Thirty-One Days O’Horror: The Curse Of The Mummy’s Tomb (1964)

Not The Goosebumps Version….

No, I’m not talking about the beloved Goosebumps novel of the same name, I’m talking about 1964’s brilliantly Technicolored The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb. Of all of the Hammer Horror films that I’ve watched so far during Thirty-One Days O’Horror, this film feels the most like a Universal Monsters classic. It features a plodding mummy that is being manipulated to do its master’s bidding much like Kharis the Mummy was forced to do in all of the sequels to the classic The Mummy from 1932. With that in mind, you’ll probably pick up on the fact that I’m a bit sympathetic to the mummy in this film.

Like many of the other Hammer films released during the 1960’s, The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb features a wonderful cast, lovely cinematography, and a somewhat contrived plot with a less than stellar ending. I liked watching this film but it didn’t bring anything new to the table as far as Egyptian mummy horror films go.

In the film, a group of British and French archaeologists who specialize in Egyptology unearth the tomb of Ra-Antef, one of two of Ramesses VIII sons. The other son, Bey, was an ostracized member of the family who has Ra-Antef murdered. Bey plays a key role in the curse of the mummy and of an amulet that is also discovered and given to Annette Dubois, the daughter of the French archaelogist who loses his life at the beginning of the film.

Despite the protestations of Hashmi Bey, an Egyptian government official who wishes to see the mummy and the treasure from its tomb placed into a museum, and of the Egyptologists, American backer Alexander King decides to put all of the artifacts into a traveling roadshow in order to make money off of the discovery. On the way to London, two of the archaeologists, Sir Giles and Ronald Bray, are attacked by a mysterious man who is stopped by Adam Beauchamp, a wealthy “friend of the arts” who decides to aid the group once they arrive in London. In London, members of the excavation party begin to die one by one. It is soon discovered that the mummy of Ra-Antef is the culprit, but who is controlling the mummy? All of that is revealed in the film and I won’t spoil it for you. Watch The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb to find out what happens.

I’ve already mentioned how excellent the cast was in this film but I’d like to point out a few standout performances. First off is Fred Clark as the American promoter named Alexander King. Best known for his tough guy roles, Clark gives a humorous performance in Tomb. Jack Gwillim, who sharp-eyed viewers will recognize as Poseidon from The Clash of the Titans (1981) and multiple characters from other films, delivers a strong performance as the alcoholic Sir Giles. Ronald Howard turned in a great performance as John Bray, a brilliant Egyptologist who falls for Annette and can do nothing as she gives in to the charms of Adam Beauchamp. Speaking of Annette and Adam, Jeanne Roland and Terence Morgan do pretty good jobs in their respective roles.

This film definitely has its moments but it ultimately proves to be rather formulaic and highly predictable. I enjoyed it for what it was but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it is a must-see film. The cast, sets, and cinematography are amazing but only hardcore horror fans like myself will want to see it more than once.

Thanks for reading my post! See you tomorrow!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: The Two Faces Of Dr. Jekyll (1960)

“Believe me. Your husband is here.”

The tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a well known one. Written by Robert Louis Stevenson, it’s the story of a man who struggles with his own internal demons which are let out when the evil Mr. Hyde surfaces. With no worries about consequences, Hyde lives a life of debauchery. Ultimately Dr. Jekyll has to decide on whether or not to stop the savage side of his personality. Much of the same holds true for this story, 1960’s The Two Faces Of Dr. Jekyll, where we find Dr. Jekyll, a meek and gentle man, longing to be with his cheating wife, Kitty. When he drinks the formula that turns him into Mr. Hyde, all of his inhibitions are erased and he goes to extremes to quench his thirst for excess.

Hyde’s primary adversary is a man who lives much the same life that he does, only with more reservations. That man, Paul Allen, is Dr. Jekyll’s best friend and Kitty’s secret lover. Paul constantly borrows money from Jekyll to cover his many debts that he has accrued through binge drinking, buying prostitutes, and gambling. He becomes fast friends with Mr. Hyde, but the two men eventually square off for the affections of Kitty. Also in the picture is Maria, a seductive dancer and high end prostitute whom Hyde is attracted to and pursues. Without giving away too much, Hyde refuses to allow Jekyll to take full control and the result is murder, scandal, and debauchery.

