Showing posts with label baron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baron. Show all posts

Friday 31 May 2019

REVIEW FEATURE: SCREAM FACTORY OVER HAULS HAMMER FILMS FRANKENSTEIN CREATION ON 2K SCAN BLU RAY


HAMMER FILMS, 1967 'FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN' GETS A NEW 2K Scan 'Using The Original Film Elements' in impressive BLU RAY release FROM SCREAM FACTORY!



'FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN' : HAMMER FILMS 1967
Director: Terence Fisher, Screenplay: John Elder [Anthony Hinds], Producer:  Anthony Nelson Keys, Photography: Arthur Grant, Music: James Bernard, Music Supervisor: Philip Martell, Special Effects: Les Bowie, Production Design: Bernard Robinson. Production Company: Hammer/Seven Arts


Synopsis
'She's a vision of loveliness ... with a murderous mission from beyond the grave!'

IN THIS MOST conceptually wild and out-rightly science-fictional of the Hammer Frankenstein films" (Moria Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review), Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) and Dr. Hertz (Thorley Walters) are embarking upon an experiment to capture the souls of the dead and impose them into other bodies. When their assistant, Hans (Robert Morris), is unjustly accused of murdering his girlfriend Christina's father and is himself put to death, the two men claim his body and trap his soul in their laboratory. Meanwhile, Christina (Susan Denberg) is consumed with grief over the death of her beloved Hans and commits suicide. Frankenstein and Dr. Hertz are able to transfer Hans' soul into Christina's healed body, which results in a vision of beauty. Their experiment appears successful until Frankenstein discovers that Christina's seductive appetites are being driven by the spirit of Hans and his passion for revenge ...


IF CRITICS AT THE TIME are time were to be believed, that hammer films were like the distant cousins of the Shepperton studios, 'Carry On films', 'made for the working classes, nothing too cerebral or intellectually demanding and with flashes of titillation to meet the demands of the lowest common denominator', then director Terence Fisher and script writer, Anthony Hinds over-stepped their remit and burnt out the brains of many an audience. 'CREATED WOMAN' follows a story track that leaves the concept of the Baron just rejuvenating sown and souring corpses, way behind. It soon becomes a quite interesting theoretical  essay and endeavor on the journey and existence of the soul! Judging by the box office, the 'classes' LOVED it! The whole thing is quite crazy, but it works. 



THE ARRIVAL OF HANS as a total gender swap, is interesting especially as her existence is all about REVENGE on men who abused and tormented her. Topical today or what? The relationship on screen between Thorley Walters and Peter Cushing is wonderful. Walters did the bumbling aged roles very well. The young snipes are cast well and our creation in, Susan Denberg, ticks all the boxes, for those who wanted more than the expected stitches and scars. The stitches here are broken, snapped and groaning under the weight of something that is certainly 'all women'  and reveal a creation, that would keep fans dribbling for many decades after the films release. The scar sadly, was something waiting in the wings for Denberg that would car crash her career and make her life something certainty more, than any nightmare, Hammer films could devise, for sure.



THE BLU RAY:
IF WE LOOK AT our blu ray shelf, it seems that Scream Factory has released Frankenstein Created Woman as the next part of their Hammer films Collector’s Edition series. This is a NEW 2k scan of the original film elements. A previously released blu ray from Millennium, thankfully quickly went out of reach for orders, and can now rest in the dust as THIS release leaves that memory fast fading, like it's visual quality at the time. Scream Factory has released the print that should have been delivered back then. SCREAM'S new transfer is visually superior, it's  vibrant, exposes those rich Hammer film colours and vibes, we know and look for, so well. There are no muddy, foggy textures here. The vision is much brighter, while not losing the density of shadows and the margins between black and grey.  The focus detail and depth of field in the focus can been seen through out and is not flat, as can often be the case in blu ray transfers. There are a few spots of damage to the print, but these are not distracting and were only spotted on the second viewing. The grain is in keeping with the film stock that Hammer used at this time. 


SCREAM FACTORY also presents this release in the film’s original 1.66:1 aspect ratio.  Frankenstein Created Woman is a very good film on a lot of levels, and visually the film has never looked this good in home cinema presentation. It's a great achievement that many fans of the film, I am sure will appreciate. The audio on this release is a DTS-HD MA mono track and both Anthony Hinds entertaining dialogue and the majestic film score sound is classic Hammer films! Terrific.


