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My MCU Chronology
91 titles |
Public
My Collection of Hammer Films
151 titles |
Public
As the '30's and '40's Universal horror cycle came to a close, gothic horror films fell out of favor first being parodied largely by Abbott and Costello and then disappearing altogether. In the 1950's, any film that could be classified as horror had either a dark psychological twist as in "House by the River", "The Night of the Hunter" and "The Bad Seed" or had a sci-fi twist such as an alien menace as in "The Beast with 1,000,000 Eyes", paranormal phenomenon as in "Fiend Without a Face", irradiated behemoths as in "Them!" and genetic throwbacks as in "The Creature from the Black Lagoon".
In Britain, a minor film production company called Hammer -- named after the stage pseudonym of its vaudevillian co-founder Will "Hammer" Hinds -- had carved out a niche grinding out small film noir gems made on a shoestring budget with imported American stars. However, the company struck gold mining the horror-with-a-sci-fi-twist vein that was in vogue with their film adaptation of the BBC-TV serial "The Quatermass Xperiment". With gore effects that were shocking for the time, a literate script and compelling characters, the film was a big hit. Emboldened by this success, the company gambled on a full-on horror by remaking a tried-and-true chestnut with a literary pedigree: Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". What set Hammer's "The Curse of Frankenstein" apart was shifting the focus from the piteous Creature to the obsessive Baron played to the hilt by Peter Cushing with more than a little debt to a more manic but equally intense Colin Clive from the original. Moreover, the film was presented in full-color widescreen glory with buckets o' blood and a heaving helping o' burstin' bodices; sex, violence and spectacle are always sure-fire selling points. A year later, "Horror of Dracula" was the follow-up with a magnetic and charismatic turn by Christopher Lee as the Count and a haunted, driven Peter Cushing as Professor Van Helsing.
Largely reviled by contemporary critics, audiences flocked in droves catapulting the company and its stars to international fame, revolutionizing the genre and single-handedly resurrecting the gothic horror film. Their success inspired the formation of rival studios like Amicus, Tigon and Tyburn who all tried to mine similar content with variable results. However, Hammer remains the gold standard with much of their output rightly considered classics today and even the least of their efforts offering modest pleasures.
Although they produced films in every genre, Hammer's stock-in-trade was horror which was unwittingly foreshadowed by Bela Lugosi's casting in their first feature-length film, "Phantom Ship". In the early '70's, the popularity of gothic fright was on the wane and competition from high-quality, low-budget, boundary-shattering indie horror was on the rise with soon-to-be classics such as "Rosemary's Baby", "Night of the Living Dead", "The Exorcist", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Jaws", "The Hills Have Eyes", "Halloween", Pete Walker slasher films and Italian gialli flooding the market. Out of step with the times, attempts to compete by resorting to desperate creative gambits and cynically pushing the sex-violence quotient beyond the tipping point of what then passed for good taste only alienated audiences accustomed to the expectations conferred by the Hammer seal. Eventually, the company was forced to drop out of film production altogether and only maintained a skeleton crew to oversee television programs.
Yet, after a 25-year hiatus, Hammer has returned with a series of four worthy entries into the canon including 2012's gothic "The Woman in Black" remake. The level of care and craftsmanship that characterized Hammer in its prime is evident in these recent productions and, should that trend continue, the company's future holds great promise.
A note concerning "The Curse of Frankenstein" specifically and the Hammer Frankenstein and Dracula cycles in general as these tend to be the entry points for most into the Hammerverse. While not an Expressionistic masterpiece like James Whale's original and with the moving plight of the Creature relegated to the periphery of the story, "The Curse of Frankenstein" usually disappoints on first pass. However, when seen back-to-back with "The Revenge of Frankenstein", the films become more richly resonant as a whole than when seen separately as it becomes clear that the through-line is the monomaniacal Baron who is just this side of insane and whose initially laudable goals are perverted into something monstrous. Over the six-film series, the viewer descends deeper into the disturbed psyche of a madman possessed of a singular vision and follows it through to its grim and sobering conclusion. The series is best viewed in this order: "The Curse of Frankenstein", "The Revenge of Frankenstein", "The Evil of Frankenstein", "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed", "Frankenstein Created Woman" and "Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell". Neither the TV pilot "Tales of Frankenstein" or the franchise reboot "Horror of Frankenstein" are part of the series.
