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Sunday, August 02, 2009
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Classic Horror
King Kong Escapes
An evil genius named Dr. Who has created a robotic version of King Kong named Mechani-Kong in order to dig for a highly radioactive element called "Element X", but the power of it shuts the robot down. Meanwhile, the crew of a submarine investigate the legend of King Kong on Mondo Island and Susan Wattson is attacked by Gorosaurus. However Kong comes to her rescue and kills it by breaking their jaws, before also saving the crew from a giant sea snake. Later, Dr. Who kidnaps the real Kong along with the submarine crew and hypnotize him to dig for Element X. He soon snaps out of it, escapes and swims off to Tokyo. The submarine crew also escape and Kong picks up Wattson, who he carries to the top of the Tokyo Tower where he fights Mechani-Kong.
I Was a Teenage Werewolf
A troubled teenager seeks help through hypnotherapy, but his evil doctor uses him for regression experiments that transform him into a rampaging werewolf
I Was a Teenage Werewolf Trivia
# American International Pictures released this on a double bill with Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957) with the tag line "We DARE You To See The Most Amazing Pictures of Our Time!"
# One of the most successful films ever released by American Internation Pictures.
# This was the film that came up with the popular title motif "I Was A *incert noun here*." Numerous films, songs, and books have paid homage to this film through their titles alone.
# American Internation Pictures rushed out a number of films similar to this in hopes of capitalizing on the success of I Was A Teenage Werewolf. Among them - I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957), How to Make a Monster (1958), and Blood of Dracula (1957).
# Guy Williams (Officer Stanley) would reunite with Michael Landon on several episodes of "Bonanza" (1959) as his cousin Will.
# Michael Landon later satirized his role in this film on his TV show, "Highway to Heaven" (1984). In the 1987 Halloween episode, "I Was A Middle Aged Werewolf," written and directed by Landon, the angel Jonathan Smith turns himself into a werewolf to scare off some bullies. Smith and his friend, Mark Gordon (Victor French) watch the movie I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) on TV. Watching the werewolf, Mark tells Jonathan, "You know, this guy in the movie reminds me a lot of you. I mean, when he's a regular guy, not when he's got fuzz all over his face."
The Curse of Frankenstein
Baron Victor Frankenstein, in prison for murder and trying to evade the guillotine, tells a priest how he and his mentor, Paul Krempe, had performed many scientific experiments, eventually leading to the resurrection of a dead body. The baron's obsession and the monster's homicidal nature cause the deaths of several of those around them. Finally the Baron is confronted by an enraged monster about to throw Victor's fiancée Elizabeth, from the castle parapet
The Curse of Frankenstein Trivia
# For many years this held the distinction of being the most profitable film to be produced in England by a British studio.
# The first Frankenstein movie to be filmed in color
# The idea originated with Milton Subotsky, who went on to co-found Amicus Films, Hammer's main rival during the 1960s and early 1970s. The script was revised several times to avoid repeating any elements from the Universal Frankenstein series. As part of this effort, new monster make-up had to be devised especially for this film.
# Christopher Lee's monster make-up was almost literally done at the "last minute". After previous attempts to design a monster make-up using a cast of Lee's head had failed, make-up artist Philip Leakey made the final design the day before shooting began, directly onto Lee's face, using primarily cotton and other household materials. Since he didn't use any latex or molds, the make-up had to be recreated from scratch every day.
# The original concept for this film was a black-and-white feature with Boris Karloff as Baron Frankenstein. Universal threatened a lawsuit if Hammer copied any elements from the classic Universal version. Hammer had Jimmy Sangster completely redo the script and had Jack Asher shoot it in Eastmancolour.
# This is not the first time Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee starred together. Lee had a small role in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948), in which Cushing played Osric. The two had also appeared in Moulin Rouge (1952), though they shared no scenes.
# Bernard Bresslaw was considered for the role of the Creature, on account of his height.
# Patrick Troughton appeared in a brief role as a mortuary attendant. Although his name is credited on some early publicity material his scenes were cut from the finished film.
# Although they had both previously appeared in Hamlet (1948) and Moulin Rouge (1952), Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing met on the set of this film for the first time. They would pass the time between shots by exchanging Looney Tunes phrases, and quickly developed a fast friendship, which lasted until Cushing's death in 1994.
And 3 More From RetroVision Media
The Vampire Bat, The Ape & The Monster Maker
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