Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine is a 1965 American International Pictures (AIP) comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Vincent Price, Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Susan Hart (The Slime People) and Jack Mullaney and featuring Fred Clark (Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb). It is a parody of the then-popular spy film trend, particularly the 1964 James Bond hit Goldfinger, utilizing actors from AIP’s beach party and Edgar Allan Poe films.

There is a dungeon scene, complete with The Pit and Pendulum from Roger Corman’s 1961 movie, allowing Price to ham up his previous horror roles and the mad doctor’s assistant is named Igor.

Despite its low production values, the film has achieved a certain cult status for the appearance of Price and other AIP Beach Party film alumni, its in-jokes and unabashed sexism, the claymation title sequence designed by Art Clokey, and a title song performed by The Supremes (which name drops Frankenstein’s Monster and Mr. Hyde). Vincent Price returned for the 1966 sequel, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, directed by iconic Italian horror maestro Mario Bava.

Plot:

Price plays the titular mad scientist who, with the questionable assistance of his resurrected flunky Mullaney, builds a gang of attractive female robots clad in shiny gold bikinis. The sexbots are then dispatched to seduce and rob wealthy men. (Goldfoot’s name reflects his and his robots’ choice in footwear.) Avalon and Hickman play the bumbling heroes who attempt to thwart Goldfoot’s scheme. The film’s climax is an extended chase through the streets of San Francisco.

Wikipedia | IMDb

Tower of London is a 1962 historical drama and horror film, starring Vincent Price, Michael Pate (The Black Castle, Curse of the Undead, The Marsupials: The Howling III), Robert Brown, Charles Macaulay, Joan Freeman, Morris Ankrum (The Giant Claw, Zombies of Mora Tau, How to Make a Monster), Sandra Knight (Frankenstein’s Daughter, Blood Bath). Directed by Roger Corman, the film was written by Leo Gordon, F. Amos Powell, and Robert E. Kent, and produced by Gene Corman and Edward Small Productions. Francis Ford Coppola (Dementia 13, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Twixt) worked on it as dialogue director.

The film is a highly fictionalised account of the rise to power and eventual downfall of King Richard III of England, freely combining elements derived from the plots of William Shakespeare’s plays Richard III and Macbeth. It is also an adaptation of the 1939 film of the same name, starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Price. The 1962 version contains The Battle of Bosworth scenes from the 1939 film.

Plot teaser:

Richard, the duke of Gloucester (Vincent Price), is dismayed when his dying brother King Edward IV names their brother George, Duke of Clarence as Protector to his young son and heir, Prince Edward. Richard wants the position himself, to become de facto ruler after his brother’s death. He secretly stabs George to death with a dagger bearing the crest of the Woodville family, framing the dying king’s in-laws. Richard is now named Protector. His wife Anne approves of his crime and encourages him to take the throne for himself.

After the death of King Edward, Richard tries to achieve his ends by intimidating the widowed queen’s lady-in-waiting Mistress Shore into claiming that the dead king’s two children are illegitimate. She refuses, and Richard tortures her…

Reviews:

“What’s most surprising is that a director better known for movies like Attack of the Crab Monsters and The Little Shop of Horrors actually does a pretty good job with this lowbrow reinterpretation. It shouldn’t really be a surprise, though, when you think about it. Seriously, if you strip away the blank verse and the Elizabethan grammar, England’s most famous playwright has more in common with a B-movie shlockmeister than your high school English teacher would care to admit. Sex, suicide, Satanism, child murder, torture, toilet humor… am I talking about William Shakespeare, or am I talking about Joe D’Amato?” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“Vincent Price’s meltdown into tortured guilt comes at the beginning rather than toward the end as it might in any other film, which tends to tip the dramatic balance of the story the wrong way. The rest of the time Roger Corman focuses on the Grand Guignol sadism and torture set-pieces – a cage filled with rats placed on a victim’s head, a woman tortured on a rack, Richard drowning his brother in a barrel of wine. As such, Tower of London proves modestly entertaining.” Moria: Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Review

“Tower of London works as a curiosity piece foremost. It’s also a fairly solid film that’s carried by a great, smarmy performance by Price, who spends most of the time being an asshole that kills people (he’s even tricked into killing people he doesn’t want to!). Obviously, it lacks the elegance of Shakespeare, but it is one of the classier pictures Corman ever helmed.” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

“The low budget is all too apparent, and despite a transfusion of graphic violence and ghostly apparitions, Corman hits the mark only occasionally.” Gene Wright, Horrorshows: The A – Z of Horror in Film, TV, Radio and Theater

Buy Tower of London on MGM Midnite Movies DVD from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Buy Crab Monsters, Cave Men and Candy Stripe Nurses book from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Wikipedia | IMDb | Related: Theatre of Blood

‘The most diabolical pages ever written become the most terrifying motion picture ever created!’

Diary of a Madman is a 1963 horror film directed by Reginald Le Borg (The Mummy’s Ghost; Weird Woman; The Black Sleep). It stars Vincent Price, Nancy Kovack, and Chris Warfield.

The screenplay, written by producer Robert Kent, is an adaptation of Guy de Maupassant‘s short story “Le Horla” (“The Horla“), written in 1887. Kent’s rendition is notably divergent from the source material, especially in relation to the religious and moral themes of the film, which contradict not only those of the short story, but Maupassant’s as well.

Plot teaser:

Following the funeral of Simon Cordier (Price), a French magistrate and amateur sculptor, his secret diary is read out by Simon’s pastor friend to a group of people gathered around the table, Simon’s servants, and a police captain. The diary transpires that Simon has come into contact with a malevolent entity. The invisible yet corporeal being, called a horla is capable of limited psychokinesis and complete mind control.

Cordier first interacts with the horla when he meets a prisoner whom the horla drove to commit murder. The horla possesses the inmate and attempts to kill Cordier, who in self-defense accidentally kills the man. The magistrate inherits the prisoner’s troubles as the horla and turns its hauntings toward him…

Reviews:

“Although Diary isn’t considered one of actor’s better 1960s efforts, it’s a tour-de-force performance, with Price given a lot of screen time, a well-developed character and the chance to play good and evil at the same time. Price is given some tender moments, which include a scene where, possessed, he crushes his beloved pet canary, only to come out of his spell to find the poor thing dead. When he’s in possession mode, he’s his usual menacing self, with the evil presence of the Horla represented as a nuclear-green visor-like aura which hovers in front of his eyes.” DVD Drive-In

“The horror elements are very cool but the scenes with supporting cast drag lifelessly. The melodrama between Kovack and Warfield is worthy of the sewer but not the big screen and everyone except for Price (and Harvey Stephens) seems bent on delivering below the watermark. Luckily, Maupassant’s storyline rises above the poor execution to capture the viewer’s attention and hold it through the final act.” Doomed Moviethon

“Diary of a Madman’s most serious shortcoming is that it manages to seem extremely preachy without having any particular sermon in mind to preach. Moments like the scene in which Cordier attempts to kill Jeanne, but is snapped out of his trance by the sight of a cross reflected in the blade of his knife, or like any of the outwardly purposeless arguments between Cordier and Captain Rennedon over the value of criminal psychology, make it seem pretty clear that either writer Robert E. Kent or director Reginald Le Borg had some kind of axe to grind, but it’s hard to imagine what that might be.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

Choice dialogue:

“Death is a truth, magistrate. Prove it!”

“Oh, love. A man says the word so easily.”

Cast and characters:

• Vincent Price as Simon Cordier
• Nancy Kovack as Odette Mallotte DuClasse
• Chris Warfield as Paul DuClasse
• Elaine Devry as Jeanne D’Arville
• Ian Wolfe as Pierre, Cordier’s Butler
• Stephen Roberts as Captain Robert Rennedon
• Lewis Martin as Fr. Raymonde
• Mary Adams as Louise, Cordier’s Cook
• Joseph Ruskin as The Horla (voice)

Wikipedia | IMDb

Vincent Price’s Dracula (aka Dracula: the Great Undead) is a 1982 American documentary directed by John Muller, Jerry Fijalkowski from a script by Kate Lonsdale and Ted Lonsdale. 

Vincent Price presents this ‘historical’ horror documentary. There’s stock footage of battles that vaguely relates to Vlad the Impaler‘s bloody reign and his doomed fight against the incursions of the Islamic Turks into Wallachia.

This is followed by an apparent overview of various screen incarnations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula character, though its more specifically vampires in general, if they are public domain and the rights are not owned by Universal or Hammer. Films covered are Murnau’s Nosferatu; Vampyr; Mark of the Vampire; a fuzzy clip from Return of the Vampire; small town science fiction addiction nightmare The Vampire (1957); and The Return of Dracula (1958). Yep, that’s Dracula’s outings on screen fully covered!

