Martial Arts Vs. Vampires

 

 (themoviedatabase)

LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES-1974-Transylvania 1804. A guy named Kan (Shen Chan) who once presided over the 7 Golden Vampires visits Dracula's castle to ask the king of vampires to help him resurrect the group. Dracula (John Forbes-Robinson) has a better idea. He possesses Kan's “image” and decides to resurrect the 7 himself. After the credits, in Chung King 100 years later, Prof. Van Helsing (who else but Peter Cushing) lectures on the Seven Vampires and his encounters with Dracula. The “sophisticated” Chinese students ridicule him but one student Hsi Ching (David Chiang) visits the professor at night to apol-ogize. He definitely believes in the legend as his grandfather destroyed one of the vampires. He wants Van Helsing to accompany him and his 6 brothers to the village where the remaining 6 vampires rule. Meanwhile, Van Helsing's son Leland (Robin Stewart) gets into trouble with local gangster Leung Hon, when he agrees to escort widowed world traveler Vanessa Buren (Julie Ege) home. They are saved by 2 of Hsi's brothers. Vanessa agrees to finance their expedition provided she's allowed to go. Under the protests of the elder Van Helsing, she is allowed. 

Right off the bat, they are attacked by Hon's gang. The brothers (each has a specialty) plus their lone sister Mei Kwei (Szu Shih) defeat the gang and Hon gets an arrow through his neck. Later, in the village, the group battles the remaining 6 vampires and their undead army. They destroy 3 more then get ready for a final showdown. There's a big violent martial arts battle that ends tragically for some. After the final vampire is put down, Van Helsing meets his arch enemy. Dracula's disintegration scene seems longer than their actual battle. 

This has a little of everything: martial arts, weapons, vampires, walking dead, nudity, dismemberment. No classic but not the shit show it is sometimes described as. However, this was Hammer co-production with The Shaw Brothers studio and there were a lot of “communication prob-lems” between the two directors on the film, the English Roy Ward Baker and the Chinese Cheh Chang. A sequel was planned but poor box office performance shelved that idea.

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Can't Keep A Good Vampire Down

 

 (imdb)

DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE-1968-In this sequel to DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS (set a year later), a monsignor, Ernst Mueller (Rupert Davies) comes to a small town where Dracula had been sent to a watery grave, to find everyone still afraid especially since a villager was found hanging from a church bell. The monsignor and the local priest (Ewan Hooper) hike to Dracula's castle. Unfortunately, the priest is kind of a coward and while running away, falls and cuts his head. His blood trickles into the Count's mouth and resurrects him. The priest then becomes the count's slave and helps him to secure a coffin. Meanwhile, Mueller hosts a party for his niece Maria (Virginia Carlson) and her boyfriend Paul (Barry Andrews). The monsignor gets upset when Paul tells him he's an atheist. Paul leaves and gets drunk. Drac's first victim is barmaid Zena (Barbara Ewing). Drac has his digs under the pub where Paul works (for Michael Ripper) and sets his teeth on Maria. 

In this rather bloody (and sexual) sequel, a prayer must be read to kill a vampire once the stake has been driven. Nice use of color filters by director Freddie Francis. 

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The Mummy Lives!

 

 (the moviedb.org)

THE MUMMY-1959-Steve Banning (Felix Aylmer), his brother John (Peter Cushing) and their uncle Joseph (Raymond Huntley) are digging around ruins in Egypt. After finding princess Ananka, Steve accidentally calls forth her mummy guardian and goes crazy. Years later, an Egyptian brings the mummy to Steve (now in an asylum) in England. A flashback reveals how it all came about. How when the princess died and high priest Kharis tried to bring her back to life, was caught and buried alive. The now mummified Kharis (Christopher Lee) goes for revenge, killing Steve and Joseph. His killing of John fails when he notices that John's wife Isobel (Yvonne Furneaux) resembles the princess. A disbelieving police inspector (Eddie Byrne) helps set up Kharis in the finale. 

Another great Hammer horror picture directed by Terence Fisher, a remake of the 1933 Boris Karloff film.

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Hammer History

 

 (imdb)

FLESH AND BLOOD-THE HAMMER HERITAGE OF HORROR-1994-In this entertaining documentary, two long segments cover all the Frankenstein and Dracula series (except Dracula AD 1972). There are many interviews: Michael Carreras, Jimmy Sangster, Roy Ward Baker, Anthony Hinds, Anthony Nelson Keyes, Hazel Court, Caroline Munro, Martine Beswick, Veronica Carlson, Freddie Francis and Christopher Lee who narrates along with Peter Cushing. Soundtracks, Director of Photography, makeup and other aspects are covered. Also how the studio picked its leading ladies. Other movies covered include The PHANTOM OF THE OPERA remake, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE. It also tells how American Robert Lippert helped distribute their films in the US and lent stock footage and how CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN was planned as a black & white film with Karloff! Stupidly they criticize ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (Joe Dante helps them) to make their CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN look like they were saving the horror genre. 

