What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

RedRiver
Posts: 4200
Joined: July 28th, 2011, 9:42 am

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by RedRiver »

Following the next outing: GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN, he became little more than a lumbering afterthought

Toward the end of a work week, I'm the same way!
User avatar
Joe Macclesfield
Posts: 170
Joined: July 15th, 2014, 3:06 pm
Location: Cheshire, England

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by Joe Macclesfield »

Recall reading, in Dennis Gifford's Pictorial History of Horror Movies, Glenn Strange - quoted as saying: "Nobody helped anyone as much as Boris Karloff helped me. He coached me on the walk, and movements, and so forth, because I wanted to do this thing as close as possible to the way he did it." (that may not be a verbatim quote, but I think it's near enough). And, although it may be debatable how successful he was, there is an undeniably weird quality to Strange's monster.
"...Then as a bee, which among weeds doth fall,
Which seem sweet floures with lustre fresh and gay,
She lights on that, and this, and tasteth all,
But pleasd with none doth rise and sore away..."
Western Guy
Posts: 1702
Joined: March 26th, 2012, 1:19 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Canada

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by Western Guy »

I've always wondered about that. Can't really picture - given Glenn Strange's interpretation of the Monster - how Karloff could have coached him. The two characterizations are pretty dissimilar.
User avatar
Joe Macclesfield
Posts: 170
Joined: July 15th, 2014, 3:06 pm
Location: Cheshire, England

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by Joe Macclesfield »

Yes, there are none of the grunts, snarls, or rapid movements that are characteristic of Karloff's portrayal. Mannerisms which gave me a kick, when I first saw the Karloff films, because they were so different to the popular conception of the monster.
"...Then as a bee, which among weeds doth fall,
Which seem sweet floures with lustre fresh and gay,
She lights on that, and this, and tasteth all,
But pleasd with none doth rise and sore away..."
User avatar
Rita Hayworth
Posts: 10068
Joined: February 6th, 2011, 4:01 pm

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by Rita Hayworth »

CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957)

From TCM - D: Terence Fisher. Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart, Valerie Gaunt, Noel Hood. OK retelling of original Shelley tale, with Cushing as Baron von Frankenstein, whose experimentation with creation of life becomes an obsession. First of Hammer Films' long-running horror series, and itself followed by six sequels, starting with THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN.

SATURDAY NIGHT - 11:30 PM (Eastern Time),
OCTOBER 25TH
Western Guy
Posts: 1702
Joined: March 26th, 2012, 1:19 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Canada

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by Western Guy »

Yet it's interesting how Strange's interpretation seems to have become the more iconic. The stiff movements and outstretched arms. When we played Frankenstein as kids that was how we always portrayed him. Even was the image on the old Aurora plastic model kit.

I rather like Christopher Lee's portrayal of the monster. His jerky, somewhat spastic movements give the impression that he's just"come to life" and has yet to fully master his motor control.
RedRiver
Posts: 4200
Joined: July 28th, 2011, 9:42 am

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by RedRiver »

First of Hammer Films' long-running horror series

A monumental entry, for that reason if no other.

followed by six sequels, starting with THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN.

Have I seen this one? Probably. At the moment, I can't recall a thing about it. Too many monsters for too many years!
Western Guy
Posts: 1702
Joined: March 26th, 2012, 1:19 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Canada

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by Western Guy »

Tom Weaver`s opinion notwithstanding, they`re all fun. As I`ve said before, I can`t imagine my childhood without these fine films, usually played at Saturday matinees in double-bill reissues. Actually, the monsters were secondary to dear Peter Cushing. His performance as Baron Frankenshtein (as usually pronounced) made those movies such superlative entertainment. A great actor and a great human being.
RedRiver
Posts: 4200
Joined: July 28th, 2011, 9:42 am

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by RedRiver »

