SCREAM PRETTY PEGGY

Bette Davis

SCREAM PRETTY PEGGY (1973 telefilm). Director: Gordon Hessler. An ABC Movie of the Week.

Peggy Johns (Sian Barbara Allen) is a college student who takes a part-time job as a housekeeper for the aged, tippling Mrs. Elliott (Bette Davis) and her sculptor son, Jeffrey (Ted Bessell). Jeffrey tells the very curious -- indeed nosy and rather pushy -- Peggy that his sister, Jennifer, is insane and living in an apartment above the garage. A barely-seen female sneaks out at night to puncture people with a knife. George Thornton (Charles Drake of The Pretender) comes looking for his missing daughter and also encounters "Jennifer." Very aggressive Peggy makes up her mind to find out what's going on even though she hasn't got a clue. Scream Pretty Peggy, co-written by Jimmy Sangster, has some interesting, if unoriginal, macabre elements to it, but the ending is painfully obvious almost from the start, and Bessell [Billie] is given the most embarrassing role of his career, although his performance is better than you might expect. Allen is overly perky, but competent, and Davis phones in her performance aside from her well-delivered final speech. A far cry from Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte indeed. Hessler's direction provides little help although the pic is entertaining enough.

Verdict: Fun to see Davis but this is a bit of a "drag." **1/2.

X THE UNKNOWN

A soldier (Anthony Newley) faces the terror of the Unknown

X THE UNKNOWN (1956). Director: Leslie Norman.

Out of a crevice in a barren area comes an oozing thing that absorbs and feeds on radioactivity. This creature pays a visit on a laboratory, a hospital -- leaving innocent victims in its wake --  and is heading for an atomic research station as it grows larger. Meanwhile visiting American Dr. Adam Royston (Dean Jagger) tries to come up with a way to kill this creature even though it isn't technically alive. X the Unknown was clearly inspired by the Quatermass films, especially The Quatermass Xperiment, and follows the tradition of casting an American actor in the lead role. However, Jimmy Sangster's screenplay is inventive in its own terms, and extremely gruesome to boot. One scene when a poor radiologist who only wants to smooch with a pretty nurse winds up with his flesh literally melting off of his face disgusted the critics and was decidedly a fifties creature feature shock scene. The effects throughout, which include corpses and the monster (possibly brought to life via stop-motion in some sequences) are well-done, and the film is tense, suspenseful, and well-acted by Jagger, Leo McKern as the police man McGill, William Lucas as Royston's associate, Peter, and others. A soldier who becomes a victim of the horrible mud is played by Anthony Newley, who later became a very well-known entertainer. The production is greatly bolstered by Gerald Gibbs' [Enemy from Space] crisp cinematography and a jangling, often scary score by James Bernard. Along with the Quatermass films, this was a big influence on such films as The Blob and Caltiki, the Immortal Monster.

Verdict: One of the best British horror-sci fi films ever. ***.

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 CRAWLING EYE/THE TROLLENBERG TERROR

Peekaboo!

THE CRAWLING EYE (aka The Trollenberg Terror/1958). Director: Quentin Lawrence. Screenplay by Jimmy Sangster.

In 1956 British TV presented a six-part sci-fi thriller entitled The Trollenberg Terror, directed by Quentin Lawrence but with a different cast [apparently this TV production is lost]. Two years later a feature-length film of the same title was released, renamed the juicier Crawling Eye for American distribution. Two young ladies who do a mind-reading act, Sarah (Jennifer Jayne) and Anne (Janet Munro) Pilgrim, are heading for Geneva by train, but get off at the small village of Trollenberg due to Anne's compulsion to do so. Another passenger named Alan Brooks (Forrest Tucker) also disembarks and they all go to the hotel, where they learn that there have been a series of terrible mountain-climbing tragedies. High on the Trollenberg mountain there is an observatory that is researching cosmic rays, and has observed a radioactive cloud that moves about as if it were being directed ...  Alan remembers similar incidents in the Andes, and that certain people with psychic abilities, like Anne, could be manipulated by whatever beings there are in the cloud. Speaking of which, said cloud starts moving down towards the hotel, blocking off escape, and the creatures inside reveal themselves ... The Crawling Eye is a suspenseful, creepy movie with some interesting notions (such as corpses being reanimated and going after victims with cleavers), headless bodies, and surprisingly convincing monsters that figure in the climax. The actors are all good, with Laurence Payne particularly effective as the reporter Prescott, and Tucker managing to summon up some energy in his portrayal of the hero; Jayne and especially Munro are also convincing, although Warren Mitchell is perhaps a little too weird as Professor Crevett. The movie has its share of illogical and silly moments, but it's still a superior "creature feature."

