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Post by Steve on Sept 13, 2009 17:16:17 GMT
I've been rediscovering the joys of British horror films from the late 50s to the mid 70s recently, holding my own personal Hammer retrospective in the plush, period surroundings of my bit of the house. All very enjoyable but, a change being as good as a rest and all that, last night I started watching 1975 Tyburn effort Legend of the Werewolf. I suppose this and The Ghoul, made by the same crew, were pretty much the last gasp for British gothic horror films, were they?
This set me to wondering about the level of Hammer involvement in these Tyburns. Quite a few familiar names; you could say that director Freddie Francis was just as closely associated with Amicus as he was with Hammer by this stage, Peter Cushing was omnipresent, Harry Robertson, who did the music, also provided the score for many a Hammer horror, but it's the presence of Anthony Hinds (writing under his John Elder moniker), who's synonymous with Hammer films, that really seems significant.
In the wake of The Exorcist, it seems Hammer had given up on any horror film that didn't have the words 'satanic' or 'devil' in the title (I think I'm right in saying that Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell and Captain Kronos had actually been made around 1972 and shelved for a couple of years?). Was it only Kevin Francis/Tyburn who was willing to take a risk on 'old-fashioned' horror by the mid-70s?
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Post by glodfinger on Sept 13, 2009 20:07:09 GMT
Was it only Kevin Francis/Tyburn who was willing to take a risk on 'old-fashioned' horror by the mid-70s? Pretty much. I've heard him being given a right slagging off in certain quarters, but at least he tried. GHOUL and LEGEND aren't great films, but they're thoroughly competent pieces of work. It's just a shame that the scriptwriter Tony Hinds couldn't have tried something a little more imaginative. The problem with the werewolf film is that you know exactly what is going to happen all of the way through. Tyburn did a lovely filmed interview (ONE WAY TICKET TO HOLLYWOOD) with Peter Cushing in 1989, but my favourite of their films has to be SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE MASKS OF DEATH. It's a smashing little pastiche, with a stellar cast. Cushing gives a fantastic final turn as the now elderly great detective, and the whole thing has a charming summery feeling to it. Where the hell's the DVD release? |
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Post by Johnlprobert on Sept 13, 2009 20:20:37 GMT
The John Elder scripts were left over from his time at Hammer by the way. Legend of the Werewolf had been on the cards as a follow up to Curse for years.
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Post by vaughan on Sept 13, 2009 22:11:09 GMT
Don't forget Tigon - they made some good ones. There is a decent boxset of movies out there from Anchor Bay (in the UK).
Horror films changed quite radically from the early 70's onwards: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left etc.
Hammer didn't move with the times and just became outdated. They moved in "mysteries" and such, more psychological in nature. The final Hammer film, of course, was To the Devil a Daughter, which was a disaster from start to finish.
I'm sure I have a book on Tyburn around here somewhere..........
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Post by killercrab on Sept 13, 2009 22:41:38 GMT
I think Hammer was never a contemporary product. They were a very successful style ( in and of themselves). Others copied their techniques but few hit the camp excess exactly *right*. Horror films suddenly took a more contemporary slant circa the 1970's ( holding up a mirror to the issues of the day - consummerism et al) . Hammer were never about that - in only few instances like NEVER TAKE SWEETS FROM A STRANGER did they actively tackle real legitimate concerns and *even* then the film does tip over to melodrama with the drooling pedophile chasing the child.
To backtrack Steve - yes FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL was Hammer's last gothic stab and coincidently was directed by their finest gothic director in my view - Terry Fisher. I think Tyburn were basically way late out of the gate and generally out of step with what audiences demanded trying to recapture the glory days of gothic horror from 20 years passed. Drafting in stalwarts like Hinds wouldn't of made an iota of difference. I happen to like their output - but then I'm fond of the Hammer style gothic and pretenders. Check out Tigon's THE CREEPING FLESH if you can .
KC
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Post by killercrab on Sept 13, 2009 22:46:07 GMT
I'm sure I have a book on Tyburn around here somewhere..........
Really ? Love to know what it's called. To my knowledge no books have been written solely about the company. Anyone seen Tyburn's PERSECUTION aka THE TERROR OF SHEBA ( a cat if you're wondering) with Ralph Bates. I rather enjoyed it.
