


Moderators: Archie, Dirty Old Yank, PhilGlass
Dirty Old Yank wrote:Congrats yet again ILS, Roy Ward Baker and Milton Subotsky’s last credits, haven’t seen the film. At this rate you’ll be hanging frames from the ceiling which would look pretty cool actually, unless your ceilings are vaulted, Middle Ages style. I realize Monster Club wasn't an Amicus production but as an aside, it’s a shame the company didn’t end so amicably. Paraphrasing here, but when a friend asked Subotsky what happened with his lawsuit against former partner Max Rosenberg he replied, ‘As you'd expect, we won and the lawyers took all the money’.
Here’s a Guardian piece about Amicus you might find interesting: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/feb/13/british-horror-film-studio-amicus.
A humourless piece that begs the question.....why are so many British “journalists” such a deeply unhappy lot, more often than not arbitrarily trashing everything in sight while insulting the dead? More than mere “cult movies”, most Amicus pictures were hugely popular with audiences worldwide, the participants remember them fondly too.
Ilovesteptoe wrote:...(P/S) Thanks for the link. Very interesting too.
Dirty Old Yank wrote:Ilovesteptoe wrote:...(P/S) Thanks for the link. Very interesting too.
Found while researching my first reply, that third rate excuse for a tabloid piece not only trashed Amicus but repeatedly attacked Milton Subotsky’s intelligence and character; more than a little insulting to readers and to those that knew him. Besides, to not laugh with those movies is to miss the joke entirely.
Needless to say, despite cliches to the contrary there is an accounting for taste and though “Asylum”* is popular with fans, it’s one of my least favorite Amicus portmanteaus. A contributing factor might be Douglas Gamley being given full credit for the score, while lengthy excerpts from Ravel's orchestral version of “Pictures at an Exhibition” are clearly heard throughout the film but conspicuously isn't mentioned. In fact, Gamley is credited with a gigantic card claiming he "Composed, Orchestrated and Conducted" the music, as if he were Mussorgsky himself. Upsetting too is Peter Cushing being cast as a man in mourning when in fact he was, unlike his role as Grimsdyke in Tales From the Crypt, it feels exploitative and opportunistic, but as always his presence is a saving grace as is dear Catweazle, Geoffrey Bayldon. Funnily enough my situation is the exact opposite of yours I’ve loads of wooden frames of all sizes, all got for free but lack the posters to put in them.
Walls are the place for books really, tomes in all directions with rolling ladders reaching to dizzying heights.
Acrophobic bibliophiles must find those environments incredibly frustrating.
* Marketing geniuses this side of the pond retitled the picture "House of Crazies".
Ilovesteptoe wrote:...Horror to them is like a barman forgetting to place an olive in their gin and tonic.
Ilovesteptoe wrote:...He came to a sticky end (he laughs Mwwwhhhaa).
Dirty Old Yank wrote:Ilovesteptoe wrote:...Horror to them is like a barman forgetting to place an olive in their gin and tonic.
(Beldar Conehead flies into a monotone rage at the barman with extraterrestrial nasality.....)
“Whaaaat?! No olive in alco-carbo-beverage? Mebs! Mebs! Unacceptable! If I did not fear incarceration by human authority figures I would terminate your life functions by applying sufficient pressure to your blunt skull so as to cause its collapse!” Sorry for the Conehead moment but I found the DVD in a charity shop yesterday and haven’t seen it in years, a cheesy movie but has its moments. I didn’t believe you’d take that trashy news item seriously, was just expanding on my post. Agreed, there’s no question that Amicus pictures could be a bit dodgy sometimes but the occasional unintentional hilarity lends to their charm. Example, have you seen their 1967 film “They Came From Beyond Space”? In it the protagonists protect themselves from alien mind control by placing metal colanders over their heads
. An Amicus fan yes but “Asylum” just wasn’t my cup of tea, hey ho. By the way, Cushing played Grimsdyke in Tales From the Crypt, not Vault of Horror. The zombie make-up they gave Peter was surprisingly good wasn’t it, a stand-out moment
.
Ilovesteptoe wrote:...He came to a sticky end (he laughs Mwwwhhhaa).
I don’t know what the formula is for ‘kensington gore’ but over here movie blood typically had a syrup base.
Karo syrup, coffee and red food dye.....very sticky indeed, unpleasantly so.
Ilovesteptoe wrote:Firstly oops...
Dirty Old Yank wrote:Ilovesteptoe wrote:Firstly oops...
Why, what have you done. You’ve reminded me of that hilarious bit in ‘Carry On Camping’ where Betty Marsden and Terry Scott are riding their bicycle-built-for-two along a country road. As they approach Charles Hawtry who’s on foot, she cheerfully shouts, “Keep off the road, keep off the road!” to which he replies in his inimitable style, “Why, what have you done madame?”
. Sacking Charlie Hawtry from the Carry On's was such a huge mistake.
In an interview, Trevor Cooper (clapper/loader on 'Tales From the Crypt') said that white rug was a point of contention between Freddie Francis who wanted the camera to see kensington gore, and production people who were more concerned with having to purchase a stained (alpaca?) rug, as opposed to just renting a clean one.
