TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER

TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER (1976). Director: Peter Sykes.

Author John Verney (Richard Widmark), who frequently writes on the occult, is importuned by a frightened man named Beddows (Denholm Elliott) to look after his daughter, Catherine (Nastassja Kinski), after she arrives in London. Catherine is a nun who belongs to the Church of the Children of the Lord, a sect that worships Astaroth. The leader of the church, Father Michael (Christopher Lee), is anxious to get his hands on Catherine because of certain bloody rites that must be performed. Initially sweet and compliant, Sister Catherine eventually becomes a danger to Verney's friends, including his literary agent Anna (Honor Blackman) and her boyfriend David (Anthony Valentine). Catherine makes her way to Father Michael as her own father writhes in terror and Verney learns what he can do to fight against the god -- or devil -- Astaroth's entry into earth via Catherine (or something like that). 

To the Devil a Daughter is a co-release of Hammer Studios but don't expect a Hammer classic with this atrocious movie. Most of the actors give it their all (one suspects Widmark wishes he had stayed in America) but they're fighting a losing battle with a hopelessly erratic script and sequences that are so bad they have to be seen to be believed. The last quarter of the film is hilarious, especially a sequence when a character is embroiled in fire and reduced to ashes so quickly that it is more comical than frightening. A bit of business in which a woman commits suicide by draining all of her blood into those special plastic bags turns hysterical when Chris Lee intones with consummate understatement: "she gave her life's blood." An orgy sequence is equally laughable. It's hard to imagine how anything could have been made out of this awful movie, which even Chris Lee can't save. 

Verdict: One of the worst Hammer movies ever made. *1/2. 

HALLOWEEN HORROR -- PART ONE

HALLOWEEN HORROR -- PART ONE.

Welcome to the first week of our two week, two part Halloween horror special at Great Old Movies. This first week we cover everything from horror on Live Television to two Boris  Karloff movies, one Italian giallo film, a slasher-type picture with Jamie Lee Curtis, a British Hammer Horror anthology series, and a film entitled, appropriately enough, Pumpkinhead.

More to come next week!

HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR

Peter Cushing

HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR (1980 British television anthology series).

This British anthology series of horror stories lasted for one season and 13 episodes. It is a mixed bag with arguably only one really outstanding episode and a lot of stories with intriguing premises that are ruined by weak scripts and flat wind-ups. Peter Cushing stars in what may be the best episode, "The Silent Scream," in which a former Nazi scientist (Cushing) imprisons an ex-con and his wife in a cage along with several animals. There are some interesting twists and turns to the plot, although the ending is a little implausible. Among the more notable episodes are "Rude Awakening," directed by Peter Sasdy, in which a man (Denholm Elliott) has increasingly sinister dreams involving his wife and his mistress. There's an exciting sequence inside a building that is being demolished. "Children of the Full Moon" has to do with a honeymoon couple who encounter the inhabitants of an old house, a cult of werewolves, with a depressing conclusion. "The Two Faces of Evil" is a disquieting episode, well-directed by Alan Gibson,  in which a paranoid woman is besieged by demonic duplicates of her husband (Gary Raymond of The Millionairess) and son. "The House That Bled to Death" details odd occurrences in a house where grisly murders were committed, and bears a resemblance to The Amityville Horror but has its own shrewd and devilish twist.

Diana Dors in "Children of the Full Moon"

One of the most disappointing episodes is "The 13th Reunion," in which plane crash survivors have turned into a cannibal sect, but this great premise is completely muffed.  "Witching Time" is a mediocre story of a 17th century witch who is on the loose in modern times. "Growing Pains," in its story of weird things that happen after a scientist and his wife adopt a strange little boy, is initially absorbing but then becomes too confusing for its own good. An African fetish statue that causes death is the title object in the unoriginal and hum-drum "Charlie Boy," although it has some suspense. Pierce Brosnan is one of the victims of the "Carpathian Eagle," which butchers a series of men, and "Guardian of the Abyss" concerns a young lady in a cult and a supernatural mirror. "The Mask of Satan" is a stupid episode in which a man is convinced that he's been infected with a very strange virus. Kathryn Leigh -Scott of Dark Shadows fame stars in "Visitor from the Grave," in which a woman kills an intruder who keeps appearing wherever she goes; a poor script sinks this one, unfortunately.

