Peter Cushing was a ‘monstrously’ underrated actor. Whatever the story, the role, or the budget, he gave his all. He was utterly believable in everything he did.
As a projectionist both at ABC Cinemas, and later at Elstree Studios in the late 1960s and early 70s, I was lucky enough to work on some of these Hammer Horror movies in a small way, many of which were filmed entirely on set (Stages 2 and 3) or on the backlot and at Scratchwood Nature Reserve for some of the exterior locations. I was lucky enough to meet Peter Cushing when I was on duty at the Admin Theatre at Elstree, and we had quite a long chat while he was waiting to view his morning rushes. He was a very kind man, always wearing white cotton gloves to mask his heavily nicotine stained fingers. Great memories of a time when horror movie special FX were put together using whatever came to hand, including coloured rice pudding, and gallons of liquid latex. No fancy computer graphics in those days. Spit and paper, polystyrene boulders, and fibrous plaster brickwork; along with amazing scenic artists and set dressers creating some of the best visual imagery of their day. Great memories.
👍 Nifty story. This is a couple of years late, but I do think the older methods of filmmaking we're better in many ways. CGI is fine in its way, but I respect the hard work of the older films more.
I think he was genuinely hurt but doesn't understand how much he was loved in those movies... you could tell George loves the guy. That's big props considering alot fans feel that way about George.
Best interpretation of Baron Frankenstein ever put on film. And the same is true of his Van Helsing. I will accept no other Van Helsings (unless it's Mel Brooks).
Peter Cushing .A great actor and gentleman. Never really given the credit he deserves. I have to confess I watched a lot of his films when I was a kid in England when they were put on on the Friday night horror at 10.30. Magic nights they were. School finished for the week end and a great Hammer film to start the week end end was the icing on the cake. Great times.
The make up job of Curse this actually supports the idea that the creature really was put together by corpses and thus more scary and unsettling.The monster looked very creepy and I could see why everyone who came in contact with it was afraid.
That first Hammer frankenstien was amazing. To see a Gothic horror like this in color and to see pieces of gore brought to the silver screen was just a bold move
Another fine effort. One could always tell that Peter Cushing was a good man even when his Frankenstein was the most evil of men. A real class act all the way.
@@tiffsaver Laughable? Well, these "laughable" films singlehandedly revolutionized the British film industry in the same way The Beatles revolutionized the music industry. There may have been a few Hammer films that were hokey, but that's the exception, not the rule. Most of them appear as a meticulously crafted arthouse fever dream of a film, that not only have style----but substance as well. Cushing most assuredly didn't consider them "laughable". He knew just how special (and important) they were...and he never thought he was "too good" for them.
@@emeraldvenus I'm glad that you do. But after watching the genius of the Universal monster pictures, Hammer seems like a droll, amateurish ripoff of these classic films. It's like watching Lawrence Oliver do Hamlet, then watching a high school production of the same play. Peter Cushing was the ONLY thing in Hammer Films with any true talent or value, in my estimation.
@@tiffsaver I think they're great. Even so Peter Cushing was a professional and took his roles very seriously never hamming it up or playing it for laughs. Great man was "The Cushing"
@@Mustaine1ify Hammer Films compared to the genius of the original Universal monster movies was a JOKE. Just because they used color film didn't mean they were "better." Comparing Christopher Lee's Frankenstein makeup to the great makeup of the Boris Karloff's was actually LAUGHABLE. He looked as though he just dipped his entire face into a vat of molten wax. And when you compare Lee's Dracula with that of Bela Legosi, well, let's just say it is like comparing Arnold Schwarzenegger to Pee Wee Herman. Absolutely no comparison.
These movies may be absurd but they're great nonetheless and Peter Cushing is great in them. It is a pure pleasure to watch him acting in anything but he really brought a lot of intellectual class to the character of the mad scientist and made such a mark in the role that it's difficult to see Baron Frankenstein being played any other way that how Cushing did it. I never miss these movies when they come up. One day I hope to add them all to my own collection.
