Month: May 2020

The Fly (1958) 20th Century Fox

Directed by Kurt Neumann

Screenplay by James Clavell based on a story by George Langelaan

1hr 34min / Not Rated

CAST: David Hedison (Andre Delambre), Patricia Owens (Helene Delambre), Vincent Price (Francois Delambre), Herbert Marshall (Inspector Charas), Kathleen Freeman (Emma), Betty Lou Gerson (Nurse Andersone), Charles Herbert (Philippe Delambre).

In Patricia Owens’ forty-nine film credits, The Fly is the only horror film. Yet she has earned her Scream Queen status if only for this shot:

Patricia Owns (1925-2000)

This 50’s Science Fiction horror story looked at teleportation before anyone was beamed up on the Enterprise. Andre Delambre (David Hedison) searches for the secret to teleporting matter and finds only the fly in the ointment of success. Instead of creating a usable teleportation device, he turns himself into part man part fly and the fly is slowly taking over his mind. A classic that sometimes strays from logic (not a Star Trek reference), but manages to convey the horror and pathos of good intentions gone wrong with credible performances from all and Vincent Price brings his special brand of suave to the proceedings.

Although she began her film career when she was 18 years old in Miss London Ltd., it wasn’t until she starred in The Fly that she gained notoriety. It is the film that she is best remembered for in a career that spanned twenty-five years and included forty-nine screen credits including feature films and television appearances. It was her only horror film with the exception of 1952’s Ghost Ship where she had a small part and was billed as, Joyce/Party Girl. Nevertheless, she holds a special place in the hearts of Scream Queen fans as the unfortunate wife of Andre Delambre in 1958’s The Fly.

In spite of her many screen appearances (a selection is pictured in the gallery below) co-starring with such luminaries as Marlon Brando, Joanne Woodward, Richard Widmark, Neville Brand, James Mason, Joan Fontaine, Lee Remick, Mary Tyler Moore, and Dan Duryea, she never achieved the stardom she deserved.

Facts, Rumors & Hearsay

Patricia Owens had a fear of insects. Director Kurt Neumann took advantage of that by not letting her see the Fly makeup until the unmasking.

The vision of a fly is not comprised of multiple images as in the film, but it makes for a great effect.

Michael Rennie (The Day the Earth Stood Still) was considered for the part of the Fly but turned it down because his head would be covered for a large portion of the film.

Charles Herbert was a well known child actor of the time and was also in William Castle’s 13 Ghosts as well as Houseboat with Cary Grant and Please Don’t Eat the Daisies with Doris Day.

House on Haunted Hill (1959) Allied Artists

Directed by William Castle

Screenplay by Robb White

1hr 15min / Not Rated

CAST: Vincent Price (Fredrick Loren), Carol Ohmart (Annabelle Loren), Richard Long (Lance Schroeder), Alan Marshal (Dr. David Trent), Carolyn Craig (Nora Manning), Elisha Cook Jr. (Watson Pritchard), Julie Mitchum (Ruth Bridgers), Leona Anderson (Mrs. Slydes), Howard Hoffman (Jonas), Skeleton (Himself).

Carol Ohmart (1927-2002)

Vincent Price is at center of this wonderfully hokey haunted house mystery. Carol Ohmart (Annabelle Loren) who worked mainly in television made a perfect foil for the sinister Fredrick Loren (Vincent Price) in their marital game of cat and mouse. Having invited five guests who agree to be locked in a haunted house overnight to receive $10,000 each if they are alive in the morning.

Carol Ohmart in House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Scriptwriter Robb White was no stranger to horror having written Macabre (1958). He also wrote The Tingler (1959), and would go on to write 13 Ghosts (1960), and Homicidal (1961).

Carol Ohmart and Carolyn Craig in House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Carolyn Craig (1934 -1970)

Carolyn Craig also worked mainly in television and this was her only outing in a horror film, but she did a wonderfully fright filled job. She was also in a small supporting role in Giant (1956) with James Dean & Elizabeth Taylor. She is constantly terrified in House on Haunted Hill and truly earned her scream queen crown as she is targeted as part of a sinister murder plot.