It’s been so long since I’ve read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that I don’t really know how much of this film follows the book. If I’m remembering correctly, there are very few similarities between the two tales. The biggest difference is that Hyde is presented as a dashing, handsome young man instead of a violent and beastly character. The film tanked at the box office but I really enjoyed watching this film.

Jekyll/Hyde is portrayed by Paul Massie. While he plays Jekyll a tad heavy handed, he really seems to enjoy playing Hyde and, to be honest, who wouldn’t prefer to play that character? He smirks and charms his way through most of the situations that he gets into and resorts to brilliantly sadistic violence when things go south. He seemed to love telling a young Oliver Reed to “go to Hell and take that trollop with you.” Hyde was a brilliant character and Massie was great in the role. Another wonderful standout was Christopher Lee as Paul Allen. Lee chewed up the scenery and was delightfully unpleasant. As much of a scoundrel as he was, you wanted to cheer for the guy in the movie.

Massie and Lee’s performances overshadowed the rest of the cast, but Dawn Addams portrayal of Kitty Jekyll and Norma Maria as the seductive Maria should not be overlooked. Both of them were amazing in their roles, especially Addams. When Kitty saw herself dressed as a prostitute, something that Dr. Jekyll viewed her as to a point, her whole image changed. She went from being an unlikable and unloving adulterer to a woman who just realized all that she gave up for nothing. She became a character somewhat deserving of our sympathy.

While the critics and contemporary audiences might not have appreciated this film, I quite enjoyed it. It’s one of my favorite Hammer pictures to date. Take a look at it for yourself. The cast seemed to be enjoying themselves and it comes through in the film.

Thanks for checking out my latest post. See you again real soon!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: The House That Bled To Death (1980)

“She’ll forget all about it.”

I’m really enjoying the Hammer House of Horror anthology series. I’m picking episodes at random and have to admit that Episode 5: The House That Bled To Death proves that not only does this series play with viewers’ minds, it also doesn’t mind throwing a little shade at other popular horror films, books, and shows of its time.

In this particular episode, we are treated to the poisoning death of an elderly woman at the hands of her husband. Particular attention is given to a pair of curved bladed weapons hanging on the wall. We then flash forward to a young couple and their daughter being approved to move into the very home where the murder occurred. While moving into their new home, they meet one of their neighbors, Jean, who brings over some tea. They eventually meet Jean’s husband, George, who takes a peek at the young couple while they are enjoying some alone time in the bedroom. The couple notices strange events happening in their home, from the brutal death of the family cat, Timmy, to a pair of blades (the same ones from the beginning of the episode) popping up in random places. Eventually the young husband, William, believes that all of the weird occurrences are somehow tied to Jean and he kicks her out of his home. The young wife, Emma, starts to slowly come unhinged. Emma and William’s daughter, poor little Sophie, takes the brunt of most of the paranormal happenings.

The creepy tale comes to a climax at Sophie’s birthday party where the festivities are interrupted by a literal bloodbath thanks to a broken pipe. Blood sprays all of the children and adults way before the first Blade film pulled off a similar stunt. Eventually Emma is hospitalized, Sophie is traumatized, and William can’t seem to do anything about any of it.

After all of these bizarre and bloody events, the episode takes a hard left turn. It gives viewers a twist that was totally unexpected and, to be quite honest, took me a few seconds to catch up to what was actually happening. The episode ends just as brutally as it began, but with a spin that slaps contemporary films and books of that time in a particularly nasty way.

The episode featured a very strong cast. Nicholas Ball (William), Patricia Maynard (Jean), Brian Croucher (George), Emma Ridley (Sophie), and Milton Johns (A.J. Powers) are all exceptional in this episode. Rachel Davies nails her role as Emma. The gore is excessive beyond all measure for a television show but in the most glorious way. I also love how this particular episode takes direct shots at the controversy surrounding the events of The Amityville Horror film and book. Be sure to keep an eye on EVERYONE in this episode, as all will eventually be revealed at the end of the tale but you might be able to figure out beforehand now that I’ve let you know that all is not what it seems.

