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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Jul 20, 2017 18:09:49 GMT
Michael Armstrong, screenwriter of, among others The Haunted House of Horror, Mark of the Devil, Screamtime, Eskimo Nell, and Adventures of a Private Eye, has begun releasing his original, uncut screenplays in paperback, through Paper Dragon Productions. The script for House of the Long Shadows, the 1980s film that united Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, John Carradine and Sheila Keith (deputising for an unwell Elsa Lanchester), is available in the first batch (alongside his dramatisation of a true-life horror, The Black Panther and his first short, the David Bowie starring The Image). While I'm not fond of the cover image, and assume there were rights issues over any of the film's posters or publicity shots, it's a very nice edition, with a foreword by Reece Shearsmith, some introductory pieces by Armstrong about the genesis of the film and his approach to screenwriting, and his full screenplay - featuring some unseen scenes and lines of dialogue that you can't help 'hearing' in the voices of Lee, Cushing, Price, Carradine and Keith, and some nice additional moments that would have added a few more chills on the screen. www.amazon.co.uk/House-Long-Shadows-Michael-Armstrong/dp/0995502110/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1500508853&sr=8-12&keywords=house+of+the+long+shadows |
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Post by pulphack on Jul 21, 2017 5:02:16 GMT
This looks rather good. I feel Armstrong is one of the great 'nearly-men' of Brit cinema, having skirted success and managed to avoid it to any great extent, yet still producing a body of work that's well worth a look. '...Private Eye' is by far the best of the 'Adventures' movies (though that may not be saying much), and 'The Black Panther' still has the ability to chill because of the way it approaches its subject (and Donald Sumpter being brilliant - another 'nearly-man' who gets overlooked, imho). I particularly love 'Eskimo Nell', not because it's a sex comedy, but because in being about making a sex comedy, it manages to be Armstrong's revenge on all the bastards who screwed his career. It's actually a look at low-budget movie making that is possibly more accurate than we may think...
I know he hates what happened to 'Haunted House Of Horror', but I love it because of that - his parts are excellent, and the inserted sub-plot scenes are a perfect paradigm for making low-budget production in that era. His version would probably have been a better film, but perhaps not as instructive in its meta-text (oh for gods sake take that text book off me...).
I look forward to more of these appearing, particularly 'Haunted House...' in its original form.
Incidentally, I haven't watched it for years and so must check, but in the commentary for 'Haunted House...' in the Tigon box set, does MA really refer to Gerry Levy as 'that pigfucker Gerry Levy', or did I imagine it??
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Post by cromagnonman on Jul 21, 2017 13:49:24 GMT
This looks rather good. I feel Armstrong is one of the great 'nearly-men' of Brit cinema, having skirted success and managed to avoid it to any great extent, yet still producing a body of work that's well worth a look. '...Private Eye' is by far the best of the 'Adventures' movies (though that may not be saying much), and 'The Black Panther' still has the ability to chill because of the way it approaches its subject (and Donald Sumpter being brilliant - another 'nearly-man' who gets overlooked, imho). I particularly love 'Eskimo Nell', not because it's a sex comedy, but because in being about making a sex comedy, it manages to be Armstrong's revenge on all the bastards who screwed his career. It's actually a look at low-budget movie making that is possibly more accurate than we may think... I know he hates what happened to 'Haunted House Of Horror', but I love it because of that - his parts are excellent, and the inserted sub-plot scenes are a perfect paradigm for making low-budget production in that era. His version would probably have been a better film, but perhaps not as instructive in its meta-text (oh for gods sake take that text book off me...). I look forward to more of these appearing, particularly 'Haunted House...' in its original form. Incidentally, I haven't watched it for years and so must check, but in the commentary for 'Haunted House...' in the Tigon box set, does MA really refer to Gerry Levy as 'that pigfucker Gerry Levy', or did I imagine it?? Hm; I'm no aficionado of this stuff but isn't that the one with a naked Jon Pertwee gurneying for all that he's worth when a fan falls in his lap? Ah, 1970s British cinema: Scorsese and Spielberg would have given their eye teeth to work with material of that calibre. |
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Post by andydecker on Jul 21, 2017 16:25:34 GMT
I really hate this movie. I know most people consider this as a celebration of yesterday's gentler horror-icons, but I think Price and the rest are presented here as has-beens from an old fairground whose exploits are as laughable as a typical Scooby Doo episode. They all are thrown under the bus for cheap laughs, the movie is as ridiculous as Gene Wilder's Haunted Honeymoon. At least Wilder had respect for those old radio shows. Walker goes for the arrogance of his "heroes" and the insultingly lame "it was all a hoax, no, it was a dreamno, it is tomorrows new horror bestseller" ending.
Price, Cushing and Carradine deserved better. Even Karloff got a better send-off with "Targets". |
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Jul 21, 2017 17:56:17 GMT
I really hate this movie. I know most people consider this as a celebration of yesterday's gentler horror-icons, but I think Price and the rest are presented here as has-beens from an old fairground whose exploits are as laughable as a typical Scooby Doo episode. They all are thrown under the bus for cheap laughs, the movie is as ridiculous as Gene Wilder's Haunted Honeymoon. At least Wilder had respect for those old radio shows. Walker goes for the arrogance of his "heroes" and the insultingly lame "it was all a hoax, no, it was a dreamno, it is tomorrows new horror bestseller" ending.
