The Silver Screen Oasis

Yeah, logic kinda flies out the window at times. Wish I could watch these movies like I did as a young'un - accepting without the critical eye.

Like in DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE when the resurrected Count finds that giant cross blocking the door to his castle. Why doesn't he simply get the priest who is with him - and under Drac's control - to remove it? Instead he waits until the end of the film and orders Veronica Carlson to take it off the door - which of course leads to Drac's demise.

Seeing Dracula Has Risen From His Grave (1969) for the first time this week, I kept wondering how Dracula was able to go outdoors when the sun was up. Those Hammer movies made up the vampire rules as they went along, don't you think?

I also chuckled when I realized that innkeepers, barmaids, and their ilk all have Cockney accents, even though they are natives of some heavily forested region in MittelEurope.

Absolutely, Moira. And nowhere is that better exemplified in DHRFTG than in the scene where Dracula is staked but because Paul was not able to say a prayer, the Count was able to pull the stake (and quite a large one) from his blood-spouting heart and toss it at Paul and the cowering priest. Even Christopher Lee was later to say the scene was ridiculous as everyone knows a stake through the heart is the end of the vampire - with or without prayer. I can't recall Edward Van Sloan or even Peter Cushing praying after staking their vampires.

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave - is the by far the most silliest (I've maybe exaggerating here) Dracula films ever made and I often chuckle of the many errors in this movie and to me this movie is considered a favorite for a lot of people because of the contents it's brings. I did not watch it the other day, but I've seen this movie pretty much every 2-3 years and I enjoy the theatrical elements and the acting of Rupert Davies, Veronica Carlson, and Barbara Ewing in this 1968 film.

I like how in SCARS OF DRACULA the Count is revived by a ridiculously artificial vampire bat dripping blood on his ashes. No wonder Christopher Lee tired of the role. He said that Hammer used to guilt-trip him into playing the part by reminding him of all the people his appearing in the Dracula pictures would employ.

moira finnie wrote:Seeing Dracula Has Risen From His Grave (1969) for the first time this week, I kept wondering how Dracula was able to go outdoors when the sun was up. Those Hammer movies made up the vampire rules as they went along, don't you think?

I also chuckled when I realized that innkeepers, barmaids, and their ilk all have Cockney accents, even though they are natives of some heavily forested region in MittelEurope.

A familiar face in a few Hammer pictures was that of George Woodbridge. George, rotund and jovial, was from Exeter, Devon. He had a West Country accent - certainly not Cockney.

Thank you for the clarification, Joe. In any case, he still didn't sound very Romanian (or was it Bavarian in this version??).

John Carradine on HOUSE OF DRACULA: "...to date, I have the distinction of being the only actor who looked the part as visualized by Bram Stoker in 1897. Dracula was a Magyar. When he first appears to Jonathan Harker he is an old man with long white hair and a moustache. It would have been impossible to speak lines with a mouth full of sharp teeth, so I settled for the long hair and white moustache. The studio [Universal] refused to allow me to keep the long hair, but the moustache remained...They ended up making Dracula a dope fiend. Instead of existing as the traditional vampire, he was now seeking out the help of a doctor to cure him of his vampirism by the use of modern medical means." Carradine's memory appears to have played him false there. The Count was merely shamming - he was really after Dr. Edelmann's receptionist!

One of Bela's memorable lines in DRACULA is: "I never drink . . . wine"(!). Carradine's "Baron Latos" (in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN) - on the other hand - seems to have no difficulty in enjoying an evening's hospitality with Herr Hussmann (Sig Ruman), complete with "...wine from the Hussmann cellar." Does he go to the bathroom?!

Joe Macclesfield wrote:One of Bela's memorable lines in DRACULA is: "I never drink . . . wine"(!).

That's one of my favorite too ... Joe!

Another line I like (as it shows that Drac just ain't all that thrilled with being an immortal bloodsucker):

"To die. To be really dead. That must be glorious."

Love dead! Hate living!" Big Frank.

RedRiver wrote:Love dead! Hate living!" Big Frank.

Pretorious: "You are wise in your generation."

Indestructible Man (1956). Cheapo Productions proudly present! Actually though, it isn't bad. The only dialogue Lon gets in this is a few lines in the opening scenes, as his character, Charles "Butcher" Benton speaks - softly and menacingly - to his crooked lawyer, Paul Lowe (Ross Elliot). Promising to visit retribution on Lowe, and his two cohorts, for double-crossing him, Benton (due to be executed on the morrow) is taunted by Lowe that he's a dead man. Chaney's reaction is beautifully subtle. Lowering his eyes, as he realizes the truth of this, he quickly recovers and defiantly repeats his threat. Resurrected accidently, and sans dialogue (due to his vocal chords being burned away), Benton exacts his revenge. And - thanks to Chaney's skillful performance - manages to evoke sympathy!

Actually though, it isn't bad

It certainly isn't! Production values aren't much. It's not exactly intellectual. But it's fun, exciting, silly in a good way. I like it. I've rarely seen Lon in something I didn't enjoy. Don't even get me going on THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE. That's terrifying!