Showing posts with label hell hound. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hell hound. Show all posts

Monday 4 December 2017

WATCH BASKERVILLES, THE BRAVEST WOMAN IN SALEM AND TARKINS EMPIRE NEEDS YOU!


#MOMENTSOFTERRORMONDAY! : YOUR EMPIRE NEEDS YOU! A terrific call to arms from RALF SCHMITT! It's interesting, even a year on from Cushing's TARKIN re-emergence in ROGUE ONE, there us hardly a day when, something about this, probably now, the most famous of all Cushing's performances, doesn't appear on the 'Cushing Scanner!'..... and that is always a good thing!



TODAY'S #MOMENTOFTERROR is a scene from 1959’s Hound of the Baskervilles, surely a firm favourite of many of our readers. Coming at the climax of the film, this is the moment where Christopher Lee’s Sir Henry Baskerville comes face to face with the Hound. Hammer’s version of the tale is easily one of the creepiest of the many filmed, preformed or staged over the many year’s and this scene is a prime example. Of course it’s well known now that the titular hound is a Great Dane in a rubber mask, but Fisher’s skill at keeping the beast off screen until this crucial moment is what makes it all the more shocking.


NOT ONLY this but it follows it up with one of the more disturbing sequences in the entire film. As Cecile Stapleton attempts to escape across the more Holmes, Watson and Henry Baskerville, unable to see her in the darkness, listen to her pitiful cries as she is sucked under the mire. It’s a shame that Hammer never thought to draw on any of Doyle’s other Holmes stories as another Gothic thriller in the same vein with a returning Cushing and Morell would have been a real pleasure. A truly chilling moment and a worthy climax to another great from Hammer’s early years.




IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA  . 

Tuesday 7 November 2017

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY! DOUBLE COMPETITIONS STRBLING AND SIR HUGO REMEMBERED!


#TOOCOOLTUESDAY! THIS WEEKEND is DOUBLE COMPETITION TIME! Happening here at the website AND at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE. Our COMPETITIONS are OPEN TO EVERYONE, WHEREVER you are . . . So BE SURE to JOIN us THIS SATURDAY and SUNDAY!





REMEMBERING: Melissa Stribling who was born today November 7th 1927. Stribling appeared in just the one film with Peter Cushing...but boy did she pick the right one! She also got to play in one of Hammer films most iconic scenes in their 1958 'Dracula', where Christopher Lee's Count, in the dead of night, visits her home and..without a word.. seduces her. The scene is so super charged with sexual tension, it almost crackles off the screen and as a result got the scissors treatment from the censors at the time. In 2013, in Hammer's restored print the exorcised footage was replaced, giving us the full picture of what Director Terence Fisher, Stribling and Lee had originally intended and created.




A LARGE scan of a superb vintage publicity photograph of Melissa Stribling as Mina Holmwood, in 'Dracula / Horror of Dracula ' (1958) #hammerfilms #dracula #petercushing


I HAVE READ in several reviews of 'Dracula' both from the time of the films' release in 58 and in more recent times, that Stribling was a curious choice for the role of Mina Holmwood, that compared to the likes of Valerie Gaunt and other Hammer actresses, even though she was only in early 30's when she appeared in Dracula, many thought her slightly ordinary and plain. I totally disagree...but if that was the case, I can't help thinking that, director Fisher's choice in Stribling was intentional. That subtext in the story of Arthur Holmwood's wife being frustrated and bored, suddenly being charmed and seduced by the exotic and erotic Count, Stribling was...the perfect choice.


REMEMBERING DAVID OXLEY. (November 7th 1920 - October 30th 1985 ) Was there ever a more terrifying, evil, rip snorting, bag of fury than Oxley's portrayal of Sir Hugo Baskerville in the 1959 Hammer films production of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee? I must be honest, I actually find him more frightening than the hound!




IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA  . .


Sunday 12 June 2016

WIN TWILIGHT TIME LIMITED EDITION HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES BLU RAY HERE


HERE IS YOUR CHANCE to BAG yourself a copy of TWILIGHT TIME  LIMITED EDITION BLU RAY of Hammer Films, 'THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES' (1959). The lovely team at TWILIGHT TIME have sponsored this competition and given us FOUR copies as prizes!  Al you have to do is WATCH the TRAILER VIDEO CLIP BELOW, read the questions on that trailer and send YOUR ANSWER to our EMAIL: petercushingpcas@gmail.com It's as easy as that! The competition CLOSES next SUNDAY : #sherlocksunday 19TH JUNE 2016 midday gmt! So HAVE FUN AND GOOD LUCK!