The Dracula series' viewing order is largely determined by internal chronology and is as follows: the prologue to "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires", the prologue to "Dracula A.D. 1972", "Horror of Dracula", "The Brides of Dracula", "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires", "Dracula, Prince of Darkness" up to Father Sandor's rescue of the fleeing Francis Matthews and Suzan Farmer, the prologue of "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave", the rest of "Dracula, Prince of Darkness", "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave", "Taste the Blood of Dracula", "Scars of Dracula", "Kiss of the Vampire", "Dracula A.D. 1972" and "The Satanic Rites of Dracula".
Regarding other series, it should be noted that "The Secret of Blood Island" is the prequel to "The Camp on Blood Island" with Barbara Shelley playing a different character in each, that "A Challenge for Robin Hood" and "Wolfshead" are variant Robin Hood origin stories while "The Men of Sherwood Forest" and "Sword of Sherwood Forest" are continuing adventures and that the viewing order of the Dick Barton trilogy is "Dick Barton, Special Agent", "Dick Barton at Bay" and "Dick Barton Strikes Back". The Woman in Black, Quatermass, Karnstein, Buses and She films should be seen in the order they were released.
For anyone trying to assemble a Hammer collection of their own, I hope this list proves useful.
In Britain, a minor film production company called Hammer -- named after the stage pseudonym of its vaudevillian co-founder Will "Hammer" Hinds -- had carved out a niche grinding out small film noir gems made on a shoestring budget with imported American stars. However, the company struck gold mining the horror-with-a-sci-fi-twist vein that was in vogue with their film adaptation of the BBC-TV serial "The Quatermass Xperiment". With gore effects that were shocking for the time, a literate script and compelling characters, the film was a big hit. Emboldened by this success, the company gambled on a full-on horror by remaking a tried-and-true chestnut with a literary pedigree: Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". What set Hammer's "The Curse of Frankenstein" apart was shifting the focus from the piteous Creature to the obsessive Baron played to the hilt by Peter Cushing with more than a little debt to a more manic but equally intense Colin Clive from the original. Moreover, the film was presented in full-color widescreen glory with buckets o' blood and a heaving helping o' burstin' bodices; sex, violence and spectacle are always sure-fire selling points. A year later, "Horror of Dracula" was the follow-up with a magnetic and charismatic turn by Christopher Lee as the Count and a haunted, driven Peter Cushing as Professor Van Helsing.
Largely reviled by contemporary critics, audiences flocked in droves catapulting the company and its stars to international fame, revolutionizing the genre and single-handedly resurrecting the gothic horror film. Their success inspired the formation of rival studios like Amicus, Tigon and Tyburn who all tried to mine similar content with variable results. However, Hammer remains the gold standard with much of their output rightly considered classics today and even the least of their efforts offering modest pleasures.
Although they produced films in every genre, Hammer's stock-in-trade was horror which was unwittingly foreshadowed by Bela Lugosi's casting in their first feature-length film, "Phantom Ship". In the early '70's, the popularity of gothic fright was on the wane and competition from high-quality, low-budget, boundary-shattering indie horror was on the rise with soon-to-be classics such as "Rosemary's Baby", "Night of the Living Dead", "The Exorcist", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Jaws", "The Hills Have Eyes", "Halloween", Pete Walker slasher films and Italian gialli flooding the market. Out of step with the times, attempts to compete by resorting to desperate creative gambits and cynically pushing the sex-violence quotient beyond the tipping point of what then passed for good taste only alienated audiences accustomed to the expectations conferred by the Hammer seal. Eventually, the company was forced to drop out of film production altogether and only maintained a skeleton crew to oversee television programs.
