The Magnificent Seven: Films (1960-72)

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Dir. John Sturges

Hollywood swapped east for west, B+W for colour and katanas for guns in their reworking of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954).

Despite being pushed for time behind the scenes they managed to come up trumps in every way with the first film in the series.

The John Ford-esque clique; the men beholden to nothing but their own moral code; recurring good and bad guy themes (by Elmer Bernstein); and even the timely split between the recruit, preparation and battle phases are all instantly recognisable pre-existing elements to fans of both the Western and Chanbara genre but it's still indelibly iconic in its own way.

HAMMER: Dracula Films (1958-74)

Dracula (1958)

aka Horror of Dracula (in the US)

Dir. Terence Fisher

It took huge liberties with Bram Stoker's original story, but otherwise Hammer's first flirtation with the Dracula figure is the best vampire film they ever made.

The elaborate sets are beautifully lit. The creeping strings and timely crashing cymbals of James Bernard's score lift everything from routinely dramatic to legendary heights.

What gets the most attention, deservedly so, is the addition of Christopher Lee in the lead role and Peter Cushing as his nemesis, the pursuant Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. Pitting those two against each other is like having mountains collide amid a thunderstorm.

The ending is the most memorable of any vampire film I've ever seen.

Roger Corman / Edgar Allan Poe (1960-65)

The Fall of the House of Usher (1960)
Dir. Roger Corman

The first of seven Roger Corman films that claim to be based on the works of American author Edgar Allan Poe relies heavily on the deep, rich textures of Vincent Price. The dialogue he's given only occasionally sounds like it came from Poe's own mind, but the hinge on madness — the deranged grip of nervous agitation that many of his protagonists find themselves inexorably in — is firmly in place, the crumbling house reflective of the Ushers' state of mind.

It invents a new character and does away with an original one, while the shift to third person robbed it of a potentially weighty V/O, but it's something that I've come to accept.

The paintings hanging in the halls are atypical of the era, but they’re amazing, nonetheless.