Tag Archives: Hammer Films

The Reptile (1966)

April 21, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Harry Spalding (Ray Barrett) moves into his late brother’s cottage in a village in Cornwall with his new wife Valerie (Jennifer Daniel). The village’s inhabitants are all on edge due to the odd deaths that are plaguing the place and only the local pub owner (Michael Ripper) is friendly to the newly arrived couple.

The nearest place to the Spalding’s cottage is Well House, which is owned by Dr. Franklyn (Noel Willman), who lives there with his daughter Anna (Jacqueline Pearce) and a moody Malay servant. As the deaths continue to occur the horrific truth is eventually revealed, involving curses and bodily transformation.

THE REPTILE was shot back to back with THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES by John Gilling, shares some of that film’s sets, and several actors appear in both of the films (Ripper & Pearce). It was released on a double bill with RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK.

Jacqueline Pearce is affecting as the tragic daughter in this Hammer horror tale about a woman cursed by a cult to become a murderous snake creature – and the look of the reptile woman that Pearce turns into is quite striking, I think, despite the low-tech techniques used to bring her to life. Roy Ashton created the makeup, which entirely covers Pearce’s head, and only the unblinking eyes detract somewhat from an otherwise memorable creation.

Ashton’s treatment of the faces of all the victims bitten by the creature involves turning them green/black and adding foam that dribbles from their mouths. One of these unfortunates is Mad Peter, played by John (DAD’S ARMY) Laurie.

Hammer regular Michael Ripper is likeable in his role as the helpful local publican and Noel (KISS OF THE VAMPIRE) Willman plays Dr. Franklyn, who tries to keep his daughter’s condition secret, as someone who is equal parts sinister and guilt-ridden. There’s an effective moment when Franklyn, full of revulsion and impotence, lashes out at his daughter’s shed snakeskin lying on her bed.

The father is attacked — The father eventually becomes a victim of his cursed daughter…

If there’s a problem with THE REPTILE it’s the fact the film treats its story as something of a mystery, despite the poster showing us what is causing all the deaths, resulting in the reptile woman attack scenes feeling a little too rushed in the latter parts of the movie.

But, hey, this is a Hammer film about a were-snake-woman and I will always be fond of it!

Dracula A.D. 1972

April 20, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Dracula holds out his hand — Respect the ring!

In 1872 Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) battles Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) atop a runaway coach in London’s Hyde Park. Dracula gets impaled on a broken wheel spoke, causing him to disintegrate. Van Helsing also dies… just as a youthful Dracula acolyte (Christopher Neame) arrives on the scene and collects the powdery remains of Dracula. He hides the evil dust in a church graveyard where Van Helsing has just been buried, then the camera points up at the sky… and a jet plane flies overhead!

Dracula AD 1972 titles — A jet plane! In a Hammer Dracula film?!

Dracula is impaled! — Dracula gets spoked!

This entry in Hammer’s Dracula series is very enjoyable!

This was the first of Hammer’s Dracula series to take place in a contemporary setting, with Dracula being brought back to life in modern London by an acolyte called Johnny Alucard (also played by Neame). Dracula then preys on a group of young ‘hip’ partygoers, one of whom is actually a descendant of his arch enemy… Van Helsing.

Johnny Alucard! Wait… what if you spell that backwards?

DRACULA A.D. 1972 (1972) was the sixth Hammer film to star Christopher Lee as Dracula, with Peter Cushing returning to play Van Helsing: the last time he’d played the part was in THE BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960), which hadn’t featured Lee. So this film was also the first to star both Lee and Cushing in their respective roles since DRACULA (aka HORROR OF DRACULA) in 1958.

Caroline Munro’s character doesn’t find the ceremony that funny anymore

This film is looked down upon by many Hammer fans and critics, and I am aware of its shortcomings. Dracula never strays from the derelict deconsecrated church and the ‘swinging London’ trappings seemed dated even at the time of the film’s release (as filmmaker Brett Piper pointed out to me a while back: the “kids” are some old men’s idea of “the younger generation”). It’s also hard not to smile at the scene where Cushing needs to use a pen and paper to work out that ‘Alucard’ is ‘Dracula’ spelled backwards!