The final section is folklore orientated and mondo-style with wailing women “peasants” at gravesides. 1982 Romania is presented as satisfyingly poor for smug for Western viewers elucidation.

Unsurprisingly, Price’s delivery is thoroughly engaging, typically camp and definitely worth 50 minutes of any horror fan’s time. He ends with a salutary “Good morning” and the wee hours is perhaps the perfect time to enjoy one of the horror legend’s later performances, albeit via this opportunist cheapo documentary.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

IMDb

Madhouse is a 1973 British horror film directed by Jim Clark for Amicus Productions in association with Samuel Z. Arkoff’s American International Pictures. It stars Vincent Price, Natasha Pyne, Peter Cushing, Robert Quarry, Adrienne Corri and Linda Hayden.

Vincent Price plays Paul Toombes, a long-in-the-tooth actor who has made a particularly successful career as Dr Death, a recurring villain in a series of wildly popular horror films. He has been aided and abetted in this franchise by Herbert Flay (Peter Cushing), who has served as the writer of his films. At the height of his career and a fifth film in the bag, a party is thrown where he announces his intention to marry his fiancée, Ellen. It’s at this juncture that blustering film director, Oliver Quayle (Robert Quarry) informs him that she was quite a star on the porn scene. As she flees in tears, Toombes follows but finds his beloved future wife has been brutally beheaded (is there any other way?) and there is some doubt as to the role Toombes played in the act – regardless, he is despatched to an asylum for twelve years, returning refreshed and ready to return as Dr Death again in a new British-made television series based on the character.

His fame has not eluded him and his is stalked by young Elizabeth Peters (Linda Hayden) on the ship to England and then at Herbert’s pile in the countryside, desperate to become his leading lady. Sadly, she meets her end via a garden fork and once again, there is a cloud of doubt as to whether it was Death/Toombes or someone masquerading as either who committed the crime. Lurking in the bowels of Chateau Flay is his Herbert’s wife, Faye (Faye Flay!) played by Adrienne Corri (A Clockwork Orange, Vampire Circus), who is now bewigged, horribly burned but scatters memories of her times on Toombes’ like confetti.

The madness progresses and filming is stilted and punctuated by regular deaths, arguments and wistful reflections of Toombes’ greatest film moments, courtesy of film clips shoehorned into the plot. The finger points squarely at the beleaguered actor but there are herrings for all in abundance and the breathless and slightly wonky ending will leave you guessing to the last moments.

The draw here is, of course, the pairing of Price and Cushing. That AIP and Amicus fluffed their role in proceedings is not particularly surprising – the Americans flex their muscle by squeezing in as many clips of their works as they can credibly manage (The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum, Tales of Terror, Haunted Palace, House of Usher, Scream and Scream Again and Masque of the Red Death are all on-show, also giving Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff – both dead – a brief run-out) whilst the British contingent somewhat haphazardly manage to conspire to make the most obvious and foolproof plot as ragged and endlessly revolving as possible.

Is it over-written? Well, it’s partly based on Angus Hall’s novel, Devilday (1969), though you’d scarcely guess, Death replacing ‘Dis’ and Price’s angry, confused dedicated actor slightly at odds with Hall’s fat, guilty sex-pest.. The rarely seen again Ken Levison and Greg Morrison are credited with the screenplay but even Robert Quarry’s name is thrown into the mix, his journeyman career at least being apt (he plays up the role further by appearing as his own Count Yorga at one of the regular party scenes – Cushing finally donning some fangs in similar get-up).

Lovely Linda Hayden is surprisingly underused, as is Cushing – conversely, the bit-too-silly sub-plot of Faye in the cellar and the stilted nature of the film, clogged up with some ineffective wandering about and even talk show host Michael Parkinson cropping up to interview the famous star, make for an unbalanced film, coming at both the end of Amicus’ reign as one of Britain’s guiding lights of horror (it still isn’t as disappointing or frustrating as The Monster Club, their death rattle) and AIP’s run of horror successes, leading them to parody their own output with Vampira/Old Dracula and Abby.

Other titles considered for the film were The Return of Dr. Death and The Revenge of Dr. Death. It is possible that neither title was used because the producers did not want the film to appear to be a sequel to some other film, as well as another, unrelated, film called Dr. Death, Seeker of Souls had been released by another company (Freedom Arts Pictures Corporation) not long before. A shame as both titles would have been more fun than Madhouse, a rather too literal accusatory finger point at Toombes.

Although in his interview with Parkinson, reference is made to the actor having once played The Invisible Man (in The Invisible Man Returns), the history of the actor, though endlessly flashed on-screen through some slightly interminable ruses, still falls rather flat – with the actors clearly nearer the end than the beginning of their careers, a more joyous, celebratory tone would have served better. At times it becomes a bit, well, depressing. Director Jim Clark never helmed a film again, stepping into the editor’s office and doing a cracking job on the Oscar winners like The Killing Fields and James Bond films like The World is Not Enough.

There are two particular highlights, however – Price’s stunning and iconic skull make-up by regular Hammer artist George Blacker is superb and still raises a shiver of delight 40 years on. Equally stunning is Douglas Gamley’s score, as thunderous as ever, the timpani player no doubt in need of a lie down afterwards. Gamley is one of the great under-sung voices of British horror, a force of nature who could grab you by the throat and lead you through a film and leave you battered but overjoyed. Listen out for Vincent himself singing at the film’s conclusion.

As feared, the film under performed badly at the box-office, AIP essentially washing their hands of horror ever after. It has struggled for positive reappraisal in recent years but Price’s aged ham performance and Cushing in unpredictable form, it’s difficult to be too hard-hearted about it.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

Offline reading:

The Amicus Anthology – Bruce G. Hallenbeck (Hemlock Books)

Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures – Mark Thomas McGee (McFarland)

Vincent Price: The Art of Fear – Denis Meikle (Reynolds & Hearn)

‘We defy you to stare into this face’

The Masque of the Red Death is a 1964 British horror film directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price, Hazel Court and Jane Asher. The screenplay, written by Charles Beaumont and R. Wright Campbell, was based upon the 1842 short story of the same name by American author Edgar Allan Poe,and incorporates a sub-plot based on another Poe tale, Hop-Frog. Another sub-plot is drawn from Torture by Hope by Auguste Villiers de l’Isle-Adam.

Plot teaser:

Satan-worshiper Prince Prospero invites several dozen of the local nobility to his castle for protection against an oncoming plague, the Red Death. Prospero orders his guests to attend a masked ball and, amidst a general atmosphere of debauchery and depravity, notices the entry of a mysterious hooded stranger dressed all in red. Believing the figure to be his master, Satan, Prospero is horrified at the revelation of his true identity…

Roger Corman later said he always felt The Masque of the Red Death and Fall of the House of Usher were the two best Poe stories. After the success of The House of Usher (1960) he strongly considered making Masque as the follow up. However he was reluctant to make it because it had several elements similar to The Seventh Seal (1956) and Corman was worried people would say he was pilfering from Ingmar Bergman.

AIP had a co-production deal with Anglo-Amalgamated in England, so Sam Arkoff and James H. Nicholson suggested to Corman that the film be made there. This meant the film could qualify for the Eady levy and increase the budget – normally an AIP film was done in three weeks, but Masque was shot in five weeks. (Although Corman felt that five weeks in England was the equivalent to four weeks in the US because English crews worked slower.)

Corman later expressed dissatisfaction with the final masque sequence, which he described as “the greatest flaw” in the film, feeling he did not have enough time to shoot it. He filmed it in one day which he said would have been enough time in Hollywood but that English crews were too slow.

British censors removed a scene where Hazel Court’s character imagines a series of demonic figures attacking her while she lies on a slab. Corman recalled years later:

“From the standpoint of nudity, there was nothing. I think she was nude under a diaphanous gown. She played the consummation with the devil, but it was essentially on her face; it was a pure acting exercise. Hazel fully clothed, all by herself, purely by acting incurred the wrath of the censor. It was a different age; they probably felt that was showing too much. Today, you could show that on six o’clock television, and nobody would worry.”

The movie was not as successful as other Poe pictures, which Sam Arkoff attributed to it being “too arty farty” and not scary enough, nonetheless Corman says the movie is one of his favourites.

