two together.

Peter van Eyck is Paul Decker, and we first see him turning on a lot of gas pipes and then hiding under some floorboards, all the while wearing a snorkel. This leads to the death of his wife, who was the mother to young Candy (Mandy Miller). Candy is convinced that her stepfather is responsible, despite him being out of the country at the time (he also manages to get his passport stamped, which provides him with quite a solid alibi), because she has always insisted that he already killed her father years ago. As the film unfolds, Candy determines to prove how it was possible that her mother's apparent suicide was actually the work of a murderer. Meanwhile, she also has to keep herself safe from Paul.

Based on a story by Anthony Dawson, The Snorkel rattles along at a fair pace, thanks to the solid direction from Guy Green and a wonderful script from Peter Myers and Jimmy Sangster. Unlike some of their other thrillers, this has no ambiguity, no attempt to cover the central mystery with a cloak of potential supernatural spookiness. Viewers see the killer at work, we're on the side of Candy from the very beginning, despite nobody else believing her. This is what makes the film work so well, seeing the two leads interact and push one another in their conversations.

Van Eyck is very good in his role, able to charm others around him while always ready to glower at the young lady who knows his secret, and Miller is very capable in the role of the plucky girl who starts to piece together a very strange picture. Although essentially a two-hander, certainly in the best moments, there are enjoyable supporting turns from Betta St. John (a woman who helps to care for Candy) and Grégoire Aslan (the Inspector who needs some proof before he can investigate the death as a crime).

If you think you're familiar with most of the output from Hammer then may I recommend you start diving deeper, and The Snorkel is as good a place to start as any, ironically enough.

8/10

The Snorkel is part of this superb set (which is region free).

The Quiet Ones (2014)

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. The Quiet Ones is another in the long line of movies that people can point to and use as an example of all that is wrong with modern horror. There are, of course, many fine examples to counterbalance this awfulness, but it can often be easier to remember the bad than the good.

Jared Harris is Professor Joseph Coupland, a man convinced that if people can cure one person who seems to be affected by supernatural forces then that could lead to a cure for the masses. He aims to test his theory on a troubled young girl named Jane (Olivia Cooke), and enlists some students to help him. Harry (Rory Fleck-Byrne) and Krissi (Erin Richards) are there to, apparently, help with the scientific side of things, while Brian (Sam Claflin) is asked to document everything on film.

It's hard for me not to use this review as an excuse to string together a lot of expletives. Hammer have gone from being "the studio that dripped blood" to "the studio that dripfed audiences jump scares" and those responsible for dross like this are, as far as I'm concerned, tarnishing a good name that was once, despite some ups and downs, synonymous with fine British horror.

The script by Oren Moverman, Craig Rosenberg and John Pogue (who also directed) alternates between uninteresting moments, horribly unbelievable moments, and those jump scares that I just mentioned. It's based on an original screenplay by Tom de Ville, although with all the rewriting done I can only imagine how far removed this is from the original work. As for Pogue's direction, it's mediocre at best.

Claflin tries hard in his role, at least remaining earnest in most of his scenes, but he can't do enough to make up for the lack of presence that Fleck-Byrne and Richards have. He also can't distract viewers from the fact that Harris and Cooke end up desperately overacting to make up for the fact that their characters are so poorly written.

Basically, nobody comes out of this looking good. I would feel sorry for the cast if most of them didn't seem to be compounding the script problems. And I haven't even mentioned the ridiculous finale, another insult that throws in a couple of "twists/revelations" that will only come as a surprise to the youngest, and most naive, horror fans. And I actually mean pre-teens.

Technically competent is about the nicest thing I can say in my attempt to end this review on a positive note. But it's definitely not worth your time.

3/10

http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Ones-Blu-ray-Jared-Harris/dp/B00KOBUO42/ref=sr_1_2_twi_2_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420668107&sr=8-2&keywords=the+quiet+ones

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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

Beyond The Rave (2008)

Remember when Hammer tried to take Dracula and place him into modern times? They tried their best, bless them, but the end results were poor, and seem much more dated today than any of their movies set in a yesteryear full of quaint villages, bustling taverns and aristocrats lording over local commoners. I mention those movies because this movie, from the reborn Hammer, suffers from, essentially, the same fate.

It's a vampire film, with the vampires all setting up a big rave to catch all of their victims. Among the potential victims are Ed (Jamie Dornan), a young man about to head off for active service in Iraq the next day, and his girlfriend, Jen (Nora-Jane Noone). There are also some hard gangster types (led by movie bruiser Tamer Hassan) about to get way out of their depth.

Originally released as a series of webisodes, Beyond The Rave never shakes off the feeling that it's a number of scenes stitched together with very little thought given to the overall storyline. The fact that the movie still contains the episode numbering, appearing every few minutes, doesn't help, but there's also a real lack of logic throughout, a few characters who appear and disappear at random, and a third act that's very hard to care about, thanks to the mix of derivative moments and sheer stupidity.