Yet, after a 25-year hiatus, Hammer has returned with a series of four worthy entries into the canon including 2012's gothic "The Woman in Black" remake. The level of care and craftsmanship that characterized Hammer in its prime is evident in these recent productions and, should that trend continue, the company's future holds great promise.
A note concerning "The Curse of Frankenstein" specifically and the Hammer Frankenstein and Dracula cycles in general as these tend to be the entry points for most into the Hammerverse. While not an Expressionistic masterpiece like James Whale's original and with the moving plight of the Creature relegated to the periphery of the story, "The Curse of Frankenstein" usually disappoints on first pass. However, when seen back-to-back with "The Revenge of Frankenstein", the films become more richly resonant as a whole than when seen separately as it becomes clear that the through-line is the monomaniacal Baron who is just this side of insane and whose initially laudable goals are perverted into something monstrous. Over the six-film series, the viewer descends deeper into the disturbed psyche of a madman possessed of a singular vision and follows it through to its grim and sobering conclusion. The series is best viewed in this order: "The Curse of Frankenstein", "The Revenge of Frankenstein", "The Evil of Frankenstein", "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed", "Frankenstein Created Woman" and "Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell". Neither the TV pilot "Tales of Frankenstein" or the franchise reboot "Horror of Frankenstein" are part of the series.
The Dracula series' viewing order is largely determined by internal chronology and is as follows: the prologue to "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires", the prologue to "Dracula A.D. 1972", "Horror of Dracula", "The Brides of Dracula", "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires", "Dracula, Prince of Darkness" up to Father Sandor's rescue of the fleeing Francis Matthews and Suzan Farmer, the prologue of "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave", the rest of "Dracula, Prince of Darkness", "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave", "Taste the Blood of Dracula", "Scars of Dracula", "Kiss of the Vampire", "Dracula A.D. 1972" and "The Satanic Rites of Dracula".
Regarding other series, it should be noted that "The Secret of Blood Island" is the prequel to "The Camp on Blood Island" with Barbara Shelley playing a different character in each, that "A Challenge for Robin Hood" and "Wolfshead" are variant Robin Hood origin stories while "The Men of Sherwood Forest" and "Sword of Sherwood Forest" are continuing adventures and that the viewing order of the Dick Barton trilogy is "Dick Barton, Special Agent", "Dick Barton at Bay" and "Dick Barton Strikes Back". The Woman in Black, Quatermass, Karnstein, Buses and She films should be seen in the order they were released.
For anyone trying to assemble a Hammer collection of their own, I hope this list proves useful.
My Collection of Peter Cushing Films
83 titles |
Public
The "gentle man" of horror who filled the void Boris Karloff left behind bringing a similar grace and dignity, sly wit and quiet menace to his many genre roles.
He played Sherlock Holmes 18 times of which only 7 films remain making him the third most readily identified actor with the part next to Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett.
His portrayals of Baron Frankenstein which he played 7 times (including a cameo in "One More Time") and Professor Van Helsing which he played 5 times are considered definitive by most fright-film enthusiasts and Hammer devotees.
Dr. Who's only big-screen outings were brought to life by Cushing. Although his incarnation of the good Doctor is decidedly non-extraterrestrial but very much human, he twice filled the role ably in films that uphold the virtues of the franchise.
The single most high-profile part for which he is most recognized by multiple generations is as the coldly officious Grand Moff Wiluff Tarkin in George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope". As the ruthless Moff, he destroys a populated planet without batting an eyelash and even keeps Vader on a short leash.
His shattering portrayal of Winston Smith in George Orwell's "1984" for the BBC was an early career highlight. Other literary roles he played to critical acclaim and/or popular recognition were Russell Thorndike's Rev. Dr. Syn (renamed Rev. Dr. Blyss due to legal wrangling with Disney's rival production) for Hammer's "Captain Clegg" and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Abner Perry for Amicus' "At the Earth's Core".
His most complex villainous role for a character original to the screen was the witch-hunter Gustav Weil in Hammer's "Twins of Evil". His most endearingly sympathetic role for a character original to the screen was the widower Arthur Grimsdyke in Amicus' "Tales from the Crypt".
