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Awix (3310 KP) rated Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) in Movies
Feb 24, 2018
Mayhem at the Lunatic Asylum
Above-average Hammer Frankenstein film makes up for the previous movie (a lousy reboot), finishes the series on a high note. Shane Briant is packed off to the looney bin for doing cover versions of Frankenstein's experiments, meets his hero, they team up.
Atmospheric and well-thought-through Frankenstein movie, good cast too. The actual creature looks like Bigfoot, which is a little odd to say the least, but the movie has moments of both subtlety and poignancy as it goes on. Peter Cushing rocks the joint in his last appearance as Frankenstein, managing to be both witty and chilling. Finishes with a very atypical but impressively ominous climax. One of the better late-period Hammers, and a worthy conclusion to both this series and Terence Fisher's career.
Atmospheric and well-thought-through Frankenstein movie, good cast too. The actual creature looks like Bigfoot, which is a little odd to say the least, but the movie has moments of both subtlety and poignancy as it goes on. Peter Cushing rocks the joint in his last appearance as Frankenstein, managing to be both witty and chilling. Finishes with a very atypical but impressively ominous climax. One of the better late-period Hammers, and a worthy conclusion to both this series and Terence Fisher's career.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Straight On Till Morning (1972) in Movies
Mar 8, 2021
Rather atypical Hammer psycho-horror is much stronger on dour naturalism than the usual gothic fantasy. A slightly unstable young woman moves to present-day London in search of her dreams and winds up moving in with a handsome serial killer (late-period Hammer star Shane Briant, in his first film for the company). Things eventually get a bit fraught.
It would be nice to think the change in style was the result of a decision by Hammer to experiment, but the fact the film was clearly made on a punishingly low budget suggests otherwise: the reason it's largely a two-hander, mostly taking place in a single flat, is presumably simply to keep production costs down. The atmosphere throughout is dingy and a bit grim; appalling early-70s fashion doesn't help much. There's a conceit about Peter Pan which is never really resolved (hence the title); the film's most distinctive feature is the editing, which is jarring, almost subliminal, and gets rather annoying very quickly. Good performances from the leads, I suppose, but this doesn't make up for the fact the story is implausible, uninvolving, and doesn't really go anywhere.
It would be nice to think the change in style was the result of a decision by Hammer to experiment, but the fact the film was clearly made on a punishingly low budget suggests otherwise: the reason it's largely a two-hander, mostly taking place in a single flat, is presumably simply to keep production costs down. The atmosphere throughout is dingy and a bit grim; appalling early-70s fashion doesn't help much. There's a conceit about Peter Pan which is never really resolved (hence the title); the film's most distinctive feature is the editing, which is jarring, almost subliminal, and gets rather annoying very quickly. Good performances from the leads, I suppose, but this doesn't make up for the fact the story is implausible, uninvolving, and doesn't really go anywhere.