Buy The Vincent Price Collection on Blu-ray from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“It’s hard to imagine a film like this being made today. Modern directors would be afraid of going so over the top, of risking such overt and unapologetic pretension, but The Masque of the Red Death more than gets away with it, it turns it into a virtue. Some stories need to be told in a big way. More than a simple account of one man’s fall from grace, this is a mythic tale, a morality play as relevant now as it would have been in medieval times. Corman has gifted it with an intensity rarely matched elsewhere in cinema.” Eye for Film

“The settings, characters and dark themes all combine to create a Gothic, surrealistic world suitable to the Red Death’s machinations, and, of course, the pervading sense of horror and foreboding characteristic of a Gothic film.  It is therefore unsurprising that The Masque of the Red Death is considered one of Roger Corman’s greatest directorial accomplishments and the high point of the Poe Cycle. It is a brilliant film, both visually and thematically, and one that every classic horror fan would do well to watch.” Classic-Horror

“Atmospheric, opulent and deeply troubling, The Masque of the Red Death, while taking a few small liberties with the original source material to pad out the running time, does succeed in creating an uncanny and macabre atmosphere and tone that is unmistakably Poe through and through.” Behind the Couch

IMDb | Wikipedia

WH

Les Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was an American musician and composer. Although he is best know as a practitioner of exotica music, he also scored several films, many of which were horror.

Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer. At the age of 23 he joined Mel Tormé’s Mel-Tones, singing on Artie Shaw records such as “What Is This Thing Called Love?”.

By 1950 he had moved to Capitol and had progressed to conducting and arrangement, including one of Nat King Cole’s big early hits, “Mona Lisa”. From here, he branched out into his own strange world, firstly scoring a travelogue called, Tanga Tiki and then a series of concept albums: Le Sacre du Sauvage, Festival of the Gnomes, Ports of Pleasure, and Brazil Now. These thickly-layered, atmospheric works featuring bird song, abstract wailing and all manner of jungle and tribal sounds became part of the exotica movement, the archly-kitsch imagined sounds of far-flung lands and would soon inspire similar minds; Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and Esquivel.

Sadly, much of his work up to this point was over-shadowed by back-biting and malicious rumour. It was alleged on several occasions that Baxter was actually the front for a ghost-writer, the actual composers of several works suspected to be Albert Harris, Pete Rugolo and Nelson Riddle, most famously Frank Sinatra’s band leader. The evidence for this was Baxter’s extremely slow composition and supposed inability to read music, both claims which have since been largely disproved. Regardless, Baxter shrugged off the criticisms and after further, often ‘challenging’ exotica works, cinema beckoned.

Having already composed the familiar’ whistle’ theme for TV’s Lassie, Baxter’s first work of note and a rarity in respect of the reasonable budget, was the Vincent Price-starring, Master of the World. This association with Price and more especially of the Gothic was to become a cornerstone of his career but one sadly that more often than not went uncredited. The speed at which AIP demanded new scores and the lowly resources afforded him and his orchestra meant that he was lucky to receive a credit for his work, luckier still if he was happy with the results of scores his name was attached to.

Baxter scored many of the Poe cycle of films, which have since become critically acclaimed but at the time were seen as fodder by many. Amongst well over a hundred scores he composed there are a handful of particularly interesting ones, unusual in that he was required to re-score a film which already had a soundtrack, for the American market. These included famous Mario Bava works such as Black Sunday (1960), Black Sabbath (1963) and Baron Blood (1972), peplum – Goliath and the Barbarians, and comedies – Beach Party.

In terms of the slew of Italian films he worked on, there is simply no justification for the so-called need for an alternative score. Composers such as accomplished as Stelvio Cipriani (Tragic Ceremony; Tentacles, a theme recycled possibly more than any other in film history, Piranha II), Roberto Nicolosi (Black Sunday) and Angelo Francesco Lavagnino (Castle of the Living Dead; Queens of Evil) were amongst those whose works were presumably considered ‘too exotic’ for the American palate. In fact, it was naturally conservative AIP who insisted that the films were given a new score for the American market. Their explanation, according to the composer Bronislau Kaper (Them!) was that they found Italian scores, “stupid, arrogant, monotonous and tasteless”.

The fun didn’t end there. Samuel Z. Arkoff’s notorious cost-cutting extended to the regular recycling of not only individual cues but entire tracts of music – the score to Samson and the Slave Queen is nearly all taken from Goliath and the Barbarians, not that Baxter got double the money. Similarly, The Premature Burial (1962) features cues heard in some of his previous scores. It is worth noting that although Baxter was one of the most high profile composers to be put in this position, others, such as Herman Stein (Tarantula, This Island Earth) also had their music re-used or went uncredited.

For Mario Bava’s 1960 classic, Black Sunday, so much money was invested by AIP (over $100,000, more than the film’s shooting budget) that they felt obliged to make it their own, despite it coming to them already successful and fully-formed. Ironically, having dispensed with Nicolosi’s subtle, unobtrusive score, they replaced it with something not only extremely similar but something which, if anything, attempted to overshadow Bava’s visuals. At least with 1963’s, Black Sabbath, a distinctly different score took the place of Nicolosi’s work, a somewhat blander, mainstream effort compared to the shifting and free-form original. The extremely distinctive Cipriani score to 1972’s Baron Blood, was given one of the more extreme make-overs and for once actually adds something new, something less intrusive and, well, scarier.

This bizarre practise continued to an even more ludicrous instance for Cry of the Banshee (1970) with AIP insisting on separate scores for both the British and US versions of the film. There are several explanations for this, however daft; firstly, Baxter had by this stage become part of the furniture at AIP and could apparently do no wrong; secondly, the original composer, Wilfred Josephs, was known only for his work in television, not the familiar big-hitter the Americans demanded; finally, the cuts to the US version were so sweeping that the film made little sense with only minute cues remaining. Regardless, it is one of Baxter’s most revered works, though the original is fun for its faux-Elizabethan sound.

After the mid-70’s, work began to dry up on both sides of the Atlantic as Italy’s industry concentrated on home-grown scores and America entered the realms of enormous blockbusters. There was still opportunity there (some work on Frogs in 1972, the score to The Beast Within, a decade later) but both exotica and his film themes had had their time (though he did compose themes for Sea World, amongst other tourist attractions) and it would be after his death that Baxter began to be reappraised in a much more positive light.

Selected filmography:

Creepy Classics is a 1987 half-hour compilation of horror and sci-fi clips and trailers hosted by Vincent Price, “Master of Scarimonies!”, sat in a movie theatre.

Directed and co-edited by Pamela Page, Price’s sardonic comments were scripted by Scott McCormick. This Fox/Lorber production was released on VHS in the US by Hallmark.

Films featured:

Horrors of the Black Museum; The Blob; Night of the Living Dead (1968); I Was a Teenage Werewolf; Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors; The Raven (1963); The Pit and the Pendulum (1961); Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956); Gorgo; The Screaming Skull; War of the Colossal Beast; Attack of the Puppet People; Dinosaurus!; The Day of the Triffids.

Buy Creepy Classics on VHS from Amazon.com

IMDb

‘A macabre masterpiece of terror!’

The Raven is a 1963 American comedy horror film produced and directed by Roger Corman. The film stars Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff as a trio of rival sorcerers. The playful, lively score is by Les Baxter.

The film was the fifth in the so-called Corman-Poe cycle of eight films largely featuring adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories produced by Roger Corman and released by American International Pictures (AIP). It was written by Richard Matheson, based on references to Poe’s poem “The Raven“. The supporting cast includes Hazel Court and a young Jack Nicholson.

Roger Corman and Richard Matheson had both enjoyed making The Black Cat comic episode of Tales of Terror and wanted to try an entirely comic Poe feature. “After I heard they wanted to make a movie out of a poem, I felt that was an utter joke, so comedy was really the only way to go with it,” said Matheson.

A novelisation of the film was written by Eunice Sudak (who also wrote the Tales of Terror and X novelisations) adapted from Matheson’s screenplay and published by Lancer Books in paperback. This novel was republished by Bear Manor Media in 2012.

On March 9, 2015, Arrow Video is releasing The Raven on Blu-ray in the UK. Special features include:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature, transferred from original film elements by MGM
• Original uncompressed Mono PCM Audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Peter Lorre: The Double Face, Harun Farocki’s 1984 documentary
• Richard Matheson: Storyteller, an interview with the legendary novelist and screenwriter
• Corman’s Comedy of Poe, an interview with Roger Corman about making The Raven
• The Trick, a short film about rival magicians by Rob Green (The Bunker)
• Promotional Record
• Stills and Poster Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Vladimir Zimakov
• Collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Vic Pratt and Rob Green, illustrated with original stills and artwork

Buy The Raven on Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk

Plot teaser:

In the 15th century, the sorcerer Dr. Erasmus Craven (Vincent Price) has been mourning the death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court) for over two years, much to the chagrin of his daughter Estelle (Olive Sturgess). One night he is visited by a raven, who happens to be a transformed wizard, Dr. Bedlo (Peter Lorre). Together they brew a strange potion that restores Bedlo to his old self.

