Wanted for dissertation: Hammer Fans of a certain age

I just got contacted by Joshua Searle who is a student at Portsmouth University and currently writing a dissertation concerning the Hammer Horror films of the 1950s and 1960s. He is very much interested in learning more about the initial audience reception when the movies were first released and is interested in interviewing anyone who may have watched those in the cinema during that time.

Please find below some more infos by Joshua about his requirements. Needless to say this is a very worthwhile cause and I hope that he can find some possible interview partners through this blog post:

"At the moment I am working on a research project concerning the Hammer Horror films that were released between 1950-1970. Movies like Dracula (1958) and The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) were very popular in their day and my project's main aim is to find out why this was. Nowadays it is very important that this type of research contains audience reception and so I need to interview people who went to see these films at the cinema. The study is also, broadly speaking, looking at the experience of going to cinema and how it changed after The Second World War.


In 100 years time people will look back on memories that are orally recorded with the same fascination that we would if we had the chance to examine the testimony of people from 1912. So if you went to see these films, or know someone who might have, and would be interested in sharing your memories about both them and your cinema-going experience please contact me by on 07518401791, or by email at shl90734@myport.ac.uk.


Thank you for reading, Josh."

Vielen Dank, Herr Coniam

If you recently noticed a stratospherical jump in the quality of writing on this blog, then this is down entirely to one man:

Matthew Coniam

A while back as part of a Year End review I had asked whether anyone out there may be interested in writing for Hammer and Beyond and Matthew came to the fore. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that my little call to arms would result in such sterling contributions.

Anytime you see a really in-depth analysis of one aspect of British Horror Cinema, chances are that it was written by him. Over the months, nay: years, I often got compliments for pieces that weren't mine and had to set the record straight one reader at a time but I fear that all too often it isn't too apparent who wrote what. One really needs to be eagle-eyed and scroll down to the bottom of a blog post to notice the ID of the respective writer of the posts.

Up till recently the regularity of his and my writing was as it should be: I, as the nominal owner of this blog, wrote a handful of pieces; Matthew then had his say in a new post. I was always excited to be notified of a post by him as it put me into the position of a reader as well.

Then life came in the way and I haven't been able to post in yonks. In actual fact if it wasn't for Matthew nothing would have been published in the last couple of months. He singlehandedly is responsible for keeping this blog alive in the year so far. Every single post of 2012 until now has been his.

And for this I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart. This blog would have been moribund right now if it wasn't for you, mate.

See (now channeling my Dick Klemensen), amongst other nightmares that I won't go into here, 3.5 years ago I had to face being laid off from a well-paid job of 13 years. Not interested in getting back into the Kosmokokkick Korporate World I ended up becoming self employed and – as they say these days - “re-invented myself”.

First I set myself up as a private German Tutor and seasonal Tour Guide. Then I got myself a Massage Therapist degree and also offered mobile massages.

All of this went reasonably well but also left me enough time for all my other interests.

Downside was that every year in the winter months I had to dip into my savings, something that couldn't go on so I decided to take a temp job back in the Corporate World again to cover me over that lean period. And guess what:

I am still in that job full time.

And teach.

And provide the massages.

All in all resulting in crazy 60-70 hour weeks that I know can't go on indefinitely.

Looks like it is all either feast or famine with me these days and I need to come up with a reasonable middle way. Giving up on my projects is a definite No No but unfortunately regular part time jobs are practically impossible to come by. So I am working on my.... what is it now: Plan E?

Long story short: I am crazy busy and Matthew has valiantly picked up the gauntlet for me.

As my multi-million Euro/Pound/Dollar budget for this blog was slashed to nothing in the recession, I can't offer him riches or trips to sunny climes. But what I can offer is make you aware of the incredible talent that is Mr Coniam by listing all the posts he has written for us so far and pointing to all his other blogs with the urgent request to check them all out. I seriously don't know how he manages to write so much while still apparently living the regular life of a recently married family man. My hat's off to you!

Without further ado, here is a quick reference guide to all of Matthew's blog posts so far:

Rediscovering Mike Raven (part one)

Mock the Raven Nevermore!

Smart new Woman In Black poster...