Verdict: Not enough great episodes but most are at least reasonably entertaining. **1/2. 

THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1963)

Fenella Fielding and Tom Poston

THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1963). Produced and directed by William Castle. A Hammer Film.

Car salesman Tom Penderel (Tom Poston) is invited to his flat-mate Caspar Fenn's (Peter Bull) family mansion, but when he arrives finds his friend ensconced in a coffin in the parlor. Seems there was an accident ... Tom learns that members of the Fenn family are virtual prisoners in their decaying mansion due to the bizarre terms of a will, which states they must live on the estate and be back by midnight every night or forfeit their share of the interest. While Tom gets to know Caspar's cousins, Cecily (Janette Scott) and the man-hungry Morgana (Fenella Fielding), he discovers that one of the heirs won't stop at murder ... William Castle joined forces with Hammer films for this black comedy remake of the macabre thirties movie (which was in itself a black comedy, as I recall). The Old Dark House is less beloved than other William Castle films (such as House on Haunted Hill), but this time around I found it generally fast-paced and amusing, with a couple of genuinely hilarious murder sequences. Although not a zany comedian along the lines of Bob Hope or Jim Carrey, Poston's more sober portrayal works well as played against the weirdness of the mansion's other inhabitants. Peter Bull [Dr. Strangelove] is fun in a dual role, as are Robert Morley as an uncle, and Joyce Grenfell as an aunt, both of whom are rather peculiar. Mervyn Johns [Never Let Go] and Danny Green [The Ladykillers] also score as two other members of the strange family. As for the ladies, Scott is lovely and adept, and Fielding makes her mark as the predatory Morgana. The picture becomes a little too silly with all this business of one relative building an ark on the property, but The Old Dark House is still entertaining.  Benjamin Frankel's quirky score is a decided plus, and helps add needed suspense to the climax. Poston and Castle also teamed up for the dreadful Zotz the year before.

Verdict: Minor but fun Castle flick. **3/4.

DRACULA AND HIS PALS

DRACULA AND HIS PALS,

This week Great Old Movies looks at films starring the venerable old baddie, Dracula. You can already find reviews of the original 1931 Dracula with Bela Lugosi, as well as posts on Dracula's Daughter; the first Hammer Dracula film starring Christopher Lee, The Horror of Dracula; and one of the best follow-ups, the excellent Dracula, Prince of Darkness; among many others. Just type in "Dracula" in the search bar above.

Now this week we have Francis Lederer in The Return of Dracula; Jack Palance doing his version of the count for Dan Curtis; Ingrid Pitt doing a turn as Countess Dracula; and even William Marshall as Blacula. There is also Italian director Dario Argento's version of the classic story; among others. Just scroll down to enjoy. And feel free to leave a comment whether you agree with my assessment or not.

Thanks for reading!

COUNTESS DRACULA

Sandor Eles and Ingrid Pitt

COUNTESS DRACULA (1971). Director: Peter Sasdy.

After her husband dies, Countess Elisabeth (Ingrid Pitt) bemoans her fading beauty, but accidentally discovers that fresh blood acts to rejuvenate her skin. Before long she can impersonate her own daughter, Ilona (Lesley-Anne Down), whom the countess has imprisoned in a cottage when she shows up in town. Elisabeth begins a passionate affair with Imre Toth (Sandor Eles of And Soon the Darkness), and he proposes. But each time her beauty fades she turns into a more hideous hag, and she needs to continually bath in the blood of virgins. Sooner or later this will catch up with her  ... Countess Dracula is loosely based on the life of the historical 16th century Hungarian figure Elisabeth Bathory, who apparently did murder and torture numerous servant girls, although other acts are shrouded in legend and there have been attempts to salvage her reputation and blame it all on men. (In one interview Ingrid Pitt claimed Bathory "was a wonderful mother. All this stuff they say about her I do not believe." Well ... ) Filtering her story through Hammer studios, you come up with an absorbing and very well-made Gothic horror tale that has handsome settings and excellent acting, especially from Nigel Green [The Face of Fu Manchu] as Elisabeth's long-time lover, Captain Dobi; Patience Collier as her generally loyal and complicit  lady-in-waiting, Julie; Maurice Denham as the scholarly Fabio, who seems deceptively gentle; Eles; and others. It is hard to judge Pitt's performance because she was dubbed by British actress Olive Gregg, which seems strange since Pitt's Polish accent would not have been out of place and she was a competent actress -- in any case, she is quite effective in the lead. Countess Dracula reminds one of earlier films in which women killed to regain their youth and beauty such as The Leech Woman and The Wasp Woman. Harry Robertson's (aka Harry Robinson) score also adds to the picture's impact. Some viewers were disappointed that the film wasn't gorier and didn't have many more murders.