Bedlo explains he had been transformed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Boris Karloff) in an unfair duel, and both decide to see Scarabus, Bedlo to exact revenge and Craven to look for his wife’s ghost, which Bedlo reportedly saw at Scarabus’ castle. After fighting off the attack of Craven’s coachman, who apparently acted under the influence of Scarabus, they set out to the castle, joined by Craven’s daughter Estelle and Bedlo’s son Rexford (Jack Nicholson).

At the castle, Scarabus greets his guests with false friendship, and Bedlo is apparently killed as he conjures a storm in a last act of defiance against his nemesis. At night, Rexford finds him alive and well, hiding in the castle. Craven, meanwhile, is visited and tormented by Lenore, who is revealed to be alive and well too, having faked her death two years before to move away with Scarabus. As Craven, Estelle, Rexford and Bedlo try to escape the castle, Scarabus stops them, and they are tied and locked up. Bedlo panics and flees away in raven form, having convinced Scarabus to turn him back into bird form rather than face torture…

Reviews:

“The whole thing is played very tongue in cheek and is mostly about having fun not being terrified. The final battle between Karloff and Price is really entertaining and fun to watch; it is very reminiscent of the wizard’s duel in The Sword in the Stone released the same year. The special effects are dated but actually, considering the year and the budget, very effective and fun.” 31 Days of Terror

“It’s really a shame, given the high caliber of what has preceded it, that the climactic duel of magic is both so incredibly long and so incredibly lame. Ending a movie with a huge special effects set-piece is always a risky proposition, but it becomes a sure-fire formula for outright disaster when there’s no money in a movie’s budget for special effects! Up to this point, The Raven has been a comfortably low-key movie, driven by acerbic wit, careful characterization, and brilliant casting.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“It’s miles from Poe, but it’s one of the funniest and most enjoyable horror spoofs ever made, with a witty script and smart direction; the three principals’ enjoyment of the whole affair communicates itself to the audience. A delight, with a wooden performance by Nicholson for connoisseurs of the bizarre to savour.” Alan Frank, The Horror Film Handbook

“A snappy little parody of a horror picture cutely calculated to make the children scream with terror while their parents scream with glee.” Time (1963)

Choice dialogue:

The Raven (Peter Lorre): “Will you give me some wine!”

Cast:

• Vincent Price as Dr. Erasmus Craven
• Peter Lorre as Dr. Adolphus Bedlo
• Boris Karloff as Dr. Scarabus
• Hazel Court as Lenore Craven
• Olive Sturgess as Estelle Craven
• Jack Nicholson as Rexford Bedlo
• Connie Wallace as Maid
• William Baskin as Grimes
• Aaron Saxon as Gort
• Dick Johnstone as Roderick Craven (uncredited)
• Mark Sheeler

Wikipedia | IMDb

Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although he did not have the same control of content and tone as he had on The Twilight Zone. Serling viewed Night Gallery as a logical extension of The Twilight Zone, but while both series shared an interest in thought-provoking dark fantasy, the lion’s share of Zone‘s offerings were science fiction while Night Gallery focused on horror and the supernatural. Serling’s time serving The Twilight Zone came to an acrimonious end in 1964, ultimately selling the rights to the programme to CBS, his creation now riddled with endless outsider tampering, schedule shifts and budget wrangles. Work was never in short supply – he immediately began production on an unconventional Western, The Loner, omitting the usual gunfights and macho posturing in place of more thoughtful character studies. Inevitably, the critics loved it but CBS were unforgiving and the series was cancelled half way through its first run. From here, a less meaningful career as a television game-show host, a popular documentary narrator and writer of television films developed (though a huge ratings-hit, 1966’s The Doomsday Flight unfortunately prompted numerous copycat airline bomb threats). This was punctuated by Serling writing three drafts of the hugely popular Planet of the Apes (1967), though these in turn were re-written to prevent the budget spiralling. Nevertheless, it provided the impetus and the raise in profile for NBC to green-light a TV movie in November 1969, The Night Gallery, which showcased three tales, two of which came from Serling’s own collection, The Season to be Wary. Rather neatly, this saw both the directorial debut of Steven Spielberg (Duel; Jaws) on the episode, Eyes, which also featured the final screen role of acting legend, Joan Crawford (Strait-Jacket); a poignant, yet unintentional, passing of the baton from one master of the art-form to another. Unlike the series, in which the paintings merely accompanied an introduction to the upcoming story, the paintings themselves actually appeared in the three segments, serving major or minor plot functions. It was a success, so a weekly television series was commissioned. Rod Serling’s Night Gallery was initially part of a rotating anthology or wheel series called Four in One. This 1970–71 television series rotated four separate shows, including McCloud, SFX (San Francisco International Airport) and The Psychiatrist. Two of these, Night Gallery and McCloud were renewed for the 1971–72 season with McCloud becoming the most popular and longest running of the four. Serling appeared in an art gallery setting and introduced the macabre tales that made up each episode by unveiling paintings (by artist Thomas J. Wright) that depicted a key scene in the stories.

Buy Rod Serling’s Night Gallery book from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

The hour-long running time allowed for up to four different tales. Typically idiosyncratic introductions included: “Good evening and welcome to a private showing of three paintings, displayed here for the first time. Each is a collector’s item in its own way—not because of any special artistic quality, but because each captures on a canvas, suspends in time and space, a frozen moment of a nightmare”

“Welcome to this morbid mortuary of oddities in oil…” Night Gallery regularly presented adaptations of classic fantasy tales by authors such as H.P. Lovecraft and Fritz Leiber (Conjure Wife), as well as original works, many of which were by Serling himself or that other titan of the twisted tale, Richard Matheson. All was set for another seminal television series but this was never quite the package Twilight Zone was. Weary of the endless tribulations that dealing with the television network brought, he relinquished production and editorial control, under the assumption he would still be consulted over any major changes, given that his name was writ large over the titles. This was not the case and almost immediately episodes were screened with huge chunks omitted and clumsy re-writes evading thoughtful dark meditations in favour of more basic, schlocky scares.

Buy Night Gallery Season One on DVD from Amazon.co.uk

Throughout its existence, the show featured a sparse, eerie electronic theme tune composed by Gil Mellé, a master of catchy atmospherics on both the small and silver screens, from Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Killdozer to Blood Beach and The Sentinel.

Pitted against not only NCB and CBS, Serling was also up against the might of Universal, who handled production. By the series’ second year, Serling was even having his own scripts rejected and was becoming, in their eyes, an annoyance who had already served his purpose and would continue to do so until the series was cancelled in 1973, his name bound up in the rights with no means of escape. Despite the fluctuating quality, there were still many stand-out episodes and a raft of famous stars making appearances. These included such genre stars as E.G. Marshall (Creepshow); Vincent Price (Witchfinder General; The Abominable Dr. Phibes); Victor Buono (The Mad Butcher; The Evil), Cameron Mitchell (Blood and Black Lace; The Toolbox Murders) and Michael Dunn (The Mutations; Werewolf of Washington).

Memorable episodes included: The Pickman’s Model – H.P. Lovecraft’s classic tale of a painter who is dedicated to painting only what he sees – but how does that explain the ghoulish subjects of his artwork? A Certain Shadow on the Wall – Written by Serling, as if the title didn’t give that away, Agnes Moorhead (The Bat), in one of her final screen roles, plays an elderly lady who proves more than a little difficult to forget. The Devil is not Mocked – Francis Lederer (The Return of Dracula) play a vampiric count whose castle is invaded by Nazi soldiers in World War Two. Written by Manly Wade Wellman, the veteran writer of such pulp tomes as Weird Tales and Astounding Stories. The Caterpillar – Possibly the most beloved of all the stories, a man is determined to win the hand of his best friend’s girl, even if it takes murder… even if that murder takes a small garden creepy crawly to do the dastardly deed. As you might expect, Tom Wright’s paintings which are featured in the series now attract impressive sums of money at auction, often commanding up to $10,000. Wright himself became a successful director of television programmes, including The X-Files and The Wire. Daz Lawrence

Buy Night Gallery Complete Series on DVD from Amazon.com

Buy Terror Television book from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Buy Night Gallery by Rod Serling from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

‘A trio of terror!’

Twice-Told Tales – also released as Twice Told Tales and Nights of Terror – is a 1963 American supernatural horror film directed by Sidney Salkow (The Last Man on Earth) from a screenplay by producer Robert E. Kent (Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome; The Werewolf; Diary of a Madman).

