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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Early Hammer

 

THE FOUR SIDED TRIANGLE-1953-Lena (Barbara Payton), Bill (Stephan Murray) & Robin (John Van Eyssen) are childhood friends in a small English village. Lena goes off to America while brainy Bill goes to Cambridge and Robin goes to head his Uncle's factory. Years later the disillusioned Lena returns to find the guys working on a secret scientific project. The story is narrated by local sawbones Dr. Harvey (James Hayter) who believes the guys are onto something and sells his practice to back them. After a lot of hard work the men finish and reveal their new invention to Harvey, a machine called "The Duplicator" which seems to be able to reproduce any object perfectly. They have great plans for humanity and Robin's father pitches it to the government. But all is not well. Bill is in love with Lena but doesn't know her feelings. He asks Doc to "probe" her. However before that can happen Robin & Lena get married! Shattered, Bill tries to keep his upper lip stiff but Lena suspects something. 

While Lena and Robin are honeymooning Bill experiments with guinea pigs to try and replicate a living being. After he succeeds it's obvious what he wants to do. When Lena comes back to set up house while Robin is still in London she agrees to be duplicated and it works. Bill gets his own version of Lena who he names Helen (also Payton). After frolicking in the country for a while it's clear Helen isn't in love with Bill and tries to drown herself. A fiery climax resolves this early Hammer production, directed by the great Terence Fisher a few years before his famous horror films. The acting, script and direction are first rate but the story despite it's sci-fi trappings is really just the usual love triangle.

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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 Stribling), Holcomb's wife asks Van Helsing for a second opinion. He suggests putting garlic around 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 dif-ferently. 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 FRANKEN-STEIN; also with Cushing & Lee) and would go to make REVENGE OF FRANKEN-STEIN 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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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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Early Lom

THE DARK TOWER-1943-A failing English circus owned by American Phil Danton (Phil Lyon; a huge silent screen star also known as the co-star of Howard Hughes' early talkie HELL'S ANGELS) hires Torg (Herbert Lom in his first major starring role) a timid hypnotist to increase revenue. Torg can control lions and later helps trapeze artist Mary (Anne Crawford,, a popular screen and early English TV star who died in 1956 of leukemia) with her act. Almost immediately Torg changes into a over demanding egoist who wants to be a partner in the circus. Mary's boyfriend Tom (David Farrar) gets jealous but when Torg expresses his love for Mary she rebukes him and says Tom is her only love. So Torg hypnotizes Mary into sabotaging the act by having Tom fall to his death. It partially works but Tom doesn't die. Later Phil fires Torg but he threatens to take the hypnotized Mary with him. When Torg is killed, Phil seems to be the culprit but in the twist ending a different killer is revealed. 

Future Dr. Who William Hartnell plays Jim, the publicity agent. It's based on a play by George Kaufman and Alexander Woolcott which had been produced as a US feature in 1934 called THE MAN WITH TWO FACES featuring Edward G. Robinson, Louis Calhern and Mary Astor. This film noir-ish psychological thriller was directed by John Harlow. Future director Terence Fisher was the editor.

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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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Robin Hood

THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST-1960-Robin Hood (Richard Greene; future Nayland Smith in the Chris Lee/Fu Manchu series) and his merry men protect a mysterious traveler wanted as a dangerous criminal by The Sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Cushing) who offers one merry man a pardon if he'll talk and when he does the sheriff has him killed anyway. The sheriff is after a silver medallion the traveler has. Maid Marian (Sarah Branch), a comical Friar Tuck (Niall McGuiness), Little John (Nigel Greene; another Nayland Smith) et.al are all there to help. 

Later Robin meets Lord Newark (Richard Pasco) and his band of un-merry men including the falcon loving Lord Melton (Oliver Reed). Newark wants Robin to assassinate The Archbishop of Canterbury (Jack Gwillam). When this fails, the lord and his men attack a nunnery where the bishop and Marian are hiding out. The sheriff won't go along with the plan so Melton knifes him. The finale sword battle takes place in the nunnery's church. Most of the sword play is bad especially when Marian is tossed a sword and she fights off an attack side saddled! 