Verdict: If it blinks, watch out! ***.

A TASTE OF EVIL

Barbara Parkins and Barbara Stanwyck

A TASTE OF EVIL (1971 telefilm). Director: John Llewellyn Moxey.

After starring in the mediocre The House that Would Not Die, Barbara Stanwyck appeared in a second ABC "Movie of the Week" for producer Aaron Spelling, and this time the results are more felicitous. Susan (Barbara Parkins) was raped as a child by an unknown assailant on the grounds of her family estate. After years of therapy in Europe she returns home to her mother, Miriam (Barbara Stanwyck), the strange handyman John (Arthur O'Connell), her uncle and now stepfather Howard (William Windom) and sympathetic Dr. Lomas (Roddy McDowall). It isn't long before her shadowy memories of the assault begin to plague her, and she also keeps seeing the corpse of Uncle Howard, whom she suspects of the rape, in various places -- the trouble is that Howard is alive. A Taste of Evil has a tricky screenplay by Jimmy Sangster (The Nanny, Hysteria, Scream of Fear etc.) that contains some surprises, and good performances from the entire cast. Without giving too much away, it is safe to say that Stanwyck offers a chilling portrait of one of the worst mothers who ever existed on celluloid. She doesn't gnash the scenery as lesser actresses would do, but wisely underplays and is that much more memorable and formidable, making this one of her better latter-day assignments. Some people see this as a remake of the Sangster-written Scream of Fear, but despite similarities the movies are quite different.

Verdict: Interesting enough on its own terms but Stanwyck really makes it worth watching. ***.

NIGHTMARE (1964)

NIGHTMARE (1964). Director: Freddie Francis. Produced and written by Jimmy Sangster.

"You may have been all kinds of a gay boy before, but now you're married to me!"

Janet (Jennie Linden) is a screwed up teenager who saw her deranged mother stab her father to death. She has always been afraid that her mother's psychosis is hereditary, and she may be right. Returning home from school to the family manor, she is welcomed by her guardian, Henry Baxter (David Knight), and her companion, Grace Maddox (Moira Redmond of Doctor in Love). Janet has intense and realistic dreams in which she is tormented by a weird, scarred woman who is utterly silent and menacing. Then one afternoon she sees this same woman while awake ... The main twist of the film occurs halfway through the movie and isn't that much of a surprise [and probably wasn't meant to be], but the second half still sustains a modicum of suspense. This is another of the British thrillers made in the wake of Psycho [both post-Psycho and sub-Psycho], and it's reasonably entertaining if ultimately forgettable. There are couple of somewhat energetic stabbing sequences [neither in the shower, thank goodness]. The performances from all are quite good, with Redmond chewing the scenery in dramatic fashion [only over-acting on occasion] and Knight a bit more suave and restrained. There's an awful lot of hysterical screeching throughout. From Hammer studios.

Verdict: Like a lengthy Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode. **1/2.

HORROR OF DRACULA

HORROR OF DRACULA (1958). Director: Terence Fisher.

