Not Really A Vampire

 

 (imdb)

BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE-1958-Transylvania 1874-Some yokels put a stake in a corpse. While burying the body a gravedigger is murdered. Then a limping guy with a deformed face gets a doctor to do a heart transplant on a dead man. When the doctor wants more money and threatens blackmail he's killed. Cut to Dr. Jean Pierre (Vincent Ball) convicted of malpractice and murder and sentenced to life in prison. He's sent to a hell hole led by the mysterious Callistratus. His cell mate Kurt (William Devlin) befriends him and tells him there's no escape. While they are working Pierre says a fallen man is too sick to work but when the boss passes by he gets up and starts working again. Later he meets Callistatus (Donald Wolfit), the dead man at the beginning. He puts Pierre to work in his lab, doing research on blood. The deformed killer is Callistatus' henchman Karl (Victor Maddern). It turns out the mad doctor had Pierre railroaded into his prison with help from a corrupt official. When Pierre's and Karl's escape plan fails, Callistatrus says Pierre was killed much to the sadness of Pierre's fiance Madeline (Barbara Shelly) who later goes undercover and poses as a housekeeper. They eventually find out Callistatrus's secret: he's a mad scientist trying to find a cure for a blood disease he acquired when he got a new heart! Karl turns on his master because he's sweet on Madeline and despite being shot several times helps bring down his nutty boss. 

The producers of this overlooked little horror film really give it a Hammer vibe, even hiring Jimmy Sangster to write the screenplay (he'd also write the screenplays for HORROR OF DRACULA and REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN the same year). Henry Cass was the director.

 (imdb)

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Damned Kids!

 

 (Alamy.com)

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED-1960-The English village of Midwich suffers a strange phenomena when the entire populace seem to faint away. Everyone recovers but a while later all the women in town become pregnant including virgin teens and a wife whose husband has been away for a year. When they are born, the kids all look alike with blond hair, weird eyes and are extremely intelligent. They are rather evil too and make 2 villagers commit suicide. 

Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders) & wife Anthea (Barbara Shelley) are proud parents for a while until they learn this is not an occurrence particular only to Midwich. Other groups of cold calculating children have been born in other parts of the world. After the rest have died or are destroyed it's up to Zellaby to come up with a plan to stop the sinister kids. 

This MGM-British co-produced science fiction film went through many stops and starts before it came to the screen. Originally proposed as an US production the screenplay was written by American Stirling Silliphant. When director Wolf Rilla was hired he helped make the script more “English”. 

It's a great black and white weird and suspenseful film based on the novel “The Midwich Cukoos” by John Wyndam (who also wrote the novel “The Day of The Triffids”).

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Who Does Her Hair?

 

THE GORGON-1964-In the small village of Vandorf, there have been several murders in the last 5 years. All the victims have been turned to stone but this is never brought out at the inquests. Prof. Jules Heitz (Michael Goodliffe) who's son has been convicted of the latest murder (and suicide) seeks the help of local professor Manaroff (Peter Cushing) who's assistant Carla Hoffman (Barbara Shelly) suspects something. Heitz thinks it's Magera, one of the Gorgons who can turn people to stone. Heitz himself is turned to stone but not before writing a letter to his son Paul (Richard Pasco). It's obvious Manaroff knows more than he admits. Paul briefly sees the Gorgon's reflection and ages badly. 

Fortunately when things start to get dull Paul's mentor Prof. Karl Meister (Christopher Lee) shows up and gives the local police inspector (Patrick Troughton) a hard time. Meister believes Carla is the killer but Paul of course has fallen in love with her. Meister is right. Carla is the snake haired monster. In the climax the Gorgon is beheaded but there's no happy ending.

Terence Fisher directed this interesting Hammer horror film that's a little thin on story. Still it's always good to see Lee and Cushing together as adversaries. Screenplay by director John Gilling.

