Category Archives: Hammer films

Mud: “X the Unknown” (1956)

          “X the Unknown”  (1956)      For those interested in genre filmmaking, it is important to remember that in monster movies the world seems to be populated by citizens paralyzed with fright so intense it … Continue reading

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Domesticated On Arrival: “Devils of Darkness” (1965)

      “Devils of Darkness” (1965)     Lance Comfort’s “Devils of Darkness” is a strange amalgam of vampirism and Satanic cult worshipping, both staples of post-Hammer British horror films, though here combined in an awkward brew which appears … Continue reading

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Sometimes a Hero is Just a Sandwich: “Dick Barton, Special Agent” (1948)

“Dick Barton, Special Agent”  (1948)     This first of three film productions attempting to replicate the zing of the popular Light BBC radio serial is more a product of creative corporate accounting than a legitimate attempt at producing a … Continue reading

Posted in British films, comedy, crime, espionage, germ warfare, Hammer films, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Revisit: A Most Peculiar Love Story: “The Abominable Dr. Phibes” (1971)

  “The Abominable Dr. Phibes”  (1971)                       Robert Fuest   (September 27, 1927 – March 21, 2012) (Originally posted April 15, 2012)      With its roots in the serial murder giallo … Continue reading

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Amore in a Gothic Vein: “La strage dei vampiri” (1962)

             “La strage dei vampiri”   (1962)    Italy’s Golden Age of Horror may seem to have begun as an imitative movement  following the successful rejuvenation of the Gothic horror film by Hammer Films in 1957, … Continue reading

Posted in books, Film, Hammer films, horror films, Italian cinema, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Romance, vampires, women, writing | 4 Comments

She Who Obeys: “Frankenstein Created Woman” (1967)

     “Frankenstein Created Woman”  (1967)     Considering the usual limitations placed upon the status of women in the Gothic horror movies produced by Hammer Films-  generally subsumed to decorative but insubstantial roles calling for little more than subservient … Continue reading

Posted in British films, Drive-In Movies, fRANKENSTEIN, Hammer films, horror, movie reviews, movie sequels, Movies, Terence Fisher, women, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Going Native: “What the Butler Saw” (1950)

                  “What the Butler Saw”         (1950)      God bless English servitude, for without domestic help, with whom would the eccentrics of the privileged ranks commiserate? “What the Butler Saw”- not to … Continue reading

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Blind Date: “Four Sided Triangle” (1953)

                 “Four Sided Triangle”   (1953) Commonly, science fiction films unwisely minimize (or altogether eliminate) the human element in favor of exploiting the more fantastic elements of the story, the greatest commonality of creative … Continue reading

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No More Undocumented Aliens!: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, August 2016 Edition, Vol. 30, 000, 000

No More Undocumented Aliens!: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, August 2016 Edition, Vol. 30,000,000     If we have learned anything from this election season, it is that it has never been more imperative that the sanctity of national borders … Continue reading

Posted in books, fantasy, Film, Hammer films, horror films, humor, movie reviews, Movies, politics, Reviews, Romance, science fiction, women, writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Tourist Trapped: “Dracula Prince of Darkness” (1966)

      “Dracula Prince of Darkness”  (1966)    Religious piety receives a refreshing shot in the arm in Terence Fisher’s “Dracula, Prince of Darkness”-  the long delayed direct sequel to the 1958 “Horror of Dracula” (or “Dracula” for purists situated … Continue reading

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Eucharist With Holy Water Chaser: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2015 Edition, Vol. 3:10

Eucharist With Holy Water Chaser:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2015 Edition, Vol. 3:10       Being That December signifies several of the most important spiritual days of the calendar year: Christmas and Pearl Harbor Day (when the … Continue reading

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Chilled, Not Stirred: “The House Across the Lake” (1954)

      American “hack novelist” Mark Kendrick  (Alex Nicol) sits at a yacht club bar and relates what amounts to a confessional to an unseen stranger (though the intended effect is that he is breaking the fourth wall and speaking … Continue reading

Posted in crime, Film, film noir, Film Reviews, Hammer films, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, Reviews | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

OCTOBER 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, Vol. 13

BUMP IN THE NIGHT EDITION: OCTOBER 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, VOL. 13     As the days are getting shorter (or, at least, that’s the rumor, though with it getting dark earlier it’s too hard to see if this is … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, Film, Film Reviews, ghosts, Hammer films, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Puzzles, Reviews, science fiction, vampires | 2 Comments

Beach Blanket Bronto: “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” (1971)

     Once hitting pay dirt with the Raquel Welch vehicle “One Million Years B.C.”, Hammer Films would leave no cave unexplored in producing their next monosyllabic prehistoric epic, “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth”.       Forgoing the iconic presence of … Continue reading

Posted in 1970's movies, animation, Drive-In Movies, fantasy, Film Reviews, Hammer films, movie reviews, Movies, Raquel Welch, Reviews, Romance | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Chandler’s Trailers: “A Challenge for Robin Hood” (1967)

     Is there anything more enervating than a swashbuckler without the swash and a hero more reminiscent of a tax accountant than a legendary crusading archer? A case in point is Barrie Ingham’s  dull appearance (equipped with anachronistic 1960’s British … Continue reading

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Snakes on the Brain: “The Gorgon” (1964)

          With “The Gorgon”, Hammer Films demonstrate the dangers of the tiresome formulaic rut in which their entire line of Gothic inspired horror films was sinking into several years before the creative stasis would become evidently irreversible. … Continue reading

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MONTHLY PHOTO QUIZ VOL. 666

IS THAT A TARANTULA IN YOUR CORSET OR ARE YOU JUST SCARED TO SEE ME?: OCTOBER CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ     Greeting boys and ghouls, once again it is time for another exciting plunge into that pit of darkness, that … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, Edgar Allan Poe, Film, giallo, grindhouse, Hammer films, horror, humor, Italian cinema, Movies, Poe in the Cinema, Puzzles, vampires, vincent price | Tagged | 4 Comments

The Look of Love: “Stolen Face” (1952)

    Given the fixation the studios had in manipulating audiences, is it any wonder that the “Golden Age” age cinema is awash in overly produced symphonic assaults on the soundtrack, designed to emphasize to the audience the desired way in … Continue reading

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