Horror > Cushing, Peter Horror

The Hammer Collection Box Set

Advantages: An aesthetically pleasing collection
Disadvantages: Some rather poor inclusions

...of classic Hammer films from the very good to...not so good. An aesthetically pleasing set for fans of the studio, or those wanting at least half of the titles. Features star favourites Peter Cushing, Raquel Welch, Ursula Andress and Christopher Lee (about whom there is an interesting documentary with 'Scars of Dracula'). The extra features vary greatly, the biggest ommission, in my opinion, is the total absence of subtitles for the hearing impaired. ...
...some for the first time, and completely uncut. My personal favourite was the inclusion of the 1965 film 'The Nanny' which stars a very chilling Bette Davis in a well scripted, and often overlooked role. Probably a tad overpriced for most, but new DVD versions of individual films are also available, so take a look at some of those if you don't want to commit yourself to a full collection. ...

spacavoy 16.07.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Hammer Collection (Box Set) (DVD)

An eerie, creepy collection of horror's!

Advantages: Great eerie, creepy films, Good actors, Eerie music
Disadvantages: No special effects, Simple storlines

...***THE BOX SET*** The Hammer House of Box Set is available from Amazon and HMV for about £11.99 which includes all 13 episodes on 4 discs. Also included on the discs are a Stills gallery and Key cast biographies. This is suitable for persons of 15 years and over, although I’m sure I remember watching this when I was younger than that. Volume one includes 2 discs which have the following stories on: • The House That Bled To Death – An old house ...
...the scene of a macabre murder, until new occupants move in with their young daughter. This house is a house of horror with the shadow of the past bringing new terrors to the couple and their young child and with an unexpected twist at the end brings even more horror. • The Silent Scream – Pete Cushing plays a mad scientist who needs victims to experiment with. He owns a local vet shop and he plans to create a prison that contains no bars. When a ...

kiss_me2070 04.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Hammer House Of Horror - Complete (DVD)

One of us the Monster? But we're British you know!

Advantages: This is one of the best films that Cushing and Lee made together. A classic.
Disadvantages: Some of the dubbed voices are a bit distracting.

...Ridley Scott's Alien there was Horror Express. The claustrophobic confines of a train in place of the Nostromo as the hunting ground for a killer of extra-terrestrial origin. This Fantastically eerie gothic horror, with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee at their British best, is only let down by some of the dubbed voices. This is a minor quibble (it was an anglo-spanish production after all!) THE FILM Provincia de Szecuan, China, 1906. Professor ...
...are to encounter on the Horror Express. THE PRODUCTION An anglo-spanish production filmed in sumptuous Eastmancolor, made by Benmar Productions and Granada Films in Madrid, December 1971. Entitled Panico en el Transiberiano (Panic on the Trans-Siberian Express) in Spain, it is more commonly known as Horror Express. Bernard Gordon produced with Gene Martin directing. The screenplay was written by Arnaud D'Usseau and Julian Halevy, based on a story ...

paramanjara 18.07.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Horror Express (DVD)

Madman of the Century?

Advantages: Darkly cynical horror thriller with superb direction and performances
Disadvantages: Film = none, DVD = threadbare vanilla release

Hammer's Frankenstein cycle was a far superior product than the concurrent Dracula franchise. Both ran from the buoyant boom days of the late 50s through to the stagnation of the horror studio in the early 70s. Unlike the unsteady Dracula outings where the vampire was reduced to occasionally appearing from the shadows to hiss and snap at big bosomed wenches, Frankenstein was always the one with most potential for character development, and above ...
...lesser and lesser adventures. Frankenstein though remains resolutely Fisher's saga, and of the seven films made, he directed 5, and the less said about the non-canonical 'Evil of' and 'Horror of' the better. Under the guidance of Fisher, the tales interlinked, and we were able to witness the descent into madness of the Baron, where once he was a man striving to revolutionise medicine, and do good deeds, by the time of the final hurrah - 'Monster ...

dadmancat 06.10.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (DVD)

Death and the Maiden

Advantages: Competent production
Disadvantages: Dull, predictable, shoddy script

Hammer's arch rivals Amicus hit the compendium trail again with this Robert Bloch penned 1970 outing. Filmed in 1969 under the guiding hand of Peter Duffell (Jewel in the Crown), Amicus found backing for the project from US giants Columbia. Columbia Studios demanded the inclusion of horror hot property in the form of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. The pressure was on producers MIlton Subotsky and Max J Rosenberg to secure the signatures of the ...
...he liked in the admittedly lacklustre screenplay. Around Lee and Cushing, Duffell and the producers assembled an accomplished cast featuring Denholm Elliot, Joss Ackland, Ingrid Pitt, Nyree Dawn Porter, Jon Pertwee and Geoffrey Bayldon. Duffell announced from the start that he wanted to give the finished production a real polish, and lift it up from the routine horrors doing the rounds. It's difficult to see this ambition in effect, and 'The House ...

dadmancat 22.07.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The House That Dripped Blood (DVD)