A mainstay of Hammer Films, Cushing also has the distinction of participating in every Amicus horror anthology film except for "Vault of Horror".
Life-long friend Christopher Lee collaborated with Cushing on an amazing run of 24 films if you include the facts that Lee dubbed an actor in "Alexander the Great" in which Cushing had a role and that they co-narrated the Hammer doc "Flesh and Blood".
Peter Cushing was, by all accounts, a genuinely decent man whose quiet personal pursuits included bird-watching and model-building. He remained steadfastly devoted to the memory of his beloved late wife until he passed away in 1994.
Classically trained, he found himself often in genre fare. However, rather than treating the material with disdain, he elevated even the most impoverished production by playing his parts with a conviction that carried the audience along with him. A consummate professional who, through his work, continues to bring joy to old and new fans alike.
He played Sherlock Holmes 18 times of which only 7 films remain making him the third most readily identified actor with the part next to Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett.
His portrayals of Baron Frankenstein which he played 7 times (including a cameo in "One More Time") and Professor Van Helsing which he played 5 times are considered definitive by most fright-film enthusiasts and Hammer devotees.
Dr. Who's only big-screen outings were brought to life by Cushing. Although his incarnation of the good Doctor is decidedly non-extraterrestrial but very much human, he twice filled the role ably in films that uphold the virtues of the franchise.
The single most high-profile part for which he is most recognized by multiple generations is as the coldly officious Grand Moff Wiluff Tarkin in George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope". As the ruthless Moff, he destroys a populated planet without batting an eyelash and even keeps Vader on a short leash.
His shattering portrayal of Winston Smith in George Orwell's "1984" for the BBC was an early career highlight. Other literary roles he played to critical acclaim and/or popular recognition were Russell Thorndike's Rev. Dr. Syn (renamed Rev. Dr. Blyss due to legal wrangling with Disney's rival production) for Hammer's "Captain Clegg" and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Abner Perry for Amicus' "At the Earth's Core".
His most complex villainous role for a character original to the screen was the witch-hunter Gustav Weil in Hammer's "Twins of Evil". His most endearingly sympathetic role for a character original to the screen was the widower Arthur Grimsdyke in Amicus' "Tales from the Crypt".
A mainstay of Hammer Films, Cushing also has the distinction of participating in every Amicus horror anthology film except for "Vault of Horror".
Life-long friend Christopher Lee collaborated with Cushing on an amazing run of 24 films if you include the facts that Lee dubbed an actor in "Alexander the Great" in which Cushing had a role and that they co-narrated the Hammer doc "Flesh and Blood".
Peter Cushing was, by all accounts, a genuinely decent man whose quiet personal pursuits included bird-watching and model-building. He remained steadfastly devoted to the memory of his beloved late wife until he passed away in 1994.
Classically trained, he found himself often in genre fare. However, rather than treating the material with disdain, he elevated even the most impoverished production by playing his parts with a conviction that carried the audience along with him. A consummate professional who, through his work, continues to bring joy to old and new fans alike.
My Collection of Amicus Films
40 titles |
Public
Just look for the Subotsky-Rosenberg label!
Often regarded as Hammer's poor relation, the little production company known as Amicus established a distinctive identity all its own and was brought into being through the collaboration of two managing partners whose tempestuous relationship gave lie to the amiable company name.
Milton Subotsky, an engineering major, and Max J. Rosenberg, a lawyer, were two New York-based, would-be producers with polar opposite personalities who partnered on a few films Stateside under the Vanguard label before shifting the operation to England as Amicus. Starting with a slate that included a couple of hard-hitting dramas, four rock musicals, a family film and only one actual horror movie, the duo decided to capitalize on the appetite for fright films that Hammer had recently awakened.
It is a bit ironic that Amicus would perpetually be in Hammer's shadow since they had actually kick-started the Hammer juggernaut when Subotsky wrote a screenplay adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" which Rosenberg then sold to Hammer through a middle-man. Although Subotsky's treatment was supposedly scrupulously faithful to the source material, Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster significantly re-shaped the script into the film that would put Hammer on the map: "The Curse of Frankenstein".