EXTRAS AND BONUS MATERIAL: 
  • NEW 2K Scan From The Original Film Elements
  • NEW Audio Commentary With Author/Film Historian Steve Haberman And Filmmaker/Film Historian Constantine Nasr
  • NEW Interview With Actor Robert Morris
  • NEW Interview With Camera Assistant/Clapper Loader Eddie Collins And 2nd Assistant Director Joe Marks
  • Audio Commentary By Actors Derek Fowlds, Robert Morris, And Film Historian Jonathan Rigby
  • World Of Hammer Episode The Curse Of Frankenstein
  • World Of Hammer Episode Hammer Stars: Peter Cushing
  • Hammer Glamour Featurette
  • Theatrical Trailers
  • TV Spots
  • Radio Spots
  • Still Galleries – Movie Stills, Posters, And Lobby Cards


SO TO WRAP UP, what we have with this much welcomed released of one of Hammer and Cushing more interesting, Frankenstein films, is a vast improvement on what has gone before, you have the best of BOTH worlds, with EXTRAS and BONUS menu consisting of a number of features both very interesting and new, plus the best bits of previously seen material. It's a MUST for fans of the Hammer series and Peter Cushing! BUY IT and PRE ORDER HERE!
 

Saturday 29 April 2017

#HAMMERFILMSATURDAY: ROYAL APPROVAL FOR THE BARON THE COUNT AND CO


#HAMMERFILMSATURDAY: In a few weeks time, it will be almost 50 years since Hammer films were awarded the Queens Award to industry Award, a highly sort after and respected acknowledgement of a company's efforts towards the country's economical well being.



THE EFFORTS and contributions of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were certainly a contribution to all that lolly in the UK's coffers. Here is a lovely GIF taken from news footage shot at the award ceremony, which Peter, Christopher lee, Veronica Carlson and many others from Hammer films attended...It was certainly a day to celebrate. 


THE AWARD is now in a private collection. Look out for our own celebration to mark that day 49 years ago, in a few weeks time!


IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us reach our 30K following total for Peter Cushing BIRTHDAY on MAY 26th 2017 AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!

Monday 6 March 2017

FRANKENSTEIN TRAPPED! #GETTHECUSHION SUNDAY CLIP



#Getthecushionitscushing...SUNDAY !: Baron Frankenstein in 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' (1969) has been over the years, singled out by critics and fans alike as Cushing's most his most evil and vicious portrayal of the Baron. 'Destroyed' presents us with a black-mailing, murdering, lying and cruel twisted monster. And yet...and yet, come the climactic ending of the film, we are praying for his escape, and hoping he 'gets out of this one'!


ON SEEING THIS FILM for the first time in the early 70's, this scene really did have me on the edge of my seat. The panic in the score, the hopeless situation that Frankenstein finds himself trapped in, the fire, poor Freddie Jones, Veronica Carlson, and Simon ward ... Ward's escape, a missed opportunity in a sequel, if ever there was one... this scene has it all. Rates as NUMBER THREE in my all time fav Cushing Frankenstein scenes. Ok. You can come out from behind that cushion, when he music stops....!



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Saturday 27 August 2016

#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY: BARON MAKES A QUICK EXIT!


#FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY: Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) making a quick exit much to the shock of the Burgomaster (David Hutcheson) and his wife (Caron Gardner) from Hammers The Evil Of Frankenstein (1964)


MORE #FRANKENSTEINFRIDAY at the Peter Cushing Appreciation
 Society Facebook Fan Page

Monday 25 July 2016

#MONSTERMONDAY : GRETA THE BRIDES OF DRACULA


#‎monstermonday‬ : PLAYED BY FREDA JACKSON, Greta is the Meinster's 'maid and Mrs Mop', who when not cooking meals, dusting and welcoming stray visitors to the château, takes care of the Baroness Meinster's insane son who is locked up in another room and chained.....But as we all know, there's more to Greta than that! Is Greta barking mad, or is that the 'influence of the young one', she has an interesting line in 'mid-wifing duties of new vampires', on cue she can be relied on, to scare the socks off anyone with that blood chilling cackle. . . she may be devoted and demented, but she's also fiercely loyal, at one point even having a scuffle with Cushing's Van Helsing. Is she a monster or just under the spell of the Baron Meinster??