Thanks for checking out my post. This was a really good episode of a series that is definitely up my alley. It’s currently available to stream for free on Tubi, so if you’re interested in this type of series, give it a go.

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: The Satanic Rites Of Dracula (1973)

“Do not meddle or you will have to deal with me.”

1973’s The Satanic Rites of Dracula is considered by most film critics (and star Christopher Lee) to be the worst Hammer film featuring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as Van Helsing and Count Dracula. Despite this, I enjoyed the film very much. It is by no means a favorite of mine, but to paraphrase a classic saying, “The worst Lee/Cushing Dracula film is still better than the best day of work.”

The film works best when viewed as a mystery thriller in my opinion. There’s plenty of horror and suspense, but seeing Van Helsing and his cohorts attempt to figure out who or what is pulling strings in a blood cult is more interesting than the actual face off against Count Dracula.

The plot is a tad goofy. Count Dracula has drummed up a cult that pulls in major players in society that he plans to ultimately use to spread a new variant of the bubonic plague. Why? Because the good count has grown tired of eternal life and wishes to watch everyone on the planet die whilst he starves to death. Thrown in for no apparent reason (other than to flash a bit of skin) are a gaggle of undead ladies that live in the basement of the cult headquarters. Although they are all chained up they manage to get their hands on a few potential victims. One of those victims is Van Helsing’s granddaughter, Jessica (Joanna Lumley). Her encounter with the vampire women is actually pretty tense. Also along for the ride are the human bodyguards of the cult. These guys all wear fashionable brown vests lined with what looks like sheep wool. It’s makes it easy to determine who they work for and that when they do show up, something is about to go down. The actual showdown between Van Helsing and Dracula is pretty decent. I’m especially fond of the death of one of the two characters. I’m pretty sure that you know who dies, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

The film carries over many of the characters from the previous film, Dracula A.D., 1972. Cushing, Lee, and Michael Coles all reprise their roles. Joanna Lumley replaces Stephanie Beacham as Jessica Van Helsing. The story take place in contemporary 1974 and features a score that fits right into the 1970’s. The action really is enjoyable and the gore is sufficient. There’s a bit of full frontal nudity as well, but this film did receive an R rating unlike many other Hammer films. There’s an edited version floating around out there but I’ve only seen the R rated version.

Again, I liked this film well enough but there are definitely a ton of other vampire films out there that top this one. You wouldn’t be wasting too much time on a rainy afternoon if you decided to sit down and check this flick out.

Thanks for reading my post. I’ll be reviewing plenty of other Lee/Cushing team ups, so keep your eyes peeled for them!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

“Elementary, my dear Watson.”

Yep, it might be pretty cliche to quote the most quoted line that Sherlock Holmes ever uttered, but Hammer kept things pretty simple with their adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. That’s not a bad thing, mind you, as this film is very enjoyable.

The film opens with an explanation of the Baskerville curse and then jumps right into the story of Sir Henry Baskerville (Christopher Lee), who is the final living heir to the Baskerville fortune and, apparently, the last target of the family curse. Dr. Richard Mortimer (Francis de Wolff) calls on Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John Watson (Peter Cushing and Andre Morell) to investigate the death of Sir Charles Baskerville and, hopefully, prevent the untimely death of Sir Henry.

Not only do Holmes and Watson believe that the curse is pure hokum, so does Sir Henry. To calm the nerves of Dr. Mortimer, however, Holmes sends Watson to accompany Sir Henry ad Dr, Mortimer to Baskerville Hall. Once at Baskerville Hall, a litany of characters are introduced that may or may not keep viewers guessing as to which one is the actual culprit in this whodunit. Holmes and Watson break down all of the events in the film and eliminate potential villains left and right. I won’t spoil anything more about this film, but just know that it really is a fun ride and I definitely recommend it. Also, it should be noted that this film is more of a mystery than a horror film, but there’s enough blood and gore to appease any Hammer fan.