Carolyn Craig in House on Haunted Hill (1959) & Carolyn Craig and Elizabeth Taylor in Giant (1956) & Carolyn Craig in Portland Expose (1957)

Facts, Rumors & Hearsay

Exterior shots of the haunted house were filmed at The Ennis Brown House in Los Angeles. The house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was built in 1924 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Alfred Hitchcock noticed this films large grosses and was inspired to make his own low-budget horror film, Psycho (1960).

House on Haunted Hill was one of Allied Artist’s most profitable films, and yet it was allowed to fall into public domain.

Dementia 13 (1963) AIP

Directed by Frances Ford Coppola

Written by Frances Ford Coppola, and 2nd Unit written by Jack Hill

1hr 15min / Not Rated

CAST: William Campbell (Richard Haloran), Luana Anders (Louise Haloran), Bart Patton (Billy Haloran), Mary Mitchel (Kane), Patrick Magee (Justin Caleb), Barbara Dowling (Kathleen Haloran)

This Roger Corman produced horror film was directed by a young Frances Coppola, later to be known as Frances Ford Coppola. Like many others, Coppola received his early opportunities from Corman. Corman had been shooting The Young Racers (1963) in Ireland with Coppola assisting and he let Coppola film Dementia 13 using the same set, crew, and actors providing Coppola could shoot around Corman’s schedule. Coppola did not finish the film, he was replaced on Corman’s directive by the co-writer, Jack Hill.

ABOVE: Luana Anders in Dementia 13

Luana Anders plays Louise who loses her husband to a heart attack while in a row boat, but is more concerned with his family’s money than alarmed by his death and reacts by dumping his body into the water. Anders worked in both movies and television. Her additional scream queen performances include: The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), the best forgotten, The Manipulator which starred a miscast Mickey Rooney (1971), and The Killing Kind (1972).

John-Savage and Luana Anders in The Killing Kind (1973)

She appeared in a number of other films including The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975), The Missouri Breaks (1976), Goin’ South (1978), and Personal Best (1982). On television she appeared in everything from The Andy Griffith Show (1967) to Santa Barbara (1992).

Luana Anders in Reform School Girl (1957), The Andy Griffith Show (1960) TV, Easy Rider (1966), & Adam 12 (1968) TV

Circus of Horrors (1960) AIP

Directed by Sidney Hayers

Screenplay by George Baxt

1hr 28min / Not Rated

CAST: Anton Diffring (Dr. Schuler), Erika Remberg (Elissa Caro), Yvonne Monlaur (Nicole Vanet), Donald Pleasence (Vanet), Jane Hylton (Angela), Kenneth Griffith (Martin), Conrad Phillips (Inspector Arthur Ames), Jack Gwillim), Vanda Hudson (Magda von Meck), Yvonne Romain (Melina), Colette (Evelyn Morley Finsbury).

A plastic surgeon flees from London to France after a botched surgery. In France, he performs a surgery on a circus owner’s daughter whose face has been disfigured in the blitz. Eventually he becomes the owner of the circus and continues to operate on women to make them into beauties and in return expects them to work as performers. The trouble begins when some of them wish to leave the circus. Anton Diffring’s performance powers the story as his character becomes more and more determined to keep the women against their will. The women start dying in horrible accidents staged in horrifying Grand Guignol circus scenes.

