#MOMENTOFTERRORMONDAY!
Carrying on....from the werewolf themed films featured in yesterday's Weekend Double
Feature here at the website, I've pulled the final moments from 'Legend of the
Werewolf' (1975) for this weeks, #CUSHINGMOMENTOFTERROR MONDAY!. As most of us here know, it's one half of a pair of
films, that #PeterCushing
made with Tyburn films in the mid 1970's... a nice little thriller /
horror film made in the style of films that were made twenty years or
so, BEFORE this one. At the time this film was made, the film industry
in the UK was in pieces, despite CEO Kevin Francis making a few features
with his company Tyburn, plans to produce other movies, were shelved
and the two Tyburn terrors, both starring #PeterCushing, still awaiting a legit dvd or blu ray release, becoming maybe two of the 'most wanted' on most PC's fans film wish list.
REMEMBER! 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 . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The
Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and
youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS
coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA
BEGINNING LAST WEEK, I started a series examining
three pairs of films that I felt would make ideal ‘Cushing Double-Bills’, concentrating
primarily on thematic links. Last time, I
looked at Hammer's The Curse of
Frankenstein (1957) and its first sequel The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958). We continue this week with a
pair of films slightly less obvious than our previous selection, 1965’s The Skull and 1972’s The Creeping Flesh. Ostensibly two
unrelated films (excluding the fact that both feature Cushing and Christopher
Lee and are directed by Freddie Francis) our discussion this week concerns the
dark thematic subtext that links both.
MADE IN 1965, The
Skull is often cited as one of Cushing’s very best whilst The Creeping Flesh (despite getting a
great deal of attention from fans and this page in particular) is still sadly
something of an undiscovered gem. The
Skull is one of Amicus’s non-portmanteau features and is based on the short
story The Skull of the Marquis De Sade by
Robert Bloch. A masterpiece of atmosphere, The
Skull has a powerful dreamlike quality that manages to be supremely
unsettling. The Creeping Flesh, on
the other hand, is one of Tony Tenser’s Tigon productions and is far more
visceral in its execution, with some genuinely disturbing scenes..
SO WHAT THEN IS IT, that causes me to group these two
films in particular? Well to begin with both demonstrate British horror studios
attempting to do something different with the Hammer mould and are incredibly
experimental in nature. The Skull, as
well as being a modern day piece it’s far less explicit in exactly what its
threat is than Hammer tend to be, preferring
a slower, subtler build-up. Visually The
Skull is particularly arresting, be it the haunting shots from the Skull’s
perspective or the Kafka-esque dream sequence. Similarly the film embraces a
darkness to an extent that Hammer rarely did, from the depressing ending to the
character of Maitland himself.
ABOVE AND BELOW:THE KAFKA-ESQUE POV SHOTS APPEAR IN
BOTH 'THE SKULL' AND 'THE CREEPING FLESH'
MAITLAND, whilst not unlikeable, is hardly a
charmer and as an audience we are invited to look upon his morbid hobby with a
critical eye. We care about him and wish him no ills but the obsessiveness that
permeates his character causes us to question his gruesome pastime. 'The Creeping Flesh' on the other hand is
from, arguably, the most radical British horror studio in business from the mid
60’s to mid-70’s.
ABOVE: THE OBSESSIVE MAITLAND OF 'THE SKULL' (1965)
IT MUST BE REMEMBERED that whilst Tigon were behind the
gothic pot-boiler The Blood Beast Terror (1967),
they were also the studio famed for producing Michael Reeves his magnum opus, Witchfinder General (1968) and his
earlier The Sorcerers (1967). Away
from Reeves, Tigons output is rich with a ‘radical’ and ‘alternative’ sentiment
and whilst not always successful never cease to be interesting. Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), Neither the Sea nor the Sand (1972), The Flesh and Blood Show (1972), The Beast in the Cellar (1970) and of
course Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971)
are among the most innovative and experimental British horror films in this
period.
ABOVE:BORIS KARLOFF AND IAN OGILVY IN TIGON FILMS 'THE SORCERERS' (1967)
ABOVE: THE EQUALLY OBSESSIVE EMMANUEL HILDER FROM THE CREEPING FLESH (1972)
THUS The Creeping Flesh similarly
contains elements that go against the traditional mould. Namely, like The Skull, there are few likeable
characters and our main this time, Emmanuel Hildern is equally as obsessive as
Maitland. This time it is science and particularly the desire to make a great
discovery, rather than collecting that absorbs him. The same can be said of his
sadistic brother James (Lee), who covets his brother’s success. The film
questions the nature of evil and in particular uses the Victorian scientist to
do this. The usual hero of Hammer is here reverted to selfish obsessors whose
desire for success and discovery makes them far more horrific, than the
devil-creature that appears at the climax.