The cast is brilliant. Cushing and Morell were born to play Holmes and Watson and work together with pure perfection. In all honesty, had either one of these two gents not worked in their roles, the film would have most likely been a dud. Cushing is deliberate in his delivery and Morell always has an assuredness about him that’s amazing to watch on the screen. Lee is every bit a jerk at moments and an extremely likeable guy at others as Sir Henry. The rest of the cast, in particular Marla Landi as Cecile Stapleton and Miles Malleson as Bishop Frankland, do superb jobs. Landi is wonderful as the broken hearted Cecile and Malleson’s comedic turn as the bishop injects just enough humor into the film.

As of this writing, I believe that Terence Fisher outdid himself as the director on this project. Everything from pacing to character development and the cinematography (Jack Asher) fell right into place. I loved the lighting in this production. The music and audio were also amazing.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I loved this film. I definitely recommend it. Thanks for checking out my review. More Hammer Horror is on the way tomorrow!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)

104 years old

Based upon the play by Barre Lydon entitled The Man In Half Moon Street, 1959’s The Man Who Could Cheat Death tells the tale of a man who wishes to live forever…..but only if others die for him! The film stars Anton Diffring, Christopher Lee, Hazel Court, Delphi Lawrence, Arnold Marle, and Francis de Wolff. It’s different from your standard Hammer Horror production that features vampires, werewolves, and mummies. Instead, it features a brilliant doctor who, along with his colleague, discovers the source of eternal youth. In order to maintain his youth, however, the doctor must remove a gland from a suitable living human and transplant it into himself. This must be done every ten years or the aging process immediately occurs, ensuring death for the doctor.

In the film, Dr. Georges Bonnet (Diffring) is having a party for his latest creation, a sculpture of the young model named Margo (Lawrence). Despite being a brilliant doctor, Bonnet is also known to be an amazing artist. He quickly ends the party and rushes everybody out of his home whenever he realizes that he must drink an elixir to keep his body from aging. His friend, Dr. Ludwig Weiss (Marle), is three weeks late on arriving at Bonnet’s home and he is needed to perform the surgery that keeps Bonnet youthful. Unfortunately for poor Margo, she happens to walk in on Bonnet when he is about to drink the elixir. He attacks her and we don’t see her again……

When Weiss finally arrives, it is learned that he had a stroke and is unable to execute the surgery on Bonnet. Desperate, Bonnet convinces one of his past models, Janine (Court), to visit him and bring along her friend, Dr. Pierre Gerrard, who Weiss convinces to perform the surgery for him. After successfully acquiring the services of Gerrard, Bonnet is visited by Inspector LeGris (de Wolff), who is searching for Margo.

Gerrard becomes distrustful of Bonnet and Weiss. This leads him to become an ally of LeGris. Together, the two put the pieces of a bizarre puzzle together that link Bonnet to a series of missing persons cases that span a thirty year period and put him at a much older age than he appears to be at the moment. More revelations are made, more murders occur, and Bonnet becomes desperate to stay alive. Watch The Man Who Could Cheat Death to find out what happens!

I really enjoyed this mystery/thriller from Hammer. The cast was extremely good, especially Diffring, whose eyes revealed a desperate man willing to do anything to stay alive. Lee, Courst, de Wolff, and Marle were all solid in their roles. I especially enjoyed Lawrence as Margo. Although her role was small it proved to be significant.

The movie’s music was atmospheric and set the tone of the film with perfection, especially the opening sequence. The sound was also exceptional in this film. The special effects and makeup were surprisingly well done. I really have no complaints about this film at all. I definitely recommend it.

Thanks for checking out my brief review of this often forgotten Hammer classic. It’s not very scary, but it’s a great story. I’ll see you again tomorrow!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Children of the Full Moon (1980)

Hammer House of Horror

Originally broadcast on ITV, Hammer House of Horror was a 1980 anthology series that ran for thirteen episodes. I plan on reviewing a few episodes of this series during Thirty-One Days O’Horror and the first one that I want to take a look at is Episode 8: Children of the Full Moon.