While Amicus and Hammer films often get confused with one another due to the use of similar casts and crews, there are three trademarks to most of Amicus' horror output: setting, structure and theme. Amicus horror almost always has a contemporary setting, usually is structured as an anthology and often features a theme of bleak moral relativism. Hammer films, by contrast, generally have Victorian/Edwardian settings, stand-alone narrative structure and themes of black-and-white Manichean morality. While yielding a distinct aesthetic difference, it should be noted that such choices were largely made for budgetary reasons as modern dress and shorter shooting schedules for costly cast members were cheaper.
Despite a few forays into other genres such as sci-fi, drama and adventure, horror was the name of the game with only the Dr. Who and Burroughs films making a splash outside the company's usual fare. In the end, a third managing partner named John Dark who was brought on board by Rosenberg began exerting his own influence which brought the volatile relationship between Milton and Max to the boiling point resulting in a dissolution of the partnership. All three men went on to produce their own projects individually.
However, Rosenberg kept the company's copyright alive and, 30 years later, two new movies have been made under the Amicus label by his successor paralleling Hammer's similar resurrection.
As Amicus films are defined as much by the men who made them as they are by their content, the list below includes all the movies I own that bear their fingerprints. Entries 1-5 are Proto-Amicus films from the American Vanguard years, entries 6-32 are Classic Amicus films from the British period, entries 33-38 are Post-Amicus projects by Dark, Subotsky and Rosenberg, respectively, and entries 39-40 are the Neo-Amicus releases.
Often regarded as Hammer's poor relation, the little production company known as Amicus established a distinctive identity all its own and was brought into being through the collaboration of two managing partners whose tempestuous relationship gave lie to the amiable company name.
Milton Subotsky, an engineering major, and Max J. Rosenberg, a lawyer, were two New York-based, would-be producers with polar opposite personalities who partnered on a few films Stateside under the Vanguard label before shifting the operation to England as Amicus. Starting with a slate that included a couple of hard-hitting dramas, four rock musicals, a family film and only one actual horror movie, the duo decided to capitalize on the appetite for fright films that Hammer had recently awakened.
It is a bit ironic that Amicus would perpetually be in Hammer's shadow since they had actually kick-started the Hammer juggernaut when Subotsky wrote a screenplay adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" which Rosenberg then sold to Hammer through a middle-man. Although Subotsky's treatment was supposedly scrupulously faithful to the source material, Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster significantly re-shaped the script into the film that would put Hammer on the map: "The Curse of Frankenstein".
While Amicus and Hammer films often get confused with one another due to the use of similar casts and crews, there are three trademarks to most of Amicus' horror output: setting, structure and theme. Amicus horror almost always has a contemporary setting, usually is structured as an anthology and often features a theme of bleak moral relativism. Hammer films, by contrast, generally have Victorian/Edwardian settings, stand-alone narrative structure and themes of black-and-white Manichean morality. While yielding a distinct aesthetic difference, it should be noted that such choices were largely made for budgetary reasons as modern dress and shorter shooting schedules for costly cast members were cheaper.
Despite a few forays into other genres such as sci-fi, drama and adventure, horror was the name of the game with only the Dr. Who and Burroughs films making a splash outside the company's usual fare. In the end, a third managing partner named John Dark who was brought on board by Rosenberg began exerting his own influence which brought the volatile relationship between Milton and Max to the boiling point resulting in a dissolution of the partnership. All three men went on to produce their own projects individually.
However, Rosenberg kept the company's copyright alive and, 30 years later, two new movies have been made under the Amicus label by his successor paralleling Hammer's similar resurrection.
As Amicus films are defined as much by the men who made them as they are by their content, the list below includes all the movies I own that bear their fingerprints. Entries 1-5 are Proto-Amicus films from the American Vanguard years, entries 6-32 are Classic Amicus films from the British period, entries 33-38 are Post-Amicus projects by Dark, Subotsky and Rosenberg, respectively, and entries 39-40 are the Neo-Amicus releases.
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