Horror History – John Ashley

johnashley John Ashley
Born Dec. 25th, 1934 – Died Oct. 3rd, 1997

John Ashley was one of the up and coming teenage stars of those popular beach movies in the ’50s and ’60s, which he made quite a few of. But once he moved to the Philippines, he was responsible for giving us cult horror fans a lot of hours of enjoyment with the films that he was involved with, such as the Blood Island trilogy: Brides of Blood (1968), Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1968), Beast of Blood (1971).

He later would become a successful TV producer for series like The A-Team and Walker, Texas Ranger.

But besides all the entertaining films that he made, this quote is one of the reasons why we admire him so much:

“This is a terrible thing to admit, but maybe the key to my success with exploitation films is that I always like those movies, and I never had any real reason to turn them down. I just enjoyed doing them.”

Horror History – Evelyn Ankers

December 24, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Horror History and tagged Evelyn Ankers, Horror History | Leave a comment

ankers Evelyn Ankers
Born Aug. 17th, 1918 – Died Aug. 29th, 1985

Evelyn Ankers was the only actress to play opposite the main Universal monsters, Frankenstein’s creature, the Wolf Man, and Dracula (actually his Son). She appeared in a few films in England in the ’30s before coming to the US and working for Universal. Her first movie, even though a comedy, still hand its hands in the horror genre. It was Abbott & Costello’s Hold that Ghost in 1941. That same year, she appeared as the love interests for Lon Chaney Jr. in The Wolf Man. She would then appear in Ghost of Frankenstein in 1942 and then Son of Dracula in 1943, all opposite Chaney Jr. It’s been reported that even though they worked together quite often, they were not the best of friends.

She made over 50 movies in her short career of less than 15 years before she retired from the business. She came back to make a few appearances in television, but it wasn’t that many. In 1942, she had married actor Richard Denning, who also was well known making creature features. She spent the rest of her life as a happily married housewife to Denning until her death in 1985, from ovarian cancer.

Horror History – Víctor Alcázar

December 22, 2015 by Jon Kitley in Horror History and tagged Horror History, Paul Naschy, Víctor Alcázar | 1 Comment

alcazar Also known to use the name Vic Winner, this Spanish actor is probably a very familiar face if you’ve watched more than a few Paul Naschy films. Alcázar usually played the good guy, or at least someone that was caught up with the nasty things going on. But he was always one of those recognizable faces in those great Spanish horror films of the 70s’. His first real horror appearance was in 1973, which was a very busy year for him. The first film noted in that year was It Happened At Nightmare Inn (aka A Candle for the Devil), co-starring Judy Geeson. But then that same year, he would appear in FOUR films with Paul Naschy. They were Horror Rises from the Tomb, Count Dracula’s Great Love, Hunchback of the Morgue, and Vengeance of the Zombies.

While his acting wasn’t that of legends, he was always good in the roles that he had. And he is one face that you will see pop up in these Spanish horror films of that era, so it is only expected that we wouldn’t want to highlight him here. That way the next time you’re watching HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB with some friends, and Alcázar pops up on the screen, you can say “Hey…there’s Victor Alcázar!” and impress your friends!