But I think the modern day setting does add to the story: just how many more period-set Hammer Dracula stories could have been made? The ‘hippy’ protagonists are far more interesting than the rather bland leads in the previous couple of Dracula outings, Christopher Lee looks great as the Count and Cushing is good, as always, playing a descendant of Van Helsing. Christopher Neame is memorable as smarmy acolyte Johnny Alucard, who has a great fight with Van Helsing, Caroline Munro & Stephanie Beacham supply the Hammer glamour and Michael Coles provides solid support as Inspector Murray.

Johnny Alucard meets his end in the bath! — Bath time for Johnny

Michael Coles would go on to play Inspector Murray again in the next Hammer Dracula movie

Stephanie Beacham's character would also return in the next film, but this time played by Joanna Lumley — Stephanie Beacham’s character would also return in the next film, but this time played by Joanna Lumley

There’s an enjoyable final showdown between Lee and Cushing, where the contemporary score (guitars, etc) contributes to the sequence as Van Helsing combats the Count in the church ruin with a silver knife, holy water and a stake-filled pit.

Mike Vickers’ great soundtrack has a blaxploitation vibe to it, really adding to the viewing pleasure of this film, which has been re-evaluated by the likes of Kim Newman, who chose DRACULA A.D. 1972 as one of his top 10 favourite vampire movies. Newman also featured a character called Johnny Alucard in his fantastic ANNO DRACULA series of novels.
Author and actor Mark Gatiss is a fan too, setting the third episode of his BBC/Netflix DRACULA (2020) miniseries in modern times. The episode sees the descendent of Van Helsing lying in a hospital bed, and the number of her ward is… AD | 072.

Give the movie another viewing, I’m sure you’ll dig it, man!

Dracula decays — Dracula is defeated once more… until the next time

Hammer pre-production flyer, illustrated by Tom Chantrell, for Dracula Chelsea '73", which became Dracula AD 1972 — Hammer pre-production flyer, illustrated by Tom Chantrell, for Dracula Chelsea ’73”, which became Dracula AD 1972

The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)

April 11, 2021 Ken Miller 3 Comments

Hammer's only werewolf movie! — Hammer’s only werewolf movie!

Don't get locked in the same cell as a werewolf! — Don’t get locked in the same jail cell as a werewolf!

Set in Spain 200 years ago, the story begins with a beggar (Richard Wordsworth of THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT fame) displeasing a spiteful, cruel marquess, who has the homeless man thrown into his dungeon, where he is forgotten.

Years later the mute daughter of the dungeon’s jailer (Yvonne Romain) rejects the advances of the now-decrepit (and scabby) Marquess and she too is tossed into the dungeon, where the mad beggar rapes her. After being freed from the dungeon she kills the Marquess, flees the mansion and is taken in by a kindly scholar, Don Alfredo Corledo. Here she dies as she gives birth to a son on Christmas Day (which is considered extremely unlucky).

The boy is named Leon and he is raised by Don Corledo. As he grows older it becomes apparent that the child is affected by the full moon. Sheep are savaged, but Don Corledo manages to keep the boy’s traits a secret, with a local dog being blamed for the killings.

Years pass, he reaches manhood and Leon (Reed) begins transforming into a werewolf again, with only the love of Cristina, a rich vintner’s daughter, able to suppress his primal imperative to become a man-wolf during the full moon. Unfortunately, Leon is separated from Cristina and jailed, where he transforms once more, goes on a rampage and is hunted by townsfolk across rooftops, until he finally meets his fate at the hands of a loved one.

As you can see by this plot overview, the movie really delves deeply into what it takes for Leon to become a werwolf: being conceived by a mute woman who was raped by an animal-like madman, being born of Christmas Day, being separated from the one true love who can stop him from transforming, etc. Unfortunately, this means that the movie takes a very long time before we reach the point where we see Reed become a slavering lycanthrope…

It is worth the wait, though, as Hammer Films’ only werewolf movie stands out primarily because of Oliver Reed’s central performance: his eyes, even under the makeup, exude menace. Roy Ashton’s werewolf design is striking, using Reed’s masculinity and solid frame to make the grey-furred, red-eyed, sharp-toothed wolf man a physically impressive presence.

Ultimately, the overly prolonged origin section of the tale does lesson the impact of the film (which wasn’t as successful as Hammer’s previous horror films when it was released), but it still has much to recommend it, including the art direction and the seriousness with which Hammer treats the subject matter.

Here’s a cool piece of art inspired by the film by Rick Melton…

Devoted to every kind of movie and TV monster, from King Kong to Godzilla, from the Blob to Alien. Plus monsters from other media too, including books and comics.