|
Post by Nalkarj on Dec 9, 2020 3:10:59 GMT
Welp, the second half isn’t as good. The story turns into a showpiece for Paul Massie, and again he doesn’t really convince in either part. The story would had been more effective, too, with a larger budget; most of it is on only about three sets, and it ends up feeling like a sitcom! It’s not bad—again, the pace is fast—but it’s not especially good either. Oh well.
|
|
|
Post by alpha128 on Dec 9, 2020 3:51:07 GMT
Quatermass and the Pit is another one I like (though it is more sci-fi horror). That's my favorite Hammer film by far. After waiting for years, I discovered that it was finally re-released on Region 1 DVD in July 2020. Not only did I buy the DVD, I started a quote thread for the movie.
|
|
|
Post by Nalkarj on Dec 18, 2020 4:41:16 GMT
Gah, I guess I’m just in a Hammer mood this month, but I’m rewatching Horror of Dracula now for the first time in a few years…and kinda-maybe rekindling my childhood liking for it. (I loved it as a kid but found it weirdly boring as an adult.) I still prefer Universal-Lugosi creepiness to Hammer-Lee shock, but for the most part the picture is actually working for me this time.
Still gotta say it’s a pretty bad script: the dialogue isn’t memorable, multiple plot points make no sense (an experienced vampire hunter doesn’t recognize a vampire, and then when given the chance to kill Dracula decides to kill Drac’s girlfriend first!). It’s redeemed by direction (by Terence Fisher, all wide shots until it comes time for bloodstained closeups) and acting (Cushing, as ever).
|
|
|
Post by fangirl1975 on Dec 29, 2020 1:55:33 GMT
I'm a major fan of Hammer Horror. My favorites include; Curse Of Frankenstein, Horror Of Dracula, and The Devil's Bride.
|
|
|
Post by Prime etc. on Dec 31, 2020 16:31:56 GMT
For some reason I rewatched the first half of Hammer’s The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960, dir. Terence Fisher) last night; I’m intending to finish it tonight. I liked it much more than I did the last time I saw it: the filmmaking isn’t half as good as the 1931 Rouben Mamoulian/Fredric March version, but it’s a heckuva lot better than the dull 1941 Spencer Tracy version. I’ve seen some critics complain that Christopher Lee should have played Jekyll and Hyde, but he’s great here as Jekyll’s Dorian-Grayish friend. Unfortunately, Paul Massie, who does play Jekyll/Hyde, doesn’t convince in either role. The concept is great—Jekyll is boring, middle-aged, and shy, while Hyde is charismatic, handsome, and worldly—but Massie’s not terribly interesting in either characterization. Jekyll is so boring that I had no real interest in watching him, and Hyde is too obviously evil from the get-go. Yet the pace is good, which is not always a given for a Hammer horror, and Hammer star director Terence Fisher makes the most of just a few sets. Will chime in with my thoughts on the rest when I finish it. The thing about this one is that everyone around Jekyll has the double life. His wife, his best friend--they are the ones acting like Hyde--and his Hyde is kind of ammoral but not really savage-more like an avenging angel. The scene where he talks to himself is laughable though. Apparently the original ending was to have him transform back to Jekyll after he is hanged but I think the budget or censor prevented this.
|
|
|
Post by Nalkarj on Jan 6, 2021 21:47:58 GMT
Kinda going off our discussion in the Dracula thread, Prime etc.… I was checking out Dracula Has Risen from the Grave for the first time since I was a kid, and I was kinda shocked how bad it was—just flatly directed and bland. That’s the sort of thing that gives me more respect for Terence Fisher. Weird thing is, the script’s not bad; it gives Lee stuff to do throughout, and the dialogue’s written decently. And it was written by, guess who, Tony Hinds. The problem is Freddie Francis’ direction. At least Veronica Carlson’s blonde beauty was there to keep me watching. I know you’re not a big fan of the psychological thrillers, but Scream of Fear is my favorite Hammer and Holt my favorite Hammer director. I’ve never been a big Jimmy Sangster fan, but I think his two scripts for Holt ( Scream and The Nanny) are pretty great. And Holt’s visual style was striking—to the extent that I want to check out everything he directed, including his Danger Man episodes. Too bad that Holt never directed a Hinds script.
|
|
|
Post by Prime etc. on Jan 6, 2021 22:33:51 GMT
I love Risen From the Grave. It's kind of oddball but the performances make it work for me. You'd never seen a film today with such a scenario played straight-the barmaid being bitten and having to serve customers while fretting about appeasing Dracula in the cellar. Or the atheist religious thing. "You're a priest! You pray! You pray!"
