Hammer Horror Introduction

Hammer Horror Introduction     "IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!" That's what horror fans were saying of their favorite genre during the 1950s through the early '70s, when the British studio Hammer Film Productions was producing a steady supply of old-fashioned Gothic fright films.   With American horror dying off in favor of sci-fi effects, there was no more shivery or stylish guilty pleasure than the Hammer movies, whose low budgets were belied by striking direction, imaginative sets and slumming star actors having the campy time of their lives. The gore quotient was quite high for the time, so much so that British censorship of some bloody sequences was not relaxed for years.   This salute to Hammer's heyday includes the studio's two breakthrough horror films, both directed by Terence Fisher and making stars of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee: The Curse of Frankenstein [1957], starring Cushing as the mad scientist and Lee as his monster, and Horror of Dracula [1958], with Lee as the bloodsucking count and Cushing as Van Helsing.   Among seven TCM premieres are such provocative titles from director Fisher as The Brides of Dracula [1960], which imbues the vampire myth with hints of incest, sadomasochism and homosexuality, and Frankenstein Created Woman [1966], with former Playboy centerfold Susan Denberg as the suicidal beauty given a new lease on life by the good doctor [Cushing again].   Appropriately enough, the festival leads into Halloween weekend, which offers a collection of "Deadly Jealousy" films on Saturday and movies about "Haunted Houses" on Halloween itself. So tune in to TCM during October for a full month of frightfully good fun!    TCM PRIME TIME FEATURE: HAMMER HORROR FESTIVAL  Friday October 15, 2010   8:00pm  Mummy, The (1959)    A resurrected mummy stalks the archaeologists who defiled his tomb. Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Yvonne Furneaux, Eddie Byrne Dir: Terence Fisher C-88 mins, TV-PG     9:45pm  Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, The (1964)   An unearthed mummy returns to life to claim the reincarnation of his lost love. Cast: Ronald Howard, Terence Morgan, Fred Clark, Jeanne Roland Dir: Michael Carreras C-80 mins, TV-PG       11:15pm  Mummy's Shroud, The (1967)  The words on an Egyptian prince's burial shroud revive a vengeful mummy. Cast: Andre Morell, John Phillips, David Buck, Elizabeth Sellars Dir: John Gilling C-90 mins, TV-PG       1:00am  Blood From the Mummy's Tomb (1971)  An evil Egyptian princess' sprit possesses an Egyptologist's daughter. Cast: Andrew Keir, Valerie Leon, James Villiers, Hugh Burden Dir: Seth Holt C-93 mins       Carl Ray Louk "FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS" SG-1996 "LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY" SG-2000 "THE PHOENIX SHALL RISE" SD "EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE AUTUMN MOON IS BRIGHT." LT-1941 "FLESH OF MY FLESH; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD; KIN OF MY KIN WHEN SAY COME TO YOU, YOU SHALL CROSS LAND OR SEA TO DO MY BIDDING!" CVTD-1895 "FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE, FOR HATE SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE" CA-1895  "I HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND" Spock  "TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT CANDY IS DANDY BUT MURDER, OH MURDER, IS SO SWEET" CRL-2003  "EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG, WOOL OF BAT, AND TONGUE OF DOG ADDER'S FORK, BLIND-WORM'S STING, LIZARD'S LEG, AND OWLET'S WING. FOR A CHARM OF POWERFUL TROUBLE, LIKE A HELL-BROTH BOIL AND BABBLE. DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE, FIRE BURN, AND CALDRON BUBBLE" WS MySpace.com: www.myspace.com/carlraylouk http://www.myspace.com/carlraylouk Yahoo Group: Yahoo! Groups : LouksHauntedGraveyardhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/LouksHauntedGraveyard/ Yahoo Group: Yahoo! Groups : TheWorldAccordingtoCarlRayLouk http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheWorldAccordingtoCarlRayLouk/