The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

   Issue 16 of Diabolique Magazine May/Jume 2013, which I will happily give it away, after this project is done. Like I said in my last post is really full of content. I still have to kick myself for picking one of the most dense issues they put out. I am in it now so we are moving onto the second article in the issue, The Cushing 13, written by Johnathan Rigby gives us what the writer thinks is the thirteen essential Peter Cushing films. Now I am not cover them all but here is the list in case you want to.

  Most actor are lucky to have one defining role in his/her career, Peter Cushing had three. As we have already covered in other entries he played Victor Frankenstein and in this film he plays Sherlock Holmes and as you shall read in my next post he played Doctor Van Helsing opposite the character of Dracula. Is he the actor that defined the role? Well such debates are worth the effort. I have friend who are just not horror fans and never have been and one, Neighbor Dave ( who by the way has the best beer fridge in my town) said he had never heard of Peter Cushing. Shocking as it is to me I understand, I am a child of the 60 and 70s and had a heavy dose of television as baby sitter while growing up. Also a horror fan from an early age, thank you Creature Double Feature, I have been well versed in the genre from an early age. I had to tell Dave that he was Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) so he would have some sense.

In The Hound of the Baskervilles Peter Cushing plays Sherlock Holmes in one of the most famous Arthur Conan Doyle stories ever shot on film. Like many actors before and after him Cushing plays the role as it is written self assured and the smartest man in the room. The character itself is a bit of a dick always proving him, self by testing Watson and those around them to point out how much they did not observed and he does. 

This version of the story has a long prquel where we learn of the start of the Baskervilles curse. Baron Hugo Baskerville is a tyrant in his realm, cruel to his subject and always looking for things that give him pleasure. The curse starts with his pursuit of a young women who has no interest in him. When she flees he chases her to some old ruins in the Dartmoor moors. Throws her onto what looks like a fallen acient alter and you think he is going to rape her but instead with glee in his eyes stabs her to death. Almost immediately he hears the howls in the distance and then meets his demise at the hands of a furry creature. 

A voice over brings us to Doctor Mortimor(Francis de Wolff), Watson (Andre Morell) and Holmes (Peter Cushing) debating the story we just saw and the latest baskervilles death generations after the start of the curse. Holmes has an interest in it and Mortimor brings the case to him wants him to investigate the latest strange death. It is omportant to note that this is a mystery in the finest sense so talking about the machinations of the film is a real nono. What I can say it does a great job of highlighting Holmes' character and laying the red herrings that keep the viewer guessing. Christopher Lee plays Sir Henry the heir to the Baskervilles fortunes who may or may not be in grave danger.

I really loved this film even though I have a soft spot for the earlier version starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes. Still Cushing was made for a role like this and enacts it with grace and percision. All the supporting cast are wonderful at moving the story along. Andre Morell carries a large load as Watson and is completely up to the task. The twists and turns keep you guessing although because I am a repeat viewer for me it was more about appreciateing the movie making and acting. 

Give this one a view especially if you are a mystery buff. 

So if you are interested in a magazine with this content, read updates here soresportmovies.blogspot.com, or on Letterboxd.com to learn how my magazine giveaway is going but follow me on Letterboxd if you want to read my movie reviews and comment on the films. I still have a mail connected to my blog movies@edhovey.com where you can write me or comment on blog entries.

My Letterboxd.com handle is @Hovey1127, when I am done with the Issue of the magazine I will offer it up and we can work out the details of me getting it to you. I am not really looking for money just someone who also would love to read it. If no one wants it well it will probably end up on a magazine rack at the library or something.

Chatting with me is difficult, I have stopped my social media account years ago because time… it’s ticking at my age and I would rather spend it doing other things like this for example. Or chatting with my friends at the Zombiegrrlz.com podcasts on their discord. I am a fan of the podcasts they publish The More Deadly Podcast and the Zombiegrrlz podcast and as a Patron for very little $ I get access to the discord. So if you want to good horror content and a great horror community check them out.