Stage blood at that time more closely resembled melted red crayon than anything else, which may be one reason why BBFC and MPAA didn’t kick up a bigger fuss. These days MPAA censors have become so preposterously desperate to legitimize their existence, they now actually itemize anything whatsoever that might trigger the backward sensibilities of the puritanical and parents who lack the time/inclination to raise their own children.
Not content with warnings of “language”, “violence” or “sexual” content, MPAA now alerts DVD consumers to the perils of, and I quote, “slime”. I kid you not.
Another favorite bit from ‘Vault of Horror’, Arthur Mullard as the cemetery night watchman, brilliant.
Ilovesteptoe wrote:Re Vault Of Horror. Funny you mention the great Arthur Mullard. The very night I replied last coincidentally the Horror Channel in the UK was showing, yes you've guessed it, Vault of Horror lol. Seen that story and Mullard smacking that unfortunate insurance scammer Maitland (Michael Craig) after he awakes in his coffin is bludgeoned to death with him apologising to horrified Tom & Jerry (Robin Nedwell & Geoffrey Davies from the classic Doctor Series) who was part of the scam for damaging the head was hilarious lol.
Dirty Old Yank wrote:Ilovesteptoe wrote:Re Vault Of Horror. Funny you mention the great Arthur Mullard. The very night I replied last coincidentally the Horror Channel in the UK was showing, yes you've guessed it, Vault of Horror lol. Seen that story and Mullard smacking that unfortunate insurance scammer Maitland (Michael Craig) after he awakes in his coffin is bludgeoned to death with him apologising to horrified Tom & Jerry (Robin Nedwell & Geoffrey Davies from the classic Doctor Series) who was part of the scam for damaging the head was hilarious lol.
A question ILS, about ‘Vault of Horror’ which you’ve just seen on telly.....I’ve got 2 versions of the film and in both the vampire scenes have been clumsily edited, as if somebody clobbered the Moviola with sledgehammer. Instead of seeing Daniel Massey struggling with a beer tap in his jugular, these neutered versions immediately cut to a very brief still-photo. The (appointed, not elected so they’re not responsible to consumers) geniuses at censor boards apparently found that hilarious and remarkably tame scene too shocking to witness.
Is that scene intact in the British version, or has the footage been lost forever to the cutting room floor and burial beneath some miscellaneous motorway? Geoffrey Davies tells a funny story about working with Arthur Mullard in that film. It seems when Mullard tried to speak his lines, Davies and Nedwell couldn’t stop laughing because there he was, brilliant Arthur Mullard who asked quite seriously, “...What are you two laughin’ at?”.
Ilovesteptoe wrote:...The DVD version that I own has the uncut scene in full that shows Rodgers wriggling semi-conscious as the waiter fills each Vamps glass with his frothy lifeblood, his sister amongst the baying crowd laughing teeth exposed.
Dirty Old Yank wrote:Ilovesteptoe wrote:...The DVD version that I own has the uncut scene in full that shows Rodgers wriggling semi-conscious as the waiter fills each Vamps glass with his frothy lifeblood, his sister amongst the baying crowd laughing teeth exposed.
Were those vampire fangs dodgy or what.
So that “Midnight Mess” footage does still exist! Often wondered. In one of my dvd versions the tap was carefully painted out with black ink, as though it were porn or something. The second came as a public domain double feature with “Frightmare” (1983) starring Ferdy Mayne who’s obviously enjoying the role as a hammy horror actor who returns from the dead to wreak vengeance upon the kids that stole his corpse from its garish, neon lit tomb.
Like overripe cheese, Frightmare is an acquired taste but a delicacy to the discerning no-budget horror fan.
Pongs a bit, but fun all the same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEJKx6SpXu0.
Thinking of all those doctor shows, Kildare and all that, I'm always reminded of that hilarious Python sketch where Graham Chapman transforms from Harley Street physician into Gumby M.D. with a hankie on his head, “I’m going to operate!!! OH!! ...We forgot the anesthetic!!!” Chapman was having so much fun sending up what he studied in college, you can see him break character.
Ilovesteptoe wrote:...Yeah they (vampire fangs) were hilarious borderline Sabretooth Tiger. I know Amicus had a tight budget but they were akin to Christmas cracker free gifts...
Dirty Old Yank wrote:Ilovesteptoe wrote:...Yeah they (vampire fangs) were hilarious borderline Sabretooth Tiger. I know Amicus had a tight budget but they were akin to Christmas cracker free gifts...
Apt parallels those, sabertoof tiger teef and crimbo crackers.
If you do look for “Frightmare” (1983) be warned, like a boisterous budgie it is cheep, cheep cheep! Great fun to watch Ferdy Mayne work that role with the distinctive tongue-in-cheek horror star dignity he did so well.
Speaking of Terry Gilliam, seems he’s having one last go at his dream script/project, “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.” If BBC got their facts right (no comment) filming begins this Fall with a projected cinema release next Spring which seems an awfully short schedule. We're hoping Terry isn't obliged to use computer imagery.
It’ll be good to see Palin & Gilliam together again, those fellas compliment each other like mash and peas.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests