The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)

The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)

Dir. Terence Fisher

Some sci-fi B-Movies from the 50s and 60s are like a subgenre unto themselves: one in which the title is the best thing about the entire production. The Earth Dies Screaming is a hell of good title — no doubt inspired by The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) — but it's overwhelmingly misleading because the Earth itself is fine. Its inhabitants, on the other hand, aren't fine, but there's very little 'screaming' involved, which I'm grateful for. In fact, the movie opens with a prolonged eerie silence, reminiscent of a John Wyndham story.

It's a bold move to have no dialogue for so long, considering the entire movie lasts only 62 minutes, but it works and is arguably as good as it gets. Everything that follows is paradoxically less interesting by comparison.

The characters are basic, recognisable types, but function well enough, either as vehicles for social commentary and/or internal conflicts.

The HAMMER Collection: Part 2 of 3 (1966-68)

The HAMMER Collection:
DVD Box Set - Part 2 of 3 (1966-68)

A twenty-one disc DVD box set containing some of the best and worst films that the legendary HAMMER studio made before it succumbed to financial trouble and was forced to put away the costumes and close its doors.

I'm splitting the collection into three parts with seven films apiece and in chronological order.

That's not the order they're arranged in the box, but it makes sense to me, more so than the unusual order they're presented in the actual collection, and means that the post for each of the three parts will be roughly equal in size.

Thoughts on the second lot of seven films can be found below the cut. Part 1 of the collection can be found HERE, while Part 3 is HERE.

The HAMMER Collection: Part 1 of 3 (1965-66)

The HAMMER Collection:
DVD Box Set - Part 1 of 3 (1965-66)

A twenty-one disc DVD box set containing some of the best and worst films that the legendary HAMMER studio made before it succumbed to financial trouble and was forced to put away the costumes and close its doors.

It's a tidy package that takes up very little space on a shelf. It's roughly about the size of a cube made from standard size CD jewel cases. The discs are housed securely in four multi-disc digi tray booklets. I dislike digi trays, usually, but they're better than crappy card wallets, which is what I feared the discs would be presented in.

I'm splitting the collection into three parts with seven films apiece and in chronological order.

That's not the order they're arranged in the box, but it means that the post for each of the three parts will be roughly equal in size (besides this one, which has a slightly longer intro). As for putting them in chronological order - it makes sense to me, more so than the unusual order they're presented in the actual box. Part 2 of the collection is HERE, while Part 3 is HERE.

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

Dir. Terence Fisher

Peter Cushing played the role of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes many times on television but, alas, only once for HAMMER Studios. His ever-alert, energetic portrayal will surely annoy some folks but for me he’s the definitive film version.

So too is André Morell as Watson, a decent detective and a reliable friend, not the bumbling idiot of some other filmed versions.

It’s unmistakably HAMMER, the set-bound elegance is clear to see, and being adapted from a literary source as fine as their many horror works meant it was their equal in almost every way. The only downside is the depiction of the moor itself; it needed a more chilling, eerie mystery characterising it.

HAMMER: Mummy Films (1959-71)

The Mummy (1959)

Dir. Terence Fisher

HAMMER had successfully set Lee against Cushing in Dracula (1958) and The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), so it made sense to have the pair return for a third year running with classic horror's third big hitter. But the franchise quickly ran out of steam, reaching only four films, in comparison to Dracula's nine and Frankenstein's seven.

Archaeologists (i.e., sophisticated thieves) forcibly enter the well-lit tomb of an Egyptian high priestess and in so doing invite the wrath of a centuries old curse upon their educated heads. Their transgression was in the name of education not profit, but the distinction is unobserved by certain parties, one of which is a very bandaged Christopher Lee who has every right to be pissed off.