Lee and Cushing after hours

Matthew's Watching Hammer Top Ten

How to say “De curse of de hound is on you!” in Italian

The ten Hammer films I’m most ashamed never to have seen (not including “Straight On Till Morning”)

RIP, Jimmy Sangster: The man who invented Hammer Horror

RIP Michael Gough, 1917-2011

Hammer what ifs and if onlys

“What Horror Means To Me” by Christopher Lee

The Stranger Came Home to Bray

Herman Cohen: An American Weirdo in London

If you want to read more of his, please also check out his own blogs. (Again: Just how does he do it?)

So thanks again, Matthew, I really am eternally grateful for all your help and hope that everyone who visits this blog will also start exploring all your other projects.

Oh, and should anyone be interested to follow in his footsteps and write something for Hammer and Beyond (either a standalone piece or something more regular), please do let me know. This blog is meant to be a voice for anyone interested in Classic Hammer and British Horror.

Time to Make up my Mind

For the time being this blog will stay PG.

The replies I got with regards to my query were along the following lines:

• Hell, yeah! (Love that enthusiasm.)
• Don't worry what others think, this is your blog so do what you feel is right.
• General comments, questions, concerns as to whether the adult shield may deter people from accessing the blog (especially from work) or whether this may impact findability through Google

Thanks to all who replied.

More importantly than the range of comments, however, was the number. 

Cause there weren't all that many.

I'm always surprised about what causes people to comment (here, on Facebook or Twitter). Write a little facetious remark and still get comments days later; write something important, and you may not see that much.

I am the last person to expect others to leave comments. Comments generally indicate the level of involvement with a certain issue and should never be expected by anyone. So if I see that the nudity issue doesn't result in a string of feedback then that is indication for me that it's pretty much a non-issue for my readers. I probably could go either way without offending or enticing anyone but without a particularly strong need I think I better say: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." and will simply continue the way I've operated since the beginning.

I reserve the right to change my decision at some point in the future but for now I am happy to leave things as they are and have always been.

Keep this blog PG rated? - Feedback required

The first time I set up a Hammer website was sometime in the late 90s. It was entirely devoted to Hammer Glamour and by and large nothing more than a collection of pictures from those actresses often in various stages of undress. I did also write something like an Internet diary then but without blogging software this was hard coded even though I still pride myself of the fact that I came up with a blog-like idea before it was all en vogue.

The trouble was that I must have unwittingly broken rules by my then-website provider as from one day to the other the site was off the air and I could never get a reply from my host as to the reasons for that. I had suspected that a certain someone may have ratted on me about the site but couldn't prove it... but that is neither here nor there.

After sulking about the demise of that site I eventually decided to start another Hammer Glamour site hosted elsewhere. That site has now also been taken offline but at my own accord as this blog really has proven way more successful in relaying all my Hammer related ramblings. I had, however, then made a conscious decision to keep the site PG rated and focus more on writing about the movies and the actresses. So no nudity of any kind was allowed there.

When I moved to Blogger I kept that policy. Though occasionally titillating at the moment all the posts and pictures are pretty much work safe and child friendly.  Over the years I learned that Blogger seems to be OK with posting some more risque stuff provided the blog is hosted as an "adult" blog. I especially enjoy the Casual (Un)Dress Friday posts that my buddy David Z posts over at his own blog.

Posting my latest entry about Marie Devereux got me thinking again as most of the pics I have of her from my collection are of the slightly naughty variety that at the moment I am not publishing here.

Question is: Should I occasionally post some more of those kinds of photos?

If I did I'd have to change my blog to an adult blog. This shouldn't make a huge difference to any of my readers who all seem to be clearly adults and are often quite considerably over the legal age and have probably all seen that, done that and bought the T-Shirt to prove it.

If you read these posts from a blog reader you really wouldn't notice a difference, however, anytime you were going to access my blog posts directly you'd get a content warning that you would just need to accept before you are allowed to get to the blog. So really just one slightly annoying click more.

I'd have no trouble continuing the way I did up till now but would like your input whether you would also be OK to get a few more revealing posts every once in a while. Does it annoy you to have to click the content warning? What are experiences from other blog owners: Does it cost readers? Does it gain readers? Did you ever get into trouble with Blogger? What I will never do is post photos with the vital parts blacked out cause that is just pure lame.