THE FILM
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous story gets the gorgeously gothic Hammer treatment in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), starring Peter Cushing as a wry and brilliant Sherlock Holmes, André Morell as an unusually sensible Dr. Watson, and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville, seemingly threatened by a ghastly family curse. Horror stalwart Terence Fisher directs, and James Bernard provides the atmospheric music.



The cast includes,  Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Andre Morell, Marla Landi, David Oxley, Miles Malleson, John LeMesurier.


SPECIAL FEATURES
Isolated Music & Effects Track / Audio Commentary with Film Historians David Del Valle and Steven Peros / Audio Commentary with Film Historians Paul Scrabo, Lee Pfeiffer, and Hank Reineke / Actor's Notebook: Christopher Lee / Hound Mask Creator Margaret Robinson on The Hound of the Baskervilles / Christopher Lee Reads Excerpts from The Hound of the Baskervilles / Original Theatrical Trailer


SPEC:
Directed By: Terence Fisher Written By: Peter Bryan Score By: James Bernard Language: English Video: 1080p High Definition / 1.66:1 / Color Audio: English 1.0 DTS-HD MA Subtitles: English SDH Theatrical Release: 1959 Runtime: 86 Minutes Rating: NR (Not Rated) Region Code: Region Free (A/B/C)

YOU CAN ORDER YOUR COPY OF THE TWILIGHT TIME LIMITED EDITION BLU RAY OF 'THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES : HERE 
 

PLEASE JOIN US AT OUR FAST GROWING PETER CUSHING APPRECIATION SOCIETY FACEBOOK FAN PAGE: NOW WITH OVER 23 THOUSAND FOLLOWERS :  JUST CLICK HERE AND CLICK LIKE THERE

Saturday 6 February 2016

TWILIGHT TIME BRINGS HAMMER BASKERVILLE CUSHING CLASSIC TO BLU RAY FOR USA


NEWS: Hammer films classic THE HOUND OF BASKERVILLES, starring Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville... is coming to the US as a BLU RAY release set for JUNE 14th 2016...from Twilight Time. More details, with sleeve art and extras to come.....


 



 IT'S OUR 60TH ANNIVERSARY PCAS 1956 -2016!
Join us  our FACEBOOK FAN PAGE OR at our Peter Cushing TUMBLR page

OR Follow us on TWITTER 

Monday 29 September 2014

WE HAVE OUR WINNERS! THE CASE OF THE MISSING OBJECTS REVEALED!


WE HAVE OUR WINNERS! Congratulations to all five! The answers to our 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' blu ray /dvd combo competition. THANK YOU to everyone who entered, if you didn't win a copy of this Cushing Sherlock Cracker, the first it's been released on BLU RAY.. don't despair, there will be ANOTHER FIVE copies to win THIS TUESDAY in a 'sudden death' competition that will last ONLY SIX HOURS! Stay Tuned For Details.... A VERY BIG Thank you to the team at Shock for so generously sponsoring our competition!




Here are the MISSING ITEMS we were looking for:


The Case of the Missing Objects! Did you SOLVE the case? Here are the items that were missing from EXHIBIT TWO in our 'Hound of the Baskervilles' Competition... there were TEN...for some there were eleven (!!!) But as long as you included the ten we were looking for your entry was popped into the deerstalker and part of a very popular draw! 

1. Axe Behind Light Is Missing 2. Lamp Stand Missing 3. Picture to right of Sherlock replaced with photograph of Peter Cushing from The Vampire Lovers 4. Sherlock's Finger Missing 5. Studs Missing From Sherlock's Chair 6. Buttons Missing from Sherlock's Jacket 7.Detailing On bed Pillar removed 8. Blank Picture behind Watson 9. Watson's Ear Missing 10. Watson's pipe is missing.... 

There will ANOTHER COMPETITION on TUESDAY 30th SEPTEMBER (This Tuesday)..with another chance to win a further FIVE COPIES., in a SUDDEN DEATH comp that will only last SIX HOURS. Look out for details TOMORROW!


YOU CAN PURCHASE SHOCK'S BLU RAY / DVD COMBO RELEASE HERE

Wednesday 10 September 2014

SHOCK RELEASES OUTSTANDING 'HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES' FOR THE FIRST TIME ON BLU RAY: TROY HOWARTH REVIEWS



BLU RAY AND DVD REVIEW:
Hammer films 1959, The Hound of the Baskervilles makes its blu-ray debut courtesy of the Shock label in Australia. The blu-ray/DVD combo pack is region B for the blu-ray and region 4 for the DVD. The blu-ray offers a terrific transfer: the blacks are appropriately deep and inky, the primary colors truly do pop and the image retains a pleasing coating of natural film grain. Detail is very sharp throughout and the print is in excellent shape, even retaining the original United Artists distributing logo at the beginning. The mono English soundtrack is in very robust shape, too. Extras are sparse, but what is there is very good: the featurette on Andre Morell paints a warm and compelling portrait of a fiery but good natured individual.