Apparently, the only American they could get to run down Universal horror movies and overly praise Hammer was Dante. Director Ted Newsom made many other documentaries and some horror movies like EVIL SPAWN (1987).

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Hammer Scream

 

 (imdb)

SCREAM OF FEAR-1961-Wheelchair bound Penny Appleby (Susan Strasberg) comes to live on her father's estate with him and her stepmother Jane (Ann Todd) after the death of Penny's caregiver. Also there is Robert (Ronald Lewis; in MR. SARDONICUS the same year), the chauffeur. Funny thing is dad seems to be away on business and no one knows when he'll be back. Then at night she sees her father's dead body and falls into the pool! Everyone thinks she's hallucinating. Dr. Gerald (Christopher Lee; same year as TERROR OF THE TONGS) is called in to check on her. Although she talks to dad on the phone, she once again sees his dead body. Something's up but who is to blame? 

Nice suspenseful psychological thriller from Hammer Pictures directed by Seth Holt and written by Jimmy Sangster. Lee has said it was “the best film Hammer ever made”.

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Switcheroo

 

 (imdb)

DOCTOR JEKYLL & SISTER HYDE-1971-During the Jack the Ripper time, Dr. Henry Jekyll (Ralph Bates; in LUST FOR A VAMPIRE the same year) writes a testimonial that turns into a flashback. Jekyll is working on an anti-virus vaccine. When the pompous but crazy Prof. Robertson (Gerald Sim) says it would take too long to perfect his serum, Jekyll becomes obsessed with doing it quicker, working day and night continuously. He's experimenting with female hormones using corpses from a morgue. When he runs out of corpses, he hires Burke (Ivor Dean) & Hare (Tony Calvin) to help him. You know what that means. After some experiments with flies, Jekyll takes his own concoction and becomes a woman (Martine Beswick). She becomes Jack The Ripper in this early gender bender horror story directed by Roy Ward Baker and written by Brian Clemens for Hammer Pictures.

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Hammer Mummy

 

 (tcm.com)

THE MUMMY'S SHROUD-1967-After a lengthy intro about the death of an Egyptian boy king, pompous rude Stanley Preston (John Phillips) and his wife (Elizabeth Sellars) arrive in Cairo intent on locating a missing expedition he funded. The lost group is headed by Sir Basil Walton (Andre Morell), along with his assistant Claire (Maggie Kimberly), Harry (Tim Barrett) and Preston's son Paul (David Buck). They are looking for the tomb of the young prince. 

Preston's group finds the expedition but Basil is bitten by a snake. They find the mummy and the elder Preston proceeds to hog the spotlight and take all the credit. When they get back to Cairo, he even has Walton committed to an insane asylum. A fortune teller's son, Hasmid (Roger Delgado) revives a different mummy and it kills Walton who has escaped the asylum. The second victim is Harry who has acid poured on him and is set on fire. Next is Preston's long-suffering assistant Longbarrow (Michael Ripper) who is thrown out a window. When Preston tries to illegally leave the country (deserting his wife & son) the mummy gets him. Later while trying to apologize to the mummy Hasmid sics the mummy on Claire who with help from David and the chief of police (Richard Warner) says the words of death and the mummy crumbles.

 This Hammer production is a pretty standard horror film, not offering anything new. Director John Gilling (THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966)) wasn't happy with the results. It's the last movie made by Hammer in their Bray Studios. The Mummy is played by Eddie Powell, Christopher Lee's “Dracula” stunt double.

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Hammer Again

 

THE LOST CONTINENT-1968-This begins with a funeral at sea with very unusual mourners then a flashback. On a ship full of fools, the grouchy, weird captain Lansen (Eric Porte; later in THE HANDS OF THE RIPPER) is running illegal explosives that are dangerous when wet. Most of passengers are on the run or have done something illegal including Miss Eva Peters (Hildegard Knef), Harry Tyler (Tony Beckley), Dr. Webster (Nigel Stock) and his daughter Unity (Suzanna Leigh; THE DEADLY BEES one year earlier) and Ricardi (Ben Carruthers).When the first mate leads a mutiny, the idiot passengers decide to stay aboard the volatile vessel and help the bossy unappreciative Lansen. When the ship can't be saved the losers abandon it. They drift at sea, bicker and eventually fight with several deaths occurring. They wind up in a foggy killer seaweed infested area of old abandoned ships. Later they're attacked by some very strange inhabitants, descendants from Spanish galleons and other lost seafarers. They are ruled by a pompous teenager called "El Supremo". Later a giant turtle and scorpion show up. 

Semi-imaginative story hampered by unlikable characters and sub-par SFX. One of Hammer Studios least known films, it was written and directed by head honcho Michael Carreras from a novel by Dennis Wheatley.

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Hammer!

 

 (wikipedia)

CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN-1957-From his death row jail cell Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) tells his tale to a priest and the events leading up to creating his infamous monster. At first he has his friend Paul (Robert Urquhart) helping him bring a dog back to life, but soon Victor becomes obsessed with creating life. Paul gets very concerned when Victor's cousin Elizabeth (Hazel Court) arrives to marry him. Also concerned is the maid (Valerie Gaunt) Victor's having an affair with. Victor succeeds and creates a monster (Christopher Lee) out of dead body parts. It escapes and kills a blind man but Paul shoots it. He thinks it's dead but Victor brings it back to life. The Baron is quite a bastard, killing Prof. Burnstein (Paul Hardtmuth), a brilliant old intellect for his brain and using his creation to dispatch the pregnant maid. He spends lots of time in his lab, neglecting the faithful Elizabeth. He treats the monster terribly and doesn't care about much else. Eventually the monster terrorizes Elizabeth and Victor accidentally shoots her (not fatally). Paul could clear him but refuses. Victor, now considered insane is ushered to the gallows..... 

Shot in color by Terence Fisher with a screenplay by Jimmy Sangster, this film kind of ushered in the new phase of updated classics putting Hammer Pictures on the map. It was followed the next year by REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN (also by Fisher and Sangster and starring Cushing).

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Hammer Horror

  (Wikimedia Commons)

HORROR OF DRACULA-1958-Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen) goes to Castle Dracula to be a librarian for Count Dracula. No one is there when he arrives but a woman (Valarie Gaunt) appears and asks Harker to help her but she runs away when Dracula shows up. It seems Harker is really there to destroy the vampire. Later the woman shows up again and begs Harker to help her. But when she gets close she tries to bite him. Dracula intervenes. Harker awakes the next day with bite marks on his neck and goes looking for the count's resting place. He finds it and destroys the woman but Dracula wakes up and makes Harker a vampire. Later Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) arrives in town looking for Harker. A helpful waitress gives him some info but he's too late. Dracula is gone and he has to put a stake in Harker. Arthur Holcomb (Michael Gough), the brother of Harker's fiance Lucy (Carol Marsh) doesn't accept the doctor's story of her husband to be's death. Especially since Lucy is kind of sickly and waiting anxiously for his return.

Unfortunately Dracula decides to make Lucy his next conquest. Dr. Seward (Charles Lloyd Pack) thinks she has some kind of anemia. Mina (Melissa Strib-ling), Holcomb's wife asks Van Helsing for a second opinion. He suggests putting garlic a-round the windows but the maid re-moves the smelly stuff and the next day Lucy is dead. Holcomb blames Van Helsing but when his maid's daughter says she talked to Lucy he starts to think differently. He and the courageous doctor find Lucy's resting place and drive a stake into her. While the men search, Dracula puts the bite on Mina. In the great climax Van Helsing and the king of vampires have a memorable showdown. 

This Hammer production was freely adapted from the Bram Stoker novel by Jimmy Sangster and directed with style by Terence Fisher (the two had collaborated a year earlier on THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN; also with Cushing & Lee) and would go to make REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN the same year. Fisher and Sangster would also concoct THE MUMMY (with Cushing & Lee) in 1959 and BRIDES OF DRACULA in 1960 with Cushing reprising his role as Van Helsing. Lee wouldn't play the infamous count again until 1966's DRACULA-PRINCE OF DARKNESS (also by Fisher & Sangster).

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Hammer House

 

HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR: S1 E7: THE SILENT SCREAM-1980-In this episode  Chuck, an ex-con (Brian Cox) gets a job helping a seemingly innocent pet shop owner Mr. Martin Blueck (Peter Cushing), tend to his animals, believing him to be a concentration camp survivor. However behind his stock of birds and dogs and cats the man is harboring a menagerie of wild animals like panthers, lions and leopards. It's all part of his behavior experiments. He hires Martin to feed the beasts. When Chuck decides to break into his safe the trouble starts. Martin is not what he seems and tragedy strikes. It was directed by Alan Gibson who made the feature films DRACULA AD 1972 and CRESCENDO for Hammer.