In the episode, lawyer Tom Martin (Christopher Cazenove) and his wife, Sarah (Celia Gregory), find themselves stranded in the English countryside when their car breaks down. They manage to find an isolated home in the area where they are greeted by Mrs. Ardoy (Diana Dors). Mrs. Ardoy introduces the couple to her many children, all of whom act quite bizarre around Sarah. As the night goes along, Tom is attacked by and narrowly escapes from something in the woods and then Sarah is attacked by a werewolf in the bedroom she and Tom are staying in overnight. Tom falls from the side of the house while trying to get to Sarah and when he awakens, he’s in a hospital bed. Sarah tells him that he had a concussion due to a car accident and that he must have dreamed the events of the evening before. As the days pass, Sarah becomes more animalistic in the bedroom and begins to eat raw meat. Soon enough it is discovered that she is pregnant. She is drawn back to the Ardoy house when it is time to deliver her baby, and Tom scrambles to save her, his child, and his sanity. Check out the episode to find out what else happens!

The episode is extremely creepy and Diana Dors shines as the “den mother” for her pack of wolf children. There’s another werewolf, an alpha male, if you will, who roams the countryside as well, but even his furry features aren’t as creepy as Mrs. Ardoy. All of the cast do excellent jobs and the werewolf doesn’t look too shabby, either. To top it all off, we get to see a young girl eating a lamb right at the beginning of the episode. If that doesn’t give you the heebie-jeebies, I don’t know what will!

Be sure to check out this and other episodes of Hammer House of Horror. I plan on reviewing at least two more episodes of this series, so be on the lookout for them soon. Thanks for reading my post. I appreciate all of your support.

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Countess Dracula (1971)

A Lethal Bath

Based on the legend of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, 1971’s Countess Dracula might lack teeth but it definitely has a nasty bite. There are no vampires to be found in the film, but that doesn’t mean that this movie doesn’t deserve a look. It’s one of the better Hammer films that I’ve watched.

In the film, aging Countess Nadasdy, also known as Countess Bathory, discovers that when she is touched by the blood of a young woman, that part of her body becomes youthful. She decides to bathe in the blood of young women in order to retain her young looks and eventually tricks a lieutenant named Imre Toth into marrying her despite the protests of her secret lover, Captain Dobi. She assumes the identity of her daughter, Countess Ilona, whom she has captured and hidden away in the countryside. Eventually Dobi determines that the countess should be his and his alone and he sets out to destroy the engagement of Bathory and Toth. The body count rises, secrets are exposed, and Toth ultimately becomes trapped in a life-or-death battle with the countess and Dobi in order to save Ilona and all of the other young virgins in the area. Watch Countess Dracula in order to find out what happens!

I really enjoyed this film. Not only were the costumes and sets amazing, the acting was very solid as well. Of special note are the performances by Ingrid Pitt as Countess Bathory, Nigel Green as Dobi, Sandor Eles as Toth, and Patience Collier as the countess’ nurse, Julie. The rest of the cast did great jobs as well. Some of the best supporting characters were portrayed by Maurice Denham, Andria Lawrence, Nike Arrighi, and Peter Jeffrey.

As noted with other PG films such as Vampire Circus, Countess Dracula would most likely receive an R-rating these days. Hammer Films dialed up the sexual content and nudity in their early 70’s films in order to bring in a younger crowd and this film was no exception. Multiple women in the film appeared topless and Ingrid Pitt left little to the imagination when she is discovered bathing in blood during one particular scene. Again, like I mentioned in other reviews in this series, I’m no prude when it comes to nudity. I’m just giving my readers this information in case they plan on having a family horror night and Countess Dracula comes up as one of the picks for the evening.

At the risk of sounding like a dirty old man, I must admit that Ingrid Pitt, Andria Lawrence, and Nike Arrighi are easy on the eyes in this film. Lawrence in particular is simply breathtaking and Pitt looks amazing in her blue form-fitting gown.

