It was only a matter of time since the new year started that we would lose some familiar faces from the movies and TV shows that we love. I almost hate reporting on stuff like this, but I still think it is important to remember these great talents and for the hours of entertainment that gave us, that continues to live on with each viewing.
Peter Wyngarde had a very interesting life, appearing as a fashionable spy in Department S, then in a spin-off series called Jason King. It was this character that helped inspire Mike Myers’ Austin Powers. He appeared in many stage plays, TV appearances and even his share of movies. But due to some run ins with the law, including an arrest and conviction of a “act of gross indecency” in 1975, that didn’t help much with his career.
But for horror fans, he might have only appeared in two films in the genre, but they are incredible. In Jack Clayton’s The Innocents (1961), he didn’t even have a speaking role as the ghostly Peter Quint, but made quite an impact. Then the following year, he had the lead role in Burn, Witch, Burn (1962), as a college professor whos wife just happens to be a witch! Originally called Night of the Eagle in England, this based on a story by Fritz Leiber, Jr. and really is a must see.
Wyngarde passed away on January 15th, at the reported age of 90 years old.
Bradford Dillman was a very familiar face to someone growing up watching TV in the ’60s & ’70s. In fact, my first memory of him, even though I was too young to remember, was in an episode of Night Gallery, based on a H.P. Lovecraft story, Pickman’s Model. I always remember thinking how cool it would be to have that painting! Dillman would also appear in quite a few other genre TV shows, like The Eyes of Charles Sand (1972), Moon of the Wolf (1972), Demon, Demon (1975), and Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978).
But he also made his mark on quite a few feature films like The Mephisto Waltz (1971), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Chosen Survivors (1974), Bug (1975), The Swarm (1978), Piranha (1978). It was his starring roles in Bug and Piranha when I started to remember his face and name, discovering all the other great things that he appeared in over the years.
Dillman passed away on January 16th, due to complications from pneumonia.
Our thoughts go out to these talented actors and their friends and family. They will be missed, but never forgotten.
Hammer fans have lost another name from the studio we love so much. Suzanna Leigh, who appeared in The Lost Continent (1968) and Lust for a Vampire (1971), passed away yesterday at the age of 72.
If you were a fan of Giallo films, or just Italian horror cinema, especially their cannibal sub-genre, then you definitely knew who Umberto Lenzi was. While he started off studying law, he turned to his real passion…cinema. At first working as a critic and writer, he soon moved into film production. His first film was Queen of the Seas (1958). But starting in the late ’60s, he made several well made giallos, such as So Sweet…So Perverse (1969), Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972), Spasmo (1974), and Eyeball (1975).
This is a name that might not be too familiar, but if you’re a Hammer fan, then you’ll know the face. Farmer appeared in several titles from Hammer, including two of their swashbuckling movies, The Crimson Blade (1963) and The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964). But it was mainly for her role in Dracula, Prince of Darkness when horror fans took note. She followed that film up immediately with Rasputin: The Mad Monk, once again coming up against the sizeable Christopher Lee. Another non-Hammer picture that she made that I remember fondly is Die, Monster, Die! (1965), starring alongside Boris Karloff. This was one that I saw in my youth and really made an impact with me. While she might not have been as glamorous or as known as some of the other Hammer starlets, her performances always stood out and are very memorable.
There are certain names in the horror genre that are known as icons, or one of the Masters of Horrors. And yesterday, the genre and the fans lost another one of them, Tobe Hooper. Regardless of the ups and downs of his filmography, he will always be remembered for directing the infamous 1974 film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which still is as gritty, scary, and damn entertaining as it was when it first assaulted movie audiences over forty years ago. His adaptation of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot (1979) still remains as one of the best made-for-TV movies of that decade, not to mention other entertaining titles in his filmography, such as The Funhouse (1981), Lifeforce (1985), and of course, the bat-shit-crazy sequel Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986).
Really don’t like it when these are so close together. Really makes one feel their mortality. As I write this up, I’m listening to the soundtrack from Creepshow, still trying to get over the loss of George Romero. But Martin Landau might not have made the impact in the horror genre like Romero, he definitely made his mark in a few titles. As an actor though, he was simply just amazing to watch. 
Michael Parks had been acting for close to 60 years, first appearing on a TV series in 1960, and would appear in a ton of different programs over the years. In the horror genre, there were only a few titles in his long career, but like any role he took on, he was hard to forget. You can see him in films like The Evictors (1979), Umberto Lenzi’s Nightmare Beach (1989), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Planet Terror (2007), Kevin Smith’s Red State (2011) and Tusk (2014).
If you were are a fan of British horror films of studios like Hammer and Amicus, then you will probably recognize Geoffrey Bayldon. He usually was a character actor in smaller roles, but like Parks, he always shined in them. You can see his work in films like Hammer’s Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) or Amicus’ The House that Dripped Blood (1971), Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972), and The Monster Club (1981). My personal favorite of these titles was in Asylum. So much fun there.
kitleyskrypt.com 