ABOVE: THE SADISTIC BROTHER JAMES, PLAYED BY CHRISTOPHER LEE IN 'THE CREEPING FLESH' (1972)
AS PERHAPS I’m already beginning to demonstrate, 'The Skull' and 'The Creeping Flesh', are without doubt two of the most sub textually
rich and intelligent films that Cushing has been involved with. In both, it’s
possible to feel that perhaps more than his other Gothic productions Freddie
Francis is able to identify themes and motifs throughout the stories that
interest him visually. Building on themes of obsession, madness is a prominent
factor in both and indeed can be one of the central elements of fear that
emanates from the films. In 'The Skull' we
are invited to question whether Maitland is actually going insane and the
nature of his haunting is a highly personal one, attacking his mind over his
physical body (at least until the films climax).
ABOVE:MAITLAND HIGHLY PERSONAL MADNESS
ONCE AGAIN in The Creeping Flesh we are invited to
wonder whether our main character is indeed mad, though far more explicitly.
Here the framing structure of the film has Cushing narrating his story, before
at the end revealing that he is an inmate in the asylum ran by Lee. A final
shot leaves us to wonder whether his story is true or not. However the theme of
madness permeates the story far deeper than this, with Cushing living in fear
of hereditary madness that leads him to inject his daughter with the serum
grown from the remains of the skeleton.
IN SHORT, I think of all the double bills I’ll be
discussing, this is easily the most personal. Whilst I love the films of Hammer
these two simply blew me away with relentlessly dark tales that made comments
on obsession, madness and the nature of evil. Whilst calling them Cushing’s two
‘Artsy’ horrors may sound somewhat insulting, I think it perhaps sums them up
best. These films are Freddie Francis’s masterpieces and demonstrate a sub
textual and visual storytelling intelligence far above and beyond any of his
other horror work. Whilst Dracula has
Risen from the Grave is certainly beautiful to look at and contains
interesting commentary on religion, it’s not as rich or as subtle as these two
films.
IT'S A REAL SHAME that whilst The
Skull has r been given a superb Blu-ray treatment, The Creeping Flesh is neglected to a mill-creek triple feature. One
lives in hope that boutique label along the lines of Arrow will recognise the
merit in the film and surprise us with a brand new HD transfer and a wealth of
features. If you’re looking for two of Cushing’s darker, less comfortable films
then these make the perfect double bill.
THE BEST OF A DOUBLE?CASTING AND FILMS, CUSHING AND LEE IN 'THE SKULL' (1965) AND 'THE CREEPING FLESH' (1972)
OH AND THEY BOTH feature skulls. Just saying. Join me NEXT SUNDAY, for another classic DOUBLE BILL!
REMEMBER! 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 . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The
Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and
youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS
coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA
THE 'DOUBLE BILL' is something of a tradition within the film industry. Simply put it meant- ‘two for the price of one’. Originally used pre-cinema in Opera houses, it came into prominence in the 1930’s after the Great Depression. With the film industry suffering heavy losses, a number of cinemas chose to offer the two-for-one scheme, as a hope of luring punters back into the seats.
SUFFICE TO SAY it worked and since then double bills were something of staple. However by the end of the 20th century, as the number of low-budget films being given theatrical releases lessened they began to go out of fashion and are now exceedingly rare. None the less the appeal to ciniphiles is still there and they can often be found at festivals, usually featuring two themed or related films.
THE 'THEMED DOUBLE BILL' is the subject of today’s
piece (and of two following pieces), namely what is the perfect Cushing double
bill? I’ll be discussing three trios of films that in my mind complement each
other. They can be directly related, as are today’s or can simply be of
thematic interest. However, they must of course both star Peter Cushing in some
capacity.
STATING WITH a somewhat obvious one, today I’ll be discussing 1957’s
The Curse of Frankensteinand 1958’s The Revenge of Frankenstein, but more
specifically, how they complement each other. Curse and Revenge are the
first two instalments in Hammer’s Frankenstein
series, one of course being the granddaddy of Hammer’s gothic output. Whilst
the first is a truncated retelling of the Frankenstein story, putting emphasis
on the Baron as more of a villain, the sequel brings events full circle. Together,
they show the rise and fall of Baron Frankenstein with his eventual fate as his
own creation.