The acting isn't that great, although anyone expecting Tamer Hassan to do anything other than act tough and spit out expletives really shouldn't be looking in this direction anyway, but it's far from the worst aspect. Dornan and Noone make for decent leads, Matthew Forrest is likable enough as Necro, their friend, and Sebastian Knapp is stuck portraying his vampire character in the bored, moping style. Sadie Frost has a cameo, but makes a great impression with her memorable scene, Steve Sweeney is okay as one of the other hard men tagging along with Hassan, and the rest of the cast simply pop in and out of the screen without making much of an impression.

Viewers will be unsurprised to find out that director Matthias Hoene followed this up with (the much more enjoyable) Cockneys Vs. Zombies. Thankfully, with that movie he had a much better script. Writers Jon Wright and Tom Grass really drop the ball here, apparently just content to rip off the opening sequence of Blade and fill out the rest of the movie with random moments that obviously seemed a good idea while they were struggling to stretch their weak material to feature length. Prime example, an old vampire who spends his time getting stoned and talking to ravers who bump into him in the woods could end up interesting or laughable, but instead just ends up being another diversion. If his character had a decent resolution then I must have blinked and missed it. As far as I'm aware, he just disappeared after his two main scenes.

There are some decent tunes in the soundtrack, some sexy female vamps, a few decent bits of gore, and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . well, actually, that's about it. It's not quite among the very worst vampire movies out there, because there are a lot of cheap vampire movies that are SO bad, but it's not really worth your time either.

4/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyond-Rave-DVD-Jamie-Dornan/dp/B003OUV1K6/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1393891671&sr=1-1&keywords=beyond+the+rave

The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)

A solid, if unspectacular, Hammer movie, The Man Who Could Cheat Death feels, in many ways, like a forerunner to the far superior Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde. There's the lead character who turns out to be a bit of a dabbling scientist, a potentially disastrous romance, and a bit of biological tinkering that leads to the death of numerous innocent women.

Anton Diffring plays the titular character. He also happens to be a celebrated artist, and travels around quite a lot. This is due to the fact that he's managed to stay surprisingly youthful for far longer than the laws of nature would dictate. He has help from Dr. Ludwig Weiss (Arnold Marle), but the main plan for the upcoming procedure needed to rejuvenate him involves Dr. Pierre Gerard (Christopher Lee). And if Dr. Gerrard doesn't play along then maybe the innocent Janine Du Bois (Hazel Court) can be used to persuade him.

Written by Jimmy Sangster, based on a play by Barré Lyndon, and directed by Terence Fisher, this is an enjoyable chiller with some great character interactions and one or two fine set-pieces. Unfortunately, it just doesn't do enough to make it memorable, even though it's not actually a BAD film.

Diffring is fine, but fans will always wonder what Peter Cushing (the first choice) would have done with the role, especially acting opposite Christopher Lee once more. And Lee is very good, in a non-villainous role. Marle is very enjoyable, and gets to deliver some great dialogue, while Court is suitably lovely. Francis De Wolff plays Inspector Legris, a man who sense that something is very wrong, but can't quite place his finger on the unbelievable truth.

It's unfair, perhaps, to say that having Cushing in the lead role would have been enough to elevate the whole movie, but it's also something that I can't quite stop considering. This is a film built around a few central characters discussing morality and mortality, and few actors could deliver any such lines better than Cushing.
As it is, The Man Who Could Cheat Death is still watchable. It's just not anything great.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Could-Cheat-Death-Skull-Blu-ray/dp/B004W6JJXC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393854644&sr=8-2&keywords=the+man+who+could+cheat+death

Captain Clegg AKA Night Creatures (1962)

Captain Clegg was a notorious pirate, hunted down by the King's men (led by Patrick Allen) and killed by hanging. His body was then buried in the grounds of a church in a small coastal town. But his spirit lives on. When the King's men visit the town, looking for alcohol that has been smuggled in from France, the locals are seen to be a cunning group that Clegg would be proud of. Even the local reverend (Peter Cushing) is in on the act. In fact, he's pretty much leading the sneaky revolt. With rumours of creatures in the surrounding marshlands scaring people to death, the town soon becomes quite a claustrophobic hotbed of paranoia, fear and anger.

Written by Anthony Hinds, with some help from a tale by Russell Thorndike (and extra dialogue by Barbara S. Harper), Captain Clegg is up there with the very best Hammer movies. Mixing in some wonderful, atmospheric moments with many scenes that feature some of the best Hammer actors doing some of their best work, this may not be an outright horror movie, but it retains that quintessential Hammer feel.

Director Peter Graham Scott handles everything well, helped by the great design work, the cinematography by Arthur Grant, and that glorious cast.