Verdict: Excellent Hammer horror production. ***.

DRACULA A.D. 1972

New Blood: Christopher Neame as a young vampire

DRACULA A.D. 1972 (also known as Dracula A.D./1972). Director: Alan Gibson.

A prologue set in 1872 shows the deaths of both Dracula and Van Helsing after a final, furious battle, then the film jumps ahead 100 years in this first of Hammer's 20th century Dracula flicks. Lorrimer Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) is the grandson of the great vsmpire hunter, living in modern London with his granddaughter, Jessica (Stephanie Beacham of Schizo). Jessica is friends with a man named Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame), who is apparently the reincarnation of one of Dracula's human slaves. Johnny enlists his friends in a black mass, the sole purpose of which is to revivify the ancient, blood-sucking count (Christopher Lee). Dracula snacks on several of Johnny's nubile friends and turns a decidedly willing Johnny into a vampire, but Drac wants revenge on the Van Helsing family and sets his sights on Jessica ... Dracula A.D. 1972 with its jazzy score is like a pop version of Dracula but it mostly works, primarily because of a fast pace and some excellent acting. Cushing and Lee give their usual classy and committed performances, and Neame is a real find as the dynamic and evil Alucard. Michael Coles makes an effective Inspector Murray and Caroline Munro [The Spy Who Loved Me] is fine as one of the count's first victims. The action sequences are well-staged by director Gibson. The vampire folklore in the film is confusing, as Dracula turns people into vampires with one bite without their dying first, and his other victims never rise from the grave. The group Stoneground perform the catchy enough "Alligator Man" in a party sequence. Neame has amassed nearly 100 credits and is still working today. Followed by The Satanic Rites of Dracula.

Verdict: Fun Dracula flick with excellent performances. ***.

THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA

Christopher Lee as Dracula

THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA (1973). Director: Alan Gibson.

Dracula (Christopher Lee) is alive and well and masquerading as the Howard Hughes-like millionaire recluse Denham. When his nemesis, Van Helsing (Peter Cushing), learns that Dracula has joined together a group of prominent men into a satanic cult, and that one of them, Professor Keeley (Freddie Jones of Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed) has grown cultures of bubonic plague -- the "Black Death' -- he postulates that Dracula wants to end all life on earth and realize final peace. By Van Helsing's side are his granddaughter Jessica (Joanna Lumley) and Inspector Murray (Michael Coles), who break into a sinister estate from which the cult operates and find themselves in a cellar full of slavering vampire women! The Satanic Rites Of Dracula, which takes place in modern times, is one of the better latter-day Hammer Dracula offerings, with both Lee and Cushing expert in their portrayals, and with top-notch supporting performances as well. This is bolstered by an intriguing plot line, although the use of nasty motorcycle thugs as the cult's assassins and the like is a notion that doesn't always work too well. As much as I love Bela Lugosi, I think Lee makes the more commanding Dracula. This was Lee's last appearance as the traditional Dracula in a Hammer film, although he also played the Lord of the Undead in the 1976 comedy Dracula and Son. Alan Gibson also directed the thriller Crescendo.

Verdict: Pretty terrific Hammer flick. ***.