Price, Cushing and Carradine deserved better. Even Karloff got a better send-off with "Targets". A valid viewpoint, of course, and not one I'm going to argue with, though I've genuinely never picked up on any feeling that the film is attempting to take the mickey out of its stars, and they certainly seemed to enjoy the tongue-in-cheek aspects - Peter Cushing choosing to play his role with a lisp and enjoying playing a drunk scene, Vincent Price relishing his soliloquies. I was always more insulted on their behalf by those films like The Oblong Box or Scream and Scream Again where one or other of them would be booked for a day or two to shoot a scene here or there just so their names could be added to the poster and front credits without them getting any meaningful screen time together. |
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Post by andydecker on Jul 22, 2017 11:13:59 GMT
I really hate this movie. I know most people consider this as a celebration of yesterday's gentler horror-icons, but I think Price and the rest are presented here as has-beens from an old fairground whose exploits are as laughable as a typical Scooby Doo episode. They all are thrown under the bus for cheap laughs, the movie is as ridiculous as Gene Wilder's Haunted Honeymoon. At least Wilder had respect for those old radio shows. Walker goes for the arrogance of his "heroes" and the insultingly lame "it was all a hoax, no, it was a dreamno, it is tomorrows new horror bestseller" ending.
Price, Cushing and Carradine deserved better. Even Karloff got a better send-off with "Targets". I was always more insulted on their behalf by those films like The Oblong Box or Scream and Scream Again where one or other of them would be booked for a day or two to shoot a scene here or there just so their names could be added to the poster and front credits without them getting any meaningful screen time together. I see what you mean. Those walk-on parts most of the time don't make any difference. At least they got paid more - I hope - for these small roles then others.I saw The Oblong Box a long time ago. I seem to remember that I thought it pretty dull back then and Price wasted; frankly I had forgotten that Lee was also involved. |
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Post by pulphack on Jul 26, 2017 5:09:24 GMT
Indeed, CM, Jon Pertwee does mug for all he's worth in Adventures Of A Private Eye. I have, in the past, owned up to reading the tie-in novel, which is actually a nicely penned spoof of the genre in style, and a lot funnier than the film (which is, admittedly, not too hard).
Strange days for the British film industry, the '70's - but then again, when is it not? - and I remember Jill Gascgoine remarking in some documentary that everyone wanted to be in e sexploitation movie for the simple reason that it was a FILM, not TV, and that was the only way to get one on your CV. Now I wish I could remember which film she was in where she was married to Bob Todd, who liked to spank her... (Oh God, I hope there was one, and I didn't just dream that)
As far as House Of Long Shadows itself, I can hinestly say that although I know I saw it years ago, I cannot remember a single thing about it, which is not a good sign. However, I note that these are the original scripts MA is publishing, not shooting scripts (unless I read that wrong), and so it would be interesting to note how much of the perceived denigration of the leads was down to MA, and how much down to Walker, who bizarrely seems to have had an odd love/hate relationship with movie making.
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Post by pulphack on Jul 26, 2017 5:11:11 GMT
Apologies for worse typing that usual, but I've mislaid my glasses, and even with increased font size on screen, I'm having some issues... I blame fervid thoughts of Bob & Jill for my eyesight...
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Post by cromagnonman on Jul 26, 2017 16:21:51 GMT
Indeed, CM, Jon Pertwee does mug for all he's worth in Adventures Of A Private Eye. I have, in the past, owned up to reading the tie-in novel, which is actually a nicely penned spoof of the genre in style, and a lot funnier than the film (which is, admittedly, not too hard). Strange days for the British film industry, the '70's - but then again, when is it not? - and I remember Jill Gascgoine remarking in some documentary that everyone wanted to be in e sexploitation movie for the simple reason that it was a FILM, not TV, and that was the only way to get one on your CV. Now I wish I could remember which film she was in where she was married to Bob Todd, who liked to spank her... (Oh God, I hope there was one, and I didn't just dream that) As I said I'm no aficianado of this stuff. But I can well imagine anyone who was making the observation that although both Gascoigne and Todd were in Confessions of a Pop Performer, Todd reserved his infliction of over the knee chastisements for Olivia Syson and Ava Cadell (amongst others?) in The Ups and Downs of a Handyman. Not being in the film Gascoigne was therefore spared Todd's gentle touch. That's what I'd imagine would be said anyway. But then I'm no aficianado of this stuff. Thankfully. |
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Post by pulphack on Jul 26, 2017 18:21:00 GMT
Heavens, I'm glad it wasn't a fevered dream (a fervid dream? Hmm...) after all. Only being a casual, 'goodness, is that on, then?' type of viewer, I can see how I got it mixed up, and how someone who was an afficianado - perhaps a friend of yours, CM, perhaps not - would want to put me straight.
Incidentally, I did accidentally buy - I mean, see, of course, on someone ele's VCR, naturally - a version of Ups And Downs Of A Handyman which was so badly cut for the censor that it had no sex at all (but some bubbles in a bubblebath which rapdily disappeared in a jump cut) and ran for about 45 minutes. It was quite sweet like that..
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gilmore
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 27 
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Post by gilmore on Nov 12, 2018 9:49:06 GMT
According to Steve Chibnall's excellent book on Pete Walker, the original cut of Long Shadows was far more comedic in tone and worked better as a result. That being said, I'm not sure that producer interference can really be blamed on the failure of the film. Given the fate that had recently befallen Hammer Films, I don't think a Gothic revival was ever on the cards. It's a pity Walker was forced to 'go mainstream' by the collapse of the film industry in Britain at the time, and by the loss of the Eady levy in particular. He was surely in a perfect position to capitalise on the success of the slasher genre at the time by giving us the definitive homegrown example.
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