Cushing is always worth watching, of course, but this role is such a delight that it's one of my new favourites from his filmography. Allen isn't a match for the master, but he holds himself with dignity as he and his men are constantly given the runaround by the locals. A handsome Oliver Reed does well, and is matched nicely to a gorgeous Yvonne Romain for one story strand. Martin Benson and Derek Francis both do fine in their smaller roles, but the undeniable highlight for fans is seeing Michael Ripper having so much fun in what may be his best role.

If, like me, you have made the mistake of not seeing this movie yet then rectify the situation immediately. You won't regret it.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Werewolf-Paranoiac-Nightmare-Creatures-Frankenstein/dp/B0009X770O/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1392407449&sr=1-1&keywords=captain+clegg

The Stranglers Of Bombay (1959)

There are elements of The Stranglers Of Bombay that are easily enjoyed, but it's hard to just sit back and enjoy a movie that is such a relic from a bygone age, in many ways. One of those movies showing when the might of Great Britain stretched far overseas, into areas that had been colonised by, according to the movies, tea-drinking gentlemen who would sometimes look upon the locals with amused curiosity, and occasionally afford them the respect that they deserved.

It's the early part of the nineteenth century. Lots of people have been going missing, all of them murdered by the Thugee Cult Of Kali. Of course, nobody knows this immediately. An investigation begins, led by Captain Christopher Connaught-Smith (Allan Cuthbertson, every inch Lord Flashheart from Blackadder), hopes to get to the truth, but the man best qualified to provide answers (Captain Harry Lewis, played by Guy Rolfe) is being ignored, or even mocked. Meanwhile, the leader of the cult (George Pastell) knows that the British are creeping closer and closer to finding the truth.

Hampered by a stilted script from David Zelag Goodman and the lack of any real A-list stars, although Rolfe is good enough in the lead role and Pastell has plenty of screen presence, director Terence Fisher does his best to make something entertaining and interesting. What he ended up with, however, feels like the closest Hammer ever came to real exploitation fare. This is almost a mondo film in a number of ways, best illustrated by the scene in which we watch a mongoose and snake fighting one another (note: animal lovers may wish to turn away for that moment), and that's what actually keeps it watchable nowadays as a curio piece from the studio.

It just manages to qualify as an above average viewing experience, but I'd recommend it only to either Hammer completists or those who like their horror to have one foot dipped in any of the darker chapters in our world history.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Stranglers-Of-Bombay-Region/dp/B009O8U9VY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392155164&sr=8-1&keywords=the+stranglers+of+bombay

Paranoiac (1963)

Many of the psychological thrillers released by Hammer in the '60s and '70s very much riffed on the same, or VERY similiar, material, and Paranoiac is no exception. However, most of these movies were also pretty damn good, and Paranoiac is also no exception in this regard.

The plot revolves around a family unit that has experienced great tragedy. Oliver Reed plays Simon Ashby, a young man happy to spend his days getting far too drunk and frittering away the family wealth, Janette Scott is Eleanor, his sensitive, and perhaps mentally unstable, sister, and there's an elderly aunt (played by Sheila Burrell) trying to provide what little guidance she can. You see, Simon and Eleanor both lost their parents some years ago. Even worse, they then lost their brother, Tony (Alexander Davion), when he committed suicide, unable to deal with his grief. Well, that's what they thought. The rug is pulled from under their feet when Tony reappears one day, leading to suspicion, tension and the potential to murder.

Director Freddie Francis and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, who would work together on a few other Hammer movies after this one, do a fine job of setting up the characters as people already struggling to deal with some frayed nerves before then adding more and more reasons for everyone to get more agitated. The plot is, apparently, loosely based on the novel "Brat Farrar" by Josephine Tey, but the basic elements have all been done numerous times before, and the main difference comes from the presentation.

The proceedings are livened up by a decent cast, with Oliver Reed being the shining star. Oh, he may not always provide subtlety and nuance, but Reed has charm and charisma in abundance. He dominates any scene that he's in, and the film is all the better for it (as it's in line with his character anyway). Scott is just fine in a more restrained role, and Burrell is quite good at trying to care for the main characters while also being exasperated by them. Davion is charming, and does a convincing job as his character develops from the second to the third act.

With some nice design work, and some lovely cinematography by Arthur Grant, this is a solid little thriller that I recommend to any cinephiles who have somehow missed seeing it so far.

7/10

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The Anniversary (1968)

The wonderful thing about exploring as many of the movies released by Hammer studios as possible is realising that just when you think you've seen every type of movie they tried their hand at, something else comes along that confounds expectations.

The Anniversary is based on a stage play by Bill MacIlwraith, and there's hardly a moment that goes by that doesn't remind you of that fact. The characters, the dialogue and the plot developments all feel rooted in stage work, despite the fact that it's been adapted into movie form.