I'm such a fan of Hammer Studios and this is all so nostalgic. Reminds me the horror movie every Friday night at 11:30pm in Montreal when I was a kid. I loved all their spooky films or their great mysteries. I've had to subscribe to this channel. This is all magical. Thanks for all the background information.
Some years ago ( I don't know how many) me and my wife Yolande went to see the Bray studios... I admit a huge fan I am.. the whole site was closed! They wanted to demolish and build some homes for elderly people I guess..It is outrageous. Such a waste. It could have been like a 'small' Universal studios or something. It is British history of filmmaking!
In the Hammer films, Peter Cushing was the straight man and Christopher Lee the wild one.That was the formula in any film they appeared in. They were both a sinister Martin and Lewis.
Oh man, just to go back in time to work alongside Cushing and Lee at Hammer in films like these when the studio was at its peak... SUCH a privilege THAT would be!!!
These Retrospectives are just getting better and better; there's much to relish here. Congrats, Dark Corners! I admit that much in the Stones/Beatles realm, I am a Universal rather than Hammer devotee, but I've always respected enormously how Hammer provided a bridge between modern and classical horror. This video is a wonderful visual representation of how that bridge came to be. In his own way, Christopher Lee looks rather hurt by that Yoda/Dracula prank.
Between “Dark Shadows” the 1960’s-1970’s gothic soap opera and Hammer horror films on Saturday afternoons I became a fan of classic horror flicks. The films were deliciously scary and the gore was very restrained by today’s standards. Our parents probably thought that we were watching Disney movies at the matinee when we were, in fact, enjoying an afternoon with Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Ralph Bates and company. Little did they know!
A fantastic look at Hammer Films. I've been a fan since the 60's and I'm truly grateful for this professional and comprehensive look at Hammer. I can hardly wait for Part 2. Thank you VERY much...
One of the great things about discovering Hammer classics (as well as many other Silver Age horror films) is finally figuring out where all of those White Zombie audio samples came from!!
I like to think of "The Evil of Frankenstein" as occuring in a parallel world. One extremely similar to ours' but slight variations. It would surely explain the differences.
Amicus didn't make enough movies to be Hammer's rival. Hammer's only rival was AIP. They produced or distributed "Horrors Of The Black Museum," "House Of Usher," "Circus Of Horrors," "Black Sunday," "The Pit And The Pendulum," "The Premature Burial," "Night Of The Eagle," "Tales Of Terror," "The Terror," "The Haunted Palace," "Dementia 13," "The Last Man On Earth," "The Masque of The Red Death," "The Tomb Of Ligeia," "Witchfinder General," "The Oblong Box," "The Dunwich Horror," "Count Yorga, Vampire," "Cry Of The Banshee," "Murders In The Rue Morgue," etc. Their Cushing (or Lee) was Vincent Price.
My favorite has always been The Curse Of Frankenstein. I absolutely loved that, sped up, dolly zoom they did when, we see the monster for the first time. Epic!
I’ve always loved the Hammer franchises, even as they tailed off. They made some brilliant films in their time and all with such a distinctively British feel about them. I think the Frankenstein series is probably my favourite as they seemed to have more creativity than with Dracula, so it’s great to see you covering them in an in depth way. It’s fascinating to see how they evolved with the times (be it successfully or not) and how they handled different subject matter. The earlier films were almost always superior, later ones often felt quite bitter sweet to me as it’s great to see them carrying on the hammer style but also quite sad to see the decline and how they clearly couldn’t keep up with the times. Either way, Hammer had a huge impact on horror and it’s great to reflect on it from time to time. Great video, really looking forward to part two.
Great job on this video. Always fun to learn more about Hammer's legacy and Peter Cushing, who's one of my all-time favorite actors. Looking forward to part two.
The Revenge of Frankenstein offered the most novel concept of the Hammer Frankensteins, with Dr. Frankenstein becoming his own monster--a concept they unfortunately failed to follow up in their other Frankenstein entries.
I think Frankenstein Created Woman is highly underrated. For one thing, Thorley Walters gets to shine. I feel sad when I watch his stupidish hayfevered dolt in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed when I love him as the wonderfully named Doctor Hertz, a man who almost seems to be in love with the Baron here played in a more neutral mode than other films in the series.
