Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (1968)

   

Issue 16 of Diabolique Magazine May/Jume 2013, which I will happily give it away, after this project is done. There are a couple more remembrances of Peter Cushing "Pass the Memories" by David Del Valle, a review of Cushing's Memior, "Peter Cushing: The Complete Memior" reviewed by  James Gracey and finally Christopher Gullo, president of the Peter Cushing Association reminisces about Cushing with his piece "Peter and Me" so if you have a need to really know all about the man, the legend then ask me about getting this Magzine for free! The final article was an interview with actress Veronica Carlson written by Michele Galgana mostly because she was in the Hammer Studios Horrors of Frankenstein but that was not one of the Cushing films I chose to cover for this writing project. Instead the final film I am doing includes Carlson is from the article "Hammering Vitality in Dracula: Hammer Studio's Re-vamping of Bram Stoker's Classic by Colin McCraken. The film is the 1968 Dracula has Risen from the Grave

This is the last review for this issue of Diabolique Magazine Issue 16, so contact me if you want it. Otherwise recycled another way is it's fate.

Dracula has risen from the Grave, starts with another body being found in the bell tower of the Church in a village near Dracula's castle. It raises the the idea Can vampires enter churches? There are several things to think about on that and I don't think there is a clear answer.  Consecrated Ground: Many stories treat the holy nature of a church as a barrier that burns or pushes back the unholy blood-drinker. The Invitation Rule: Some traditional lore suggests that a vampire cannot cross a threshold uninvited—though whether a public house of worship counts as a private residence requiring an explicit invitation varies. Faith: In some mythos, a church is only as strong as the active faith within it; an abandoned or de-sanctified church might lose its protective properties. In quite a few movies the grounds of a church are not a place for vampires can go but this mythology in our current age changes as film makers try to put their unique spin on the subject of vampires.

In this film a monsignor in the church decides that he and the local reverend must go to Dracula's castle and perform an exorcism to cleanse the space and free the village of it the curse. In a ridiculous scene a storm rolls in during the exorcism but the reverend who was to afraid to go all the way to the castle falls on some rocks cutting his head and lands on the entombed in glass Dracula in just the right way to have his blood drip into the vampire's mouth raising him from the grave. 

Dracula is pissed that the cross has ruined his castle and goes after the senior preist who performed the exorcism and his house, his house keeper, and his brother's daughter and friends who are at the house for a gathering. He forces the younger preist to do his bidding and so begins the tale of Dracula's revenge. There is a bit of interpersonal drama between Maria (Carlson), her boyfriend Paul, Maria's Mother Anna and the Monsignor as well as a side story with the local  waitress Zena. We know full well that this is going to be a story where Dracula wants to get with the lovely Maria. He has the faithless younger preist as his servant and Dracula's will over other people is a central part of his powers in this film.

This is not really a good film mostly because you barely see the vampire. Instead the village meladrama rules the day. It really is only on the last thirty minutes where Dracula gets to Maria, feeding on her., but even then it's all about Maria. Not until the last fifteen minutes is there even a confrontation between the forces of good and those of evil. In the end it is up to the Aithiest boyfriend Paul who must fight off the vampire with Christain symbolism and the Preist who is still in Dracula's control. Paul is a strong young man though and we know how things end for Dracula but not before Paul must make a decision about his lack of faith or does he?  In end the final battle is as improbable as the release of the vampire.

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.You can also find me on the Here's Johnny Podcast and  Faculty of Horror Podcast discords. Look them up join my online friends for some good conversations.

The Brides of Dracula (1960)

 Issue 16 of Diabolique Magazine May/Jume 2013, which I will happily give it away, after this project is done.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 covering the third film for this article and it may be the last I cover on Cushing at least for this piece.

The Brides of Dracula starts with a voice over telling us that "Dracula is dead but his disciples live on to spread his cult and corruptthe world." We pick up with Marianne Danielle (Yvonne Monlaur) on a rough carraige ride through the land owned by the Baron Meinster, we watch as an agent for the Baron paids to leave the young soon to be french teacher stranded in the village below the Meinster Castle.  This setup we see does not sit well with the villagers because there is a mysterious conspiacy they know about that poor Marianne does not.

  Arriving after her abandonment is the Baroness Meinster wonderfully played by Martita Hunt to invite the young woman to the castle for the night. Hunt plays the part with a very sure hand of years of stage acting. She instill the Baroness with a veryassured controlled presence as she slowly reveals the story of her son. Marianne learns the story of the young Baron Meinster who his mother says is is mad and confined to certain rooms in the castle. This first act is long and without Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) who does not appear until the second act. Another standout performance is that of the caretaker Greta (Freda Jackson). Between her fine acting and that of Martita Hunt they carry the early load for Monlaur who only manages to deliver her lines in comparison. Through it we learn the secret of the Baron played by David Peel. When Marianne thinking it cruel to chain him in his rooms gets him his release the true nature of his madness is revealed.Thus the title of the film.

