The Devil's Bride 1968

 Like many horror fans I am lovin' Friday nights on TCM this month.  It's Hammer time!  Last week was a hodgepodge of films including The Reptile and The Gorgon, both of which I had been wanting to see for quite a while.  But the film I want to rant about right now is The Devil's Bride, aka: The Devil Rides Out.  I was jazzed about this film not only because of Christopher Lee, but also because Richard Matheson wrote the screenplay.  I love Matheson.  He is right up there with Romero and Karloff in my top horror loves.  This script was based on the novel by Dennis Wheatley.  I don't know much about this British author except the fact that he was friends with Lee and his novels are very popular (or infamous) in England.  Satanism, Wheatley's speciality, is one of my favorite subjects, right after cannibalism and zombies.  So I will check him out.  But now, on to this hot mess of a movie...

Christopher Lee plays Duc de Richleau, whom we learn nothing about besides the fact that he is rich and knows an awful lot about Satanism.  Him and his buddy Rex (Leon Greene) are unofficial "Godfathers" to Simon (Patrick Mower), a young man with lots of money and time on his hands.  When Simon misses a "reunion" with Richleau and Rex, they seek him out at his mansion.  What they find is a meeting of an "Astronomical Society" that Simon is hosting.  Simon tells his old friends that they must leave, that there is room for only 13 members in this society.  Richleau, his Satanic radar activated, soon discovers that this is no "Astronomical Society" at all.  They are a bunch of freaky Satanists and they are about to indoctrinate Simon into their cult!  Richleau does what any good friend would do: he punches Simon out and kidnaps him! 

Thus begins a ridiculous journey of kidnappings and escapes.  Rex falls in love with Tanith (Nike Arrighi) another recruit.  As Richleau and Rex try to save their friends, the evil Mocata (Charles Gray), the leader of the Satanic group, uses all his evil mojo to pull Tanith and Simon back into the cult.  He even calls in the Devil himself, who looks like this:

I don't know about you, but I want him at my Halloween party!  The Devil's Bride is not without it's charm, and I have to say that it was my favorite Hammer film of the night.  It just looks like it was thrown together without a lot of forethought.  All of the action supposedly takes place over the course of 2 days, and I kept thinking "when do these people sleep?"  And why does Richleau know so much about Satanism?  And "is this what people really do in the English countryside?"  And if Satan can be stopped by repeating a line of verse then he is not that powerful is he? 

Maybe The Devil's Bride shouldn't be your first Hammer film, or your first Christopher Lee film.  But it is worth spending a little time with.  It features a fully clothed orgy, time travel, possession, goat-murder (not so good), and a good old fashioned car chase!  Plus the goat-Devil!  It is what I am going to be for Halloween next year.

Awards Season!

Yeah!  I won an award--it must be Awards Season again!!  Thanks to Sarah from The Spooky Vegan for this awesome award!!  The Spooky Vegan is a kick-ass horror blog that also features yummy recipes!  Check it out!

The rules attached to this award are:


• Thank the person who gave it to you (Thank you Spooky Vegan!)
• Share 7 things about yourself
• Pass the award along to 15 who you have recently discovered and who you think fantastic for whatever reason.
• Contact the blogs you picked and let them know about the award.

Ok, the 7 things thing is easy:
-I have a Master's in Art History
-I do not use that Master's Degree at all in my present career
-I love Glee
-I really do frequently have nightmares about Zombies
-I bake cupcakes when I am stressed out
-I wish I lived in a haunted castle
-I have a crush on the young Christopher Lee

15 blogs I love!  (If you have already won this a apologize I am double-awarding you...you are awesome and I think everyone should know it!

-Artwork by Living Dead Girl Nicole
-Pumpkinrot
-Scare Sarah
-The Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense
-Diary of a Mindless Minion 2703
-The Celluloid Highway
-Things that don't suck
-The Film Connoisseur
-Gore Gore Dancer Movie Reviews
-In it for the Kills: Horror Perspectives
-Dollar Bin Horror ( Have another one on me!)
-The Jaded Viewer
-Zombots!

Ok, I know that is only 13 (lucky number) but I have to go frost my cupcakes.  Do yourself a favor and read these amazing blogs!!

I want to live in "The House that Dripped Blood"

The House the Dripped Blood is a typical Amicus Production from 1970.  The tie that binds these 4 stories together is the wicked house that, although it drops no blood this film, has some evil mojo and makes people do wicked things. 

A cop visits a small village to investigate the disappearance of a famous horror actor (Jon Pertwee.)  Both the village cop and the leasing agent of the house warn him that bad things happen to people that reside there.  In the first story, Denholm Elliot plays a horror writer who hopes that the ambiance of the house will cure him of his writer's block.  In the second story, retired businessman Peter Cushing becomes obsessed with a wax figure in a local horror museum. 

In the third story, Chloe Franks (an amazing child actress) has a terrible secret.  Her Father (Christopher Lee) tries to hide her from the world, but that may lead to his undoing.  Finally, in the fourth story, the aforementioned actor gets a serious lesson in "keeping it real."

This was a very enjoyable anthology.  I really can't pick my favorite story.  They are all good.  I guess my favorite is the one about the writer who begins "seeing" things.  Robert Bloch (he of Psycho) wrote the screenplay and I am sure he had fun with that particular tidbit.  The house itself is beautiful and creepy, as any house that drips blood should be.  The Tagline is "Vampires,Voodoo,Vixens, Victims!" The film does not disapoint.

The Hound of the Baskervilles 1959

For the most part I love Hammer films, but I have to admit there have been a few I have been disappointed by.  This was not the case with The Hound of the Baskervilles from 1959.  Starring Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, Andre Morell as Dr. Watson, and the young, incredibly handsome Christopher Lee as Sir. Henry Baskerville, Hound is in many ways a perfect Hammer film.  Directed by Terence Fisher, Hound features misty moors, crumbling castles, murder, intrigue, mystery, and a dangerous beauty with the requisite heaving bosom. 

The screenplay follows Doyle's story pretty closely, with a few minor changes and a greater emphasis on the "horror" of the Hound.  Cushing makes a great Holmes, but I have to admit I am not altogether familiar with Basil Rathbone's interpretation.  Cushing captures Holmes enormous ego perfectly.  He is kind of an A-hole but we still admire him. He is courageous, snobby, brilliant, and down-right rude.   

Christopher Lee hits the right notes as Sir Henry, new to the legend of the Baskervilles.  Sir Henry doesn't buy the legend, but he will soon become directly threatened by it.  Cushing and Lee have great chemistry, and if your rent or buy the DVD, be sure to watch the extras.  In Lee's "Actor's Notebook" he speaks quite fondly of Cushing and the depths of their friendship.  It is quite moving. 

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a great movie to watch on a dark and stormy night.  Of course, watching it in the middle of summer works as well.

Coming Soon: The Hound of the Baskervilles 1959

Happy Birthday Price and Lee

Horror fans were blessed when on this day, not one, but two horror legends were born.  Enjoy....





Yes, Christopher Lee just put out a Metal album.