Horror of Dracula

"Horror of Dracula" (1968) starring  Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, John Van Eyssen, Michael Gough is a Hammer Films version of the classic Dracula story.

It is the year 1885 and Jonathan Harker (Van Eyssen) arrives at Count Dracula's (Lee) castle in order to work as the Count's librarian.  After being bitten by one of Dracula's vampire women, he disappears.  Dr. Van Helsing (Cushing) arrives to the castle later in order to find the missing Harker.  He is given Harker's journal from some fearful townsfolk and soon finds himself involved with all the horrible goings on at the castle.

Christopher Lee does a superb job playing the titular role of Dracula.  Hammer Films excelled at these Dracula films and you will find it all here: creepy castle, terrified townspeople, sexy vampire women, scary atmosphere and the dapper but dangerous Dracula.  

    

13 Ghosts

"13 Ghosts" (1960) starring Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Martin Milner, Rosemary DeCamp, Donald Woods and Margaret Hamilton is a William Castle horror movie that invites the audience to use their ghost viewers to see the ghosts on screen.

The Zorba family, which is in financial dire straights, inherits a haunted house from their reclusive uncle but they must live in it in order to keep it.  The house contains the deceased uncle's collection of ghosts which he was able to see with his special ghost goggles and process for capturing them.  

Soon after moving into the haunted house, the family is playing with a ouija board that they find and they get contacted by their first spirit.  At certain times throughout the movie, the audience is instructed to put on the ghost viewers and the screen turns a bluish color while the ghosts show up in a translucent red color.  The housekeeper is played by Margaret Hamilton and she tries to help the family discover the secrets of the house and the ghosts within.

This is a fun old haunted house movie filled with ghosts, an old mansion and a "Leave it to Beaver" style family that tries to survive the terrors they encounter.

Black Sabbath

"Black Sabbath" (1963) is a trio of atmospheric horror tales hosted by Boris Karloff and starring: Michèle Mercier, Lidia Alfonsi, Boris Karloff, Mark Damon, Susy Andersen and Jacqueline Pierreux.

There are two versions of this film, the original Italian version and the American Version from American International Pictures (AIP) dubbed into English. The language is not the only difference between the versions, there story order is different and one of the tales is quite different between the two versions. Also, the music is different in both versions and there are some different story intros by Boris Karloff.

The three tales with the story order for the different versions in parentheses:

                           

"Drop of Water" (American 1 / Italian 3): Helen Chester (Jacqueline Pierreux) a nurse, is called in the middle of the night to a client’s mansion by the maid (Milly) who informs her the old lady is dead. Helen arrives at the mansion on the stormy night and is led through the decaying mansion filled with cats to the old lady’s room. There we see the dead old lady with eyes wide open and a grin of terror on her face. Helen’s job is to dress the lady for the caretaker the following morning but on the dead woman’s hand is a ring with a huge jewel that is calling out to her. Helen cannot resist and she takes the ring off her finger. When she gets home and tries on the ring, she is haunted by an increasing level of terror from beyond. This is my favorite story and the scariest and most haunting.

                           

"The Telephone" (American 2 / Italian 1): The young and beautiful Rosy (Michèle Mercier) returns home from a night on the town and someone keeps calling and harassing her. She soon discovers it is her ex-boyfriend Frank and he seems to be able to see her right in her apartment. In the Italian version, Frank is supposed to be in prison and has escaped plus Rosy’s friend Mary (Lidia Alfonsi) isn’t as innocent as she seems. In the American version, Frank is supposed to be dead, the revenge plotline is missing and it is more of a ghost story. Either way, the tension poor Rosy is experiencing is more than palpable and the story is filled with thrills and dread.

                            

“The Wurdalak” (American 3 / Italian 2): Nobleman Vladimire d’Urfe (Mark Damon) is riding his horse in the Italian countryside where by the river he discovers a headless corpse with a knife in its back. He rides further to the nearest house where he finds a family of siblings Pietro (Massimo Righi), Sdenka (Susy Andersen) and Giorgio (Glauco Onorato) and his wife Maria (Rika Dialina) and son. They confirm the dead man is an evil man who their father Gorca (Boris Karloff) had left 5 days earlier to find and kill. But, Gorca warned his family that if he should return any later than 5 days, they must not let him in because he will have been turned into a Wurdalak or Vampire. When he returns just after the fifth day, he is not the same and the family and visitor will soon find out who or what has really returned. Great acting by Karloff and constantly foggy and eerie atmosphere make this another standout in the anthology.

                           

As of this writing, the Italian version with English subtitles is the only version available on DVD but the American (AIP) version is available for streaming on Netflix.

“Black Sabbath” is an excellent example of atmospheric horror and great storytelling no matter which version you watch!

Dracula: Prince of Darkness

"Dracula: Prince of Darkness" (1966) is a classic Hammer horror film starring Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley & Andrew Keir.

In the late 1800s, two unsuspecting English couples are visiting the Carpathian Mountains on vacation.  They are going to visit the town of Karlsbad but the local priest tries to warn them away.  Since it is already on their "program" they go anyway.  However the carriage driver strands them 2 km from their destination because it is getting dark and he doesn't want to be caught near the castle that he won't admit is there.  A driver-less carriage soon arrives and whisks them to Count Dracula's castle where his manservant greets them and says he welcomes travelers per his dead master's instructions.  Little do the tourists know that they may not be leaving the castle tonight or any night!

This is a great vampire classic filled with plenty of spooky atmosphere!  We have a castle with hidden dungeons filled with a resurrected vampire.  Christopher Lee is brilliant as the evil and ever silent Dracula.   