As much as I love Sir Christopher Lee , I truly adore and love Peter Cushing as well. He elevated every movie he was ever in. Outstanding review, I loved every second of it. Thank you so very much.
The Evil of Frankenstein is my favorite of the series. In the others ones the Baron is just mean. Evil he's more heroic & the music is one of the best in Hammer.
I saw "Frankenstein Created Woman" recently, and it feels like it should come after "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed." The Baron can't perform surgery himself; his assistant/accomplice has to do it. And he falls asleep mid-conversation, something that wouldn't be out of place in "Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell." In "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed," the Baron has no such problems.
Hammer horror is the Best! My favorite monster movies have always been made by Hammer Productions. I remember enjoying then back in the mid-1970's when I was just a boy watching them on Sat afternoons.
A superb and insightful critique of Hammers history - easily on a par with Mark Gatiss' horror history production. I'm new to your channel, and look forward to binging your back catalogue - not to mention your future content. Subbed and liked!
As a kid growing up in Boston I would always go to the kiddie matinee 75 cents you get a 3 Stooges short and Bugs Bunny cartoons and the movie, At The Rialto theatre built in 1915 it was a old vaudeville building with red velvet and brass buttons on doors padded in red leather, To see the lates Hammer film that came to America , I enjoyed them in the late 60's and 70's And put them right up there with Classic Universal Monsters.
I was so sad they did not follow the story after Revenge of Frankenstein. I loved how that one developed. Also loved the relationship between Viktor and Hans. The following movies in the series never got back up to the level of the first two parts, in my opinion.
Admit it, Folks -- Christopher Lee had a face made for evil! The most sympathetic character I ever saw him play was ironically Count Dooku, THE WORST-NAMED character he portrayed. And that was his last major role. Peter Cushing, on the other hand -- he could be good or bad. Van Helsing was sort of an anti-hero and even his Frankenstein wasn't ALL bad (most of the time) BUT I was surprised by his portrayal of the Doctor (Who). Who knew he could be that warm and fuzzy without coming off creepy?
Mr. Cushing and Mr. Lee, to me, we're kind of the Brit uncles, we didn't know we had. That Dr. F WAS the real monster, is something we've always suspected.
Well Hammer's Dracula movies have a bunch of unrelated characters named Paul. Why not have a bunch of Hans' in their Frankenstein series? I haven't seen their mummy films but I'm guessing there's a recurring name there too.
0:39 We must not forget the 2 British - truly British very British - 1950s masterpieces of scifi : 1_ ''The Quatermass Xperiment" 1955 2_ "Enemy from Space" 1957 (Both with the incomparable Brian Donlevy - although opposed by story author Nigel Kneale - as Pr.Quatermass) were from Hammer. Back to Brian Donlevy, his Pr. Quatermass was such a stern character that I believe, at the sight of the 1956 (so un-)British-made "Fire Maidens Of Outer Space'', his frown would have blasted the bottom out of the Marianas Trench !
Excellent overview of Hammer Films monster years! And when I was reading monster magazines in the late 50s and early 60s I recall how disappointing the creature makeup was in 'Evil of Frankenstein'. At that time they may have been able to avail themselves of the "flat-head" monster look, as you say, but I always thought it looked amateurish and not scary. The one Hammer horror I liked best was Curse of the Werewolf with Oliver Reed!
I'm 37 and I love the universal classic monsters of the 30s and 40s and the slasher icons of the 80s but The Curse of Frankenstein is my favourite horror movie of all time.
I discovered the channel this morning and am incredibly glad I did. Amazing content. Well researched, edited, and performed. This is my shit! Thanks for the hard work, may it bring you great success.
@@DarkCornersReviews I'd imagine it came up in my "Recommended". It's possible that I got the suggestion according to the content I watch, specifically "In Praise of Shadows", or "Ryan Hollinger". I'm not completely sure, though. Hopefully that helps.
Peter Cushing was to Hammer what Rob Halford is to Judas Priest: decisively and wonderfully British, and the kind of star that always engages the audience.