If Basil Rathbone was born to play Sherlock Holmes, Peter Cushing was born to inherit the role. Sometimes Hammer is a little too quiet for me. Ponderous more than exciting. But the presence of Cushing and Lee, and the rich colorful atmosphere more than make up for any lack of heart pounding suspense. It's ironic that in a genre whose roots are so characteristically black and white, the pure, painting-like colors are so integral to the effectiveness of these movies.
User avatar
Joe Macclesfield
Posts: 170
Joined: July 15th, 2014, 3:06 pm
Location: Cheshire, England

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by Joe Macclesfield »

REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN is a very good sequel to THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Ludicrously implausible, but great fun. Some critics even think it's a better film. How the Baron manages to achieve what must surely be his masterpiece (when the usual results of his experiments are ghastly monstrosities) is a mystery best left alone. By the way, in the trailer, Peter Cushing addresses the audience; telling them that he was sent to the guillotine in 1860. But the clothes and hairstyles of the previous film suggest a date closer to the 1830s!
"...Then as a bee, which among weeds doth fall,
Which seem sweet floures with lustre fresh and gay,
She lights on that, and this, and tasteth all,
But pleasd with none doth rise and sore away..."
User avatar
Joe Macclesfield
Posts: 170
Joined: July 15th, 2014, 3:06 pm
Location: Cheshire, England

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by Joe Macclesfield »

The colours in the Fifties Hammer movies were decried by critics as garish at the time, Red. But they're quite soft compared to the films that would follow in the Sixties and early Seventies.
"...Then as a bee, which among weeds doth fall,
Which seem sweet floures with lustre fresh and gay,
She lights on that, and this, and tasteth all,
But pleasd with none doth rise and sore away..."
RedRiver
Posts: 4200
Joined: July 28th, 2011, 9:42 am

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by RedRiver »

I think they're the strongest asset of the studio's work.
Western Guy
Posts: 1702
Joined: March 26th, 2012, 1:19 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Canada

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by Western Guy »

I like the colors in the Hammer Films, too, and still maintain colorful items and such were used by the studio to disguise the oft-times small interior sets. A critic once remarked that the color in THE MUMMY was so rich that one could almost scrape it off with a palette knife.

I appreciate REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN today but was disappointed when I saw the film as a young'un. Had already seen CURSE and EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN and my eager childhood eyes were expecting another grotesque monster. Instead we get a bent and twisted Michael Gwynne as the "stalker walker". But it's a good film except for that ridiculous climax where "pupil" Francis Matthews achieves what his mentor Baron Frankenstein had not - a completely successful brain transplant. As for "monsters", we really didn't get the traditional kind in the next two Frankenstein outings (and both "creations" were sympathetic, to boot). And looking back that was not a bad thing when we see how the Cushing series wrapped up with the ludicrous, Sasquatch-like MONSTER FROM HELL.
User avatar
Joe Macclesfield
Posts: 170
Joined: July 15th, 2014, 3:06 pm
Location: Cheshire, England

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by Joe Macclesfield »

Read Mary Shelley's original yarn many years ago. It's left deliberately vague as to how the monster is assembled and brought to life but - he's eight feet tall! One passage, towards the end of the book, describes how Frankenstein (who's pursued the monster to the Arctic wilderness) spots him through a glass and observes the gigantic figure; running at fantastic speed, and scrambling over huge bergs. A weird and compelling image.
"...Then as a bee, which among weeds doth fall,
Which seem sweet floures with lustre fresh and gay,
She lights on that, and this, and tasteth all,
But pleasd with none doth rise and sore away..."
Western Guy
Posts: 1702
Joined: March 26th, 2012, 1:19 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Canada

Re: What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

Post by Western Guy »

Sometimes I think it is better that some of these horror films didn't adhere too closely to the books. When such attempts were made, such as MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN, the results were less than impressive. BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA was a little better (Keanu Reeve's wooden performance notwithstanding - not to mention that goofy high wig Drac wears), but I still prefer Hammer's CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HORROR OF DRACULA. These films are exciting, move like lightning and certainly do not overstay their welcome.

Anyhoo, that's my two cents.
Post Reply