Byzantium (2012)

 As I reread and revisit the films of Issue 16 of Diabolique Magazine before I give it away. I have to kick myself for picking one of the most dense issues they put out. Where I want to watch and review a selection of the films in the issue I will have my work cut out for me. A tribute to Peter Cushing it is jam packed with remembrances of Cushing, a retrospective of his career and features stories on many of the films and characters that made his career. 

  The first article, not about Cushing is an interview with Director Neil Jordan by Editor Max Weinstein, he had just released Byzantium his new Gothic vampire film starring Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton, and Sam Riley. Directed by Neil Jordan and Written by Moira Buffini the film underwhelmed at the box office only making 860k est. on an 8 million dollar investment. IMDB member rating sits at 6.5 at the time of this writing which isn’t horrible. The actresses were praised for their performances but at the time there was some vampire fatigue, and Jordan the Director of the smash hit Interview with a Vampire so expectations were high. Unfortunately the film was marketed as a moody arthouse film and was not pushed as a wide release doomed it at the box office. 

  Meditative and moody it is but worth a viewing. Byzantium is a story of a Mother, Clara (Arterton) and Daughter, Eleanor (Ronan) vampires who struggle to feed themselves without drawing attention and having to change cities often because of it. Clara is defined as the unstable of the two and Eleanor the more empathetic of the two. The contrast is a way of showing the monstrous side versus a more humane side to the problems they face. Both women are younger looking both being turned while young women. It is also a way of looking at trauma and different responses to it. Do you attempt to heal it or do you mask it and deal with the chaos of not dealing with the harm?  Both women as we learn through flashbacks to their pasts are traumatized, horrible lives for both hundreds of years before we meet them. Clara learned how to lie cheat and steal in her life and falls back to those behaviors again and again. She preys on men, the sex who hurt her so badly in her human life. Eleanor is more contemplative about her need to feed, a writer who feels  deeply in her long vampire life only feeds on the elderly ready to die minimizing her chances of discovery. 

  Complicating their situation is that there is a brotherhood of vampires who do not accept that two women vampires were created and still roam the earth. Behind a mask of a noble cause they their misogyny and the desire to be a boys club only. Clara and her feeding on random dudes who want her body continues to draw the attention of the brotherhood. They have not forgiven her for stealing the map of a secret location where a person ready to die can be transformed into a vampire. In fact the initiating incident of the film is one of the brotherhood catching up to Clara. She is capable and bold and a danger to the patriarchy and it’s a good theme. Eleanor fits into it too but contrasts Clara’s boldness with thoughtful introspection that is equally threatening to the brotherhood. Complicating there lives in this crucial moment is also is Eleanor reluctantly beginning a honest relationship with Darvell (Sam Riley) who once he knows Eleanor’s secrets is a risk Clara won’t tolerate. There is a punch pulled in the third act of this film when the Mother and daughter are finally tracked done by the brotherhood and it seems they are at serious risk, a script choice veers off what the audience wants which is the women overcoming the evil. Instead something happens where their agency is taken away blunting a lot of the character development that came before the moment. When all is said and done I think this a fine film that skews some of its themes in the end. Beautifully filmed and interesting throughout it is definitely worth the watch. This is the first of the watches I will be doing before I give this issue of Diabolique away for free, of course if no one wants it I will probably leave it on the local library magazine rack.

  So follow me here to read updates in how my magazine giveaway is going but follow me on Letterboxd if you want to read my movie reviews. I still have a mail connected to my blog soresportmovies.blogspot.com movies@edhovey.com where you can write me or comment on an entry there. Follow me on Letterboxd.com my handle there is Hovey1127, when I am done with the Issue of the magazine I will offer it up and we can work out the details of me getting it to you. I am not really looking for money just someone who also would love to read it.