Bette Davis is the spider at the centre of the web, a cold and manipulative mother who has spent many years ruining the lives of her three sons. The sons are all in attendance for her annual party. There's Henry (James Cossins), a sensitive man who has some compulsive behaviour that he worries will get him into serious trouble one day. Then there's Terry (Jack Hedley), who is being pushed by his wife, Karen (Sheila Hancock), into emigrating. And finally, young Tom (Christian Taggart), who takes the opportunity to introduce everyone to his latest girlfriend, Shirley (Elaine Taylor).

Director Roy Ward Baker, and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster (who adapted the play), presents audiences with something very disappointing this time. It's not really their fault, as the source material seems to be far from the best that they could have worked from, but it's a shame that they couldn't figure out a way to let the cast have fun without the overwhelming feeling that they're actually having more fun than any member of the audience. It all feels so smug, as lines are delivered with relish that aren't really deserving of any added condiments whatsoever.

Bette Davis makes up for her superb, subtle turn in The Nanny by going in completely the opposite direction with her comical performance here. I know that this IS a comedy, but with everyone trying to top each other, and Miss Davis then topping the lot, it ends up unbalanced and, therefore, unfunny. Of course, comedy is as subjective as any other genre. Sheila Hancock comes closest to challenging her for the crown, but falls just short. This leaves her giving one of the best performances in the film, alongside Cossins, who plays the only son not out to overtly spite his mother. Taylor is very sweet in her role, and has one or two good moments in which she stands up to the maniacal matriarch controlling everyone, while Hedley and Taggart both do just okay, highlighting clumsy material with slightly clumsy performances.

This kind of material has been done before - family politics, scathing insults delivered with a smile, psychological issues simmering beneath every exchange - and it has been done much better. Do check this one out if you're a fan of anyone involved, but don't be surprised if you then try to erase the memory of it by watching something similarly twisted, but much better, such as The House Of Yes.

4/10

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The Old Dark House (1963)

A bizarre, and not entirely successful, collaboration between William Castle and Hammer, The Old Dark House is a remake of the 1932 movie of the same name, but with a number of changes bringing it closer to the likes of Carry On Screaming! or What A Carve Up.

Tom Poston plays Tom Penderel, an American car salesman who is invited by his room-mate (Peter Bull) to join him at his family estate, an old, dark house out in the middle of nowhere. When Tom gets there it seems that someone has raced to get there ahead of him, and that someone is death. Yes, Tom's room-mate has shuffled off the mortal coil by the time he arrives, leaving the poor man stuck amongst quite an odd selection of individuals, all of them making up the Femm family.

As endearing as it is bizarre and clumsy, The Old Dark House is certainly one of the stranger "horror" movies released by Hammer (and, yes, I know that is saying something). Unfortunately, it falls between two stools. I would have liked to see either more of the movie played straight or, at the opposite end, quirk piled upon quirk to create an even stranger atmosphere from start to finish.

Castle directs with his usual taste for the bombastic, and the script by Robert Dillon (based on the novel by J. B. Priestley) works fairly well for the tone of the piece, allowing the cast to roll their eyes and go over the top at every available opportunity while the house creaks and drips and enshrouds them.

As for the cast, Poston is just fine in the lead role, but it would have been fun to see a more talented comedic actor in the role, reacting to the strangeness around him. Robert Morley is as good as ever, but sorely underused as the head of the household, Joyce Grenfell is a delight, Janette Scott is also wonderful, and Fenella Fielding puts in yet another sultry performance. Mervyn Johns and Peter Bull also deserve a mention for their fun turns.

I'd advise most people to visit the original movie first, which is almost always the best advice anyway, but this movie is worth your time. Once.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Dark-House-Tom-Poston/dp/B008SGVUN4/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1389125336&sr=1-2&keywords=the+old+dark+house

Hysteria (1965)

Many, many years before the name was seared onto the minds of rock fans by the mighty Def Leppard, Hysteria was title familiar, perhaps, to fans of Hammer movies. An enjoyable, twisted thriller from the studio, Hysteria is a movie that I enjoyed a hell of a lot more than I was expecting. It's also, in my opinion, a film that seems to have influenced the much more recent Trance.

The story revolves around Chris Smith (Robert Webber), a man who is undergoing treatment after an accident has left him with a severe case of amnesia. His treatment is being paid for by a mysterious benefactor, but perhaps that treatment isn't entirely succeeding, judging by the voices that he starts to hear in a nearby apartment. Chris starts to worry about his sanity. He's a man fraying at the ends, but does that mean he could end up murdering someone. Or has he murdered in the past? Perhaps that's what his brain is not letting him remember.

Written by Jimmy Sangster, and directed by Freddie Francis, this is really good stuff from start to finish. The lead character is someone viewers end up sticking with, despite the fact that suspicions arise that he may not have been the nicest guy ever in his past. This is ambiguous, but nicely done, and the plot reveals are well done and, within the context of the film, plausible.

