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Horror.......Hammer Horror

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Offline Seamus

My problem with BRIDES OF DRACULA is that outisde of Peter Cushing, I find very few of the performances convincing, which is a shame, because like you mentioned, it does have a great atmosphere and some excellent scenes.

A lot of the performances are "of their time," but I thought they were fine myself.  The girl who plays the lead is a bit wooden, but I thought it gave her an air of goofy European innocence that worked for her character.  The Baroness was appropriately austere and aloof.  But David Peel is no Christopher Lee, that's for sure.


Dog Hambone

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 [pottytrain4]

Keep in mind that Hammer Films in those days was a low budget producer of horror films. TCM's Robert Osborne even pointed out that many sets were used more than once (sound familiar, Stooge fans?) and told viewers to look for set similarities in sets in 2 of last Fridays features, PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES and THE REPTILE; the same sets were used in several scenes. Also, more than one feature was often in production at the same time. Quantity over quality, I guess. 

Therefore, I wouldn't watch them expecting stellar acting or expensive looking special effects. But that's half the fun watching. They actually have a very nice look considering the limited budgets within which they worked. 


Offline metaldams

[pottytrain4]

Keep in mind that Hammer Films in those days was a low budget producer of horror films. TCM's Robert Osborne even pointed out that many sets were used more than once (sound familiar, Stooge fans?) and told viewers to look for set similarities in sets in 2 of last Fridays features, PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES and THE REPTILE; the same sets were used in several scenes. Also, more than one feature was often in production at the same time. Quantity over quality, I guess. 

Therefore, I wouldn't watch them expecting stellar acting or expensive looking special effects. But that's half the fun watching. They actually have a very nice look considering the limited budgets within which they worked. 

Hammer may have been low budget by say....GONE WITH THE WIND standards, but for a horror studios in the 60's, they were pretty top of the line.  They had distribution rights with just about every major Hollywood studio and have some films that I would consider genuinely good.

Yes, Hammer has camp elements, no doubt, and that can be fun, especially in the later films where they got r-rated on us, but nowhere near as camp as an Ed Wood film or something like THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS.  I believe Hammer, at their best, did have stellar actors and respectable production values, so for a 1960 Terrence Fisher directed film like BRIDES OF DRACULA, I actually have standards.  Some of the acting performances disappointed me, and not in a fun way.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline BeAStooge

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Not Hammer, but WB posted some interesting horror/scare/mystery titles for pre-order on The Warner Archive today; release date is Oct. 19.

WB Horror Mysteries - 6 Movies (3-DVD set)
SH! THE OCTOPUS (1937)
MYSTERY HOUSE (1938)
THE PATIENT IN ROOM 18 (1938)
THE SMILING GHOST (1941)
THE HIDDEN HAND (1942)
FIND THE BLACKMAILER (1943)

Lon Chaney (available singly, or in a 6-pack)
HE WHO GETS SLAPPED (1924)
THE UNHOLY THREE (1925)
THE MONSTER (1925)
MR. WU (1927)
MOCKERY (1927)
THE UNHOLY 3 (1930)


Offline metaldams

Not Hammer, but WB posted some interesting horror/scare/mystery titles for pre-order on The Warner Archive today; release date is Oct. 19.

WB Horror Mysteries - 6 Movies (3-DVD set)
SH! THE OCTOPUS (1937)
MYSTERY HOUSE (1938)
THE PATIENT IN ROOM 18 (1938)
THE SMILING GHOST (1941)
THE HIDDEN HAND (1942)
FIND THE BLACKMAILER (1943)

Lon Chaney (available singly, or in a 6-pack)
HE WHO GETS SLAPPED (1924)
THE UNHOLY THREE (1925)
THE MONSTER (1925)
MR. WU (1927)
MOCKERY (1927)
THE UNHOLY 3 (1930)

I gotta be honest, those HORROR MYSTERIES, I've only heard of a few of them by name, and not much else. 

Now, for the Chaney set.  HE WHO GETS SLAPPED, in case anyone is interested, is the first film MGM ever made.  It's also a very good film, and come to think of it, The Stooges could've done a great parody on it.  Chaney's character gets publically humiliated with a slap after somebody else publically claims his idea at a scientist's convention (if memory serves me right), and that really is what drives the plot.  Curly as the one who gets slapped would've had great comic potential.

I've been wanting to see THE MONSTER for years, so I'll have to look into this.
- Doug Sarnecky


Offline pipboytaylor

I also noticed on the Warner Archive that they have restored an old horror classic by William Castle, "Macabre" (1958). Anyone know anything about this film? Looks and sounds intriguing but I'm not sure I want to shell out the money for it. Comments?


Offline SlyVenom

I'm a new member, but I love Hammer Horror films.
I would have to say that Paranoic and Nightmare rank high on my list, but my favorites are Curse of the Werewolf, and The Satanic Rights of Dracula.