ABOVE: Yvonne Romaine & Anton Diffring, Vanda Hudson, and Erika Remberg in Circus of Horrors (1960)

Black Sunday (1960) AIP

Directed by Mario Bava

Screenplay by Ennio De Concini & Mario Serandrei based on the Short Story by Nikolay Gogal

English dialogue written by Geoge Higgins

Screenplay: Mario Bava, Marcello Coscia, and Dino De Palma uncredited

1hr 27min / Not Rated

CAST: Barbara Steele (Princess Asa Vajda/Katia Vajda), John Richardson ) Dr. Andrej Gorobec/Dr. Andreas Gorobec), Andrea Checchi (Dr. Choma Kruvajan/Dr. Thomas Kruvajan), Ivo Garrani (Prince Vajda), Arturo Dominici (Igor Javutich / Javuto)

One of the most influential of all of the Italian horror films is Mario Bava’s, La maschera del demonio (1960) (English title: Black Sunday). Not only is this Bava’s first film as a director, but it is also Barbara Steele’s first horror film as well as her first leading role.

ABOVE: Barbara Steele in Black Sunday (1960), Nightmare Castle (1965), The Long Hair of Death (1965), & Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968).

Quickly becoming the first lady of horror, Barbara Steele became so well known that she appeared in Fellini’s 8 1/2 (1963). Prior to her lead role in Black Sunday she was playing supporting and even unbilled roles. She gave a star making performance in Black Sunday and then went on to star in The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) with Vincent Price and Luana Anders. Produced and directed by Roger Corman, it was only the second in a series of films he would produce based on stories by Edgar Allen Poe.

Lord Thomas invites him to spend a night in his castle. A one hundred pound bet is offered, if he can stay the night. He agrees to the wager after the amount is lowered to ten pounds (he is just a poor journalist). He dismisses the warning that no one has ever survived to collect. What follows is a bizarre haunting that is atmospheric and has the feel of a story by Poe (certainly as much as any Roger Corman vehicle). The pacing is measured, but suits this gothic tale of infidelity, rage, and revenge. Steele is both seductive and unsettling as the object of Alan’s desire.

Facts, Rumors & Hearsay

Tim Burton told TV Guide that Black Sunday is his favorite horror film.

Included in the book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, edited by Steven Schneider.

Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971) Hammer

Directed by Seth Holt

Screenplay by Christopher Wicking based on the Novel by Bram Stoker

1h 34min / PG

CAST: Andrew Keir (Fuchs), Valerie Leon (Margaret/Tara), James Villers (Corbeck), Hugh Burden (Dandridge), George Coulouris (Berigan), Mark Edwards (Tod Browning), Rosalie Crutchley (Helen Dickerson), Aubrey Morris (Doctor Putnum), David Markham (Doctor Burgess), Joan Young (Mrs. Caporal), Tamara Ustinov (Veronica)

Valerie Leon’s single claim to Scream Queen rests firmly on Hammer’s Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971). It being the last and arguably the weakest entry in the Hammer Mummy series spotlights Leon’s contribution.

That and the simple fact that it was her only Hammer film, and yet she is still recalled with fondness by horror fans almost fifty years later! In interviews Leon has admitted that she would not do nudity and felt that alienated the producers at Hammer. By the seventies they were looking to update with the times, and they did so with films like The Vampire Lovers (1970)which starred Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt, and Madeline ‘Maddy’ Smith.

Malcome Farquhar & Valerie Leon in The Baron (1966), Valerie Leon & Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Peter Sellers, Anthony Chinn, Burt-Kwouk, Valerie Leon, and Elisabeth Welch in Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978), Sean Connery & Valerie Leon in Never Say Never Again (1983),

She felt that she missed opportunities because of her refusal to do as she was asked. Be that as it may, she still had work in film and television including two Bond films, Return of the Pink Panther and seven appearances in the popular ‘Carry On…” series of English comedies.

Facts, Rumors & Hearsay

Anthony Head (best known for his role of Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) makes a brief appearance in an uncredited role.

Based on Bram Stoker’s novel “The Jewel of Seven Stars”, the seven stars can be seen (the Big Dipper) in many scenes throughout the film, either in crystal balls or ruby rings.

Trespassing Bergman (2013 / documentary) reflects that Ingmar Bergman had a tape copy of Blood From the Mummy’s Tomb at his home on Faro Island.