Feedback would be greatly appreciated either via the comment section below or through Facebook or Twitter.

Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave

These days there are less and less new comics that generally excite me. In actual fact my subscriptions for my local comic shop have gradually trickled down to a big fat nothing. Don't get me wrong: I still read comics, but these days it is primarily reprints or second hand comics from comic history's Bronze Age.

Monsterverse's upcoming new release Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave, however, is one anthology comic I just need to have. This 48-page issue will be in the comic shops on November 03 and retail at $4.99.

This issue will feature stories and art by Kerry Gammill, James Farr, Chris Moreno, John Cassaday, Rob Brown, Derek McCaw, Rafael Navarro, Martin Powell, Terry Beatty and Brian Denham. The contribution I am most looking forward to is Bruce Timms. For Little Shoppe of Horrors he has drawn some of Hammer's sexiest babes and if I can judge by prerelease images has gone on to draw Vampira (or some Vampira lookalike) for this comic. Oh, and you can also expect an article by leading Lugosi researcher and author Gary D. Rhodes.

If I was living anywhere near Hollywood I know where I'd be on October 28 when there will be a release party for this project at the American Cinematheque in the world famous Hollywood Egyptian Theater.

This is a premiere issue and stories in future issues will likely be written by cult stars such as John Landis, Joe Dante and Rick Baker.

Interview with Simon Oakes, CEO of Hammer Films

Just off Skype with Simon Oakes, CEO of Hammer Films, who kindly agreed to a little interview about the company and the projects they are currently involved in. LET ME IN, Hammer's first theatrical release in more than 30 years, will be in UK cinemas by November 05. And despite my previous issues with the concept, I am now actually really looking forward to it. Folks whose opining I generally value and who have already had a chance to watch this are raving about it and even calling it the best vampire movie of the century so far.

Not too long and we will all be able to judge for ourselves.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy the interview with Simon who comes across as a really nice bloke who is obviously very passionate about the projects Hammer is currently dealing with.

The 2010 Star Costumes Horror Scholarship

I know that lots of my readers are also very creative people and in various capacities involved in creating horror genre entries. As such I was delighted to hear that Starcostumes  have now created a Horror Scholarship worth $1000. Check out their scholarship application page for more details. Good luck to all participants! It's an awesome opportunity!

Stunningly Savage's Hammer inspired artwork

Do yourself a favour, folks, and wander over to the Stunningly Savage website and marvel at the tremendous artwork dedicated to Hammer. The main gallery is this one, though this one here also has some awesome art for Hammer Fans. A word of warning: Some of these may not be quite work safe.

Most of them are available for sale as prints so if you ever feel like showing your appreciation to this humble blogger, you know what to do.

'Nuff said.

And now for something completely different.....

OK, this has nothing remotely to do with the general topics of this blog, but what the heck.

Yesterday I watched The Usual Suspects for the very first time in full. I had previously attempted to see it but switched off after about 20 minutes or so as I couldn't find anything remotely interesting in it. After hearing about the production time and time again over the last couple of years I finally decided to give the movie yet another try to see what this is all about, but – lo and behold – I still don't get it.

Here are some of the points that left me scratching my head. (Though no names will be given, the way how this is discussed will reveal to any but the most braindead who I am talking about. So if you're one of the two people interested in seeing this who hasn't watched it yet, read no further.)