Webber does well in the lead role, understandably frustrated as he struggles to remember his recent past, and there's decent support from Anthony Newlands, Jennifer Jayne, Lelia Goldoni and Peter Woodthorpe, but it's Maurice Denham who threatens to steal the movie as a seemingly mild and passive private detective who can handle himself with ease whenever things heat up.

I'm really surprised that this isn't a better known, or more highly regarded movie. Hammer made a number of movies that could be classed as Hitchcockian, and this is one of the most entertaining. At least give it a watch some time if you get the chance, I'd like to think that more people will enjoy it once they've been pointed towards it.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Hysteria-Robert-Webber/dp/B005OT7Z5A/ref=sr_1_5?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1379941999&sr=1-5&keywords=hysteria

Vampire Circus (1972)

A young woman (Domini Blythe) steals away children for her vampire lover (Robert Tayman), much to the obvious dismay of her husband (Laurence Payne). When he gets the locals with him, it soon becomes a standard mob situation. The woman is punished and then driven back into the castle of her lover, to die with him as it is set on fire. Some years later, the local village is suffering from a mysterious disease. It is quarantined and left to rot away while the inhabitants struggle to find a cure and end their bad luck. They believe it is a curse, laid upon them by the vampire they defeated. When a travelling circus breaks through the quarantine it at first looks set to bring some much-needed cheer and distraction to everyone, but it soon becomes clear that they have other reasons for visiting the area.

While there are some familiar faces onscreen here (with Thorley Walters being probably the one most recognisable to Hammer fans), this is very much a film populated by lesser-known names on both sides of the camera. Adrienne Corri makes quite an impression as the gypsy woman leading the circus into town, young John Moulder-Brown isn't too bad and Dave Prowse is strong and silent as the Strongman, of course.

The screenplay by Judson Kinberg doesn't have much in the way of great, memorable dialogue, but it does have a selection of nice ideas throughout, nicely executed by director Robert Young. Those ideas include a fantastic routine between a circus man and a feral woman fighting/dancing with him, some interesting use of mirrors and the fun being had by some of the circus performers before they show their true colours.

The mix of vampirism and carnival atmosphere should be a winner, but the film never takes off. It's surprisingly flat throughout, before spoiling everything with a finale that just throws together too many silly moments to make it worthwhile. As the end credits roll, viewers will be left feeling majorly dissatisfied. Which is never good.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vampire-Circus-DVD-Adrienne-Corri/dp/B004FN7JCK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382300097&sr=8-1&keywords=vampire+circus

The Gorgon (1964)

A Hammer horror movie starring both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. People who know me will know that as soon as The Gorgon started I suspected that I was on to a winner.

Cushing plays Dr. Namaroff, a man who has seen a number of strange deaths in his village. He's not, however, doing anything to draw attention to those deaths, despite the protests of his assistant, Carla (Barbara Shelley). As the villagers, and local law enforcement (led by Inspector Kanof, played by Patrick Troughton), stay on edge, more bodies start to turn up. Bodies of people who have been turned to stone. Richard Pasco plays a young man who may be next in line to get petrified, literally, but he might do okay if he heeds the advice from the visiting Professor Karl Meister (Christopher Lee).

Written by John Gilling (based on the story by J. Llewellyn Devine), The Gorgon is a pleasant surprise for a number of reasons. First of all, let's be upfront here, it should be ridiculous. A movie that's possibly about a gorgon in more modern times - well, it's set in the early 20th century - is something that viewers shouldn't be able to just watch without using all of their energy on the suspension of disbelief. But Gilling just keeps things rattling along so enjoyable, with enough ambiguity, that picking it apart is never a priority.

Terence Fisher directs with his usual style and technical competence. He makes the most out of every set (which are all up to the high standards set by the better movies in the Hammer horror filmography) and creates a nice blend of the melodramatic and the ethereal as the plot unfolds.

As for the cast, Cushing and Lee are both fantastic. The only downside is that they don't share the screen together for more than a minute or two. Shelley is a delight in what may be her best role from the many she was given by Hammer, and Pasco is a decent enough, if slightly bland, potential hero. Troughton is consistently brilliant as the Inspector obeying orders weighted by money more than the law of the land.

The Gorgon falls just short of greatness, simply because the premise is, as a Monty Python character might say, "a bit silly" but it's well worth your time and surprisingly entertaining from start to finish. If you end up hating it then I'll accuse you of being made of stone (*badump-tsshhhhh*).

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Gorgon-DVD-Christopher-Lee/dp/B003AWMWH4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381698986&sr=8-1&keywords=the+gorgon

The Phantom Of The Opera (1962)

A version of the classic Gaston Leroux tale that never seems to receive much love from fans, Hammer take on The Phantom Of The Opera and provide horror fans with a delightful interpretation of the famous story.