THE HAMMER VAULT

THE HAMMER VAULT: Treasures from the Archives of Hammer Films. Marcus Hearn. Titan; 2011. Revised and Updated Edition.

This beautiful over-sized coffee table book is a compendium of photos and memorabilia relating to the famous -- some might say infamous -- Hammer studios, who chiefly made horror films but branched out to other genres from time to time as well. Hammer studios made a name for itself with its new, bloodier versions of Dracula and Frankenstein, and made stars of such as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Some of the filmmakers most associated with the studio include Val Guest, Terence Fisher, and Jimmy Sangster, among others. The book is chock full of production stills, behind-the-scenes shots, annotated shooting scripts, posters, drawings, press books, letters, publicity kits, and all manner of esoterica relating to the studio. The book covers all of the output of the studio from the very early days (The Quatermass Xperiment) to more recent films such as The Woman in Black, providing a fairly complete history of Hammer. You can also read about Hammer projects that were announced or conceived but never came to fruition.

Verdict: A must for the obsessive Hammer enthusiast. ***.

THE MAN IN BLACK

Anthony Forwood and Betty Ann Davies

THE MAN IN BLACK (1949). Director: Francis Searle.

A fellow who calls himself "The Man in Black" (Valentine Dyall) narrates this humdrum story based on a radio program. Henry Clavering (Sidney James of Heatwave) is a wealthy man in an old mansion with an unloving second wife, Bertha (Betty Ann Davies of Blackout) and stepdaughter, Janice (Sheila Burrell of Paranoiac), both of whom are just waiting for him to die. Henry expires during an experiment with yoga, and along come two visitors: Henry's strange daughter, Joan (Hazel Penwarden); and the handsome gigolo, Victor (Anthony Forwood, Dirk Bogarde's significant other). Now the plot is on to drive Joan mad so that Bertha and Janice can take control of the significant estate. The acting isn't bad -- Forwood, more interesting as a bad guy, makes an impression -- and Sidney James plays the dual role of Henry and his inebriated manservant, Hudson. But this is not memorable, just another stinky British mystery released by the cartload during this period. An early production from Hammer studios. Hazel Penwarden makes little impression in this and retired to television.

Verdict: Not worth the time it takes to tell it. *1/2.

WINGS OF DANGER / HAPPY ACTUAL 35OOTH POST

Zachary Scott and  Naomi Chance

WINGS OF DANGER (aka Dead on Course/1952). Director: Terence Fisher.

Pilot Richard Van Ness (Zachary Scott of The Unfaithful) has a secret: he gets black outs that come on without warning. For this reason he has delayed in marrying Avril (Naomi Chance of The Gambler and the Lady) but keeps on flying. Avril's brother, Nick (Robert Beatty) flies off one afternoon and is presumed dead after his plane crashes into the drink. Richard discovers that Nick may or may not have been involved with a gang who cleverly smuggle gold that has been disguised as tools. Nick has a girlfriend, Alexia (Kay Kendall), who may also be involved with the dangerous smugglers, and there is more than one murder. Zachary Scott was one of a number of American leading men who went to England to make "B" movies where their names still had marquee value. Scott deserves better than this TV-type "thriller" that is rather dull despite Terence Fisher's very brisk and efficient direction. The performances by all the named actors are fine, and there is good work from the supporting cast as well, but despite a positive conclusion relating to Richard's condition and his relationship with Avril, the movie is strictly ho hum. This was another of Lippert's Hammer studio "film noir" non-classics. Diane Cilento [Stop Me Before I Kill!] has a small role as a woman who gets involved with Nick. Malcolm Arnold's music helps a bit.

Verdict: You can't say it's awful but it just doesn't excite despite the occasional car chase and crash. **.

NOTE: A while ago I erroneously reported that Great Old Movies had reached its 3500th post. Well, I was never good at math! This is the real 3500th post for GREAT OLD MOVIES (wish it had been about a better picture)! 

THE DEADLY GAME (1954)

Maureen Swanson and Lloyd Bridges

THE DEADLY GAME (aka The Big Deady Game/1954). Director: Daniel Birt.