KC
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Post by Steve on Sept 14, 2009 18:47:37 GMT
The John Elder scripts were left over from his time at Hammer by the way. Legend of the Werewolf had been on the cards as a follow up to Curse for years. This was one of the things I was wondering about, John – thanks for that. Do I take it that the script for The Ghoul had been knocking around for a while too? Don't forget Tigon - they made some good ones. There is a decent boxset of movies out there from Anchor Bay Check out Tigon's THE CREEPING FLESH if you can . Tigon do still seem to get unjustly overlooked to a large extent, although the Anchor Bay box set and the Tony Tenser book were very welcome. I’m probably as guilty of under-rating their output as anyone, as my first thought whenever I hear Tigon mentioned is Witchfinder General and Blood on Satan’s Claw – both cracking films but the company were involved in loads of other worthwhile films besides, The Creeping Flesh being just one of them (though I’m never quite sure which ones they actually produced and which ones they only distributed). The box set was a bit of a mixed bag and, while I was very happy to get to see Virgin Witch and Haunted House Of Horror (and even The Body Stealers come to that), I’m not sure that, compared to say the Amicus box, Tigon didn’t come out of it looking a bit ‘second-string’. Granted they were basically an exploitation outfit but they had a hand in some pretty good stuff along the way – the best of it easily being on a par with anything produced by Amicus or Hammer (and I’ve always had a real soft spot for The Blood Beast Terror! In fact, stuff like that and The Beast in the Cellar were just as much part of my formative horror experiences as any other film of that era you care to mention). Is The Creeping Flesh available on R2 DVD, KC? Haven’t seen it for years. Hammer didn't move with the times and just became outdated. I think Hammer was never a contemporary product. They were a very successful style ( in and of themselves). Hammer did try to move with the times though, didn’t they ( Dracula A.D. 1972, Satanic Rites)? They just weren’t particularly good at it. Maybe, as Ade suggests, they were so succesful in creating their own style that, at the time, they just couldn’t break out of it in spite of themselves. Interestingly though, Hammer House of Horror a few years later showed that they could actually do contemporary horror perfectly well. I think Tyburn were basically way late out of the gate and generally out of step with what audiences demanded trying to recapture the glory days of gothic horror from 20 years passed. True, but it’s interesting that interest in vampires, werewolves and mummies never seems to have really gone away. Indeed the market for monsters and anything a bit Gothic is probably as big now as it’s ever been. A few independent British producers may have survived the 70s knocking out low-budget (and often inspired) shockers but nothing approaching the kind of commercial success Hammer had enjoyed earlier. I wonder how much the Brit Gothic’s decline was due to a general decline in the British film industry as a whole? |
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Post by killercrab on Sept 14, 2009 19:50:18 GMT
(and I’ve always had a real soft spot for The Blood Beast Terror! In fact, stuff like that and The Beast in the Cellar were just as much part of my formative horror experiences as any other film of that era you care to mention).Is The Creeping Flesh available on R2 DVD, KC? Haven’t seen it for years.
A man after my own taste.The Blood Beast Terror stars Peter Flemyng ( The Terrible Dr Hitchcock himself which is a must for any euro gothic fan). The Creeping Flesh was available on R2 dvd from DDVideo ( but it's out of print now). You might find it on Amazon. DDVideo also released on R2 - The Curse of the Crimson Altar , The Blood Beast Terror ( American print) , Island of Terror ( missing the extra footage of Cushing's hand being chopped that was added to the U.S. print) and Night of the Big Heat.
Fuckin' marvellous films all.
kc
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Post by vaughan on Sept 14, 2009 22:57:32 GMT
The Haunted House of Horror is a personal favorite of mine - with excellent echoes of a good giallo. The final scenes are genuinely scary.
Beast in the Cellar is great too, with Beryl Reid stealing the show for me.
As for Blood Beast Terror - it's difficult to find fans of this one - yet here are three of us all in a row! I think it's a wonderful film with an admittedly strange premise. Saw it as a kid and the blood seeping out from the cupboard is engraved on my mind.
Nice to see fans of these! I have most of those DD Video releases around here somewhere - the only one I didn't get, funnily enough, was Blood Beast Terror because I already had the R1 version.
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Post by glodfinger on Sept 14, 2009 23:18:28 GMT
Looking at British movie making in the 70s, you have remember that not only were Hammer not making horror films, but that British studios were hardly making anything at all. The story of Hammer's downfall really reflects the downfall of commercial film making in this country at the time.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Sept 16, 2009 11:12:39 GMT
I went to see Dorian Gray at the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surprised that it received so much publicity and fear it may be a flop. I can't think of who would want to go and see it apart from old horror film fans, young girls who find Prince Caspian attractive and middle-aged matrons who adore Colin Firth (who does get some great lines). Admittedly the screening was at 10.25 am on Sunday but there were all of two of us in the cinema. I hadn't seen a period Gothic on first release at the sinny since Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or even been to the cinema since (ahem) St Trinians.
If Demonik and Mark Samuels are out there, Dorian Gray does feature the usual portrait of the East End and (apparently) Highgate Cemetery.
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Post by lukemorningstar on Feb 17, 2010 16:35:28 GMT
Can I join the 'Blood Beast Terror' appreciation society with immediate effect? Last seen on a very late night showing on TV when on holiday in Falmouth with the family (aged 14) in the Summer of '79. I remember that holiday for reading Stoker's 'Dracula' for the first time, finding the 'Masterpiece Of Thrills' anthology for pennies on a market stall, and loads of great TV Horror crammed into 2 weeks, all watched with my Dad and younger Bro in a spooky old holiday house by the sea.
Blood Beast Terror, Hammer's 'The Mummy' and my first watching of 'Psycho' to name but a few.................
'Blood Beast' stuck in my mind for the 'mid smooch metamorphosis into moth' scene which scared the crap out of my brother for weeks...........
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