• Kayzer Soze. The big elephant in the room. What's the deal with him? After all I heard I thought he'd be a quasi-demonic presence throughout the entire picture. The yardstick I would measure this against for me is The Third Man where Harry Lime doesn't even appear until way into the second half, yet his evil presence permeates every minute of the movie from the very start on. Here? Apart from one or two utterances Kayzer Soze doesn't even feature prominently at all until halfway through the film. And even then I never really got anything like a Third Man feel for the character.
• Who is Kayzer Soze? Well, this hardly was a mystery at all given that from the start we only really had one surviving member of the group. I kept on telling myself that surely this is way too easy and some major surprise may be in store. But, nay, it was indeed the only survivor. Bit of an anti-climax that one, methinks.
• Chazz Palminteri's character at the end discovers from a look at his notice board that he was fed a whole bunch of lies. It appears that events and characters were invented by looking at coffee cups, mug shots etc. Yet, we as viewers have seen these events taking place in flashbacks! Now there is a well established movie making 101 rule that says that flashbacks need to always tell the truth. They may sometimes show one person's interpretation of the truth (e.g. Kurosawa's Rashomon) but even then we can accept that these were events how the characters saw them. Making up flashback scenes that never happened that way is not clever. At all. It is a major audience cheat and totally disingenious. And completely unworthy of a critically acclaimed picture such as this one. The remake of My Bloody Valentine was mauled over a similar plot device that wasn't anywhere as intrusive as what's in store for this production.
• The sting. Or should I say stings? If this was meant to be anything like a proper heist movie, then it failed big time. Cause the big movie stings always involve intricate planning and a few surprises up the sleeve. Here we don't have one sting but a series of them, none of them very intricate as all that was required was show up and point a gun, get the loot and be gone.
• The characters weren't exactly very involving. Can I quote a single line of dialogue a day after seeing the film? Nope. Not a one.

So....... is The Usual Suspects one of the most overrated films of all time?

Discuss!

Phantopia Filmprograms

I came across a bunch of Phantopia Filmprogramme today that I had half forgotten I had. In contrast to the classic German Illustrierte Filmprogramme that were sold when the movies were released in the cinemas, these were produced years and often decades following the release of the film. They are 4-page A5 booklets with some photos, synopses and reviews of the various productions. There is also a similar series of Phantopia Portraits featuring a quick overview over some of the most important artists of the fantastic genre.

I bought all of mine in the early 1990s and thought that, with the advent of the Internet, they were no longer being made.

So imagine my surprise when I just discovered that these programs are still being produced and are still thriving, having now reached more than 800 issues that can be ordered here.

Anyway I did a quick scan of the issues I have that may be of interest to the Hammer aficionado. I hope you enjoy these otherwise little reported collectibles.

Ask me anything.... seriously go ahead

Announcing new guest blogger for Hammer and Beyond

I am very pleased to announce that Matthew from Carfax Abbey has volunteered to provide regular monthly guest posts for Hammer and Beyond. He contacted me about this following my year end post and I was only too delighted to see him on board.

I have followed Matthew's blog for a while and he is an excellent writer covering a variety of horror movie related subjects and has written a lot on Hammer lately. He is also somewhat of a Blogaholic and besides Carfax Abbey also has blogs dedicated to classic cinema, Dennis Wheatley and The Marx Brothers. So definitely a man to my heart.

Needless to say I am quite excited to see what posts he will come up with for us here. His plan is to provide some themed pieces about once a month about Hammer's rival studios, independent Brit-horror producers, notable personnel and of course anything just on Hammer that crops up.

While we're at it: I would always welcome other guest bloggers either for regular columns or for the occasional guest post. The more the merrier. As you may have noticed I am not the most proficient writer yet there is still so much to be covered in the area of Hammer or general Brit or even Classic Horror. So if you feel that there is anything you would like to contribute, be my guest.

Hammer and Beyond awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award

Nothing says “a good start to a New Year” more than being awarded with a Blogger Award. Rhonny Reaper from the Dollar Bin Horror Blog awarded the Kreativ Blogger award to Hammer and Beyond. Thanks a million, Rhonny. That really made my day. Hell, it even made my year. So far.

These are rules associated with the award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated

So without further ado, here are 7 things about me:

1.I have recently started learning Japanese. And while we're at it: I also started a Massage Therapy course last year that will have me certified in September.
2.I once shook the hands of someone who shook the hands of someone who was going to shake the hands with someone who shook the hands of Lenin.
3.I once got my arse burnt on a nudist beach in Germany. Very embarrassing.
4.For the longest time of my life I didn't do any sports, but for the last two years have started running and Kickboxing. Longest run so far was a 15 miles race between Cork and Cobh. Maybe this year I'll finally crack a Marathon.
5.I love travelling. Don't care whether it's near of far, but I am happiest whenever I am on the road. Favourite country: Italy. Have been there numerous times since I was a teenager and have still only seen a fraction of what it has to offer.
6.I am absolutely useless at DIY. Contrary to what the Blonde has to say: I CAN put a nail into the wall. But that's about as far as it goes.
7.Don't mind spiders, mice, snakes or other creepy crawlies, but absolutely hatehateHATE jelly fish.