As young women mysteriously die the great Doctor Van Helsing arroves being invited by the local coroner. It is s short road to the action starting as the vampires begin to rise from graves. The Baron wanting to grow his vampire family also has eyes on Mariane and is intent to have were as his bride. For a film called The Brides of  Dracula this lacks any storyline about the brides more focued on the Vapire Baron and Van Helsings pursuit of him.The vampire lore as we know it from many Dracula films is at play here. The vampire can transform into a bat, he can hypnotise with his eyes, and must return to his coffin before sunrise, he is afraid of the Christian cross and is harmed by holy water. There is the ability to enter abodes without an invitation but we can chalk that up to he owns the hole area as the Baron so would not need an invite.

After Meister bites Van Helsing and we see the magic of holy water, Van Helsing cartorizes the wound with a hot iron and holy water keeping himself from turning into a vampire. The holy water proved a great weapon in the final battle but the final demise of the vampire was a strange one. The shadow of a cross holds him in place which I had never seen before. This is an interesting enough film with some fine acting its not a dracula but it might as well be. Aren't all vampire movies Dracula's?  

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.

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.

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.

BSFFF Day 6: Doctor Who!

Genesis Ring (2014) Well I really felt for film maker Deigh Kelin after his film finished playing. In attendance unannounced to the audience he got to hear an earful about the work he spent a year creating. Many people were not kind in their opinions of this meditative but thin tale of a bleak future where the characters in the film make a play for a brighter future. Stylish to a fault with long panning shots, minimalist dialog and the most slender of plots, where the viewer almost gets to watch the journey outside the city in real time. The feature could have really used the old film making adage "In late, out early" as every scene was too adoring of color, mood or movement. Mixed in was the idea of immortal beings and how they would view the world. Interesting that one monologue states that originality would be seen as nonexistent. Having seen endless cycles of ah hah moments the immortal would recognized that everything they are seeing has been done before. That it is mortality that allows us to think we are seeing an inspired piece of art. Sadly at only 51 yrs I can say I have seen this film before, a meditation on how to look at art and creativity by someone who has to learn first to tell a story. Hopefully Deigh will take this experience as an opportunity to reach for his next ah-hah moment.

The final two films were a real treat for us old timers and next to the film Blessid probably the best attended films of the festival so far. Made at the time of the first Doctor they are unique little films developed before the idea of regeneration became part of the story. Both of these films star the great Peter Cushing as the doctor, but more a clever earthling than a time lord of Gallifrey. On a personal note, being a fan since public television started air the Tom Baker Doctor in the late 70s it was a real treat to see both these films on the big screen. Neither is more than an entertaining novelty but both were enjoyable.

Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965)

Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966)

The Blood Beast Terror (1968) Horror Monster

The Blood Beast Terror (1968) - I love a good old fashion monster movie, and certainly this was old fashioned, made in 1968 and starring one of the all time horror greats Peter Cushing as Detective Inspector Quennell an intuitive police inspector who solves the mystery of multiple deaths where the victims blood has been drained. Okay now I used Peter Cushing and victims with blood drained in the first paragraph, but don't jump to that conclusion. There are no two pronged wounds on the necks of the dead people. Instead there are multiple wounds, lacerations that appear to be the marks of someone attacked by a beast. So you just let that silly notion based on years of Peter Cushing experience go. No this is is not the avenging hunter, in a way it is more like the thought provoking genius of Sherlock Holmes, without the genius part that is. In Holmes films there is a mystery to be solved and only the name detective can see the clues that lead to the killer. unfortunately for the viewers of this film the mystery and the clues are in front of us and all too easy to decipher.
The synopsis is that men are being killed and each time they have slashes on their faces and their blood has been drained. The Inspector Quennell looks into it and because several of the young men have been associated with Dr. Carl Mallinger (Robert Flemyng) a local scientist and teacher he questions the good doctor. The behavior of the doctor immediately puts the inspector and anyone viewing the film on edge. He is rude and short tempered with a definite desire to not answer questions. The obvious anti investigation attitude by the doctor makes it clear he is somehow involved so the mystery just becomes the how. Since he is an entomologist we can already in the first twenty minutes of the film guess at a culprit. It is this kind of poorly executed foreshadowing that really brings this movie down. There is no revelation when the whole story comes out and that is disappointing.
  Even more disappointing is what comes next where again when trying to foreshadow the script reveals that  Dr Mallinger's daughter Claire (Wanda Ventham) is somehow involved in the murders, especially given away by her leering eyes and the films musical choices. When the Doctor and his daughter leave town the stupid decision of Quennell to follow them is highlighted by the decision to bring his daughter with him while he pretends to be under cover. I suppose needing a damsel in distress could be a reason for her being there but considering that the inspector is supposed to be the smartest guy in the room it is such a poor decision. It's not like he could not have gone alone. Then the final irritation really has to do with a script that felt the need to have comic relief through minor characters that although might have been endearing in 1968 was awful in today's age. This form of writing which can be seen in every summer action blockbuster out this year, where characters in the middle of a serious and darker story are put through some sort of comedic scenes that are there to release tension. Think most of Simon Pegg's Scotty in the latest Star Trek films, where really the majority of the role is to be the comedic buffoon. In this one they had a couple minor characters who whole purpose was comic release.
  When the plot finishes in the most horribly forced way the viewer is left wanting more, more solid plot more solid writing etc. So in the end this film can't be recommended but listen I am being hard on it because it has absolutely no subtext. The science fiction plot is telegraphed and the writing is less than stellar. It is a harmless film over all but just not enough to hold interest.