John Carpenter’s House of Horror

Hammer had been losing ground for some time in the US horror market. The results of some of their latest efforts were just plain bad. Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968) were both huge hits. Gothic horror, which Hammer had built its reputation on, had fallen out of fashion.

An attempt to bring Dracula into the present was dismal and even their most famous player thought it ludicrous, “I’m doing it under protest… I think it is fatuous. I can think of twenty adjectives – fatuous, pointless, absurd. It’s not a comedy, but it’s got a comic title. I don’t see the point,” Christopher Lee speaking at a press conference promoting The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973), which at the time was called Dracula is Dead… and Well and Living in London. Lee would not don the cape and fangs again.

To further drive in the stake, The Exorcist was also released in 1973. William Peter Blatty’s tale of a possessed child directed by William Friedkin had movie goers lining up for blocks when it opened. What happened next was John Carpenter.

Halloween (1978) CIP

Directed by John Carpenter

Screenplay by John Carpenter and Debra Hill

1hr 31min / Rated R

CAST: Donald Pleasence (Loomis), Jamie Lee Curtis (Laurie), Nancy Kyes (Annie), P. J. Soles (Lynda), Charles Cyphers (Brackett), Kyle Richards (Lindsey), Brian Andrews (Tommy), John Michael Graham (Bob), Nancy Stephens (Marion)

From the first notes of the haunting score on black screen, audiences knew they were seeing something special. Halloween opened to good reviews and success at the box office. From a total budget of $350,000.00 the film went on to gross $47 million. It proved to be a major influence kick starting the slasher genre full force, but few if any of its imatators come anywhere near Carpenter & Hill’s level. Like the film that inspired it, Halloween changed viewer’s expectations forever. Simply said, it is economical in narrative and as purely cinematic as possible.

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The nod’s to Hitchcock were not subtle. Donald Pleasance’s character, Dr. Loomis was named after Marion’s lover in Psycho, Sam Loomis. Nancy Kyes was billed in the credits as Nancy Loomis. The most obvious of course was the casting of Janet Leigh’s daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie. John Carpenter’s score was not as complex as Bernard Herrmann’s, but it was used to full effect. Like Herrmann’s score, it was at least a third of the reason for the film’s success.

P. J. Soles & Nancy Kyes in Halloween (1978)

The casting of Curtis was perhaps the single most important decision made by Carpenter. If ever an actor made a role theirs, Curtis had as Laurie Strode. P. J. Soles and Nancy Kyes’ characters are as different from Laura as they are from each other. Their fully developed characters draw empathy from us effortlessly. They are not the standard fodder for the blade that will follow in the wake of Halloween.

Of course this film also launched the career of Jamie Lee Curtis who holds a special place in the annals of horror’s Scream Queens. She was the first Scream Queen to really fight back in spite of her fear, foreshadowing Scream’s (1996) Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell).

P. J. Soles

P. J. Soles had already played supporting roles in two horror films. The first in the forgettable horror anthology, Blood Bath (1975), and more notably as one of the mean girls in Carrie (1976) along with Nancy Allen. A seasoned Scream Queen from one of 1970’s biggest hits, she turned in as memorable a performance in Halloween as she had in Carrie.

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John Carpenter wrote the part of Lynda for P. J. Soles after seeing her in Carrie because he liked the way she said, “totally.” Her talent for the word earned her the nickname of ‘Totally girl’ for its many utterances in Halloween. Like her red baseball cap in Carrie, it had been sought out by the director. To date, Soles has 67 screen credits including 13 Girls which is in pre-production. The gallery below highlights some of her films. Always delivering an energetic performance in any role, Soles is a solid, talented, and versatile actor.

Nancy Kyes (AKA Nancy Loomis)

Nancy Kyes’ first screen appearance was in John Carpenter’s cult classic, Assault on Precinct 13; she was also the wardrobe mistress for the film. Unfortunately, Kyes had a short film career in which she appeared in four John Carpenter productions.

NEXT: Scream Queens 1980 – 1990