As for nominating another 7 Bloggers. That's a tough one. There are so many good blogs out there, but I'll go with the following (in alphabetical order):

1.Divine Exploitation
2.Final Girl

3.Frankensteinia
4.The Groovy Age of Horror
5.I'm In A Jess Franco State of Mind
6.Marisa Mell
7.Tomb It May Concern

Thanks again for this award, Rhonny. Looking forward to a good year here at Hammer and Beyond. I will very soon be able to announce my first regular guest writer. So stay tuned.

Looking back at 2009

I am really looking forward to 2010, not so much because I am looking forward TO something but to leave the last two years behind that on a personal level have been very traumatic for me. Those of you who know me well know what I am referring to. Those of you who don't, well, let's just say I am not going to winge publicly.

But what did 2009 bring with regards to Hammer.... and Beyond? Let's have a look at the last 12 months.

January

I started the year with the 999 Challenge: Watch 9 movies from 9 categories in 2009 and blog about them. And soon made a hames of it.

I still think it was a fab idea, but for whatever reasons I never really got around to it much. A bunch of others also attempted this challenge, none more so than Mermaid Heather who took to it like, ahem, a mermaid takes to water. At this time she is just a handful of reviews short of finishing the challenge and I have no doubt that by end of this year she'll have concluded it. Damn, I'm so proud of that girl. Well done, Heather!

Wayne Kinsey's Hammer Films: A Life in Pictures came out at the end of last year. My review was up in January.

The British TOTAL FILM magazine put this blog forward for their Annual Blog Awards in the Horror Category. I didn't quite make it to first spot, but was equally delighted to take a proud second place.

Guest posts:

Been writing regularly for the Den of Geek, but my overview over the Top 10 Lesbian Vampire Movies was by far the most fun to write. I wonder why.....

February

I started another blog dedicated to Krimi movies and offloaded some short reviews that I had written over the years. I haven't done much with it since but plan on revisiting it again sometime. After all this is one of my favourite genres.

February also marked the month when I joined Twitter. It was a bit of rough start. Didn't initially “get it” and didn't tweet much, but then got hooked. The rest, as they, say is history.

Guest posts:

Den of Geek:
Man of Rock – Joe Kubert Biography book review
Watch Me When I Kill review

March

I may not have won the Total Film blog award, but I did end up winning the Premio Dardos Award, a truly amazing concept: a non existing award handed out in virtuality by real life bloggers. It doesn't get more post modern than that.

Dick Klemensen managed to publish not just one, but two editions of his excellent Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine this year. Issue #22 came out in March and was dedicated to Hammer's modern day Draculas. Even better: Hammer Historian Denis Meikle is now offering this magazine (as well as a number of others) from his new store in England thereby saving all us Europeans some of the postage fees that were usually associated with ordering it from Dick directly.

April

Guest Posts:

I started participating in DVD Trash's Weekly (or not so weekly) Roundtables. Come to think of it: What happened to those?
Den of Geek: Stone review

May

My favourite month by far. I had the chance to not only review Shane Briant's latest novel Worst Nightmares, but also to ask the Hammer actor a couple of questions. How cool is that? Being able to communicate not just with all you guys but also with some of the leading stars and the creative talent behind the old Hammer movies is a wonderful opportunity that makes this blog so much fun for me to run.

Guest Posts:

Den of Geek:
Baba Yaga Review
Boogeyman 3 Review
Hit and Run Review

June

The month for Christopher Lee related news: First his Dracula cape got auctioned off, then he receives a well deserved Knighthood and is announced as one of the stars in Hammer's new movie, The Resident, that is due to come out in 2010.

July

On July 25 Don Fearney staged another one of his fabulous Hammer events, this time dedicated to John Carson. I wasn't there, but I heard it was great.

