hardly a classic by any means, there are still one or two things in this adaptation of "phantom of the opera" that are enjoyable: performances from herbert lom and michael gough and also tereence fisher's direction. however, the negatives outweigh the positives. there is no set that contains a labyrinth of any kind, unlike the 1925 and 1962 versions: this robs the film of any mystery or suspense. also, the unmasking scene is quite poor and dramatically flat and the script is rather lame. how on earth hammer could have imagined cary grant being cast in the lead, is anyone's guess!
a joke of a film, i'm not quite sure what jimmy sangster had in mind when he agreed to direct this mess but that is the only way to describe it. ralph bates is thoroughly wasted here, just as he was in "lust for a vampire." jimmy sangster admitted years later in an interview that directing "the horror of frankenstein" was one of the biggest mistakes in his life - he wasn't kidding was he??
this is truly one of the best hammer horrors from the later period at elstree studios. i rate "frankenstein must be destroyed" as being the second best of the hammer frankensteins films after "the curse of frankenstein" as this latest instalment has plenty in its favour: a magnificent performance from peter cushing, some brilliant direction from terence fisher and a damn good script. the music is pretty good also. i have never seen peter cushing play the baron in such an evil, manipulative and calculating manner. freddie jones as the creature, is effective and brings a measure of depth to his role. veronica carlson is very convincing as the doomed anna, although i found simon ward to be rather boring and one-dimensional as the blackmailed karl. thorley waters is rather wasted in his role as the aggressive and fussy police officer but he still does well in the limited screentime he has. the one highlight for me in this film, is when those four pompous lodgers at the boarding house are effortlessly put in their place thanks to a few well-chosen words from peter cushing. i also love the scene where the baron and karl abduct dr. brandt from the asylum, it is wonderfully staged and quite gripping.
such a disappointing way for hammer with this being their last film. "to the devil a daughter" could have paved the way for a new and experimental type of hammer horror film if it had found its audience at the time. sadly, this was not the case back in 1976. hammer films had suddenly started to become old-fashioned by the late 1960s as america was beating britain at their own game with some ground-breaking horror films of their own.
"to the devil a daughter" does contain a few effective scenes along the way but the violent and other graphic content is simply too sickening for words a lot of the time. i am not surprised that the author of the original novel dennis wheatley was appalled and angry by the films content. the ending doesn't help either: how the simple throw of a rock is supposed to be a match for the devil himself, i do not know! the first planned ending made much more sense to me: i read somewhere that christopher lee's character was going to be struck by lightning and then to change into various beasts and other animals before resuming human form and dropping dead in the middle of his protective circle. melodramatic perhaps but it would have worked far better.
this hammer horror offering had great promise to be an effective and perhaps, minor classic. sadly, due to some rather hasty and foolish last minute editing before release and a slightly poor plot, "vampire circus" can best be described as an interesting misfire. there are some interesting ideas: a circus entering the village, vampires that change into different animals, a bloodthirsty count who needs the blood of victims to be brought back to life etc etc.
i have mixed feelings about "curse of the werewolf." for years, the public could only see the censored version as approximately 2 or 3 minutes were removed before release. upon seeing the uncut version, my opinion hasn't really changed. the pace is still too slow, it takes an age for oliver reed to make his first appearance and the werewolf scenes are too few and too brief for my liking. the makeup job is a very good one however and it does add a measure of suspense during the transformation scenes. also, the climax is reasonably effective. the mixture of sex and violence was certainly quite daring for 1960 when the film went into production. only in the unedited version of the film, is the sex and violence more evident. does all that make for a good horror film? not necessarily and "curse of the werewolf" is no exception. however, for all of its flaws, it is strangely, a hard film not to like entirely.
i have just finished watching the dvd of "the gorgon" and i still like this hammer film, mainly for its acting, direction and script. it has a problem or two regarding the special effects of the title character but to be fair, hammer only had a certain budget and so, allowances should be made for the disappointing effects. peter cushing is not quite so evil here as he is as frankenstein but still his character is still a good one. christopher lee should have entered the film much earlier than he does but gives a good performance. it is richard pasco and barbara shelly who are the central characters to the narrative and they play their parts very well. the climax is quite chilling, i enjoyed it as i did the whole film.
whilst this isn't in the same league as hollywood's "the adventures of robin hood," hammer's attempt at the robin hood legend is quite a good one. richard greene is about the same here as he was in the t.v series: competent but rather dull. peter cushing makes for a very effective sheriff of nottingham and niall macginnis is good as friar tuck. on a personal level, i enjoyed seeing one of my favourite actors derren nesbitt in a more sympathetic role for a change and it is a shame that he is written out out of the film so soon. richard pasco is a good villain. the problem though, is lack of action. the sword fight between greene and cushing is alright but too brief for my liking and the climatic sword fight is rather hurried and substandard.
karloff1931
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20 Oct 2010, 12:05am
hardly a classic by any means, there are still one or two things in this adaptation of "phantom of the opera" that are enjoyable: performances from herbert lom and michael gough and also tereence fisher's direction. however, the negatives outweigh the positives. there is no set that contains a labyrinth of any kind, unlike the 1925 and 1962 versions: this robs the film of any mystery or suspense. also, the unmasking scene is quite poor and dramatically flat and the script is rather lame. how on earth hammer could have imagined cary grant being cast in the lead, is anyone's guess!