Peter Cushing (the sole name above the title) is Van Helsing and Christopher Lee appears for the first time as Count Dracula in this creditable version of the venerable old story. Jimmy Sangster's screenplay is an intelligent reworking of the basic storyline with an occasional flash of black humor. A big difference between this Hammer version and the Universal version with Lugosi, is that Dracula has hardly any dialogue and is nearly a mute role (Lee only gets a few lines when he first appears to Jonathan Harker -- John Van Eyssen -- in his castle). There are no parlor scenes with Dracula interacting with or talking to any of the other characters -- he is only seen skulking about or preying on them. The movie is fast-paced and occasionally scary and some key scenes, such as the climax and the killing of undead Lucy (Carol Marsh) in the crypt, are well-staged. One minus: Harker arrives at Castle Dracula in bright sunlight, and some of the sets, especially crypts, are over-lit. The cast is uniformly good, however, and Lee makes a ghoulish and powerful -- if not very sinister -- Dracula. Michael Gough is as delightfully intense as ever as Lucy's brother, Arthur, and Melissa Stribling is fine as his wife, Mina. James Bernard's music is a big help as well.

Verdict: Quite good in fact. ***.

SCREAM OF FEAR aka TASTE OF FEAR

SCREAM OF FEAR (1961). Also known as Taste of Fear. Director: Seth Holt.

Penny (Susan Strasberg) arrives in France to live with her stepmother Jane (Ann Todd) and her father, whom she hasn't seen in ten years. She is befriended by the handsome chauffeur, Bob (Ronald Lewis), who kindly listens to her tales of strange goings on in the villa, including sightings-by-night of her father's dead body. Could her stepmother be cooking something up with the doctor (Christopher Lee) who frequently comes to dinner? This is a nice, suspenseful thriller with several neat twists, courtesy of screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, and good acting from the leads. While the story may not hold up under close scrutiny, it makes for an effective mystery, with a nifty sequence in a pool.

Verdict: You may not scream but it is entertaining nevertheless. ***.

BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE

BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE (1958). Director: Henry Cass.

Donald Wolfit plays an unusual kind of vampire, Dr. Callistratus, in this interesting variation on a theme. Although mistaken for a traditional vampire a la Dracula, Wolfit actually has a rare blood disease and needs frequent transfusions, making him seem demonic to the superstitious townspeople. After being dispatched via a stake through the heart, he is brought back to life by a heart transplant (not being an actual vampire, simply removing the stake won’t do the trick – the damaged heart has to be replaced). A few years later he’s the head of a prison for the criminally insane. One of the prisoners is a doctor (Vincent Ball) who’s been framed for killing a patient, and Wolfit has him help him with his experiments -- hiding from him the more dastardly stuff going on in the cellar. The doctor tries to escape to disastrous results, his girlfriend (Barbara Shelley) gets a job as a maid in the asylum, and Wolfit tries to drain the latter’s blood as his love-sick (for Shelley) hunchback helper Carl (Victor Maddern) looks on in horror and ultimately gets his revenge. Wolfit is fine and the other performances perfectly credible in a "vampire" movie with perhaps a more interesting plot than usual. Wolfit’s large, upraised eyebrows seem to have a life of their own. Absorbing and fast-paced, if directed by Cass with no special flair. Written by the prolific Jimmy Sangster.

Verdict: Good old horror film. ***.

HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN

HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN (1970). Director: Jimmy Sangster.

A retelling of the Frankenstein legend has little to do with Mary Shelley's novel and much more to do with Hammer Film's 1957 Curse of Frankenstein, in which Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) was much more evil than his monster. In this black comedy variation, Ralph Bates offers a splendid interpretation of a Victor Frankenstein who has outward grace and charm but is thoroughly rotten inside. Whenever anyone gets in his way – including his best friend – he murders him or has him killed by the monster. He poisons the father of the woman who loves him, and when she loses everything to her late father's creditors invites her to move into his mansion – not as his wife but as his housekeeper! One of the most rousing scenes has Bates dousing the blackmailer who brought him corpses in an acid bath. Kate O'Mara is succulent as the sexy wench who services the elder Frankenstein and then his son, and David Prowse (who stood in for Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies as James Earl Jones mouthed the words) makes a rather handsome monster. Jon Finch (of Hitchcock's Frenzy) is Victor's old friend and current police inspector. Whatever its flaws this is highly entertaining and quite well acted by all. While Sangster was never exactly one of the great horror directors, he keeps things moving at a very swift pace.

Verdict: Great fun. ***