The psychological films are ok-I like Paranoiac.
|
|
|
Post by Nalkarj on Jan 8, 2021 23:22:02 GMT
My main thing with Risen from the Grave is that (I think) it looks so flat and cheap. The script really isn’t bad, though.
Still have yet to see Paranoiac; I thought Scream of Fear and The Nanny were great, but mostly that was because of Seth Holt.
Probably time to do this again, so I’ll throw it out to the board: What would your Top 5 (or 10, or whatever) Hammers horrors, Gothic or non-Gothic, be? (Obvious caveat is that I still haven’t seen a bunch, including The Gorgon, The Abominable Snowman, Phantom, Quatermass…)
1. Scream/Taste of Fear (1961, dir. Seth Holt) 2. The Brides of Dracula (1960, dir. Terence Fisher) 3. Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969, dir. Terence Fisher—but I haven’t seen this one in years) 4. The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958, dir. Terence Fisher) 5. The Kiss of the Vampire (1963, dir. Don Sharp)
Not too many changes for mine, except obviously for dropping Scars of Dracula (it gives Lee stuff to do, amazingly, but looks cheap and ugly). I really have to get on watching the ones written by Anthony Hinds (preferably those directed by Terence Fisher), as I think his were my favorite Hammer-horror scripts.
|
|
|
Post by Prime etc. on Jan 9, 2021 1:32:16 GMT
In terms of favorites
The Abominable Snowman (cerebral Hammer) The Phantom of the Opera (thematically fascinating) Rasputin the Mad Monk (performance-driven) Frankenstein Created Woman (quintessential Hammer adult fairy tale) Dracula Has Risen From the Grave The Lost Continent (everything and a kitchen sink movie) Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (most brilliant variation on the story)
I know I got more than 5...I can't narrow it down.
I would rate Kiss of the Vampire, Quatermass and the Pit, The Devil Rides Out, Hands of the Ripper in the next group.
I rate Curse of Frankenstein and the Mummy higher than Horror of Dracula.
|
|
|
Post by Nalkarj on Jan 9, 2021 17:05:38 GMT
I was checking out Dracula Has Risen from the Grave for the first time since I was a kid, and I was kinda shocked how bad it was—just flatly directed and bland. Hah, so much for this: Looking over this thread, I see I actually watched this just two years ago! Well, goes to show how unmemorable I find it, I guess. By the way, Dracula, Prince of Darkness might make my Top 10. Lee doesn’t get a line of dialogue, but it’s the first one I ever saw (late at night on TV), and I recall good Gothic atmospherics and a solid pace.
|
|
|
Post by Nalkarj on Jan 14, 2021 20:08:26 GMT
|
|
|
Post by taylorfirst1 on Jan 14, 2021 21:36:11 GMT
That's tough. I enjoy most of the classic Hammer Horror movies but I'm not a giant fan of them. I haven't thought enough about it to rank them.
|
|
|
Post by politicidal on Jan 14, 2021 22:02:50 GMT
I suspect mine would remain the same.
|
|
|
Post by Raimo47 on Jan 14, 2021 23:20:08 GMT
1. Horror of Dracula
2. Dracula: Prince of Darkness
3. Taste the Blood of Dracula
4. Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
5. Scars of Dracula
6. Dracula A.D. 1972
7. The Mummy 8. The Satanic Rites of Dracula
9. The Brides of Dracula
10. The Devil Rides Out
Top 5 has remained the same.
|
|
mgmarshall
Junior Member
@mgmarshall
Posts: 2,052
Likes: 3,300
|
Post by mgmarshall on Jan 25, 2021 14:47:35 GMT
1. Horror of Dracula 2. The Curse of the Werewolf 3. Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde 4. The Curse of Frankenstein 5. The Kiss of the Vampire 6. The Phantom of the Opera 7. Dracula: Prince of Darkness 8. Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed 9. Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter 10. Taste the Blood of Dracula
|
|