The gore level is surprisingly low in this film. You’d think that a film featuring a character that literally bathes in blood would be rather flush with the red stuff, but there are only a couple of sequences where the bloodletting might be considered excessive. In all honesty, aside from the nudity this film would easily get a light PG-13 rating these days in my opinion.

I definitely recommend this film. It’s one of the best Hammer pictures that I’ve seen so far. The story is engaging, suspenseful, and has just enough blood to keep most horror fans fixated on the movie. Thanks for checking out this post. I’ll see you all again real soon!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Vampire Circus (1972)

“One lust feeds the other….”

Hoping to revive profits and interest in their films, Hammer hired new writers and directors, brought in a new stable of actors, and amped up the sexual content in their films during the 1970’s. One of the earliest films to show off this “new look” Hammer style was 1972’s Vampire Circus. If you’re only familiar with Hammer’s horror productions from the 1950’s and 60’s, Vampire Circus can be quite a jarring, albeit enjoyable, experience.

The film sets a new tone for Hammer right off the bat (no pun intended). The film opens with the abduction of a young girl by a woman who brings the child to Count Mitterhaus. The count kills the child and then has sex with the woman who has willingly been in an affair with him for some time. Angry about the affair but even more enraged about the kidnapping of the young girl and other children from the village, Professor Albert Muller rounds up other villagers and they storm the count’s castle. They succeed in impaling Count Mitterhaus with a wooden stake but before he dies he curses the village. He tells them that the blood of their children will bring him back. Muller’s adulterous wife, Anna, is then beaten and whipped by the men. She manages to escape in part due to the intervention of her husband, and she is given a mission by the count to find his cousin, Emil, to bring his curse to fruition.

Many years later a plague has fallen over the village. It’s so terrible that the citizens are blockaded in the village by neighboring communities in order to keep the plague out of their own villages and towns. Somehow a traveling circus manages to get through the blockade and they begin performing nightly for the villagers. The “Circus of the Night” is enjoyed by the citizens but there is an underlying sinister air about the circus and its workers. It is headed up by a mysterious gypsy woman and features a shapeshifting man, a silent strongman, a sadistic clown, an erotic dance duo, twin gymnasts, numerous animals, and a hall of mirrors. Little do the villagers know that the circus is actually a front for the count’s cousin, the charismatic vampire named Emil.

Hoping to find a way to cure the plague and inspired by the fact that the circus made it to their village through the blockade, the town’s doctor, Kersh, rushes the blockade with the help of his son, Anton, and manages to get through to the outside world. In the meantime, Muller’s daughter returns to the village to be with her father despite his protests and to reunite with Anton, her boyfriend.

The circus performs for the villagers each night and one by one they eliminate children and adults in the village. As the body count rises, the Count Mitterhaus grows in power. Things come to a head when the circus troupe makes its final moves to capture Dora in order to bring the count back to life. Dr. Kersh returns to the village with a cure and a new desire to battle vampires despite having denied their existence when he first left town. Will the village break the curse? Will the vampires prevail? Watch Vampire Circus in order to find out!

Hammer definitely gambled with this film. With a new cast, a new vampire, and amped up eroticism, many filmgoers didn’t know what to expect. Personally I felt that it was a pretty good movie with just a few flaws. The movie is definitely disjointed and this is apparently due to the fact that first-time director Robert Young took too long with production and couldn’t finish some parts of the film but that doesn’t mean that the film isn’t enjoyable. In fact, the disjointedness of the picture adds to the surrealism of it all.

Horror and science fiction fans will see quite a few familiar faces. The cast includes Adrienne Corri (A Clockwork Orange, Doctor Who), Laurence Payne (Doctor Who), Thorley Walters (numerous Hammer films), Lalla Ward (Doctor Who), Anthony Higgins (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Journey to the Unknown), Robin Sachs (Galaxy Quest, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), Mary Wimbush (The Odyssey, K-9 and Company), and Darth Vader himself, David Prowse. Other key members of the cast include Elizabeth Seal, John Moulder-Brown, Christina Paul, and Lynne Frederick. Also of note are Milovan and Serena, the erotic dancing duo.