The film is based on two of Nathaniel Hawthorne‘s stories, “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” (1837) and “Rappaccini’s Daughter” (1844), and the novel The House of the Seven Gables (1851), which had previously been adapted in 1940 also starring Price. Only “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” was actually published in Hawthorne’s Twice-Told Tales, which supplied the film’s title. The 1963 British United Artists release was cut by BBFC censors for its 1967 release.

Buy: Amazon.com

Reviews:

“Twice-Told Tales is dull and ponderous. The stories in themselves, even the mangled adaptation that they are, could have worked well with a different director. Alas, the film is hamstrung with the dreadfully pedestrian Sidney Salkow who also directed Price in The Last Man on Earth (1964), another thoroughly dull adaptation of a fine horror story. Salkow’s sedentary direction and Technicolor colour wrings all the atmosphere out of the stories.” Moria

“Even with only two out of three being particularly good, Twice Told Tales is still one of my Halloween favourites. Price is in classic form, the addition of Sebastian Cabot is wonderful, the atmosphere of those two pieces is excellent, and the type of film inaugurated by Corman, Matheson, and Price is so much in its stride that it has taken on ghoulish life of its own.” Cory Gross, Voyages Extraordinaires

“None of the stories featured in Twice-Told Tales are particularly well-paced. This isn’t terribly annoying through the beginning segments of the picture, because the stories themselves keep our interest. However, as the film progresses, we become more restless. By the final segment we’re at the verge of boredom, and then that final tale pushes us over the brink.” Exclamation Mark

“In a year that saw Mario Bava create Black Sabbath and Herschell Gordon Lewis shoot Blood Feast, this Sidney Salkow directed portmanteau sits rather uncomfortably amongst such bold and vibrant work. With its absorbing stories, though, coupled with immaculate stage design and costumes, it does have a Gothic charm about it that’s impossible to dislike.” Zombie Hamster

“Director Sidney Salkow’s pacing is slow, but rich in detail in Kent’s script and good ensemble acting make the film a stylish one.” John Stanley, Creature Features

“All the familiar thrills are here in this marathon shocker, but the interests are varied and the effects quite often startling. The more avid seeker after the gruesome class of fare should be amply awarded.” Kine Weekly, 1967

“Triple-layered ‘spine-chiller’, based on the stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne; flatly directed and scripted, but spiritedly acted and climatically thrilling.” MH, The Daily Cinema, 1967

“Price’s performance in the third tale is even an improvement on his The House of the Seven Gables (1940). However, production values – miniature work and makeup – leave something to be desired in places.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Encyclopedia of Film: Horror

Cast and Characters:

• Vincent Price as Alex Medbourne / Giacomo Rappaccini / Gerald Pyncheon
• Sebastian Cabot as Dr. Carl Heidigger
• Brett Halsey as Giovanni Guasconti
• Beverly Garland as Alice Pyncheon
• Richard Denning as Jonathan Maulle
• Mari Blanchard as Sylvia Ward
• Abraham Sofaer as Prof. Pietro Baglioni
• Jacqueline deWit as Hannah Pyncheon, Gerald’s Sister
• Joyce Taylor as Beatrice Rappaccini
• Edith Evanson as Lisabetta, the landlady
• Floyd Simmons as Ghost of Mathew Maulle
• Gene Roth as Cabman

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image thanks: Wrong Side of the Art!

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70s Monster Memories is a 2015 British book from the writers of We Belong Dead magazine.

The 400 page full colour soft back book contains over seventy chapters covering nearly every aspect of 1970s horror fandom – books, mags, posters, trading cards, TV, model kits, comics, movie tie-ins, super 8 and much more.

Contents:

Foreword by Dez Skinn

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of by Eric McNaughton

For The Love Of Print and Paper by Vincent Simonelli

The Most Important Decade of My Life by John Llewellyn Probert

Zoinks!! (Or How I Would Have Got Away With It, If It Wasn’t for You Meddling Kids!) by Steve Gerrard

Horror Film Books of the 70s by Ian Taylor

The World of Horror by Cranston Macmillan

Aurora – The Golden Age of Monster Models by Robert Morganbesser

BBC Death & Horror Sound Effects LP by Daz Lawrence

He Was A Teenage Movie Critic: David Pirie by Darrell Buxton

Fanzines of the 70s by Richard Klemensen

A Time It Was: Dez Skinn Interviewed on House of Hammer by Tony Earnshaw

Something In The Night: The BBC Christmas Ghost Stories by Matthew E. Banks

Super 8mm – A Personal Journey Through The History of Horror At Home by Darren Allinson

Famous Monsters A Go-Go. An Interview With The Legendary Basil Gogos by Ernie Magnotta

Horror On Vinyl by Daz Lawrence

A New World of Gods & Monsters – The Books of Denis Gifford by Tom Woodger

The Monster Times For Changing Times by J.M. Cozzoli

An Invitation To Scaryland: The Horror Film Books of Alan Frank by Tony Earnshaw

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires LP by David Flint

Dave Swift, Memories of a Monster (Toy Collector) by Stephen Jacobs

The 70s Works of Nigel Kneale Graham Payne

Remembering Famous Monsters by Jim Knusch

Horror in the Cinema: Ivan Butler by Stephen Mosley

The Price of Fear…Brought To You by Vincent Price Peter Fuller

King Kong in Birmingham! by Dave Swift

Horrors From Screen to Scream by Paul Sparrow-Clarke

La Cabina: Allegory of an Era by Daniel Arana Garcia de Leaniz

Softly, Softly Catchy Ripper. Barlow & Watt and the Investigation of the Whitechapel Murders by Clare Smith

Scary Humour with Cracked’s For Monsters Only by J.M. Cozzoli

Monster Movie Reference Books:The 1970s Explosion by Dustin Jablonski

“Our Latest Diversification….” Hammer Presents Dracula by Tom Woodger

When A Ten Year Old Boy Met the Universal Monsters by David Brilliance

Horror Food by Daz Lawrence

Lorrimer Publishing. Cinema of Terror, Catastrophe, Kung Fu, Freaks, Vampires, Mystery & Monkeys! by Darrell Buxton

Poster Magazines by Richard Gladman

Memories of the Loch Ness Monster by Timothy Mitchell

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films: An Appreciation by Darrell Buxton

The Books That Made Us Scream – An a-Z Guide to 70s Tie-Ins by Dawn and Jonathon Dabell

Quasimodo’s Monster Magazine by Cranston Macmillan

I Was A Teenage Monster Kid by Tony M. Clarke

Public Information Horror by Daz Lawrence

Tele-Horrors of the 70’s:Fearsome Highlights by Troy Howarth

“You’re Gonna Need A Bigger Wallet!” by Steven West

1970’s Horror Vinyl:Releases in the U.S. by Ryan Brennan

The House of Hammer – A Personal Journey by Tim Greaves

Memories of A Pictorial History of Horror Movies by Peter Benassi

Marvel Comics & the Monsters by Moonlight by Martin Dallard

Memoirs of a 70’s Monster-Kid by Ernie Magnotta

Peter Underwood:The Legendary Ghost Hunter Who Wrote the First Biography of Boris Karloff by Ben Underwood

Cinefantastique – The Most Fantastic Magazine of All Time by Robert Morganbesser

Thriller by Brian Clemens by Perry Thomas

Horror Top Trumps by Daz Lawrence

My Journey Beyond the Vincent Price Screen Adventures by Peter Fuller

The Books of Calvin T. Beck by Douglas Whitenack

Legend Horror Classics by Cranston Macmillan

Horror Double-Bills by Neil Ogley

Monsterkid Models of the 70’s by Eric McNaughton

Horror in Four-Colours by Jules Boyle

The Film Classics Library by Eric McNaughton

Movie Monsters: The Magazine with a Mortality by Rate Darren Allinson

But Was It Aaaaaarrrt?! by David A. Brooks

The New Avengers. The Acceptable Face of 70’s Horror by Cleaver Patterson

Collecting Movie Posters by David McConkey

Mego Mad Monsters by Michael Hauss

The Horror People by Stephen Mosley

For Adults Only! by Cranston Macmillan

Terror on the Tube: American TV Horror Movies of the 1970’s by Steven West

Dracula Paperbacks by Eric McNaughton

No Cure for Crabs (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Enjoy the Pulp Paperbacks of the 1970’s) by Steven West

The Thirteen Monsters of Aurora by Martin Cage

The Dark Shadows Paperbacks by Eric McNaughton

Monsters of the Movies Magazine by R. Bruce Crelin

Monsters of the Movies – The Mystery of Issue 2 Cover by Pierre Fournier

Shock Theatre Cards by David Flint

Creature Feature Cards by Eric McNaughton

Appointment With Fear by Wayne Kinsey

Afterword by Alan Frank

Publication date is 20th December. The book can be ordered via this link:

http://webelongdead.co.uk/product/70s-monster-memories/

‘Join Vincent Price on a suspense-filled journey to the supernatural!’

