Tag Archives: Michael Ripper

Quatermass 2 (1957)

November 10, 2023 Ken Miller 2 Comments

Starring Brian Donlevy, John Longden, Sid James, Bryan Forbes, William Franklyn, Vera Day, Tom Chatto, Percy Herbert and Michael Ripper. Written by Nigel Kneale and Val Guest, directed by Val Guest for Hammer Films.

Beware of what lurks within the domes... — Beware of what lurks within the domes…

Sheila (Vera Day) becomes a victim of an alien projectile

Hammer regular Michael Ripper don't need no gas mask! — Hammer Films regular Michael Ripper don’t need no gas mask!

Known as ENEMY FROM SPACE in the US, this film adaptation of the BBC sci-fi-horror television serial sees the brusque, no-nonsense Professor Bernard Quatermass (Donlevy) uncovering the fact that a UK industrial plant at Winnerden Flats, which claims it is manufacturing synthetic food, is actually an acclimatisation bridgehead for an alien invasion.

Marsh (Bryan Forbes) succumbs to a micro alien that enters his body via a V-shaped scar — Marsh (Bryan Forbes, before he became a director) succumbs to a micro alien that enters his body via a V-shaped scar

Hammer’s second Quatermass film features humans being taken over by micro aliens that leave v-shaped entry scars on their victims, CARRY ON movies regular Sid James getting machine-gunned, and a finale where the mass of micro aliens become huge blob monsters! These practical effects gunge-things only appear during the finale and are really quite effective as they squirm and wobble in our atmosphere.

The scene that always sticks in my mind is the moment the protagonists realise the oxygen pipe feeding into the alien dome has been blocked by pulped human beings! This is not shown, but just the idea of the aliens doing this to the people shocked my young brain when I first watched the film as a kid. Another effective sequence involves a member of parliament, Vincent Broadhead (Chatto), sneaking a look at the ‘food’ in one of the domes, which results in him getting burned by the stuff and staggering down metal steps, covered in black, smoking, corrosive slime.

The industrial plant location is utilised well by director Val Guest. It was a real oil refinery at Shell Haven in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, on the Thames Estuary (and it had been used previously as the location for the Winnerden Flats alien complex in the BBC serial too). The grim and overcast cinematography of director of photography Gerald Gibbs, and matte paintings courtesy of special effects designer Les Bowie (used to add the giant incubation domes to the complex), all combine to make the place a believable, forbidding central location, adding immeasurably to the enjoyment of the film.

The movie nicely creates a feeling of slow-building tension as Quatermass and others realise that the aliens have already started to take over various officials in positions of power, imbuing the film with INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS vibes, though QUATERMASS 2 is definitely not a retread of that story, remaining a production that is most definitely full of the kind of intriguing plotting you expect from a Nigel Kneale script.

Here are some posters for the movie…

The Mummy’s Shroud (1967)

August 7, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Prem, the mummified manservant of Pharaoh Kah-To-Bey, is brought back to life in the Cairo Museum by the Bedouin Hasmid (Roger Delgado, who’d go on to play ‘The Master’ in many series of DOCTOR WHO), who chants a sacred oath on a shroud. The mummy then goes on a rampage, killing the members of the team of archaeologists who had discovered the lost tomb of Kah-To-Bey.

The third Hammer mummy-out-for-vengeance movie is passable, with regular character actor Michael Ripper given a decent supporting role as the obsequious Longbarrow. This was the last of Hammer’s mummy films to actually feature a bandaged mummy (the next movie would focus on the shapely form of Valerie Leon) – though it’s certainly the least effective mummy costume of the lot, with wicker-like wrappings around its forearms and an especially cheap-looking face mask.

Jeeeez... this close-up model of the mummy opening its eyes ain't very good! — Jeeeez… this close-up model of the mummy opening its eyes ain’t very good!

However, what this mummy lacks in looks it makes up with brutality: murdering victims via strangulation, head-crushing, tossing them from windows, bashing a head into a wall and even throwing photographic acid into a character’s face. Nasty!

André (THE GIANT BEHEMOTH) Morell delivers a decent performance, as he always does, and the finale features the axe-wielding mummy finally crumbling to dust, but this cheap production dwells too long on a lengthy prologue set in Ancient Egypt and fails to reach the stylish heights of Hammer’s original THE MUMMY (1959).

Axe-wielding mummy! I repeat: axe-wielding mummy!

The film has a decent crumbling-to-dust scene — The film has a decent crumbling-to-dust sequence

John Gilling, who directed and co-wrote THE MUMMY’S SHROUD, also made the far better Hammer movies THE REPTILE and THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES.

The mummy chillin' in his sarcophagus — The mummy chillin’ in his sarcophagus

"I predict you will become a popular villain in Doctor Who..." — “I predict you will become a popular villain on Doctor Who…”

The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964)

August 7, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

After the mummy of Ra-Antef is discovered in 1900 by three Egyptologists (Ronald Howard, Jack Gwillim and Bernard Rebel), all the mummy’s artefacts are taken to London by the expedition’s backer – brash American showman Alexander King (Fred Clark) – who intends to exploit the discovery as a travelling road show.

The mummy, of course, comes back to life and starts killing off various members of the expedition. Meanwhile, Annette, the daughter of one of the Egyptologists, finally discovers the mysterious origin of rich arts patron Adam Beauchamp (Terence Morgan)…

...lurking in the sewer — …lurking in the sewer

THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB was directed by Michael Carreras, who also wrote it under the pseudonym ‘Henry Younger’, and was originally released in a double bill with THE GORGON. It was the second of Hammer’s four Mummy movies.

You'd have the same expression if a big-boned mummy was looming over you! — You’d have the same expression if a big-boned mummy was looming over you!

If only the mummy was as huge as it is depicted in this poster!

This Hammer yarn features a rather chunky mummy (played by stunt man Dickie Owen) that comes back to life fairly late in the movie. I prefer the lithe, mud-caked look of Christopher Lee’s mummy in 1959’s THE MUMMY, but this is a colourful, watchable production with Michael Ripper as Achmed, a cool scene where a bunch of coppers with a net take on the mummy, a plot twist concerning an immortal character and a finale set in the sewers.

A rather stout mummy... — A rather stout mummy…

The film has a preoccupation with hand-severing, featuring three different scenes of hands getting cut off. At one point there’s a flashback where we see the Egyptian prince (who will become the mummy) getting his hand chopped off. Now, surely this would mean that the roaming mummy in this movie should have a stump? Or was the hand reattached to Ra-Antef when he was mummified, perhaps?

The second hand-lopping seen in the film

Yet another hand gets chopped off in the film!

Definitely not a classic Hammer film, this production passes the time, however, and does boast a lively performance by Fred Clark as the showy, profit-obsessed Alexander King.

Gorgeous French poster by Jean-Claude Ghirardi

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!

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.