Morell seldom seems to get the sort of love he deserves among fans; from my point of view, he’s every bit as good as Cushing and Lee, so it’s really nice seeing him paid tribute like this. A commentary by Jonathan Rigby and Marcus Hearn would have been gratefully received, but no matter… the film itself is presented in a more or less immaculate transfer and the featurette is most entertaining. The Christopher Lee interview included on the Region 1 MGM DVD release has not been included, so fans may want to hold on to that DVD if they are looking to upgrade.


Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) and Dr. Watson (Andre Morell) are called upon to protect Sir Henry Baskerville (Christopher Lee) from the family curse…


Confession time: I used to be pretty unenthusiastic about this version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s best known Sherlock Holmes adventure. Truth be told, I have been generally lukewarm on most of the screen versions. Part of the problem is the story itself: it’s not nearly as clever and surprising as the best of Doyle’s Holmes adventures, truth be told, and it is at an obvious disadvantage in one key area – namely, Holmes himself is off screen for a large chunk of the narrative. Most of the adaptations are further handicapped by another major problem: the hound itself. This version is certainly no exception in that particular area, but it outdoes much of the competition where atmosphere is concerned. As you have probably gathered by now, my feelings towards this Hammer adaptation have changed for the better.


It is almost certainly the best screen version of the story to date, though it has to be noted that a number of silent versions are lost to this day and a few more obscure adaptations have eluded me thus far. But put in a match against the Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett versions, it looks very smart indeed; we won’t drag in the Paul Morrissey-directed spoof with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, since that is a very different kettle of fish, indeed.


The film opens with a bravura extended flashback sequence, in which the viewer bears witness to the nefarious misdeeds of Sir Hugo Baskerville (David Oxley) and his drunken cronies. Director Terence Fisher, production designer Bernard Robinson and cinematographer Jack Asher work in perfect harmony to create a tremendous sense of gloom and foreboding right from the opening frames. Oxley’s magnetic performance teeters on the edge of becoming over the top, but he emerges as a truly frightening presence – more frightening by far than the actual hound itself, when it is finally revealed. But more on that later.


From there, the viewer is introduced to Peter Cushing and Andre Morell as Holmes and Watson. Cushing’s performance looks forward to that of Jeremy Brett in some respects, but it manages to avoid the grotesque overacting which would mar Brett’s later performances. Cushing’s Holmes is wound as tight as a drum. He is rude, arrogant and condescending. He has no patience for ego beyond his own and he possesses a cutting sense of humor. It has been suggested that Cushing’s performance implies the character’s drug addiction, but this is overstating things in an effort to make the performance look more “modern.” Most of the screen versions of Doyle’s stories sidestepped the drug angle for the reasons of censorship, though the Rathbone Hound (released in 1939, that most golden year of the golden age of Hollywood) did manage to toss in a surprisingly explicit reference at the very end, when a weary Holmes snaps at Watson, “The needle!”  Cushing’s many interviews on the topic of the character never made much of the drug angle and it doesn’t seem likely that it was something that he was unduly keen to bring in to the picture. Inevitably, if one chooses to view his tics and mannerisms as indicative of a cocaine dependency, they are free to do so. From my point of view, however, his Holmes is less of a dope fiend than he is a volcano of the mind, always ready to spring into action when “the game is afoot.” 


As for Morell, he was in a tricky position in that the character of Watson had become popularized on film as a bumbling idiot, thanks to the performance of Nigel Bruce in the Rathbone series. Unlike many Doyle fans, I can’t really fault Bruce’s performance: he and Rathbone had great chemistry and it was his touches of humor that helped to make the films popular in a period when the world was at war and audiences were looking for a bit of escapism. Even so, he was far removed from Doyle’s intelligent man of medicine and Morell was determined to restore the character’s dignity. He was more than successful in this. Morell’s Watson is intelligent, reliable, fiercely loyal to Holmes but capable of being bruised by the detective’s rapier-like wit. Cushing and Morell were often paired as adversaries (c.f., Cash on Demand or 1984), but this film proved that they could play friends with equal facility.