Composer Philip Graham (Lloyd Bridges of Deadly Dream) is in Spain where he encounters an old Air Force buddy Tony Roscoe (Peter Dyneley of The Manster), who wants him to deliver a certain envelope to someone in London. Philip also meets Marina (Maureen Swanson), the pretty niece of the corpulent Mr. Darius (Finlay Currie). When Philip discovers that Tony has been murdered, he first suspects the very married Mitzi (Simone Silva), who claims that Tony was blackmailing her. Before too long Philip finds himself embroiled in a plot involving smuggled microfilm. The Deadly Game is almost a complete waste of an hour and is like a forgettable episode of a forgettable TV series. Bridges saunters through displaying seedy charm, Swanson is pretty and appealing, Silva adds some limited spice, Currie is fat, the movie is dull, dull, dull. Hard to imagine why anyone thought it would be a good idea to film this lousy script. This is a Hammer noir "thriller" that has absolutely no thrills. Maureen Swanson has a vague Vivien Leigh quality but did not have the same type of career. Lots of stock footage of a fiesta in Spain.

Verdict: The pace is reasonably swift but that's about it. *.

THE BLACK GLOVE

Alex Nicol

THE BLACK GLOVE (aka Face the Music/1954). Director: Terence Fisher.

"Happy days! Everyone was poor and no one was evil."

James Bradley (Alex Nicol of Heatwave) is a famous American trumpeter appearing in London. One night he meets a charming young lady named Maxine (Ann Hanslip) who invites him to her apartment for dinner. The next day he learns that the woman has been murdered, and he determines to find out who killed this stranger who struck such a chord in him. The suspects are many: the victim's sister,. Barbara (Eleanor Summerfield), who lost her man to Maxine; Maxine's fiancee, Johnny Sutherland (Paul Carpenter of The Unholy Four); the famous pianist Jeff Colt (Arthur Lane); and his wife Gloria (Paula Byrne). Frankly, the whole business with "Brad" playing detective is ridiculous, even if the inspector on the case implies that he was letting him have a free hand for his own purposes. We even have the bit where this amateur sleuth gathers all the suspects together to make an accusation. The acting is uniformly good, although Nicol is given a rather impossible and somewhat unsympathetic character to play. This Hammer production is like a TV show.

Verdict: Good cast but unmemorable in all other respects. **.

THE GAMBLER AND THE LADY

Dane Clark

THE GAMBLER AND THE LADY (1952). Directors: Patrick Jenkins; Sam Newfield, Written by Sam Newfield,

After getting out of jail for manslaughter, Jim Forster (Dane Clark) sets up operations in London, where he owns a nightclub, a boxer, a racehorse, and several illegal gambling dens. Jim is on a self-improvement kick, and wants to be just like, and accepted by, the titled lords and ladies with whom he wishes to mingle. He falls for Susan Willens (Naomi Chance), the sister of Lord Peter Willens (Anthony Forwood), a patron of one of Forster's gambling dens. But two things stand in the way of Jim achieving all of his goals: his nasty ex-girlfriend, Pat (Kathleen Byron); and a business deal with the Willens family that may blow up in all of their faces. The Gambler and the Lady has a 1940's style script -- one could easily see Bogart or Gable in  the lead role -- but the picture is still quite entertaining and Clark [A Stolen Life] gives a very memorable performance. The above-mentioned ladies are also notable, as is Eric Pohlmann as Colonna, one of Jim's business "rivals."  Anthony Forwood, who has a pleasing screen presence, later became the life-partner of Dirk Bogarde. [Mr.] Meredith Edwards, George Pastell [The Stranglers of Bombay], and Martin Benson [Battle Beneath the Earth] also give flavorful performances as, respectively, Jim's good right-hand, Dave; a nasty character Jim fires named Jacko; and Tony, Pat's dancing partner.

Verdict: Snappy British crime picture. ***.

HEATWAVE (1954)

Hillary Brooke and Alex Nicol

HEATWAVE (aka The House Across the Lake/1954). Writer/director: Ken Hughes.

"Carol's in love with Carol."