There's several other story lines that don't even involve Robin giving it the feel of a condensed TV series. 

This Hammer production was filmed in Ireland by Terence Fisher (who made the much better BRIDES OF DRACULA with Cushing the same year) after the end of the original TV series that starred Richard Greene.  

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Jekyll & Hyde

THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL-1960-In 1847 London Henry Jekyll (Paul Massie) is a disgraced doctor trying to discover "man as he would be". He's a loner who ignores his wife Kitty (Dawn Addams who was in Lang's THE 1000 EYES OF DR. MABUSE' the same year) and experiments on a monkey. Meanwhile Kitty is carrying on an affair with Jekyll's neer do well friend Paul (Christopher Lee). Somehow bearded, long haired, weird looking Jekyll becomes clean shaven, handsome Mr. Hyde who goes dancing and sees Paul and Kitty enjoying themselves. He dances with the unsuspecting  Kitty and nearly kills a dance hall bully(un-billed Oliver Reed). Later after making it with a snake charmer Hyde goes on a wild romp (including opium smoking) with Paul. Then extracting his revenge he sics the snake on Paul. When Kitty sees her illicit lover dead she fails to her own death. Hyde then strangles the snake charmer. Just when it seems like Hyde will literally get away with murder he reverts to Jekyll and dies.

Many times "new" interpretations of classic stories turn out to be boring and uninspired. Not so with Hammer's TWO FACES which thanks to the master of British horror Terence Fisher becomes an interesting and thought provoking take on Stevenson's Jekyll/Hyde story line. The acting and direction are excellent. The major flaw is the weird transformation of Hyde from Jekyll. Screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz later wrote the 1967 version of CASINO ROYALE. Director Fisher made BRIDES OF DRACULA and SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST the same year. Lee, who would later star in another Jekyll & Hyde film I, MONSTER  made CITY OF THE DEAD (HORROR HOTEL) the same year.

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Hammer In India

THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY-1959-This black and white Hammer production takes place in India in the 1830's when the country was still under British control. Capt. Harry Lewis (Guy Rolfe who starred DR. SARDONICUS the next year) investigates the disappearance of caravans belonging to the East India Company. The culprits are The Thuggees,a murderous cult that worship the god Kali and strangle their victims with "the sacred cloth". 

It's fairly gruesome for the time with eyes burned out,severed hands, torture and Lewis staked to the ground while a cobra attacks. Alan Cuthberson is the pompous Captain who's actually in charge and Roger Delgado (the first Master on the original DR.WHO) has an un-credited role. Director Terence Fisher made THE MUMMY,THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH and THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES the same year. Screenwriter David Zelag Goodman later wrote STRAW DOGS,LOGAN'S RUN and other high profile productions. 

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The Devil's Bride Rides Out

THE DEVIL'S BRIDE-1968-Excellent black magic tale from Hammer features Christopher Lee as The Duc de Richleau, on the side of good for a change trying to save the soul of his deceased friend's son (Patrick Mower) from the evil Mocata (Charles Gray) and his circle of devil worshippers. Nike Arrighi is Tanith, another would be convert and after she dies Mocata wants to transfer her soul to a little girl. Even a winged angel of death makes an appearance. It's very well made by the great Terence Fisher but some might be disappointed by the very happy ending. Lee's serious tone keeps everything from falling apart but some of the characters act a little to hasty playing right into the villains' hands. Also with Leon Greene and Paul Eddington.

The screenplay is by Richard Matheson and based on an novel by Dennis Wheatley. 1968 was another busy year for Lee who also starred in DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE, CURSE OF THE CRIMSON ALTAR and THE BLOOD OF FU-MANCHU. Also known as THE DEVIL RIDES OUT.

"I shall not be back but something will..tonight..."

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