My all time favorite of Hammer’s Frankenstein series has always been Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. Cushing’s performance as the deviant doctor is unparalleled. It is almost a shame that since Cushing is so good in this, that it takes away from some of the other performances, like that of Freddie Jones in the role of the Professor Richter, who is the unwilling recipient of a brain transplant. His tragic performance is heart breaking, especially has he goes to see his wife in the body of another man.
So it was sad news when heard of his passing yesterday. He had appeared in so many films and TV series, not to mention his work on the stage. He definitely made his mark in the horror genre, such as in The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), Hammer’s Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973), and Old Dracula (1974). He also appeared in another favorite from my teenage years, Krull (1983). We had this at the theater I worked so I watched it more than a few times. Sure, might be cheesy today, but I still love it and Jones, once again, gives the audience a very emotional performance, especially when he meets his long lost love. Probably one of his most famous, was that in David Lynch’s The Elephant Man (1980).
He may be gone but I know us fans will keep his memory alive and well thanks to all the wonderful roles he brought to life for us over the years. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family.
FAB Press is now taking pre-orders for the Exclusive Collector’s Edition, limted to only 1000 individually numbered copies of the English edition of Argento’s autobiography, which will be shipping in September. This is a limited hardcover edition, which is priced at £20.00 (UK) / $30.00 (US). There will be a trade edition later on at some point, but they have not listed a date yet.
Just throwing this out there, so other lovers of movies about spooky houses can add it to their list of upcoming books to buy, McFarland has announced this title to be released later this year. I don’t have a lot of information about it other than the title is The Haunted House on Film and is by Paul Meehan. I’ve been a huge fan of haunted house movies ever since those old black and white thrillers from the ’30s and ’40s (which always turned out to be some sort of Scooby Doo endings), but once I got to see The Haunting (1963) and The Legend of Hell House (1973), there was no turning back. So I’m thrilled that someone has put a book together compiling all of these great movies. Granted, the “Historial Analysis” has me worried a bit that it might be one of those academic, microscopic looks at the sub-genre, but one can hope, right?
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Film that Terrified a Rattled Nation
I’ve been a long time fan of the work of Al Adamson. I know, some say that would be on par with being a fan of Larry Buchanan, but as I’ve said many times before, if you’re entertained by their work, then they can’t be bad movies! And I still stand by that statement! Adamson made some of the best in low budget horror and exploitation films, such as titles like Satan’s Sadist (1969), Horror of the Blood Monsters (1970), Brain of Blood (1971), Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971), The Naughty Stewardesses (1975) and Blazing Stewardesses (1975), and so many more. But Adamson’s ending was right out of one of his movies.
kitleyskrypt.com 