Nightmare

"Nightmare" (1964) is a Hammer horror/thriller starring:  David Knight, Moira Redmond and Jennie Linden.  

Janet, a teenager who goes to a private boarding school has some issues.  Her mother is in an insane asylum because she stabbed Janet's father.  Janet has recurring nightmares of her mother and of herself doing horrible things.  She is afraid she has inherited her mother's madness.  She leaves school early and returns under the watchful eye of her schoolteacher Mary Lewis to her family home.

Her guardian Henry Baxter has arranged a nurse named Grace Maddox to be there.  Shortly after arriving, Janet continues to have dreams that she can't decide are dreams or reality. She also keeps seeing a scar faced woman in white that glides around the house.  Poor Janet seems to be going mad, or is she being driven mad?

This film takes an unexpected turn a little over halfway through.  This is good, suspenseful thriller that will keep you guessing until the end.  

The Witches

"The Witches" AKA "The Devil's Own" (1966) is a Hammer Studios horror movie starring Joan Fontaine, Kay Walsh and Alec McCowen.

Gwen Mayfield (Fontaine) is a school teacher that used to teach in Africa until a revolution and witch doctors chased her out and caused her to have a breakdown.  She is hired by brother and sister team Alan (McCowen) and Stephanie (Walsh) Bax, who run a private school in the small English village of Heddaby.

Things start out quietly for Gwen as she gets used to her school, the children and the village people.  But soon she learns the village isn't all it seems.  There are issues with a couple of her students that she can't explain - one falls ill unexpectedly and the other disappears.  Gwen begins to believe that black magic is happening in her quiet village.  Will it drive her to madness again?

This is a very enjoyable horror movie.  It's one of those that reminds you that your neighbors may not be who you think they are.

Burn, Witch, Burn!

"Burn, Witch, Burn!" (1962) starring Peter Wyngarde, Janet Blair and Margaret Johnston is a great black & white horror movie from England.

I had been putting off watching this movie for a while, probably because of the cheesy title.  I watched it yesterday and the beginning includes a blank screen with an announcement to the audience about how some of the charms & spells that will be seen in the movie are real and the announcer goes on and on with a long anti-spell to keep the viewers safe.  This gimmick at the beginning didn't portend well to the movie but I'm sure glad I watched because I really enjoyed it!

Norman Taylor (Wyngarde) is a college psychology professor who lectures about belief systems and superstitions.  He is of the modern mind that all superstitions are nonsense.  At the beginning of the movie we are shown how the students love him and his fellow professors are discussing that he seems to lead a charmed life and the dean is even considering him for a promotion before some of the other more experienced colleagues.

Norman is married to Tansy (Blair) who spends a lot of time in their home or at their seaside cottage.  At the beginning, some of Norman's colleagues come over to play bridge and Tansy senses something is wrong.  After they leave she searches frantically around the house and finally finds a small voodoo like figure which she quickly destroys.  It turns out Tansy is a witch and she is doing everything she can to protect her husband from evil outside powers.

Norman discovers one of her charms and soon finds many others around the house.  He confronts Tansy when she returns home and she confesses to being a witch.  He can't believe this nonsense and finally convinces her to destroy all the charms.  Her final warning though is she can't be responsible for what may happen without her running interference against the outside evil powers.  Norman of course doesn't take heed.

Almost immediately things start to go wrong for Norman.  One of his female students charges him with violating her.  The girl's boyfriend threatens him with a gun.  And it doesn't look like he'll get that promotion.  Tansy leaves to try to save him and Norman finally encounters the source of those outside powers that are against him.  Can he save himself and his wife?

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  I will watch it again for years to come!

 

Let's Kill Uncle

"Let's Kill Uncle" (1966) starring Nigel Green, Mary Badham, Linda Lawson, Robert Pickering and Pat Cardi is one of William Castle's rarely seen movies.  This is a child centered story about a 12 year old boy named Barnaby (Cardi) who recently lost his father in an accident and being newly orphaned is being shipped off to his uncle's home on a remote and sparsely populated island in the tropics.  He is being escorted by Sgt. Frank Travis (Pickering).  On the ship to the island Barnaby meets similarly aged girl named Chrissie (Badham) who is going to visit her aunt Justine (Lawson). Barnaby and Chrissie have a tumultuous relationship to say the least with their every present bickering but they soon become friends since they are the only kids on the island. We learn that the island is "cursed" after the sharks inhabited the waters around the island and that is why most people left it.

Barnaby meets his uncle, Major Kevin Harrison (Green) who is an old war hero and he lives in a big house on the island.  Shortly after arriving, Uncle takes Barnaby out on an adventure and ends up hypnotizing him and directing him to walk off a cliff!  Justine ends up finding him before he goes over the cliff.  Barnaby is convinced Uncle wants to kill him which Uncle later confirms by stating he wants the $4 million dollar inheritance that the boy is getting.  Uncle sets out the rules of the game and says whoever kills the other will win.  Of course Barnaby can't convince Frank or Justine but does convince Chrissie who ends up trying to help him kill Uncle.  

This is a fun little thriller!  We have the two kids roaming around an almost deserted island - hanging out in the graveyard, exploring the old deserted hotel which even has an algae covered swimming pool that has a shark in it!  There's a legless man that scoots around the island on a board with wheels.  And there's a cat and mouse game of the uncle trying to kill the kids and the kids trying to kill the uncle.  From this description it wouldn't sound like a fun story but it actually is and like Castle's "I Saw What You Did!" movie that had children as the main stars, this movie is also rather lighthearted.  It's actually a great adventure / thriller for kids.  This movie has never been released on DVD.