Herbert Lom, obviously masked for most of the runtime, plays the Phantom this time around. Eschewing the doomed romance at the heart of the classic tale, the Phantom till ends up after a young singer named Christine (Heather Sears) to make her into an unforgettable star of the stage. Christine, for her part, seems nice enough. When she's not being uncomfortably chatted up by Lord Ambrose D'Arcy (Michael Gough) she is developing a relationship with the handsome Harry Hunter (Edward de Souza). But the Phantom has a habit of reminding people that he's around.

Directed by Terence Fisher, The Phantom Of The Opera is as lavish and baroque as you'd expect, at times. The main opera being performed is all about the life of Joan Of Arc and the sets and design are both wonderfully theatrical and also nicely settled within a typical Hammer budget. In fact, there are only a few sets used in the movie, or it at least seems that way, but each one is so carefully put together and made into such a nice showpiece that the relatively small scale of the production is covered up, and even turned into an asset.

The script by Anthony Hinds takes the classic tale and adds some nice twists to it, making it fresh while never betraying the essence of the material. This has never been my favourite of the beloved horror classics and, personally, I enjoyed the changes that were made. Perhaps the fact that this is overlooked so often tells me hat other Phantom fans didn't like the changes as much as I did.

Sears is fine in the role of Christine, and de Souza is an okay leading man, but this movie belongs to two men, Lom and Gough. The former gives a great physical performance, and also does sterling work in a pre-Phantom flashback sequence that reveals the backstory of the character and the cause of his rage, while the latter has so much fun being nasty to everyone around him that this ends up being one of his best roles. Michael Ripper has a VERY small role (billed, I believe, as Cabbie #1) and Patrick Troughton steals his main scene, playing a callous and carefree ratcatcher.

Give this one a go sometime, especially if you've forgotten about it while catching other interpretations of the story. You might just end up liking it as much as I did.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Phantom-Opera-Region-Hammer/dp/B001MZXAZE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381237284&sr=8-1&keywords=the+phantom+of+the+opera+1962

Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (1974)

In some ways this is a typical Hammer outing and, yet, in so many other ways it is definitely one of their more unusual releases. A lot of the credit must go to writer-director Brian Clemens, and I must express my regret that he didn't direct any other movies, either for Hammer or anyone else who could have utilised his vivid imagination and talent.

A number of young women are found dead or dying in the English countryside, they have blood on their lips and have aged terribly in the space of just a fleeting moment. What can be the cause of this? The local doctor (Dr Marcus, played by John Carson) feels that his good friend Captain Kronos (Horst Janson) will be able to get to the bottom of things. There is foul play here and no man is better than Kronos for dealing with such dark matters, ably assisted as he is by the hunch-backed Professor Hieronymus Grost (and "what he doesn't know about vampirism wouldn't fill a flea's codpiece"). Oh, did I say vampirism? Yes, that is the root cause of the problem here, and, while this may not come as much of a surprise, the way the attacks occur in daylight and the revelation that every vampire needs a different method of being despatched help to keep this film feeling fresher than many other Hammer vampire movies.

With the added lure of the beautiful Caroline Munro, playing Carla, and the usual Hammer production values (hmmm, okay, the films may have varied at times but this one looks good enough to me), this is a great film for fans who want their standard fare with some nice, quirky touches. The vampires also have reflections, nothing here is rooted so deeply into the accepted mythos that it cannot be turned on it's head. We also get some wonderful moments and additional titbits such as buried dead toads coming back to life if a vampire walks over/close enough to them and the fact that the cross only protects those who believe in it. I do not know if these have ever had any basis in the lore of olden days but they are fascinating and enjoyable new additions to the proceedings.

The acting is fairly good all round (although John Cater is the standout as the Professor), there are enough red herrings to keep you wondering who is the ultimate baddie (surely that Durward family has some skeleton in the closet . . . or what about the local thug in ye olde tavern?), the script is full of both light and very, very dark humour (most notably in a scene with Grost and Kronos trying to find out how to kill a vampire they have restrained) and the pace never flags as our swashbuckling hero strives to save the English countryside and, of course, his companions. A wonderful little movie that deserves to be seen by fans of the genre and the company it came from.

8/10

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The Terror Of The Tongs (1961)

While there are ridiculous elements in this Hammer movie, it gets beyond an unsteady start to become a surprisingly solid revenge flick. This is Death Wish before people had heard of Death Wish.

Geoffrey Toone is the hero of the piece, Captain Sale, a man launched on a mission by the murder of his beloved daughter. This murder was arranged by the dastardly Tong crime family (led by Christopher Lee). They are, basically, an early 20th century, Hong Kong version of the yakuza and will do anything to protect their identities. Sale starts to upset the Tongs, picking fights with people he suspects will lead him up the chain of command and stubbornly refusing to die, and the stage is set for a confrontation that Sale is unlikely to walk away from.