  Chatting with me is difficult, I have stopped my social media account years ago because time… it’s ticking at my age and I would rather spend it doing other things like this for example. Or chatting with my friends at the Zombiegrrlz.com podcasts on their discord. I am a fan of the podcasts they publish The More Deadly Podcast and the Zombiegrrlz podcast and as a Patron for very little $ I get access to the discord. So if you want to good horror content and a great horror community check them out.

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

  Issue 16 of Diabolique Magazine May/Jume 2013, which I will happily give it away, after this project is done. Like I said in my last post is really full of content. I still have to kick myself for picking one of the most dense issues they put out. I am in it now so we are moving onto the second article in the issue, The Cushing 13, written by Johnathan Rigby gives us what the writer thinks is the thirteen essential Peter Cushing films. Now I am not cover them all but here is the list in case you want to.

Nineteen Eighty Four (1964)

The Curse of Frankenstein(1956) 

The Hounds of the Baskervilles(1958)

The Flesh and the Fiends(1959)

The Brides of Draculs(1960)

Captain Clegg(1961)

The Skull(1965)

Corruption(1967)

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed(1969)

Tales from the Crypt(1971)

Asylum(1972)

From Beyond The Grave(1973)

A Tale of Two Cities(1980)

As you can see from the title I am covering The Curse of Frankenstein in this entry. I am sure I will not be covering all these film for this project but I might continue with a couple more choices from the list before moving on.

The Curse of Frankenstein as Johnathan Rigby says in his article "was the small picture that established Hammer Film Production as a major playerand sparked off a Gothic revival Worldwide". I personally love Hammer films even the lower budget ones when in the end they were trying to save themselves. The film stars as Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein, Hazel Court as Elizabeth, Robert Urquhart as Victor's tutor turned assistant and "rival"(?) Paul.and Christopher Lee as the Creature. Not allowed to call him Frankensteins Monster we can't say Lee joins Lon Chaney Jr. as the only men to play Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster but it is as close as you can come without doing it. I went to check this on the internet and the internet has it wrong which yeah good for you you cute little AI.

Hazel Court on loanfrom the movie studio Rank at the time only did two Hammer films but it was enough to reignite her career after taking a break fromacting to raise her daugher Sally. The other film the classic Vincent Price piece The Masque of the Red Death (1964) was her final major film role although she was seen on Alfred Hitchcock Presents on occasion. In her later years she became an acclaimed scultor. The thing about her role in Curse is that the character Elizabeth was the cousin of Victor Frankenstein, a more common marraige relationship than we have in modern days I suppose. Her character is sort of a non factor in the film with no agency or internal drive. She seems to be there to be put at threat by the monster and as a piece of property to be vied for by Victor and Paul.

Robert Urquharts role Paul is there to removed the hunchback assistant Igor and replaces him with a teacher who becomes a rival after Victor  surpasses him as his student. The wrap around story shows the outcome of that storyline. He is also is the character who tries to shine a light on Victor as he more and more leaves ethics behind in his drive to create life. 

Peter Cushing as Victor Fankenstein has a character written to be cruel but never thoughtless. He from the earliest age is dead set on his path in life and show little empathy to those around him. As an adult and banging the french maid while engaged to Elizabeth at the same time his cruelty can be seen in the scene where she, Justine (Valarie Gaunt) confronts him because she was promoised mararige by Victor. She reveals her pregnancy and Victor's response is vile. Not only that it does not end there, when Justine says she will tell people around him he arranges the circumstances of her death at the hands of the monster.

  In fact the script itself written by Jimmy Sangster is a cruel little take on a story that by 1957 was a well known tale in film already. The take on the story actually makes it new and interesting. In the end you all sort of know what happens but the wrap around story gives it a somewhat satisfying twist. This is really a very vine film and you should all seek it out as an example of how to take a well trodden on idea and make it fresh.

So if you are interested in a magazine with this content, read updates here soresportmovies.blogspot.com, or on Letterboxd.com to learn how my magazine giveaway is going but follow me on Letterboxd if you want to read my movie reviews and comment on the films. I still have a mail connected to my blog movies@edhovey.com where you can write me or comment on blog entries.