Robin Sachs and Lalla Ward are perhaps my favorite actors in the film. They play the sinister vampire twins called Heinrich and Helga. Sachs looks as if he was born to play Lestat in Interview With The Vampire and Lalla Ward is both seductive and sinister. Not far behind them is Anthony Higgins as the very charismatic Emil. Corri is excellent as the gypsy woman as well.

I’m not a prude and have no issues with the nudity and violence in this film, but I do want to note that the PG rating for this movie is deceptive. It should have received an R rating even back in the 1970’s. Today it wouldn’t even get a PG-13 rating. Why? Because in the first few minutes of the film we have a young girl murdered by a vampire and then that same vampire strips a woman completely nude and has sex with her while the poor child isn’t even cold yet! Later on in the film we are treated to another completely nude woman, Serena the Tiger Lady, as she performs some pretty impressive dance moves with her partner, Milovan. A few minutes later, Emil rips the top off of Christina Paul’s Rosa and has his way with her. Top all of that off with an entire family getting ripped to shreds by a panther, a stake through the heart, a massive cross impaling a woman, a man’s back exploding after a gunshot, animals being shot to death, and plenty of other violence, and you’ve got yourself a pretty hard R rating. Again, I’m not against this type of stuff in films, but I wouldn’t want to watch this with any youngsters around.

Despite the disjointedness of the film, I really did enjoy it. I recommend it and hope that you do check it out. Just prepare yourself to witness a production company making massive changes to appeal to a newer, younger audience and you should be just fine. Thanks for checking out my post!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: The Gorgon (1964)

“Good heavens, Paul. What happened to you?”

Hammer Films surprised me with the unexpectedly well done The Gorgon. The atmospheric 1964 film was actually an original story submitted to Hammer Films by J. Llewellyn Devine, a fan of the production company. It was directed by Hammer stalwart Terence Fisher. It takes the story of Medusa and her Gorgon sisters, rewrites one of the sisters as Megaera (who was actually a Fury in mythology), and places her in the small village of Vandorf. Megaera haunts the soul of an unknowing villager, attracts her victims to Castle Borski, and kills them by turning them to stone.

The film centers around Professor Heitz and his two sons. Bruno Heitz is introduced to viewers at the beginning of the film. He is sketching his lover, Sacha Cass. Sacha tells Bruno that she is pregnant with his child and he runs off into the night in order to tell her father. Worried that her dad will kill him, Sacha gives chase but soon finds herself face to face with the evil Megaera (who we don’t see until later in the film). Sacha is turned to stone and her body and the lifeless body of Bruno, hanging from a tree, are found. In the village, Doctor Namaroff gives a convincing testimony that pins Sacha’s murder on Bruno. It’s determined that he killed her and then killed himself. Bruno’s father, Professor Heitz, believes that there is more to the story. He attempts to find out what really happened and finds himself turned to stone as well. Before his death, however, he contacts his son, Paul, and a trusted colleague named Professor Meister. Both of them arrive in Vandorf with plans to solve the murders of Bruno, his father, Sacha, and the other villagers that have died over the years. In their way is Doctor Namaroff, who is apparently hiding a lethal secret, and the lovely Carla, who captures the heart of Paul.

I really enjoyed this film. It featured a wonderful cast that included Peter Cushing (Namaroff), Christopher Lee (Meister), Richard Pasco (Paul), and Barbara Shelley (Carla). Prudence Hyman portrayed Megaera in the film and, despite less than impressive special effects, turned in a sinister performance. The music was quite well done also.

I definitely recommend this one. It’s one of the best Hammer films that I’ve watched so far. If you’re looking for a solid Halloween flick, give this one a shot. While perusing other reviews of the film I noticed that critics and fans were fairly split on how much they loved or hated this film. I’m definitely a fan of this movie and hope that you get to watch it as well.