Escapes is a 1986 American fantasy horror film made for TV. It was written, produced and directed by David Steensland. The ‘film’ is actually an edited together anthology of six supernatural video shorts, each originally produced separately and shown on HBO and the Sci-Fi Channel: “Something’s Fishy,” “Coffee Break,” “Who’s There,” “Jonah’s Dream,” and “Think Twice.”

Wraparound footage of Vincent Price, who allegedly received $10,000 for a few minutes of work, was later added to link the individual tales together to provide an overall running time of 69 minutes. A “director’s cut’ with sixteen extra minutes was also released on VHS.

Buy VHS: Amazon.com

Reviews:

“Young Matthew (Todd Fulton) receives a mysterious videotape in the mail titled, you guessed it, Escapes. Hey, it stars Vincent Price, he figures, so how bad can it possibly be? As it turns out, pretty damn bad.” The Bloody Pit of Horror

“I can’t fault Vincent Price for anything, as he’s on screen for a grand total of maybe four minutes, but if he hadn’t been it at all, I would definitely not have suffered through till the end. There is no violence or gore, no outright scares, weak scripts, a pitiful budget, etc.” Satanic Pandemonium

“Overall, this anthology is more tame than the entire series of Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark and possesses even less creative storytelling. If you pass this one over, you’re not missing much, but if you’re an anthology buff, you may want to suffer through it.” Hollie Horror, Letterboxd

“Five stories in the tradition of The Twilight Zone but not as satisfying.” John Stanley, Creature Features

“The end concept is copied from Dead of Night … Price wasn’t choosing his projects with much care at this point.” Michael J. Weldon, The Psychotronic Video Guide

Whole film:

IMDb | Image credits: Video Wasteland

‘Absolutely!!! The most sensational thrills you have seen in’

The Mad Magician is a 1954 American 3-D horror film directed by John Brahm (The Undying Monster; The Lodger; Hangover Square) from a screenplay by Crane Wilbur (The Amazing Mr. X; The Bat; House of Wax).

Main cast:

Vincent Price, Mary Murphy (The Outer Limits; Ghost Story aka Circle of Fear), Eva Gabor (Tales of Tomorrow), John Emery (Kronos; Boris Karloff’s Thriller), Donald Randolph (The Deadly Mantis).

Plot:

The late 1880s: Don Gallico (Vincent Price) is a magician, master of disguise, and inventor of stage-magic effects. aspiring to become a star magician under the stage name Gallico the Great.

Disguised as The Great Rinaldi, a headlining rival magician, Gallico performs a number of magic tricks successfully, building up to the reveal of his latest invention, the buzzsaw, an illusion that “severs” the head of the magician’s assistant Karen Lee (Mary Murphy). Before Gallico can perform the buzzsaw illusion, the curtains come down to stop the performance…

Reviews:

“There is an entertainingly nasty scene early on where Price beheads one victim with a buzzsaw and a good climax with a victim about to be fed into a furnace. However, the whole film is too cheap, its melodramatic plot too dull and contrived for such occasional Grand Guignol moments to add up to a worthy film.” Richard Scheib, Moria

“Perhaps it’s that obvious quality of cashing in that renders Brahm’s directing less dynamic here than it was in, say, Hangover Square or The Lodger. But just because Mad Magician isn’t a classic, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have its charms. Vincent Price is great, as always, playing opposite the lovely Mary Murphy, as well as Eva Gabor as his gold-digging ex-wife.”Orrin Grey, Innsmouth Free Press

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

” … this is just your basic killer-maniac-on-the-loose flick, the sort of movie that would gradually evolve into the slasher film over the next 25 years. And as if you couldn’t tell that already, the role of the maniac is played by Price.” Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“Despite some contrived Hollywood-style dialogue and music, director Brahm is still able to produce vigour and tension … More humour and gore would have been welcome but it’s still good for Price fans.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

“The horror angle is minimal, with most of the murders barely being witnessed on screen or rushed to get to the next bit of business, and there’s a bit of comic relief (which is what you’d expect with supporting actor Novello playing his usual timid character). The supporting characters are at least given some depth…” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

“… this remained an appreciated thriller in which Vincent Price hams it up … Not as good as House of Wax but still compelling.” John Stanley, Creature Features

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

“The illusions in the film, including the buzz saw, the cremation, and the water fountains, are based on noted stage illusions made famous by such magicians as Horace Goldin and Harry Blackstone Sr.–though Ricciardi threw in the innards and blood for the buzz saw, and the Great Rameses performed a version of the cremation illusion.” Zombo’s Closet

“A great little horror film from Columbia Pictures with nary a monster in sight except for the master of the macabre himself, Vincent Price. He usually makes any film he is in and The Mad Magician is no exception. Fun, entertaining and a nice little movie for a Sunday morning – or really, anytime you need a good film to watch.” The Telltale Heart

“The film devolves into a series of contrivances that echo the themes in House of Wax, but end up looking like one-reel prospectuses for any number of alternative versions.”  Denis Meikle, Vincent Price: The Art of Fear

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“Though very much at home with the 1880s atmosphere, Brahms careful direction misses out on the necessary ghoulish zest.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

Cast and characters:

Choice dialogue:

Don Gallico: “That’s his way. To say nothing and then stab you in the back!”

Ross Ormond: “You stupid fool. She’s always been a trollop. She double-crossed you from the first, just as she double-crossed me.”

Alice Prentiss: “I hope they hiss him off the stage!”

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Wrong Side of the Art!

Return of the Fly is the first sequel to the 1958 horror film The Fly. It was released in 1959, and directed by Edward Bernds. Unlike the preceding film, Return of the Fly was shot in black and white. It was followed by a further sequel in 1965, Curse of the Fly.

Plot:

Phillipe Delambre is determined to vindicate his father by successfully completing the experiment. His uncle Francois (Vincent Price) refuses to help. Phillipe hires Alan Hines from Delambre Frere and uses his own finances, but the funds run out before the equipment is complete.

When Phillipe threatens to sell his half of Delambre Frere, Francois relents and funds the completion. After some adjustments, they use the transporter to “store” and later re-materialize test animals. Alan Hines turns out to be Ronald Holmes, an industrial spy. Ronnie tries to sell the secrets to a shadowy cohort named Max.

Before Ronnie can get away with the papers, a British agent confronts him. Ronnie knocks him out and uses the transporter to “store” the body. When rematerialized, the agent has the paws of a guinea pig that had been disintegrated earlier, and the guinea pig has human hands…

Buy: Amazon.com

“Somewhere along the line this “horror” movie morphs into a noir-esque drama rife with shady characters, tilted Stetsons, cars rolling over cliffs with bodies in the trunk—but no tough dames, sorry […] To the filmmakers’ credit, they avoid simply repeating the same plot as the original; even though there are strong similarities, there are also enough twists to make this movie enjoyable for its own sake.” David Maine, Pop Matters

” … the film was only interested in jerry-rigging things to get another guy into a giant fly mask … Watching somebody lose the battle for all the things that matter to him resonates with everyone on some level. Watching his son try not fall over because of an oversized prop fly head only makes you realize that they should have hung a flystrip up in the lab the second go around.” Monsterhunter

“The film only lasts for an hour and fifteen minutes, and yet is plodding and too lengthy for the most part. The production design is more ambitious, and the stark black-and-white imagery seems to have dated less than the original’s colour tones, but this appears to be the only thing going for Return of the Fly.” Raphael Pour-Hashemi, The Digital Fix 

“With stark black-and-white photography by Brydon Baker, director Edward L. Bernds evokes some horrifying moments in a mortuary and keeps things buzzing.” John Stanley, Creature Features

Buy: Amazon.com

” …abandons any pretence to dramatic content in favour of re-using the gimmick from the first film: the ‘happy’ ending is particularly unfortunate.” Alan Frank, The Horror Film Handbook

“Although Bernds script is overly episodic and his direction flat, the film was a commercial success…” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction

“Artless and filmed on a strictly B picture budget and with a B picture script, this fly should have stayed swotted.” Films and Filming, 1959

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Wikipedia | IMDb | AFI | Amazon.com

Image thanks: the scene of screen 13

A Graveyard of Ghost Tales – Told by Vincent Price is a 1974 American spoken word vinyl album released by Caedmon Records (TC 1429), an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

It was one of a number of album-based tales that Vincent Price narrated in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The release was edited and mastered by Daniel A. Wolfert. Leo And Diane Dillon designed the cover image.

