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The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) starring Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn

The Revenge of Frankenstein

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The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) starring Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn, Eunice Gayson

In Hammer Studios’ Frankenstein films, the focus of the films was not on the monster, but rather on Dr. Frankenstein — an excellent choice. The Revenge of Frankenstein continues where The Curse of Frankenstein left off. The amoral, murderous Dr. Frankenstein (played excellently by Peter Cushing) is about to be executed by guillotine, for his crimes. He is accompanied by a priest and taken to his execution, where the camera focuses on the guillotine — except for a knowing smile between the executioner and a prison worker …

She

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She (1965) starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Ursula Andres

Set in Palestine in 1918 “She“, relates the story of three wartime buddies — Major Horace Holly (Peter Cushing), Leo Vincy (John Richardson) and Job (Bernard Cribbons), who at the end of the war find themselves in the Middle East with no real desire to return home to England. Encountering a beautiful and mysterious woman called Ustane (Rosenda Monteros), one evening in a nightclub Leo is lured away and then knocked out. When he comes to, he discovers himself in a strange house where he encounters another beautiful woman, who calls herself Ayesha (Ursula Andress) — She who must be obeyed.

The Black Room (1935)

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Synopsis of  The Black Room (1935)

Boris Karloff is superb in a dual role as twin brothers (one evil, one good), born to the ruling family in the early 1800’s in Czechoslovakia. The bad twin inherits the castle and becomes infamous for his sadistic behavior and murders the good twin, assuming his identity so that he might continue his heinous acts.

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

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Synopsis of  Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

Larry Talbot, the unwilling Wolf Man, is returned to life with the unwitting help of grave robbers.  He wishes only to die, in order to avoid hurting anyone else as the Wolf Man.   So, he gets the help of the old gypsy from the original Wolf Man film. He is striving to get the assistance of the reviled Dr. Frankenstein … A man who supposedly discovered the secrets of life and death.   The doctor isn’t available, but Talbot uncovers his monster (played by Bela Lugosi).  With a confrontation between the two monsters being inevitable.

The Raven

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The Raven (1963) starring Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Jack Nicholson, Hazel Court

In short,  The Raven is one of the funniest movies that I’ve ever seen, in any genre. It has some truly scary moments as well, and gives some of the best horror actors of all time — Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, and Peter Lorre — room to work, and they do so wonderfully.

The movie is ever-so-loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe’s classic poem, The Raven. And, in fact, Vincent Price plays the part of Dr. Erasmus Craven, the previously-unnamed narrator of the poem, who is mourning for his lost wife, Lanore (played by the beautiful and talented Hazel Court) — although his daughter Estelle (played by Olive Sturgess) tries to comfort him, he turns inward, and away from the world, a virtual recluse — until he gets a visit from the titular raven. A talking raven …

The Day Mars Invaded Earth

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The Day Mars Invaded Earth (1963), starring Kent Taylor, Marie Windsor

 The Day Mars Invaded Earth isn’t a cheesy monster movie — but a subtle one. It’s an invasion that happens so gradually, that the characters, and the audience, isn’t sure at first that anything is going on. It’s in the vein of  Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but in my opinion, more subtle, and therefore more frightening.If you think “ashes in the pool,” you’re thinking of this movie — and if that means nothing to you, that simply means that you haven’t seen the movie yet.  And I won’t spoil your viewing pleasure by explaining what that means in this review.

The Selling of Scarry Manor

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The Selling of Scarry Manor (2011) starring Gabriel Diani, Janet Varney, Jonathan Klein

Yesterday, I ran across a movie titled  The Selling on the Chiller cable network. Normally, I don’t bother watching Chiller.  It tends to have the blood spewing, goriness that I don’t care for in modern horror movies.  But the title — The Selling — intrigued me enough to watch.  And I’m glad I did.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World

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movie review of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1960) starring Michael Rennie, Claude Rains, Jill St. John, Fernando Lamas

This is the Irwin Allen version of the movie, where the “dinosaurs” are plainly lizards with fins and horns attached, making the “frightening” monsters laughable. And that’s a crying shame.   The acting is fine, and the interaction between the various A-list actors (Michael Rennie, Claude Rains, Fernando Lamas, Jill St. John, David Hedison) is one of the best things about the movie. It should also be said that, despite the title, the movie takes large liberties with the basic story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. For example, in the original novel, there were no female characters at all.

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