Directed by Anthony Bushell and written by Jimmy Sangster, this is a colourful and exotic movie, with visuals, tension and thrills taking precedence over things like plausibility and historical accuracy. It doesn't even show that much of Hong Kong, so I don't want people mistakenly thinking they could watch it as some travelogue time capsule. Oh no, all that's shown is all that needs to be shown. Just a few sets and no major exterior shots (well, none that come to mind anyway).

Toone is good enough in the main role, he's believably strong and brave, while Lee does fine in the role of the main villain. It has to be said, however, that this is one of those movies from a past era, with the majority of the Chinese characters being portrayed, unfortunately, by the British actors that Hammer could enlist to work for them. The main female character, a woman named Lee, is actually played by the gorgeous Yvonne Monlaur, a French actress (see picture below). Roger Delgado, Charles Lloyd Pack, Ewen Solon and many others populate the Hong Kong shown onscreen, while the ubiquitous Burt Kwouk lends his authentic ethnicity to a minor role.

This may not be one of the best from Hammer, but it's still decent entertainment if you're in the right mood for it.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Terror-Of-Tongs-Region/dp/B008ADDWU4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379941097&sr=8-1&keywords=the+terror+of+the+tongs+dvd

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Hammer provides an entertaining, and actually quite brilliant, adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's work and although I have not read any of Wheatley's work, sadly, I am familiar with his themes and tone and cannot imagine that this movie lets down fans of the literary great either.

Christopher Lee and Leon Greene play Duc de Richleau and Rex Van Ryn, respectively, two gentlemen trying to help their friend (played by Patrick Mower) move away from the tight clutches of a local Satanic cult. Easier said than done and problems come in the shape of Tanith Carlisle (played by Nike Arrighi), an alluring female also caught up in the web of the dark arts, and confrontations with the cult's charismatic and powerful leader, Mocata (wonderfully portrayed by Charles Gray). People close to the daring duo are placed in peril and things go from bad to worse before the finale . . . . . but will it be good or evil triumphing as the sun rises?

The cast here all do a fantastic job. As well as those mentioned, with Lee and Gray being particular standouts, there's some solid support in the latter half of the movie from Paul Eddington and Sarah Lawson.

Terence Fisher directs (from a tight screenplay by Richard Matheson) with an assured hand, throwing us directly into the action and letting us find out a little more with each scene as things move from slightly puzzling to mysterious to dangerous to deadly. Though I do not know enough about the rituals and accoutrements portrayed in the movie it all has a sense of authenticity about it, strange considering how far-fetched the movie actually is in its depiction of a struggle between good and evil.

Considering its age, it holds up very well to this day. There are two major "materialisation" scenes that still hold the power to unnerve; in fact, the very first one actually made me want to look away from the screen as I was getting a bit freaked out by the imagery. There are lots of details in the effects and acting that you could poke fun at if you wanted to (one scene featuring an over-sized spider is about as bad as anything in Empire Of The Ants) but if you forgive the "ravages of time" then you will be letting yourself in for a cracking British horror movie aimed distinctly at adults.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Ultimate-Hammer-Collection-DVD/dp/B000HN31KQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379426721&sr=8-1&keywords=hammer+box+set

The Kiss Of The Vampire (1963)

A lesser vampire movie from Hammer, this was written by Anthony Hinds and directed by Don Sharp. Neither of the men involved seem to be able to muster any enthusiasm for the material, or inject it with any energy, and that leaves the second-tier cast (only in terms of the Hammer pecking order) floundering.

Edward De Souza and Jennifer Daniel are honeymooners Gerald and Marianne Harcourt. When they experience a bit of car trouble near a small village in Europe they end up staying at the handy sort of inn that only ever seems to crop up in Hammer movies and also get themselves befriended by the sort of seemingly kind, curious nobles who only ever seem to crop up in Hammer movies. This particular well-to-do gentleman is Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman), who invites the Harcourts to spend some time with himself and his family before then inviting them to a big party. But that party is just a ruse. With Marianne in danger, Gerald ends up seeking help from a fellow lodger, the exasperated Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans).

All of the usual ingredients are in place here. The upper class folk who succumb to the seduction of evil ways, the decent but scared couple running their inn, the embittered older character who knows the truth about the area and its inhabitants and the brave husband willing to risk his own life to save his darling wife.

I won't deny that there are a few moments here and there that I enjoyed, and one or two lines of dialogue that I was pleasantly surprised by, but this is material that has been spruced up and given far better treatment in a handful of other Hammer movies that you could choose from.

The cast put in acceptable performances, I guess, but it's only really Evans who stands out as someone worth spending time with and, indeed, rooting for. Support from Barry Warren, Isobel Black, Peter Madden and Vera Cook is in line with the rather flat nature of everything else in the movie.

I guess, like every other Hamer horror movie, that The Kiss Of The Vampire may have fans. I just can't see anything here that could appeal to anyone, excepting the most easily pleased viewer who may have somehow avoided many of their better outings before getting to this one.