TO BEGIN WITH, this probably makes the most obvious
pairing simply as Revenge picks up
exactly where Curse left off, meaning
that watched back to back it feels like one consistent epic. Furthermore, unlike some of the later
incarnations of the character (for example the more softer version seen in The Evil of Frankenstein or vicious
incarnation that features in Frankenstein
Must be Destroyed) these are clearly supposed to be the same man.
MUCH OF THE SETS are recycled and virtually identical and Hammer even got the same actor (Alex
Gallier) who played the priest in Curse to
reprise his role at the start of this film. This means that unlike other Hammer
sequels, Revenge often feels like a
natural progression of Curse. Terrance
Fisher returns and the only notable admission is James Bernard, who is replaced
by Leonard Salzedo. I for one adore Salzedo’s score and it’s certainly up there
with my favourite Hammer soundtrack, fitting the atmosphere of Revenge perfectly. The final end credits
fanfare is chillingly powerful.
WHAT REALLY MAKES these two films complement each
other however, is the rich thematic nature in which one story reflects the
other. I discussed briefly some of the varying levels in Revenge’s script during my tribute to Jimmy Sangster. However when
watched back to back these two films have elements which show a great
intelligence in Sangster’s work. The progression to brain transplants comes
across as incredibly natural and the bravery in having the revenge as not a
physical one (a slice and dice would have been so easy) but more of a
philosophical one (he has to prove himself
right), shows an incredible understanding of the character. With the Baron
somewhat younger in the first film, he is the pupil to Paul Krempe (Robert
Urquhart) who through the course of the film becomes the more dominant figure.
IN REVENGEthat Baron seems to have aged
tremendously due to his near death experience and this time it is he who has
the pupil, in Francis Matthews’s Hanz. Throughout the course of this film we
see Hanz grow and learn, until at the finale it is he who must perform the
brain transplant upon the Baron.
THE FACT THAT this then results in the only successful
operation, the final shot being Hanz looking on proudly at the new Baron,
presents a wonderful circularity to these films. We see the Baron first develop
his concept of creating life and then further this into brain transplants. We see
his two failed experiments but we also see him grow and develop as a character,
from pupil to teacher.
OF COURSE MUCH of this is down to Cushing, who in the
space of a year manages two performances of the same character but in entirely
different mind-sets. Thanks to him, we believe
that this is the same man and that he really has been through a horrific
experience, which has just made him more determined to continue. Indeed the
most horrifying thing in Revenge is
Cushing’s uttering of the line ‘they will never be rid of me’. The determination
is so powerful as to be utterly chilling.
WELL THAT'S IT for this weeks double bill, but join me
again next Sunday as I’ll be discussing another perfect pair…
REMEMBER! 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 . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The
Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and
youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS
coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA
A REMINDER! Don't forget to TUNE IN to TCM US on SUNDAY 23rd OCTOBER for a GREAT DOUBLE BILL of CUSHING HAMMER FRANKENSTEIN FILMS! Below are TWO VINTAGE teaser trailers to wheat your appetites, if you have not seen these classics before. . .
THE FOLLOWING DAY there are no less than FOUR CUSHING HAMMER FILMS for you to enjoy. But MORE ON THAT, coming up later . . .
TOMORROW! #ONSETSATURDAY : JOIN US FOR A PEEP ONTO THE SET OF VINTAGEPETER CUSHING FILMS!
PETER CUSHING IN HIS ELEMENT HERE, 56 years ago he swung across the congregation of one Reverend Blyss, on location in a church that sat just outside the Hammer studios, in the sleepy village of Bray, England. The church now long gone, but the thrill of watching Peter having a ball and playing a great swash buckling dual role, is a throwback worth celebrating!
#TBTWHAT A GREAT DOUBLE BILL this must have been... Hammer films 'The
Phantom of the Opera' with Herbert Lom and Edward de Souza and 'Captain
Clegg' / 'Night Creatures' with Peter Cushing! Released in the UK
together, Clegg and Phantom was supported by quite an impressive press
campaign along with single and double bill cinema quad posters.
Personally, Lom id my favourite Phantom, and Dr Blyss was a wonderful
role for Peter, who was again given the opportunity to display some
swordsmanship and a few stunts into the bargain!