Guest Posts:

DVD Trash:
The Hostess also likes to Blow the Horn
Reflections of Light

August

Guest Posts:

Den of Geek: No Man's Land Mystery DVD review

September

The kind of book I always dreamed about when I first started writing for the Internet, setting up Hammer Glamour related websites etc has finally come out: Marcus Hearn's Hammer Glamour was published for Titan Books and it is a good, but not great addition to the ever growing pile of Hammer literature available.

October

Little Shoppe of Horrors #23 became available, dedicated to Hammer's Cornish horror movies. How do I spell “Must Have” again?

Guest posts:

Contributed the Twitter related question for Den of Geek's interview with Greg Grunberg.
Groovy Age of Horror: Review of Brad Mengel's Serial Vigilantes of Paperback Fiction

November

November 2009. Otherwise also known as the month the Internet imploded under the combined weight of Frankensteinia's Boris Karloff Blogathon. More than 100+ blogger contributed and produced hundreds of Karloff related blog posts in the week of his birthday. A massive achievement. And here's my entry.

Guest posts:

Den of Geek: One Man and His Dog Mystery DVD review

December

I nice end of the year when I received some private and rare photos of Imogen Hassall on holidays and in a ballet. That's the kind of stuff I love showing up on this blog.

Guest Posts:

Den of Geek: Silent Night Deadly Night review

Anything I forgot? Likely.... I haven't even mentioned the various DVD releases yet, mainly because I am always the last to buy them.

What's planned for 2010?

No idea yet. Following the 999 Challenge I am reluctant to make any predictions or plans. I am, however, contemplating an episode by episode guide to Hammer's rare Journey to the Unknown TV series.

I also wouldn't mind taking on guest posts from other folks or even signing on regular new contributors to this blog. Anyone interested in writing about Hammer or Brit Horror in general? Just give me a holler. You know where to find me.

Not sure if I'll manage some more blog posts before the end of the year (probably not), so I let me take this opportunity to wish all my readers

a Very Merry Christmas and a Fabulous New Year!

Merry Christmas

I just received this wonderful eCard that I just had to share. It's so good.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Goodbye Waldemar Daninsky! Paul Naschy R.I.P.

My buddies at the Eurotrash Paradise Group alerted me to this Spanish language obituary. It appears Paul Naschy passed away this morning at the age of 75.

Born Jacinto Molina this Spanish Wrestler over the decades was going to become Spain's most influential cult actor. The fact that he played classic monsters such as werewolves, mummies, Dracula, Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde, The Phantom of the Opera, The Devil, Frankenstein's Monster and many more – often several in one single production – earned him the nickname “the Spanish Lon Chaney”.

Though I must admit that I was never his greatest admirer I always appreciated the enthusiasm he brought into his creations. Whatever his films may have been lacking in production values, he more than made up for it in pure passion. Naschy was first and foremost a fanboy by heart who probably could never believe his luck that he was allowed to make a career out of his admiration of the classic Universal Horror movies. Though clearly influenced by the old black and white Hollywood movies, Naschy managed to create his unique Iberian vision fuelled with blood, gore, frequent nudity and monster mashes that were only too appropriate given the actor's wrestling background.

His most famous character was the tragic werewolf Waldemar Danisky, a part he played in more than a dozen films. Contrary to the classic Universal or Hammer Horror movies those films never really made up a specific Daninsky “universe”. Other than the name of the character there is little that unites those productions that feature a variety of unrelated plots and time lines.

Though a genre director in his own right he often featured in productions directed by Leon Klimovsky. In later years another Fanboy-turned-director, Fred Olen Ray, would take him under his wings, introduce him to US Film conventions and direct him in straight-to-video Tomb of the Werewolf (2004) for a final outing as Waldemar Daninsky.

Top of my list of favourite Naschy movies is Assignment Terror (1970), a madcap monster mash from 1970 featuring aliens reviving a vampire, a mummy, a werewolf (none other than Waldemar Daninsky) and Frankenstein's Monster in order to take over the world. This film also features Michael Rennie in his last production and lovely Karin Dor.