Mark Kendrick (Alex Nicol) is an American writer in England who is trying to start his latest novel, but is distracted by a neighbor across the lake, the beautiful Carol Forrest (Hillary Brooke). Carol carries on her love life as if she weren't married to her wealthy husband, Beverly (Sidney James), a suffering millionaire with a heart condition. Carol adds an initially resistant Mark to her trophies and suggests that it might be nice if Beverly could kick off sooner than later ... Ken Hughes not only directed this entertaining, if minor, film noir but wrote the screenplay from his own novel. With all of the standard elements -- weak hero, duplicitous female (the strongest person in the movie), rich, equally weak husband and so on -- it still manages to hold the attention. One surprise is how good Brooke is as the femme fatale. James [Carry on Cruising] and Nicol [Because of You] are also good, although Nicol perhaps underplays a bit too much considering everything his character is going through. Heatwave is at times illogical, with Carol acting as if she thinks Mark has her over a barrel when she can always fall back on the old "he said/she said" and get a good lawyer. This was a co-production of the American Lippert pictures with the famous pre-horror Hammer studios. Ken Hughes also helmed Wicked As They Come with Arlene Dahl as the femme fatale.

Verdict: Absorbing, if lower case, film noir. **1/2.

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.

Tumak (John Richardson) kills an allosaurus

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966). Director: Don Chaffey.

In this color remake of One Million B.C., which uses the same story more or less, Tumak (John Richardson) is thrown out of his prehistoric rock tribe and wanders around until he encounters Loana (Raquel Welch) and her tribe, the shell people. The shell people are a kinder, gentler tribe who could teach the rock people a thing or two, which they try to do with Tumak when they all go fishing with spears. The first "dinosaur" we encounter is a positively gargantuan real-life lizard who tries to make a snack out of Tumak, and then there's a giant stop-motion turtle that fails to impress. But FX wizard Ray Harryhausen really gets into his stuff with an attack on the shell people's camp by a hungry allosaurus, a marvelous sequence, as well as a battle between a T-rex (or ceratosaurus, which it resembles) and a triceratops, not to mention the pterodactyl that snatches Welch off of the beach and tries to feed her to the flying monster's young'uns. Despite the big improvement in special effects work since the 1940 version, this is not as compelling as the original, with Harryhausen's stop-motion effects work being virtually the only point of interest. Martine Beswick [From Russia with Love] has a lively "cat fight" with Welch. Mario Nascimbene's "epic" if sleepy score doesn't really do that much for the movie. Photographed by Wilkie Cooper. As the lovers, Richardson [She] and Welch [Fantastic Voyage] do what they can. A Hammer-7 Arts production.

NOTE: On the imdb.com page for this movie it is listed as a "goof" that a ceratosaurus fights a triceratops when these creatures lived in different eras of the prehistoric world. Considering this movie illogically puts human beings and dinosaurs in the same time period -- not to mention Raquel Welch as a cavewoman -- that hardly seems like a legitimate complaint!

Verdict: Some lively monsters in a disappointing remake. **1/2.

NEVER TAKE CANDY FROM A STRANGER

Patrick Allen, Budd Knapp, and Bill Nagy

NEVER TAKE CANDY FROM A STRANGER (aka Never Take Sweets from a Stranger/1960). Director: Cyril Frankel.

High school principal Peter Carter (Patrick Allen of Night Creatures) and his wife Sally (Gwen Watford) have moved to a new community with their young daughter, Jean (Janina Faye), and her grandmother, Martha (Alison Leggatt). One afternoon Jean tells her parents that she and her friend Lucille (Frances Green) were given candy by an elderly man in a house nearby who told them to take off their clothing. Peter wants to confront the old man, Sally wants to call the police, and the grandmother advises caution -- they aren't completely sure what if anything happened and the old man, Clarence Olderberry Sr. (Felix Aylmer) has a lot of clout in the town. Because of this the Carters find a lot of opposition when they have the man arrested and a trial ensues. Will the entire town turn against them and will Olderberry get away with his inappropriate behavior or get the help he clearly needs? Never Take Candy from a Stranger is a non-sensational look at a repellent subject, and is generally well-done and well-acted; Leggatt is especially good, as are Michael Gwynn [The Revenge of Frankenstein] as the prosecutor and Bill Nagy as Olderberry's son. This absorbing and distressing film leads up to a tragic and hard-hitting finale. One of the film's flaws, however, is that the "pervert" in question seems rather feeble and to be suffering from Alzheimer's, making some of his actions possibly unlikely, and his behavior perhaps more demented than criminal. A more menacing and younger antagonist, a more formidable and devious pedophile, might have given the film even more dramatic heft, although the ending is nevertheless uncompromising. Freddie Francis' cinematography gives the film a nice look, and there is a fine musical score by Elisabeth Lutyens [Paranoiac].