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Black & White Hammer

SHADOW OF THE CAT-1961-With the help of two servants (Michael Crawford and Freda Jackson) Walter (Andre Morell) kills his wife and has her buried in the forest. There are no witnesses except for the victim's cat. All seems to go as planned until the cat keeps popping up, driving the trio to paranoid delusions as they try to kill it. When Walter suffers a heart attack while trying to do in puss, his unsuspecting niece Beth (Barbara Shelly) comes to take care of him. She doesn't understand what the big to-do is about the cat but her boyfriend Michael (Conrad Phillips) suspects the truth (she doesn't believe him though). Deaths by falling, quicksand and stairs eliminate some prying greedy relatives and after they are all gone the cat leads Beth and Michael to the dead woman's grave. 

This little black and white Hammer melodrama was directed by John Gilling (THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS) and plays like an extended version of THRILLER or ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS.

Mad Monk!

RASPUTIN: THE MAD MONK-1966-Christopher Lee plays the title role in this very entertaining but historically inaccurate Hammer production.

The drunken and gluttonous Rasputin is first introduced at an inn where he saves the life of the owner's young son. They then throw a party where he does a wild dance, seduces the owner's daughter and cuts off the hand of an older son. Later he wins a drinking contest and takes up with a drunken disbarred doctor (Robert Duncan). Barbara Shelley is Sonia, the Czarina's lady in waiting who comes under the mad monk's thrall and causes an "accident" that gets him in good with the ruling class. When he grows tired of Sonia he makes her commit suicide and sets his sights on Vanessa (Suzan Farmer) another lady. Sonia's brother tries to take revenge but is killed with acid. Eventually the doctor and Vanessa's boyfriend (Richard Pasco, also in THE GORGON) do away with him in a nice finale. Also with Joss Ackland and Michael Ripper.

Lee is great as the crazy but self assured Rasputin with his long hair and beard and piercing eyes. He and Shelley had just been in DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS the year before and some of the sets were re-used here. Director Don Sharp made several movies with Lee including 2 in the Fu Manchu series, DEVIL SHIP PIRATES and BEAR ISLAND.

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Kongo and Cats

KONGO-MGM-1932-Don’t miss this whacked, pre-code remake of the Chaney/Browning silent film WEST OF ZANZIBAR! Walter Huston is Deadlegs Flint, the ruthless crippled white “god” who uses superstition and violence to rule over his jungle domain. Flint lives for only one thing. The day he can have his revenge on the man (C. Henry Gordon) who stole his wife and maimed him.



As part of his plan he degrades the girl (Virginia Gregg in a great performance) he believes is his enemy’s daughter. Her savior turns out to be a doctor turned drug addict (Conrad Nagel)! You can probably guess what happens.



KONGO is full of racist dialogue, manic acting and strange situations that are alluded to more than shown. Lupe Velez, Forrester Harvey and Mitchell Lewis play the lost souls under Flint’s thrall. Look for Ming The Merciless himself Charles Middleton in a small un-billed role.



Director William Cowen creates some wild scenes involving jungle ritual burning. He directed a Hollywood version of Oliver Twist the next year!



And believe it or not Huston is even more twisted than Chaney was!



Screenwriter Leon Gordon worked on FREAKS for Tod Browning the same year!


















CAT GIRL-Anglo Amalgamated-1957 -This is a pretty neglected CAT PEOPLE inspired English production featuring the underrated Barbara Shelley as a newly married woman who goes back to her childhood home to inherit her weird uncle’s estate. Unk has a pet leopard and a roomful of stuffed felines. However, he warns her that part of his inheritance is his curse.

It’s never actually explained how the curse came about or why exactly her family is cursed but it seems that she kinda does a mind meld with the pet leopard and she can make it kill people. She starts with her philandering husband. A psychiatrist (who she’s in love with) tries to convince her it’s all in her mind. In one scene while she’s confined to a rubber room she imagines herself to be a cat that looks like a human size mouse from "Zoobilee Zoo" or something! She then goes after the shrink’s wife. Shelley is great in the title role but the rest of the cast is pretty bland.

Director Alfred Shaughnessy later wrote THE FLESH AND BLOOD SHOW. American screenwriter Lou Rusoff wrote THE SHE CREATURE, DAY THE WORLD ENDED, IT CONQUERED THE WORLD and other AIP movies. Thanks for reading!