Another guilty pleasure is Howl of the Devil with Caroline Munro, a self indulgent but strangely fascinating film in which Naschy must have broken his own personal record and appeared in eleven different parts playing two brothers as well as Rasputin, Bluebeard, Fu Manchu, Frankenstein's Monster, Mr. Hyde, Phantom of the Opera, Waldemar Daninsky, the Werewolf, Quasimodo and the Devil. Have I missed any?

It will take a bigger Naschy authority than I am to properly do the man and his career justice, but in the meantime I will raise a glass of Rioja, flick through Thorsten Benzel's loving book homage Muchas Gracias Senior Lobo and celebrate the life of Spain's most fascinating Trash movie star.

Thanks for the memories!

Still around, guys, still around

Yes, I know, two months without a single blog post. Don’t know where the time has gone. I am not going to become the kind of person I hate most, the apologetic absentee blogger, so suffice it to say that life got in the way and I lost quite a bit of my writing mojo lately. I was never the most prolific writer anyway, but my only output over the last couple of weeks were just a small number of entirely non-Hammer related reviews that can be read here, here and here.

Given my little hiatus, where will this leave my own 999 Challenge?

I am absolutely in awe at the amount of writing that other bloggers have managed to create inspired by the format. Needless to say I am also likewise a bit pissed about how far behind I have been with it at this stage. It’s not as if I hadn’t seen all those films. In actual fact if all I did was to tick off the categories once I view a movie, then I’d have definitely finished some of those already, but of course the idea was to watch those films and then WRITE about it. And that’s where I am lagging behind.

The bizarre thing is that at the start of the year having this format got my mind nicely in focus with regards to future blog posts, however, once I stopped writing for a while it ended up somewhat less liberating. I am the kind of anal guy (I believe the technical term is “German”) who likes to stick to rules once established. So there I was watching some new (for me anyway) Hammer movies and then tracking my backlog of unwritten 999 reviews. In order not to let that backlog move on further, what did I do? Yep, stop watching films in some of those categories which is of course the polar opposite of what I wanted to achieve with the project.

So I guess I better remember that I had started this blog for FUN, to post some of my thoughts, share some of my passions and shoot the breeze with fellow fans. And if I end up not watching films I love just because I feel obliged to also write about them, then something went amiss. In other words I’ll do 999 when I have the time and inclination; I’ll ignore it if I can’t be bothered.

Will I swear that I’ll be back to normal writing mode from now on? Dunno, but I’ll try my best to get back into a regular writing habit especially as there are a number of exciting Hammer releases on the way.

As just about everybody who reads this blog knows, the book I am most looking forward to over the coming weeks is Marcus Hearn’s Hammer Glamour book.

Can. Not. Wait.

I am giddy with excitement over it.

Also check out this Barbara Shelley interview that the Daily Express published the other day prior to the September 25 release of the book.

Other interesting stuff coming our way over the next couple of weeks (courtesy of my buddies on the Yahoo Hammer Group, the Isle of the Dead and the Bloody Hell of Brit Horror):

September 21 will mark the release of three previously rare Hammer pictures: The Damned, The Camp on Blood Island and Yesterday’s Enemy. It appears that these releases are exclusive to UK’s Moviemail service. The Sword of Sherwood Forest has previously also been made available by Sony this year. Looks like there are less and less reasons these days to hang on to the bootlegs anymore and there are very few major Hammer movies still waiting for a proper DVD release.

Region 2 releases for Sony’s The Gorgon, Taste of Fear and The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll may also be on the horizon.

And speaking of Sony: October 20 marks the date of the Region 1 release of the new William Castle Collection that includes Hammer’s The Old Dark House together with some of Castle’s other classic and not so classic oeuvres like 13 Frightened Girls, 13 Ghosts, Homicidal, Strait-Jacket, Mr. Sardonicus, The Tingler and Zotz!

Something that up till now had completely escaped my attention was the fact that one of the recent Forgotten Noir volumes features Hammer Noir Scotland Yard Inspector aka Lady in the Fog with Lois Maxwell and Cesar Romero.

So all in all this is going to be a very interesting couple of weeks for Hammer Fans.