Verdict: Sobering look at a town's dirty secret. ***.

THE DEVIL-SHIP PIRATES

Pirate Christopher Lee confronts John Cairney

THE DEVIL-SHIP PIRATES (1964). Director: Don Sharp.

"That sort of talk's for priests and women."

In the late 16th century Britain and Spain are engaged in war. Diablo, a licensed "privateer" ship whose men are led by Captain Robeles (Christopher Lee), has officially become part of the Spanish armada. When the ship is badly damaged in a sea battle consisting of stock footage, Robeles pulls into a small English port to make repairs. There Robeles tells the apprehensive villagers that Spain has won the war, and they are all now under his command. However, one of the pirates' female captives tries to break free so she can tell everyone the truth, although suspicions are already forming ... The Devil-Ship Pirates, co-released by Columbia and Hammer studios, has the latter's usual production gloss, but is a bit on the tepid side. Christopher Lee is more exciting as a pirate leader than he was in The Pirates of Blood River, and Andrew Kier and Michael Ripper are also in the cast. John Cairney [Spaceflight IC-1]plays the young hero, Harry. Don Sharp also directed the zestier Rasputin, the Mad Monk, also with Lee.

Verdict: Nothing special in this non-horror Hammer. **.

THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER

THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER (1962). Director: John Gilling.

"I'm not a man of action. Perhaps I think too much to be brave."

Jason Standing (Andrew Kier), a magistrate at a 17th century Huguenot settlement on the isle of Devon, sends his own son Jonathon (Kerwin Mathews) to a penal colony for the alleged crime of adultery. Jason manages to escape and falls in with a group of French pirates run by a Captain LaRoche (Christopher Lee). Being assured that the pirates represent no danger to his people, Jonathon leads them back to Devon, and discovers you can't quite trust the word of a pirate. Other characters caught up in the action include Jonathon's sister Bess (Marla Landi), and her fella, Henry (Glenn Corbett of Homicidal). Michael Ripper and Oliver Reed [Paranoiac] play other pirates. This is a very handsome non-horror Hammer production, with Lee, unfortunately, being more subdued than usual in trying to avoid the stereotype of the fire-breathing pirate chief. There is an unconvincing attack by piranha, but Gary Hughes' score is a plus, as is the photography of Arthur Grant [The Terror of the Tongs]. Andrew Kier offers the most memorable performance.

Verdict: Not bad Hammer historical melodrama with an interesting cast. **1/2.

CASH ON DEMAND

Peter Cushing and Andre Morrell

CASH ON DEMAND (1961). Director: Quentin Lawrence.

Harry Fordyce (Peter Cushing of Frankenstein Created Woman) is a tight-assed manager of a local bank. One afternoon into the bank walks amiable Colonel Gore Hepburn (Andre Morell of The Plague of the Zombies), who represents the firm of Home and Mercantile, which provides security for the bank. Once Fordyce and Hepburn are ensconced in the former's office, Fordyce receives a desperate phone call from his wife, who tells him that she and their little boy are being held prisoner. Hepburn then coolly tells him that if he wants the woman and child to live, he must help him rob the bank ... Cash on Demand is not only suspenseful, but beautifully acted by the two principals and the rest of the cast. It even manages a moment or two of pathos. It is a real and rare treat to watch those fine actors Cushing and Morell work together. Quentin Lawrence also directed the delightful Crawling Eye/Trollenberg Terror.

Verdict: A little gem from Hammer studios. ***.