Grade: D-
Synopsis: A man (Oliver Reed) is born cursed with the sign of the werewolf.
The Curse of the Werewolf is one of those movies that make you wonder what the filmmakers were thinking. Oliver Reed has a lot of charisma and looks great in the werewolf makeup, but he doesn’t even show up until the halfway point. And the actual werewolf doesn’t really show up until the movie is two-thirds over! Instead, the movie wastes a lot of time setting up the back-story behind Reed’s character, back-story that could have easily been reduced to a paragraph of opening text. Indeed, it’s no wonder the movie flopped, but watching it, I can’t help but wonder if a little editing couldn’t have at least made it marginally better. MORE »
Posted 953 days ago in Movie Reviews, Hammer Film and Terence Fisher. No responses
Grade: D
Synopsis: A teacher falls prey to a vampire baron in the German countryside.
The Brides of Dracula is s sequel to Hammer’s Dracula (1958). Unfortunately, this entry lacks both Christopher Lee, and a good supporting cast.
Peter Cushing returns as Van Helsing, and does what he can with the weak script. For every step forward it seems to take a step back. For instance, Van Helsing is clever enough to slide his cross across the table to halt the advance of a vampire, but also foolish enough not to pack a spare! And don’t get me started on how he lets a scrawny woman wrestle him to the ground. MORE »
Posted 954 days ago in Movie Reviews, Hammer Film, Peter Cushing, Terence Fisher and Vampire Movies. No responses
Grade: B-
Synopsis: Two men (Christopher Lee and Leon Greene) discover their young friend has fallen in with a group of Satanists.
The Devil Rides Out is one of Hammer Film studios better efforts. The script by Richard Matheson starts out great. Christopher Lee chews up the scenery opposite an equally strong Charles Gray and the plot moves like gangbusters. Then, inexplicably, Lee disappears off on some errand and the movie begins to drag. Fortunately, Lee returns and the movie picks back up, only to drag again when he vanishes again before the finale. The net result is still a gain though, as when the movie’s on, it’s on. MORE »
Posted 962 days ago in Movie Reviews, Christopher Lee, Hammer Film and Terence Fisher. No responses
Grade: D+
Synopsis: A young English woman (Jean Simmons) in Paris wakes up to find her brother (and his entire hotel room!) missing.
So Long at the Fair is built around a premise worthy of Hitchcock. Indeed, he would make a film built around a similar theme (person vanishes and nobody acknowledges them as even having existed) the following year with Strangers on a Train. MORE »
Posted 968 days ago in Movie Reviews and Terence Fisher. No responses
Grade: C-
Synopsis: Robin Hood (Richard Greene) attempts to foil the Sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Cushing).
After striking gold with Frankenstein and Dracula, Hammer Films tried their hand at starting a Robin Hood franchise.
They should have stuck with the monsters.
Terence Fisher’s direction is sound and Peter Cushing makes the best of a part that gives him nothing to do, but ultimately, Sword of Sherwood Forest fails because Richard Greene is simply not right for the leading role of Robin Hood. He has only marginal charisma, his arm shakes whenever he draws his bow, and he has zero chemistry with his leading lady. MORE »
Posted 1003 days ago in Movie Reviews, Hammer Film, Peter Cushing and Terence Fisher. No responses
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