My Letterboxd.com handle is @Hovey1127, when I am done with the Issue of the magazine I will offer it up and we can work out the details of me getting it to you. I am not really looking for money just someone who also would love to read it. If no one wants it well it will probably end up on a magazine rack at the library or something.

Chatting with me is difficult, I have stopped my social media account years ago because time… it’s ticking at my age and I would rather spend it doing other things like this for example. Or chatting with my friends at the Zombiegrrlz.com podcasts on their discord. I am a fan of the podcasts they publish The More Deadly Podcast and the Zombiegrrlz podcast and as a Patron for very little $ I get access to the discord. So if you want to good horror content and a great horror community check them out.

Movie magazine giveaway? Really One at a time?

   My collection of horror and exploitation film magazines that have been collecting dust for some time now. When I was subscriber the magazine would come in and I would read it end to end and then put it on an ever growing pile.These piles grew and grew, Heavy Metal magazine, Horrorhoound,  Fangoria, Rue Morgue, Film Comment, Screenwriter Magazine, Creative Screenwriting all had piles. Eventually I purged them with a simple recycling of the paper. I felt bad in hindsight getting rid of all that history and great writing. Thousands of issues gone for good and I thought with the advent of the internet, I was on in the late 80s that again would not be something in my life again. I was wrong I still got something from going to the newsstand in Harvard Square, browsing the wracks and finding new things to read. Femme Fatales originally a low budget horror movie magazines that feature actresses selling their images and  films. Paracinema what I considered the best exploitation film magazines ever issued, and many others that were not came and went. When it came time purge again in the 20teens I found myself hanging onto some of them but again thinking that the magazine was a thing of the past past.  I had no subscriptions and really thought I was finally done with this addiction, and again I was wrong. In 2017 Rue Morgue rebranding it’s approach to a horror community enthusiast model lead by Andra Subassati.  Then in 2018 Fangoria Magazine got a rebirth and started publishing again, under the leadership of Phil Nobel Jr. At this point in my life I had much more disposable income, and an on-line presence with friend groups who liked the same things. People many of who I had never met in person but who I regularly interacted with on list serves, blogs, podcast, horror conventions and social media were now friends of mine. I wanted to support my horror interest not as a collector of paper but because it seemed with all the now vibrant diverse ways to engage my lovely magazines needed me to support them or they may be no more. So today I have long running subscription of both Rue Morgue and Fangoria. What to do with older issues though, now in my sixties I am trying to reduce my stuff not grow it? I really don’t want to just purge like the past, no I am thinking maybe I can offer them up as gifts to other fans, mail them out after rereading them a final time.

The effort has to begin somewhere so I picked my oldest issue of Diabolique Magazine from my piles and  read it again. It was a special Peter Cushing centennial issue from May/June 2013. The read was great! Such a wonderful issue. In fact it was so good that I have decided to watch a bunch of the film written about in the issue and maybe write a bit about them myself.  It seems like the movie review is going to be challenged by AI so why not go down a rabbit hole where no one may read my opinions? I don’t know I am doing this for me and it will make me happy. This issue has about 30 movie I can watch so I should start getting busy with it on my Letterboxd Account.

So follow me here to read updates in how my magazine giveaway is going but follow me on Letterboxd if you want to read my movie reviews. I still have a mail connected to this blog movies@edhovey.com where you can write me or comment on an entry here at soresportmovies.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Letterboxd.com my handle there is Hovey1127, when I am done with the Issue of the magazine I will offer it up and we can work out the details of me getting it to you. I am not really looking for money just someone who also would love to read it.

Chatting with me is difficult, I have stopped my social media account years ago because time… it’s ticking at my age and I would rather spend it doing other things like this for example. Or chatting with my friends at the Zombiegrrlz.com podcasts on their discord. I am a fan of the podcasts they publish The More Deadly Podcast and the Zombiegrrlz podcast and as a Patron for very little $ I get access to the discord. So if you want to good horror content and a great horror community check them out.