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Sunday 19 October 2014

SIMON WARD REMEMBERED : THE BARON'S APPRENTICE!


REMEMBERING: Born today, Simon Ward. If you take a look at the raft of obituaries for Simon Ward who sadly passed away in 2012, it's a common fault that they state that his career was kick started when he was 'plucked from obscurity' and appeared in Richard Richard Attenborough’s 'Young Winston' in 1972. Maybe that is how the press and publicity agents remember it....but for Ward, it was not so.


Ward acknowledged Hammer films 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' made in 1969 as the film 'that started it all' and the generous help and assistance from his co star Peter Cushing, that made anything afterwards possible... In a interview with pcasuk in 1979, Ward acknowledges his debt to Cushing, who he said, '..had time and patience with me. I knew nothing of the technique needed for working with a camera or about the studio floor. Peter was extremely kind, taking time to explain the simple but very important rules of pace and nuance, so the editor can get in there. This and try to not fall over the cables. He did so much for me. Quite extraordinary. I mean, no one has the time to do that, everyone is busy. But he did it for me, many times through out the film. And it's something I've always remembered, and not come across since... a very kind, gentle, gracious man. He really did save my skin'.



Simon Ward sadly left us in 2012.

Thursday 6 March 2014

ICON ENTERTAINMENT: FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL : UK BLU RAY RELEASE APRIL 2014


PETER CUSHING NEWS: Icon Entertainment PRESS RELEASE : 'FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL' UK BLU RAY RELEASE FOR APRIL:  Icon Home Entertainment has announced its 28th April 2014 release of the Hammer horror classic Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell. With a host of extras, a 3-disc dual format package and an HD transfer, this looks set to be one of the definitive releases of this British horror movie.

PRESS RELEASE:
Starring the inimitable Peter Cushing, the last of Hammer's acclaimed series of Frankenstein films, Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell is the final feature film directed by the legendary Terence Fisher.

Convicted of bodysnatching and using the body parts of his ill-gotten cadavers for research, Dr. Simon Helder is sentenced to five years in an insane asylum. On arrival, he recognises the penitentiary's resident surgeon as none other than the infamous Baron Victor Frankenstein, who has been hiding out there and continuing his research into the reanimation of corpses under the pseudonym of Dr. Carl Victor. Recognising Helder's surgical skills, Frankenstein enlists the young doctor as his assistant under the pretext of their tending to the medical needs of their fellow inmates. But the reality of the situation is far more sinister. Frankenstein is already well on his way to creating a new living creature assembled from the vital organs of murdered criminals and madmen.

A perfect, unusually gory and beautifully gothic swan song for Hammer's incarnation of Mary Shelley's two accursed creations, Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell features yet another (his sixth) standout performance by the brilliant Peter Cushing as the mad baron and is also notable for the pre-Star Wars pairing of the actors who would four years later reunite to play two of the most iconic villains in the cinematic galaxy – Darth Vader (David Prowse) and Grand Moff Tarkin (Cushing).

 Extra features include:

Taking Over The Asylum: The Making Of Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell.
Charming Evil: Terence Fisher at Hammer.
 
Audio commentary by Shane Briant and Madeline Smith, moderated by Marcus Hearn.
Animated stills gallery.

Thursday 23 May 2013

THREE DAY TO GO: PETER CUSHING CENTENARY CELEBRATION

Three Days To Go...
We're celebrating ALL day Sunday 26th. 24 hours of posts, rare photographs, features and competitions....right here at petercushing.org.uk and

Monday 31 December 2012

SPEECHLESS: MADDIE SMITH ON SET FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL 1973

SPEECHLESS: The lovely Maddie Smith on the set of FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1973). Maddie played 'THE ANGEL' the mute assistant to Peter's Frankenstein, a handy plot and character device used in THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN another Hammer/Frankenstein film, with Katy Wild playing the speechless help on hand.
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