Related to: The Phantom Of The Opera (1962)
karloff1931
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19 Oct 2010, 6:11pm
a joke of a film, i'm not quite sure what jimmy sangster had in mind when he agreed to direct this mess but that is the only way to describe it. ralph bates is thoroughly wasted here, just as he was in "lust for a vampire." jimmy sangster admitted years later in an interview that directing "the horror of frankenstein" was one of the biggest mistakes in his life - he wasn't kidding was he??
Related to: The Horror Of Frankenstein (1970)
karloff1931
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19 Oct 2010, 6:08pm
this is truly one of the best hammer horrors from the later period at elstree studios. i rate "frankenstein must be destroyed" as being the second best of the hammer frankensteins films after "the curse of frankenstein" as this latest instalment has plenty in its favour: a magnificent performance from peter cushing, some brilliant direction from terence fisher and a damn good script. the music is pretty good also. i have never seen peter cushing play the baron in such an evil, manipulative and calculating manner. freddie jones as the creature, is effective and brings a measure of depth to his role. veronica carlson is very convincing as the doomed anna, although i found simon ward to be rather boring and one-dimensional as the blackmailed karl. thorley waters is rather wasted in his role as the aggressive and fussy police officer but he still does well in the limited screentime he has. the one highlight for me in this film, is when those four pompous lodgers at the boarding house are effortlessly put in their place thanks to a few well-chosen words from peter cushing. i also love the scene where the baron and karl abduct dr. brandt from the asylum, it is wonderfully staged and quite gripping.
Related to: Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
Conrad
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19 Oct 2010, 3:07pm
Like Alfredson's film, a masterpiece. On par with if not better than the wonderful original.
Related to: Let Me In (2010)
karloff1931
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18 Oct 2010, 11:51pm
such a disappointing way for hammer with this being their last film. "to the devil a daughter" could have paved the way for a new and experimental type of hammer horror film if it had found its audience at the time. sadly, this was not the case back in 1976. hammer films had suddenly started to become old-fashioned by the late 1960s as america was beating britain at their own game with some ground-breaking horror films of their own. "to the devil a daughter" does contain a few effective scenes along the way but the violent and other graphic content is simply too sickening for words a lot of the time. i am not surprised that the author of the original novel dennis wheatley was appalled and angry by the films content. the ending doesn't help either: how the simple throw of a rock is supposed to be a match for the devil himself, i do not know! the first planned ending made much more sense to me: i read somewhere that christopher lee's character was going to be struck by lightning and then to change into various beasts and other animals before resuming human form and dropping dead in the middle of his protective circle. melodramatic perhaps but it would have worked far better.
Related to: To The Devil A Daughter (1976)
karloff1931
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18 Oct 2010, 11:39pm
this hammer horror offering had great promise to be an effective and perhaps, minor classic. sadly, due to some rather hasty and foolish last minute editing before release and a slightly poor plot, "vampire circus" can best be described as an interesting misfire. there are some interesting ideas: a circus entering the village, vampires that change into different animals, a bloodthirsty count who needs the blood of victims to be brought back to life etc etc.
Related to: Vampire Circus (1972)
karloff1931
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18 Oct 2010, 11:36pm
i have mixed feelings about "curse of the werewolf." for years, the public could only see the censored version as approximately 2 or 3 minutes were removed before release. upon seeing the uncut version, my opinion hasn't really changed. the pace is still too slow, it takes an age for oliver reed to make his first appearance and the werewolf scenes are too few and too brief for my liking. the makeup job is a very good one however and it does add a measure of suspense during the transformation scenes. also, the climax is reasonably effective. the mixture of sex and violence was certainly quite daring for 1960 when the film went into production. only in the unedited version of the film, is the sex and violence more evident. does all that make for a good horror film? not necessarily and "curse of the werewolf" is no exception. however, for all of its flaws, it is strangely, a hard film not to like entirely.
Related to: The Curse Of The Werewolf (1961)
Vagn Henning
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18 Oct 2010, 3:02pm
Any plans to make this comercially available?
Related to: And The Wall Came Tumbling Down (1984)
karloff1931
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18 Oct 2010, 12:31am
i have just finished watching the dvd of "the gorgon" and i still like this hammer film, mainly for its acting, direction and script. it has a problem or two regarding the special effects of the title character but to be fair, hammer only had a certain budget and so, allowances should be made for the disappointing effects. peter cushing is not quite so evil here as he is as frankenstein but still his character is still a good one. christopher lee should have entered the film much earlier than he does but gives a good performance. it is richard pasco and barbara shelly who are the central characters to the narrative and they play their parts very well. the climax is quite chilling, i enjoyed it as i did the whole film.
Related to: The Gorgon (1964)
karloff1931
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17 Oct 2010, 9:48pm
whilst this isn't in the same league as hollywood's "the adventures of robin hood," hammer's attempt at the robin hood legend is quite a good one. richard greene is about the same here as he was in the t.v series: competent but rather dull. peter cushing makes for a very effective sheriff of nottingham and niall macginnis is good as friar tuck. on a personal level, i enjoyed seeing one of my favourite actors derren nesbitt in a more sympathetic role for a change and it is a shame that he is written out out of the film so soon. richard pasco is a good villain. the problem though, is lack of action. the sword fight between greene and cushing is alright but too brief for my liking and the climatic sword fight is rather hurried and substandard.
Related to: Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960)