Once Holmes accepts the challenge to investigate the mysterious Baskerville family curse, we are introduced to the imperiled Sir Henry, played by Christopher Lee.  Lee’s reserved screen presence is put to good use here. Sir Henry is a man who does not suffer fools gladly, but as the character is lured into falling for a femme fatale (played by Marla Landi, in the film’s only truly unsatisfactory performance) he is able to convey the character’s inner passion and desire for love… and sex. Sir Henry is typically a rather dull and colorless character, but screenwriter Peter Bryan and Lee manage to imbue him with a vulnerability that makes him endearing.




Like other Hammer films of the period, the film has an air of cozy familiarity in hindsight due to the casting of familiar character faces like Francis DeWolff, Miles Malleson and Ewan Solon, while the recycled sets (Baskerville Hall is Castle Dracula redressed) and James Bernard’s pounding soundtrack evoke the spirit of their more overt Gothic horrors.


Fisher directs with a sure and steady hand, building the mood and atmosphere to good effect. The climax is particularly exciting – but it has to be admitted that the hound itself is a let down. Fisher had toyed with the idea of using children to double for Lee, Cushing and Morell so that the dog would look appropriately imposing, but the rushes revealed that they looked very much like kids in suits and the effect was ludicrous. A mask was finally strapped onto the face of a large, rather friendly great dane – Lee does his best to wrestle convincingly with it (and with a puppet, as well) but, well, it’s not exactly ideal.



But let us not dwell on the negative. The film’s faults (including a lack of Baker Street exteriors) are relatively minor in context. What the film does offer is a richly atmospheric, occasionally spooky take on a familiar story – and a fine cast of British acting talent giving the material the treatment it deserves.





 
The Hound Of The Baskervilles Blu Ray / DVD Competition: During the month of September, The UK Peter Cushing Appreciation Society in association with Shock Entertainment, Cinema Cult and Screenpop are launching TWO competitions, offering TEN copies of Hammer films classic 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee...for the very first time on Blu Ray...as prizes!

Here we present the first competition, with FIVE blu rays up for grabs! All you have to do is use your POWERS of OBSERVATION to win your copy! - See more at: http://petercushingblog.blogspot.co.uk/#sthash.Deej1Zaw.dpuf
Here we present the first competition, with FIVE BLU RAY DVD COMBO PACKS up for grabs! All you have to do is use your POWERS of OBSERVATION to win your copy!

OBSERVE EXHIBIT ONE: A vintage photograph from 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' Featuring Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and Andre Morell as Watson.

OBSERVE EXHIBIT B: The same photograph, but with TEN DIFFERENCES. Things moved, changed or missing!. 

To ENTER the competition, list ALL TEN CORRECT DIFFERENCES and send your list to us, BY EMAIL TO THEBLACKBOXCLUB@GMAIL.COM. ANY entries posted onto the comments feed will be deleted and not counted as an entry. ALL correct entries will be placed in a hat and FIVE winning names will be drawn.

Competition ENDS Saturday 27th SEPTEMBER 2014 at MIDNIGHT! Winners names will be posted here on the PCASUK account news feed on Sunday 28th SEPTEMBER 2014.

Have FUN and Good LUCK!



Our thanks to Screenpop and Cinema Cult in making our pcasuk competition possible. Please show your support by visiting their website and following their facebook pages. http://www.screenpop.com.au/
The Hound Of The Baskervilles Blu Ray / DVD: During the month of September, The UK Peter Cushing Appreciation Society in association with Shock Entertainment, Cinema Cult and Screenpop are launching TWO competitions, offering TEN copies of Hammer films classic 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee...for the very first time on Blu Ray...as prizes! - See more at: http://petercushingblog.blogspot.co.uk/#sthash.Deej1Zaw.dpuf
The Hound Of The Baskervilles Blu Ray / DVD: During the month of September, The UK Peter Cushing Appreciation Society in association with Shock Entertainment, Cinema Cult and Screenpop are launching TWO competitions, offering TEN copies of Hammer films classic 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee...for the very first time on Blu Ray...as prizes! - See more at: http://petercushingblog.blogspot.co.uk/#sthash.Deej1Zaw.dpuf
The Hound Of The Baskervilles Blu Ray / DVD: During the month of September, The UK Peter Cushing Appreciation Society in association with Shock Entertainment, Cinema Cult and Screenpop are launching TWO competitions, offering TEN copies of Hammer films classic 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee...for the very first time on Blu Ray...as prizes! - See more at: http://petercushingblog.blogspot.co.uk/#sthash.Deej1Zaw.dpuf

Banner and Feature Design: Marcus Brooks
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