A heavy Peter Cushing flow this week, as I received all six Hammer Frankenstein films, featuring everyone’s favorite grave-robbing, wife-raping, soul-swapping Victorian anti-hero, Doctor Frankenstein. Films include, in chronological order, “The Curse of Frankenstein,” “The Revenge of Frankenstein,” “The Evil of Frankenstein,” “Frankenstein Created Woman,” “Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed,” and “Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell.” Sorry, I don't count that Ralph Bates shit.
Hammer Studios burnt the hand of glory at both ends from the fifties and on through the seventies, churning out color-saturated Gothic horror, featuring fine thespians and gravity defying cleavage, at a ridiculous volume. These are certainly B-films, shot on the cheap and back-to-back, but Hammer always managed to bring an element of classic charm to their productions with their talented stable of set designers, photographers, and fantastic players. No studio on earth ever did better than Hammer when it came to stretching their dollar and giving audiences the illusion that they were seeing something really big.
“Hammer’s House of Horror” six volume miniseries from the 80s also arrived earlier this week. I’ve actually never seen this but looking forward to a mid-Summer review of this thing.
Hammer Studios has changed hands several times since the eighties, and the current incarnation has several productions slated for release in the next year or so. Disappointingly, they're currently working on a remake of “Let The Right One In,” under the insipid title, “Let Me In.” Fuck that.
Also in this week: “Santa Clause Conquers the Martians” starring Pia Zadora, and Full Moon’s “Retro Puppet Master,” directed by David DeCoteau. One of my favorite current directors, the prolific DeCoteau slings homoerotic SciFi channel fodder like a fucking champ. Kind of like a gay Larry Cohen. I’ll be slapping up a “Leeches!” review pretty soon in DeCoteau's honor. This guy is one of my heroes.
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