Sunday 13 December 2020

THREE MORE MOVIES

Yes, its another non-space-toy post. This one's about films I've seen last week. Between work and looking after our Grandkids its my late night relief at the mo.

The Creeping Flesh: I've wanted to see this 1973 Tigon shocker again for years and there it was on You Tube! Yay! Starring the magnetic Peter Cushing and Chris Lee, it concerns a prehistoric skeleton, which regenerates when wet. Throw in some mad Victorian science and gentleman rivalry and you have a classic bunsen burner. The creature reminds me of the thing in Horror Express and the deranged physics is on a par with the Asphyx.

Willard: This original version of the flick from 1971 concerns rats. Lots of rats. Willard is the name of the young man that befriends them and ultimately controls them for his nefarious means. The lead Bruce Davison will be well-known to Marvel fans as he appeared in the first X-Men movie as the doomed Senator who liquidises on the beach. "This Jean Gray" is a line I recall. Willard was very enjoyable and also had strong performances from Ernest Borgnine and Frankenstein's Bride Elsa Lanchester. It was followed by the movie Ben.

The Stepford Wives: I enjoyed this and remember seeing it decades ago. From 1975, Wives is about the robotisation of women and was a satire of the American male's vision of the perfect wife. It stars Katherine Ross as the skeptical wife, who uncovers this heinous scheming of the Men's Association in the quiet village of Stepford. She does a great job and like Rosemary's Baby its a convincing descent into middle-class madness. Ross also starred in another fave of mine, The Legacy, which featured Roger Daltry and the gravelly Sam Elliott.

Have you seen any of these readers?

8 comments:

  1. I like all three of those movies, and in fact The Stepford Wives was partially filmed right in my neighborhood, in Westport, CT. My parents and I went to see the shooting of some exterior scenes, I recall. But my fave of the three is The Creeping Flesh, a fantastic movie I had not caught up with until recently. Great, great stuff. I like all the Amicus and Tigon thrillers, and some (not all) of the Hammer films. I think I mentioned earlier the wife and I are revisiting all the Amicus anthologies, which are so nostalgic for us. We saw several at the drive-in or in the theater, and the rest on the telly.

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    1. Hey thats fab you got to see The Stepfords being filmed Zigg! What fun! Ira Levin was such a clever writer. Glad you like Creeping Flesh too. I was interested in these locations that have been identified in Southern England https://www.reelstreets.com/films/creeping-flesh-the/

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  2. Yep to tbe Stepford Wives. I've tried watching it a few times over the years, probably seen the full film 3 times, but find it a bit slow. No to tbe others. After reading the plot of The Creeping Flesh on wiki, I think I need to go seek it out. Its certainly the sort of horror film that I used to watch late night on the beeb, but have absolutely no memory of it. Any horror flick with Cushing, Lee or Price in it was eagerly lapped up by a young Timmy Toad.

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    1. Did you watch the Creeping Flesh Toad?

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  3. Seen (and enjoyed) all 3 particularly The Legacy (not least because I'm a Who fanatic and Roger Daltrey is one of my heroes)
    Fenton

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    1. I like The Who too Fenton. Saw them about 20 years ago in Sheffield. My older sister saw them in the early 70's! By pure chance I now own one of John Entwistles books. On Japanese Arms and Armour. A beatiful big book. Have u got the Live in Leeds LP?

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    2. I have (vynyl and extended cd).
      I'm lucky enough to have seen them live around the world pretty much every year since the 1989 reunion tour.
      I was at Bonham's for the John Entwistle auction - his outstanding collection of basses and guitars, arms and armour, jewellery and watches, oh and stuffed game fish !(Marlin , Barracuda etc) - sadly everything was out of my price range (particularly when the Hard Rock Café board of directors were sitting in the front row buying up 90% of the Lott's !) :+(
      Fenton

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    3. Oddly enough I picked up another rocker's possession Fenton, an issue of Monster World, the comic, owned by one Screaming Lord Sutch. It came with a letter of authenticity. he was a big horror fan too.

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