4/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kiss-Vampire-DVD-Clifford-Evans/dp/B007789W7U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379069094&sr=8-1&keywords=the+kiss+of+the+vampire

Hands Of The Ripper (1971)

Absolute trash given that elegant touch from Hammer, Hands Of The Ripper is a film that many fans have a soft spot for, despite how ridiculous it is. And, boy oh boy, is it ridiculous.

The plot concerns a young woman named Anna (Angharad Rees), a woman troubled by the fact that she's the daughter of Jack The Ripper (AKA "Saucy Jack" to fans of This Is Spinal Tap). Not only is Anna troubled by her parentage, she has also been traumatised in such a way that anything shimmering and sparkly can set her on a quest to murder whoever is nearby. When he discovers this fact, Dr. John Pritchard (Eric Porter) is quite fascinated, and endeavours to do what he can to "cure" the girl. But is there something else to it? Perhaps something evil that can't ever be cured.

Based on a story by Edward Spencer Shew, Hands Of The Ripper features a script by L. W. Davidson and direction from Peter Sasdy. Davidson had not written any script before this, and would write none after, whereas Sasdy was a bit of an old hand at Hammer (having directed the likes of Scars Of Dracula and Countess Dracula). He wasn't ever the best of the talent working at the studio, but he has a nack of impressing fans with the bloodletting on display.

While I would normally say that it's always a shame to watch a Hammer film that doesn't feature some of their better-known players (Cushing, Lee, Ripper), in this case I don't mind. It's hard to think of just how the aforementioned stars would have worked with the material. They MIGHT have improved the whole film, even ever so slightly, but there's also a chance that the ridiculousness of it all would have dragged them down to its level. As things stand, the cast here all do solid, if unmemorable, work. Angharad Rees does most of her acting in a trance-like state, which seems to be for the best, while Eric Porter has to keep a brave face on as his character makes increasingly silly decisions with increasingly weak reasoning. Derek Godfrey is superb for every moment that he's onscreen, Dora Bryan is enjoyable in her small role, a manipulative medium, and Lynda Baron is fun as a prostitute named Long Liz, but nobody else makes much of an impression. Keith Bell and Jane Merrow, in particular, are far too bland as a young couple caught up in the events, the former being the son of Porter's character and the latter being his blind fiance.

Yet, despite its many flaws, I enjoy the film. Give it a watch some time, you might end up feeling the same way.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Uncanny-Monster-Hands-Ripper/dp/B00007856M/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1378714945&sr=8-5&keywords=hands+of+the+ripper

The Reptile (1966)

Filmed back to back with The Plague Of The Zombies, this Hammer horror movie not only shares many of the same sets with that movie but also treads quite similiar ground when it comes to the actual plot. There are some major main differences, but it actually makes for a nice companion piece alongside the lone zombie movie to be released from Hammer studios in the 20th century.

Ray Barrett and Jennifer Daniel play Mr. and Mrs. Spalding, respectively. The two end up inheriting a cottage in a small country village after Harry's brother dies in mysterious circumstances. Finding out just how his brother died, and dealing with unfriendly locals, becomes the focus for Harry as he and his wife gets used to their new surroundings. A local innkeeper (Michael Ripper) offers some advice, despite the fact that his inn always empties out whenever Harry walks in, and a large finger of suspicion seems to keep pointing at the brusque Dr. Franklyn (Noel Willman), a man who spends most of his time being quite harsh to his beautiful daughter (Jacqueline Pearce).

John Gilling is the assured hand in the director's chair, working from a decent, lean script by Anthony Hinds, and there's nothing about this movie that looks or feels cheap. Sharing some of the sets between numerous movies, as they did quite often, was a great move on the part of Hammer, allowing them some more money for practical effects and some impressive set-pieces. At least, thats how it appears to this particular viewer (with the ending of The Reptile being just as enjoyable, as, and quite similiar to, the ending of The Plague Of The Zombies).

All of the cast do well in their roles, with Barrett and Daniel being a likeable pair of leads. Michael Ripper brightens up any Hammer horror movie (just ask any of his fans if you don't believe me), Noel Willman is the standard, snippy gentleman with a possible dark secret and Jacqueline Pearce is sweet and lovely enough to add some real pathos to the final third of the film. Marne Maitland is also very good, and John Laurie steals his few scenes as Mad Peter, a man who may not be as mad as locals like to make out.

This remains one of my favourite Hammer horror movies, and I hope that many others feel the same way about it.

8/10


N.B. Anyone who enjoyed the film as much as I did should check out the episode of "Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible" entitled Curse of the Blood of the Lizard of Doom. Not only is it hilarious but it's often spot-on too. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Reptile-Blu-ray-DVD-Barrett/dp/B006C1B104/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377374168&sr=8-1&keywords=the+reptile