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More Hammer

 

MANIAC-1963-In the French region of The Camargue a pervert named Janello (Arnold Diamond) rapes a local girl Annette (Lillane Brousse). Her father finds him before the police do and he proceeds to torture and kill the guy with a blowtorch. 4 years later an American painter Jeff Farrell (Kerwin Matthews, THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD) decides to spend some time in a small village after breaking up with his girlfriend. He rents a room from Mme Eve Beynat (Nadia Grey) who also runs a saloon with her step-daugther Annette, who Jeff is first attracted to. Later he has an affair with Eve. She tells him her husband Henri (Don Houston) is in a mental hospital and if Jeff wants her to be free they will have to help him escape from the hospital. Jeff agrees. They pick him up and drop him off at a pier. Later Jeff discovers a dead body in the trunk of their car. They deduce it is a male nurse who helped Georges get away. At night they dump the body. An inspector investigates. There's a few twists in this kind of forgotten little Hammer thriller written by Jimmy Sangster and directed by Michael Carreras, the boss' son. Nice finale.

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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.

Hammer Vampires

KISS OF THE VAMPIRE-1963-This Hammer production begins with a guy interrupting a funeral and using a shovel to smash open a coffin. A scream emulates from within and blood appears. Then newlyweds Gerald (Edward DeSouza) and Marianne (Jennifer Daniel) have car trouble and Jerry goes off for some petrol. All the while they are being spied on by a mysterious figure in a nearby castle. All alone and spooked by the rising wind Maria ventures out of the car and meets the guy with the shovel who warns her to go back to her car. After getting a tow the couple get a room at an inn and are invited to dine with Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman), the guy who was watching them earlier. The eerily suave doctor has two kids, Sabena (Jacquie Wallis) and Karl (Barry Warren). At dinner Marianne seems mesmerized by Karl's piano playing. At a masked ball Marianne learns the truth. Ravna is head of a vampire cult. They imprison Marianne then tell Gerald there is no such person as his wife. Everyone agrees so Gerald goes to Prof. Zimmer (Clifford Evans) for help and we learn that his own daughter had been vampire-ized by Ravna (he killed her in the pre-credit funeral sequence). 

Although the story is fairly standard and boring, the finale where Zim and Jerry rescue Marianne is exciting and violent with the professor using a spell that sends vampire bats to kill the vampires! Director Don Sharp went on to direct Christopher Lee in THE DEVIL-SHIP PIRATES, RASPUTIN and several Fu Manchu entries.

Drac vs. Mods

DRACULA AD-1972-A group of Mods perform a black mass in an abandoned church. Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame)), their leader mixes his blood with the dried blood of Count Dracula and brings him back to (un-dead) life. His first victim is played by Caroline Munro. Van Helsing's grandson (Peter Cushing) has a daughter Jessica (Stephanie Beacham) Drac wants. He kidnaps her but granddad tracks them down and he and Drac have a showdown where Van Helsing uses a silver dagger, holy water and a shovel to beat the king of vampires and reduce his body to ooze. 

This, the seventh Dracula Hammer film and the sixth to star Lee in the title role was directed by Alan Gibson who would also direct the last of the series THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA the next year. Screenwriter Don Houghton also penned SATANIC RITES, SHATTER and THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES and many episodes of Doctor Who. For years DRACULA AD has been much maligned by critics and fans. There's really nothing to it but in retrospect it's an enjoyable time capsule.

In America DRACULA AD played on a double bill with CRESCENDO (also directed by Gibson).

http://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2017/01/hammer.html 

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Hammer Werewolf

THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF-1961-In Spain in the 1700's a beggar (Richard Wordsworth) is mocked and imprisoned by the local marquis (Anthony Dawson). He languishes for years in a dungeon with his only human contact being the jailer's mute daughter (Yvonne Romaine) who grows up before his eyes. When she rejects the now decrepit zombie look marquis he has her thrown in the same dungeon as the old beggar. He rapes her and later she kills the marquis (quite viciously). She runs away and is taken in my a kindly aristocrat Alfredo (Clifford Evans) and his maid. The girl gives birth to a baby boy but dies. Unfortunately the baby was born on Christmas and according to the maid an unwanted child born on the 25^th is an insult to God. When the boy named Leon is baptized thunder sounds and the holy water swirls. A few years later Leon has nightmares and fangs and seems to kill sheep at night although a wild dog is blamed. He grows into a man (Oliver Reed) and leaves home. He gets a job bottling wine and meets Christina (Catherine Feller). They fall in love but while out partying with a co-worker Leon turns into a scary werewolf (slightly reminiscent of THE WEREWOLF OF LONDON) and kills the co-worker and a hooker. He's arrested and put in jail where his cellmate becomes a future victim. As a wolf he breaks out, kills some more and the townsfolk go after him. He takes refuge in a church where “dad” shoots a silver bullet through his heart. 

