Still unwell folks. 10 days now. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in soon so I don't cough and splutter allover Santa and his reindeer. I may end up on the naughty list!
In the meantime I've been watching films in between attempting some daily human activity. There's no-one here at Moonbase at the mo besides me and the mutt so it's a bit like quarantine.
So the films I've seen since last time I blogged are:
Vampire Circus: a classic Hammer fangfest set in that bat-ridden valley where Hammer's based. Some years after the local toothsome Count is vanquished and his castle taken off the market, a circus comes to town. Yes, a roadshow of panthers, tigers and chimps repleat with a buxom ringmaster, a strongman and clown dwarf. And yes, bloodsuckers too.
The strongman is Dave Prowse no less. Alas, this is another role where he didn't get to speak. His physical presence is memorable though, as he lifts the locals and flips the dwarf. Said dwarf is the late great Skip Martin, a mesmeric actor who simply steals the show whenever he's on. Here he plays a demented funny man, who helps the vamps get near the necks of the Burgermeister's daughter and anyone else. No-one can portray being completely unhinged like Skip.
Horror Hospital: another Skip Martin role in this deranged tale about lobotomising the hip youth of the Seventies. Yep, there's flares, long hair and denim jackets. That go-to randy rocker, Robin Askwith, gets up to his frisky tricks as he attempts to visit a health farm dreaming of 'birds'. Alas, the farm is run by a lunatic surgeon, who dreams of his own army of Stepford birds. Skip provides the humour as he welcomes the guests, serves them dinner and generally goofs around. What a star!
IT Part 1: this is the modern first part of the new IT. You know, Stephen King's Pennywise and his red balloons. Its a good film, which at over 2 and a half hours is useful. Besides the hard work put in by the child actors, the standout performance is Bill Skarsgard as the malignant clown who likes stuff to float. His voice is hypnotic!
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell: another Dave Prowse flick, this time he's portraying the hellish monster of the title. Alas, there's no Dave to be seen as the make-up and costume covers him entirely, good training I suppose for his later Vader role. The star of the show is Peter Cushing, Hammer;s leading man and as usual he's messing about with ikky stuff and stitching things together. I remember this film being covered in one of my Monster Mag's in the early Seventies. It seemed shocking at the time, a jar of eyeballs but there's worse in daytime TV nowadays!
Thearte of Blood: a classic slice of Vincent Price pudding thick with grue. I've always liked this film and his later and similar Dr. Phibes flicks. In all of them Price's character has been humiliated and his career destroyed. In Thearte of Blood he plays a Shakespearean actor, who admires his hamming-up of the Bard far more than the critics. He takes his life but ... returns to enact every murder in Billy Shakespeare's works. It takes a while. Ian Hendry also stars, an actor I always enjoy seeing.
That's it for now. As its Friday night I shall go in search of a 'big' movie for me and the mutt to watch now.
Sounds like you had a really tough time there for a while, I do hope all is now well.
ReplyDeleteHowever - Theatre of Blood - you did not even mention the wonderful Diana Rigg as Edwina Lionheart, daughter of Edward Lionheart, who was just as demented as her daddy. Honestly, the film was a bit gruesome for me. I prefer my horror movies to be fun rather than grisly. In Dr Phibles Vincent Price sets out to kill those he holds responsible for the death of his wife.
How could I forget Diana Rigg!
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