Oh, and check out the UK channel Men & Motors. Each night at 23:00 they are now showing the classic TV series Hammer House of Horror. I had previously only ever watched a single one of those shows all those years ago and recall that it didn’t impress me much. Now that I have started viewing the episodes properly I still can’t say that I am very impressed. Don’t expect a show by show recount here, but overall this is a very pedestrian affair and probably my least favourite entry in Hammer’s filmography, not because it is so bad (it really isn’t), but because it is so very very average.

Long story short: It’s good to be back.

Is The Wake Wood doomed?

I just caught this item on Robert Simpson’s Unofficial Hammer Site. This is quite interesting, somewhat disconcerting news that – if true – seems to have completely fallen off the radar.

Robert noticed that a) the DVD release of Beyond the Rave seems to now be at least questionable and b) that Hammer’s new production The Wake Wood has apparently been taken off the list of productions for 2009. Read the article to get the full details of this discovery.

Personally, I couldn’t care less about Beyond the Rave. I hated it with a vengeance when I watched it for free, have no intention of ever seeing it again and definitely do not intend to spend any money on it. The only thing I may regret is not seeing Ingrid Pitt’s appearance in the DVD release, but based on the serial this would likely have been an insignificant blink or you’ll miss it moment anyway, so I guess I’ll survive that one easily.

I am much more sorry to hear that The Wake Wood may now have fallen off the schedule. From all I have heard about it this seems to have been a production that was much more in line with Hammer’s previous image and whereas I didn’t care an iota for BTR, The Wake Wood was something I was genuinely looking forward to especially also as this would have been filmed in Ireland.

Not too sure what to do about this. It would be nice to hear from a source directly at Hammer about it. Is it worth starting a concerted effort to rescue that production and try and push Hammer to continue with it?

I’d definitely appreciate comments and suggestions about this situation.

Vincent Price Presents

I love comics. I really do! But over the last couple of years I have gradually pruned down my regular subscriptions at my local comic store to a bare minimum. Gone are the Daredevils and Captain Americas that have accompanied me for practically all my life. Can’t get too bothered about Batman these days. And even my beloved Spiderman has got the chop after One More Day too many, though I do still hold on to Ultimate Spiderman and felt that the Spidergirl comics should never have been cancelled.

I am really sick of endless relaunches and retcons and am amazed about how little story there is to read these days for an ever more extortionate cover price (especially given the inflated $-to-€ ratio charged in this neck of the woods). Whatever happened to the time when each comic (including the letters pages that are now as rare as a decent script) could keep me entertained for half an hour? These days a visit to the loo often lasts longer than a cover to cover read.

So when I finally come across a comic series that I really could get into, it annoys me endlessly when it is nigh impossible to subscribe to locally.

I recently came across issue #4 of Vincent Price Presents, an older entry in Bluewater Comics' Vincent Price related series.

Judging from this one edition Price in this series acts as the narrator at the beginning and end of a short piece of horror fiction. The Price segments are drawn in a kind of photorealistic style by Joel Robinson, the story proper in a more contemporary comic book style by Giovanni Timpano and featuring a main character who appears reminiscent (though not entirely spitting image) of Price.

This edition features a new take on the old Bluebeard tale, focussing on the initiation rites designed by an older member of the Bluebeard family for his young son. That rite of passage also features a mechanical dog somewhat out of place in the Gothic atmosphere of the tale.

Though I can’t say that the twist had me really stunned (remember: there are always twists in these kinds of comics), I did enjoy reading the comic and definitely would love to read more of them.

Only trouble is that not a lot of comic dealers seem to be carrying those, at least not here in Ireland, so online orders are a Must. The publishers also have an Ebay store that appears to be the most convenient way to purchase some of the past issues.

This is probably a very niche market idea. Let’s face it: Vincent Price’s name may still carry a lot of weight amongst classic horror fans, but who amongst the young comic readers of today really is a classic horror fan? (Then again, *are* there actually still young readers out there? Can’t remember the last time I saw a kid reading a comic.)

Anyone wanting to support this kind of project would probably also be well advised to drop the title of this series next time they visit a comic store. It’s only through this kind of awareness that the shops will actually order new series such as these.

DVD Trash Roundtable #1

Took part in the first of DVD Trash's new weekly round tables. If you like to contribute to the next one, just look out for their next announcement.