Thursday, March 16, 2006

Hammer Night at the Movies, Round One

Night Creatures – 1962

     Ahhh, the greatness that is Hammer. What we have here is a simple “costumer” set in 1792 in England. A village struggles to thrive under the harsh rule of the king. You know, all that stuff we found a revolution to get rid of; taxation of luxury items, unreasonable demands of the government like billeting of the King’s men (which can mean sailors), total lack of respect for all but the wealthy. Hey, wait a minute!

Okay, I’ll get off my political soapbox. This movie really was great! And it didn’t hurt that there were TWO Hammer regulars that always brighten the screen. Oliver Reed (I understand that many men who subscribe to that other magazine find him VERY attractive) and the always awesome (and greatly missed) Peter Cushing. This movie wouldn’t be bad without these two, but their presence and ability make it excellent.

The only extras on this disc are subtitles, which are always appreciated, but a little more would have been nice. A commentary by a film historian putting this movie into the context of what was happening at Hammer and in the actor’s lives would have pushed this up the final peg.

Four beers out of five.

Evil of Frankenstein – 1964

     How can you NOT love these movies? I mean, they work on so many levels. They are just as entertaining as most movies made today with bazillion dollar budgets, AND they can be MSTied, even though they are good (see MST3K The Movie, This Island Earth for a professional example).

There is much to appreciate in this simple retelling of the Ghost of Frankenstein (I think that’s the one, I don’t have the Universal Frankenstein Set. Anyone wishing to donate one to the cause will get my eternal appreciation and multiple good plugs  :-> ). However, there is much to snicker about as well. Like the fact that the Burgomaster has a trophy wife. Or that although the Baron Von Frankenstein is a genius, he’s also a prideful fool for making such a scene at the restaurant over a stupid RING, fer cryin’ out loud.

Of course, we have another dose of the Peter Cushing as Dr. Frankenstein (I think that it’s his best role. Better than van Helsing,, the only role that comes close is Governor Tarkin (only geeks will get this reference). And we have an actor named Peter Woodthorpe, who does a great job of playing the absolutely repulsive Zoltan. I know I’ve seen him before, but looking over his IMDB entry, I sure don’t see anything. Well, maybe it’s a childhood memory of this movie. I know that I saw it when I was very young. Let’s see, I would have been 7 when it was released, so I could have seen it a year or two later as a double feature at a drive-in. Hmmmm, maybe that’s it.

Anywho, he does a great job of being a drunken creep, and the entire movie hangs together excellently.

Four beers out of five (but if I don’t see some nudity soon, I may go insaner)