Contents:

A1. The Lavender Evening Dress 11:37
A2. Bond of Reunion 6:17
A3. Harp Notes in the Mist 7:15
A4. The Tale of the White Dove 2:41
A5. Magic Candle to Find Treasure 1:15
B1. Hand of Glory 1:32
B2. Protection Against the Hand of Glory 0:32
B3. The Ghostly Hand of Spital House 20:35
B4. The Leg of Gold

Related: Vincent Price: Witchcraft ∼ Magic: An Adventure in Demonology 

‘When it flies… someone dies!’

The Bat is a 1959 American murder mystery film written and directed by playwright Crane Wilbur (screenplay for Mysterious Island; The Mad Magician; House of Wax; storyline for The Amazing Mr. X). It stars Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead and Gavin Gordon.

It is the fourth film adaptation of the story, which began as a 1908 novel The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart, which she later adapted (with Avery Hopwood) into the 1920 play The Bat.

In the US, The Bat was distributed by Allied Artists on a double-bill with the British Hammer film The Mummy.

Cornelia Van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) is a mystery author who lives in a town terrorised by a mysterious murderer known only as “The Bat” who is said to be a man with no face.

The Bat enters Van Gorder’s rented house, The Oaks, and releases a bat, which bites van Gorder’s maid Lizzy (Lenita Lane). With Lizzy in a panic, fearing she may now have contracted “the rabies”, an outbreak of which local papers have reported, Van Gorder calls her doctor, Dr Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price), who is conducting research on bats…

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

” …the cast virtually drips with greasepaint conjuring up the atmosphere of an intimate stage with a killer lurking just beyond the curtain. Such an approach proved mild in a decade filled with an increasing reliance on rampaging aliens and sinister ghouls, but time has been kind to the film… Nathaniel Thompson, Turner Classic Movies

“House of Wax‘s Crane Wilbur, directing his own script, had again chosen to revive a creaky old melodrama which, on this occasion, remained every bit as creaky and melodramatic as the original […] After seven reels of wearisome comings and goings, Wilbur disposes of more to-ings and fro-ings by a last minute change in construction, switching from real time to flashback mode…” Denis Meikle, Merchant of Menace: The Life and Films of Vincent Price

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

“Crane Wilbur’s direction is fairly static, although he does make effective visual use of the deep dark shadows that are part and parcel of these “old dark house” stories. He also gives his cast free rein, allowing Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead to take the performing ball and run away with it. They’re frequently over-the-top and occasionally campy…” Craig Butler, AllMovie

” …The Bat isn’t really scary as much as it’s “charming” […] The Bat is a great time waster, a film that will put a smile on the face of those who may remember it from days gone by…” Don Sumner, Horrorfreak News

” …Crane Wilbur, the scenarist-director, keeps the plot perking and the bodies falling (seven), with some amusing touches along the way. Finally, and fortunately, there is Agnes Moorehead’s good, snappy performance.” Howard Thompson, The New York Times, December 17, 1958

“Worth watching for fans of Morehead, Price, or The Bat Whispers. But I felt the whole thing should have been freakier and jazzier, and not so stately and professional.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

Choice dialogue:

Lizzie Allen: “All the victims died the same way, like their throats had been ripped open by steel claws.”

Cornelia van Gorder: “That I suppose is the cat dropping its dentures!”

Cast and characters:

• Vincent Price as Dr. Malcolm Wells
• Agnes Moorehead as Cornelia van Gorder (Bewitched, Dear Dead Delilah; Frankenstein: The True Story)
• Gavin Gordon as Lt. Andy Anderson (Bride of Frankenstein; Mystery of the Wax Museum)
• John Sutton as Warner
• Lenita Lane as Lizzie Allen
• Elaine Edwards as Dale Bailey
• Darla Hood as Judy Hollander
• John Bryant as Mark Fleming
• Harvey Stephens as John Fleming

Running time and aspect ratio:

80 minutes | 1.85: 1

View The Bat pressbook at Zombo’s Closet

Wikipedia | IMDb

Image credits: Dr. Macro’s High Quality Movie Scans | OriginalPoster.co.uk | Wrong Side of the Art!

‘Room for every nightmare… A nightmare in every room’

House of the Long Shadows is a 1982 [released 1983] British comedic horror film directed by Pete Walker (House of Mortal Sin; Frightmare; House of Whipcord) and produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus for their Cannon Group.

The film is notable because four iconic horror film stars, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and John Carradine are together in one feature, however it was poorly received by critics and filmgoers. The screenplay by Michael Armstrong (Screamtime; The Black Panther; Mark of the Devil) is based on the 1913 novel Seven Keys to Baldpate by Earl Derr Biggers.

Kenneth Magee, a young American writer, bets $20,000 that he can write a Wuthering Heights-style novel in twenty-four hours. To get in the mood for the undertaking, he goes to a deserted Welsh manor house.

Upon his arrival, however, Magee discovers that the manor is not as empty as he was told. Still there are Lord Grisbane and his daughter, Victoria, who have been maintaining the mansion on their own.

As the stormy night progresses, more people come to the mansion, including Lord Grisbane’s sons Lionel and Sebastian, Magee’s publisher’s secretary, Mary Norton, and Corrigan, a potential buyer of the property.

After much coaxing, the Grisbanes reveal that they are here to release their brother, Roderick, who was imprisoned in his room for forty years because he seduced a village girl when he was fourteen and killed her when he found out she was pregnant. When they go to release him, they find the room empty and conclude that he broke out recently by breaking the bars in front of the window…

Reviews:

“Until 10 minutes from the end, House of the Long Shadows is a fantastic film – and not just because of the awesome cast. Unfortunately the ludicrous ending, followed by another ending, followed by another one, ruin the previous 90 minutes utterly.” British Horror Films

“Director Walker, probably England’s most recognized exploitation filmmaker, delivers his most toned-down picture in terms of pure sensationalism and onscreen gore (though the film does deliver several gruesome – albeit PG level – moments) but his style properly fits the ghastly candlelit uncoverings of decades-old betrayal, homicide and perversion…” DVD Drive-In

“The set-up is sort of hokey, and Arnaz is playing it like he’s in a completely different, and much more shouty, movie, but it’s a really fun premise and features some great, whodunit-style murders, especially once a vacationing English couple show up as well. You probably know the outcome early on, but it’s fun watching it get there.” Kyle Andersen, Nerdist

” … Michael Armstrong fashioned a script of wit and substance, playing with ideas about genre, performance and dramatic truth, much as Shaughnessy had done in The Flesh and Blood Show. It was a fitting elegy for both a version of Gothic melodrama that faded away in the 1970s and for Walker’s own career as an astringent genre revisionist.” Steve Chibnall, British Horror Cinema

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“The plot is utterly trite and was recycled from a 100 plus year old English stage production. Walker never manages to get his picture in stride and as a result the tone is constantly changing from a mystery or thriller to some sort of half-assed tongue in cheek comedy. The ending is a dreadful cop-out…”Christopher Challis, Rare Horror

” …major surprise, and disappointment, is that the film should waste these Grand Old Icons on an entirely superfluous remake of Seven keys to Baldpate […] “Armstrong and Walker display an appalling contempt for the audience.” Kim Newman, Monthly Film Bulletin

“Some of the staging in the last reel is luridly effective and the stars essay their respective roles with gusto, but none of this is compensation for the fact that the story is a con trick which held considerable appeal for audiences in 1913 but was felt to be arcane and annoying by the more sophisticated filmgoers of 1983.” Denis Meikle, Merchant of Menace: The Life and Films of Vincent Price

 Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

“Shadows is horrendously slow, marred further by shoddy production values. …and the horror greats are sadly wasted with inadequately scripted parts.” Video Movies

“… In Long Shadows the ‘fearsome foursome’ all get short-changed – as did audiences. The reviewers saved their sharpest knives for Desi Arnaz, Jr., who doesn’t give the impression here that he’s capable of reading (much less writing) a book in 24 hours.” Tom Weaver, John Carradine: The Films

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

Choice dialogue:

Kenneth Magee [Desi Arnaz, Jr.]: “As long as they don’t bother me they can perform a black mass down there and an orgy. I don’t wanna know.”

Lionel Grisbane [Vincent Price]: “Like all of us, locked in the past forever.”

