I conclude my yearlong exploration of classic horror with Hammer Films 1959 adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. Following the death of Sir Charles Baskerville, Dr. Richard Mortimer (Francis de Wolff) seeks the assistance of Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) to protect the remaining Baskerville heir Sir Henry (Christopher Lee) from the apparent curse placed upon the…
I’m continuing with Hammer Films this month, as I look at their version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. After inheriting his family’s wealth, Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) uses the money to fund his research, assisted by his longtime friend and tutor Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart). However, Paul becomes increasingly concerned when Victor becomes obsessed with creating a new…
Earlier this year, I wrote about the Univeral Monster films from the early 1930s. Now I shall fast-forward to the late 1950s when a number of those monster films were remade by a British film production company known as Hammer Films. I shall begin my look at Hammer Films with their 1958 version of Dracula,…
This month I cover not one, but two areas of classic horror, as I wrap up my mini retrospective of Vincent Price films with 1959’s House on Haunted Hill, directed by infamous horror maestro William Castle. Frederick Loren (Price) invites a group of five strangers over to an allegedly haunted house for his wife Annabelle’s (Carol…
This month, I continue with the films of Vincent Price and one of this most well-known films. One night, François Delambre (Price) receives a call from his sister-in-law Helene (Patricia Owens) confessing that she killed her husband Andre (Al Hedison) in a mechanical press. In defense of this supposed murder, Helene tells François and Inspector Charas…
This month I will begin covering films from horror icon Vincent Price, beginning with 1953’s House of Wax. Prof. Henry Jarrod (Price) is the sculptor and curator of a wax museum in 1890s New York. Jarrod’s business partner Matthew Burke (Roy Roberts) sets fire to the wax museum to collect the insurance money and Jarrod is…
I’m back to talking about the Universal Monsters this month as I checked out 1932’s The Mummy. On an Egyptian archaeological expedition in 1921, led by Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron), the mummified remains of ancient Egyptian priest Imhotep (Boris Karloff) are unearthed. When a scroll accompanying the mummy is read by Sir Jospeph’s assistant,…
There’s a slight change of plans with this month’s blindspot selection, with me opting to jump ahead and watch Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s King Kong, instead of my originally scheduled pick of The Mummy. It’s a bit of a stretch to lump King Kong in with my theme of classic horror, with the film…
Continuing with the Universal Monsters, this month I delve into James Whale’s Frankenstein. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) has secluded himself as he seeks to create new life out of exhumed human remains, assisted by his hunchback assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye). Frankenstein succeed in bring life to a creature (Boris Karloff), however quickly finds that this monster is…
This month I move away from silent horror and into the heyday of Universal Studio’s monster films, as I watched 1931’s Dracula. Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) is an ancient vampire from Transylvania, who travels to England with his lunatic slave Renfield (Dwight Frye) and moves into Carfax Abbey in London. The Abbey is next door to…