 This Technicolor Hammer production released in the US though Universal International was directed by the great Terence Fisher and written by Anthony Hinds who teamed several times for Hammer. It's based on a novel by Guy Endore  

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Hammer

CRESCENDO-1970-Susan Roberts (Stephanie Powers) goes to France and lives in the house of a dead composer to do research on his life. The place is overseen by the composer's strange mother Daneille (Margaretta Scott from the 1936 version of THINGS TO COME) and her wheelchair bound son Georges (James Olsen; in THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN the next year), a drug addict who has nightmares about making love to a mannequin. Their maid (Kristen Lindholm) gives him drugs and has sex with him. Meanwhile the family butler Carter (Joss Ackland) hangs around and calls the maid a slut. Later she's stab to death while taking a nude swim. Georges has another dream that he and Susan are shot while having sex. They kind of fall in love but it becomes apparent he can walk. There's another big twist in the insane mother's plan to get an heir. At the end, Susan just runs away.

Although this oddball mystery almost seems like an above average made for TV movie, it was actually made (in England) by Hammer studios and played on a double bill with DRACULA AD 1972. The original script was written years before and was a project Michael Reeves planned to make before his untimely death. Producer James Carreras tried unsuccessfully to get Joan Crawford in the role of the mother and later had Jimmy Sangster re-write it. Director Alan Gibson also made DRACULA AD 1972 and many BBC programs. It's a decent psychological thriller but the ending is a little abrupt. However the biggest surprise to me was that Powers who has a brief topless scene was in the Disney production THE BOATNIKS the same year! 

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It's the Pirate Life for Lee

PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER-1962-Huguenot John Standing (Kerwin Matthews) is sent to a penal colony after being convicted of adultery. He breaks stones, is whipped and hung by his wrists. He escapes but is picked up by a band of pirates lead by LeRosch (Christopher Lee with eye patch and French accent). His crew includes Peter Arne, Michael Ripper and Oliver Reed. John takes the pirates back to his village and no sooner do they get there when they kill one of John's friends. The pirates want to take over the village (where Andrew Keir plays a town elder) and the residents put up a good fight until the pirates capture the women and children. A treasure is found and John and his friend Henry (Glenn Corbett) team up to stop the invaders. Later the pirates revolt against LeRosch and he winds up impaled. No pirate ship is ever seen. 

This color Hammer production was directed (and co-written) by John Gilling who went on to make THE REPTILE and THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES for Hammer. And despite the fact that there's no sea faring this was a big hit in England. Hammer followed this with THE DEVIL SHIP PIRATES (also with Lee, Keir nad Ripper).  

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The Yeti

THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN OF THE HIMALAYAS-1957-Dr. John Rawlinson (Peter Cushing) a botanist doing research in the the Himalayas joins up with a boisterous American climber Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) to find the legendary Yeti. Friend wants to capture one alive and show it on US TV. Rawlinson just wants to prove it exists. There's a lot of climbing and soul searching and Friend turns out to be a cutthroat swindler. After a little Yeti they capture escapes (actually rescued) the group finds some large footprints. Later a big clawed hand appears sticking in their tent. Their guide goes mad when he sees one and runs away (but somehow makes it back to the village) and the head Lama there acts very mysterious. The Yetis seem to have some kind of mental power over the group who hear voices and do crazy things. After Friend is killed in an avalanche Rawlinson meets the snowmen and we get our only view of them too. Rawlinson's wife leads her own expedition and finds hubby nearly frozen to death. Nursed back to health the doctor now admits he was wrong. There is no Yeti waiting for man to die off.

When I was a kid my friends and I were always disappointed by the brief glimpse of the Yeti but today THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN holds up well despite this. The acting is great. Director Val Guest probably took a big chance in not showing too much of the creature in the monster laden age of the late '50's but he still does a good job of story telling. He also made ENEMY FROM SPACE the same year which was also penned by SNOWMAN's screenwriter Nigel Kneale. 

This Hammer production is based on a BBC TV drama entitled THE CREATURE (also written by Kneale).

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