Cast and characters:

• Vincent Price as Lionel Grisbane
• Christopher Lee as Corrigan/Roderick Grisbane
• Peter Cushing as Sebastian Grisbane
• Desi Arnaz, Jr. as Kenneth Magee
• John Carradine as Lord Elijah Grisbane
• Sheila Keith as Victoria Grisbane (Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible; The Comeback; House of Mortal Sin; House of Whipcord; Frightmare)
• Julie Peasgood as Mary Norton (The Snarling)
• Richard Todd as Sam Allyson (Asylum; Dorian Gray)
• Louise English as Diane Caulder
• Richard Hunter as Andrew Caulder
• Norman Rossington as Station Master (Death Line)

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

Filming locations:

Rotherfield Park, East Tisted, East Hampshire, England, UK

Wikipedia | IMDb

Tower of London is a 1939 American historical and quasi-horror film produced and directed by Rowland V. Lee (Son of Frankenstein) from a screenplay by his brother Robert N. Lee for Universal Pictures. It stars Basil Rathbone as the future King Richard III of England, and Boris Karloff as his fictitious club-footed executioner Mord. Vincent Price, in only his third film, appears as George, Duke of Clarence.

The film is based on the traditional depiction of Richard rising to become King of England in 1483 by eliminating everyone ahead of him. Each time Richard accomplishes a murder, he removes one figurine from a dollhouse resembling a throne room. Once he has completed his task, he now needs to defeat the exiled Henry Tudor to retain the throne.

The exterior castle sets constructed for this film became a staple of the Universal backlot and could be seen time and time again in subsequent films (most prominently in The Black Castle (1952).

Roger Corman’s 1962 film, with Vincent Price now in the lead role, re-used the title. The newer film was made on an extremely low budget, with a small cast (and used stock footage from the 1939 version for the battle sequences), and placed far more of an emphasis on horror.

Reviews:

“This is Rathbone’s show all the way. It’s also notable that this is Karloff’s and Price’s first film together. But again, don’t expect the later Price hamminess in a horror situation; he plays it straight and he’s excellent. Writer and director Rowland V. Lee directs the actors well, but the film’s pace starts to lag before the third act.” Paul Mavis, DVD Talk

“It was probably the two stars, who had appeared together the same year in Son of Frankenstein, also directed by Rowland V. Lee, who gave the impression of the macabre being a stronger element than it was, but that said their dastardly villainy make the film enjoyable and the action falls very flat when they’re not on screen, whether together or apart.” Graeme Clark, The Spinning Image

” …a surprisingly classy affair. Rathbone delivers a confident performance as the crookback King, and Karloff maximizes every ounce of screentime, clearly delighting in his role as the pain-dispensing Mord. Only Price is a bit underused here, playing Richard’s brother George.” The Terror Trap

“Horror legend Vincent Price has one of his very earliest parts here as the sniveling Duke of Clarence, and in what may perhaps be the movie’s most memorable sequence, is involved in a battle of wits with Basil Rathbone as the pair indulge in a riveting malmsey drinking game with a fateful outcome. Though Boris is more a supporting player in this one, he is magnificent…” Joe Karlosi, DVD Drive-In

” …it’s fairly entertaining and well-acted throughout. I think it falls just short of greatness because it isn’t really very memorable, and the final battle scene is a bit of a disappointment, though it does feature a good death scene for Karloff.” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

“It’s a bit creaky now but Tower of London does still move well. The turns from the main cast are all tremendous fun, and the sets and battle sequences are bigger and better than much of what made its way into the studio’s horror films. Rathbone is very good as Richard, making him less of a caricature than Olivier perhaps later did, and Karloff’s introductory scene in the torture chamber is wonderful.” John Llewellyn Probert, House of Mortal Cinema

Wikipedia | IMDb

Bloodbath at the House of Death is a 1983 British comedy science fiction horror film produced and directed by Ray Cameron from a screenplay co-written with Barry Cryer. It stars comedian Kenny Everett and featuring Vincent Price.

The film is an over-the-top spoof loosely inspired by The Amityville Horror and other horror films from the same period.

1975: Headstone Manor is being used as a “businessman’s weekend retreat and girls’ summer camp”. Soon, a group of satanic monks enter the house and kill eighteen of its occupants.

In 1983, Doctor Lucas Mandeville (Kenny Everett) and Doctor Barbara Coyle (Pamela Stephenson) are sent to investigate radioactive readings in the area that have been traced to Headstone Manor, now known by locals as the House of Death.

Along with several other scientists, Mandeville and Coyle set up their equipment in the house, while the Sinister Man (Vincent Price), a 700-year-old satanic priest, prepares a rite in the nearby woods to purge the house of its unwanted guests.

Mandeville reveals that he was once Ludwig Manheim, a successful German surgeon, who was reduced to “smart-arse paranormal research crap” after a humiliation in the past. Coyle also encounters a poltergeist. Several satanic clones of Mandeville, Coyle and the other scientists enter the house and begin killing off the originals and taking their place…

Reviews:

“Basically, if you like the Scary Movie series or are hardcore enough to have seen (the admittedly superior) Wacko!, then this is parodic horror on a similar level, but with the added benefit of Everett and friends. Likewise, if you’re interested in collecting odd little films from the past that no one else remembers, then this is a must to add to your collection of arcana.” Craig Lines, Den of Geek

“Bloodbath at the House of Death is sometimes a very funny movie, with one of the funnies decapitations I’ve ever seen – and a few other scenes of quite gruesome violence – but it’s mostly the slapstick, the bad word jokes and the sexual innuendos that’s the main selling point.” Ninja Dixon

” …you’ll likely either love it or hate it depending on your taste for innuendo-strewn, frequently incoherent grossness. If anything, however, the freedom to push the gore and nudity to the limit results in a lazier approach, meaning that the writers are too often content to rely on the aforementioned fart gags, while anything approaching a clever spoof of horror clichés falls by the wayside.” Ross Horsley, Anchorwoman in Peril

“The whole affair would have been better off on Kenny Everett’s tv show served up as unconnected five-minute skits – that’s all there is to the film, it fails miserably when it tries to assemble the gags into anything more than that. A number of characters are introduced throughout and given amusingly strange quirks but then absolutely nothing is done with them. There is no plot to the film at all.” Richard Scheib, Moria

“ …typical Everett zaniness (his character has a German accent and a false leg, for no reason other than it gives him a chance to act up for the cameras) and skits on genre favourites (American Werewolf, Carrie, Jaws, The Entity, Rosemary’s Baby, The Shining, Alien, a touch of Star Wars, maybe even British classic City of the Dead). But sadly, it seems that someone forgot to put in any actual jokes…” British Horror Films

” … it does have a lot of laughs if you’re in the right mood. It will of course also help if you know a bit about the genre, being able to spot the many references and influences on show […] BATHOD is certainly not for all tastes, but if you like horror send-ups, especially ones supported by a top-notch cast, and you don’t mind a fart gag or six, then this is for you. ” Eat My Brains

” …Price’s screen time is little more than a guest appearance, but his few of scenes are undoubtedly the highlight of the film. Some have complained about the vulgarity in his scenes but it’s difficult not to chuckle since the actor is clearly relishing the opportunity to send-up is traditional screen persona, particularly in the amusing outburst when Price tells one of the villagers to “piss off”.” 10K Bullets

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Extras include a 23-minute documentary entitled Running the Bloodbath

“The spoofings of so many genre films in a barrage of visual gags quickly becomes predictable; only Sheila Steafel’s Carrie sketch is done with any imagination.” Frances Las, Time Out (London)

” … heavy-handed horror spoof […] One of the researchers is gay, tee-hee. Price plays the leader of a local cult, and a depressing number of gags derive merely from hearing him and other actors swear.” Cult Flicks and Trash Pics

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“… a moderately entertaining movie that appeals more as a time-capsule of the period it was made in, with many comedy actors and then-topical references to other movies of the time. Kenny himself shows flashes of the brilliance with which he was blessed; Cameron and Cryer deliver a few amusing gags and Vincent Price is a joy to watch as he revels in not taking himself seriously.” Wilson Bros, DVD Active

Buy novelisation: Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• Kenny Everett as Dr. Lukas Mandeville
• Pamela Stephenson as Dr. Barbara Coyle
• Vincent Price as Sinister Man
• Gareth Hunt as Elliot Broome
• Don Warrington as Stephen Wilson
• John Fortune as John Harrison
• Sheila Steafel as Sheila Finch
• John Stephen Hill as Henry Noland
• Cleo Rocos as Deborah Kedding
• Graham Stark as The Blind Man
• Pat Ashton as Barmaid
• David Lodge as Inspector Goule
• Debbie Linden as Attractive Girl
• Tim Barrett as Doctor
• Barry Cryer as Police Inspector
• Anna Dawson as Nurse
• Gordon Rollings as Man at bar
• Michael McIntyre as E.T. [uncredited]

Filming locations:

Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Trivia:

Co-producer Laurence Myers recalls that the film did not make sense; he screened the film for censor James Ferman, who enjoyed the film, but believed that the reels were played in the wrong order.

Wikipedia | IMDb