FEAR IN THE NIGHT

FEAR IN THE NIGHT (1972). Produced and directed by Jimmy Sangster.

Newlyweds Peggy (Judy Geeson of Berserk) and Robert Heller (Ralph Bates) have moved into a cottage on the grounds of a boys school owned and run by headmaster Michael Carmichael (Peter Cushing of The Beast Must Die). Michael has a much younger wife named Molly (Joan Collins). Peggy has already been attacked by a man with a prosthetic arm back in the city, when this same man breaks into the cottage. Robert, who knows that Peggy was seeing a doctor after a nervous breakdown, isn't certain whether to believe her or not. One evening he has to go on an errand for Michael, and Peggy is left all alone in the house. Bad things are going to happen ... 

Ralph Bates and Judy Geeson

Fear in the Night is an intriguing and suspenseful Hammer thriller with some excellent performances. Even if you get clued in to some of the things that are going on, there are still some interesting twists to the story. Once everything has unfolded there is also a degree of pathos when you realize how cruelly one of the innocent characters has been used. The great Peter Cushing adds some class to the picture as he generally does, Bates doesn't give away if he's keeping secrets or not, Collins is suitably tough and forceful in her portrayal, and Geeson generally manages to deal with all of the sinister goings-on with aplomb. Sangster, who also co-wrote the screenplay, never lets the pace flag. It all builds to a quite satisfactory conclusion. 

Verdict:  Notable Hammer suspense film with fine performances. ***. 

CORRUPTION

Peter Cushing and Sue Lloyd

CORRUPTION (1968). Director: Robert Hartford-Davis.

"The more you succeed, the more you fear the failures."

Surgeon Sir John Rowan (Peter Cushing) is in love with a greedy young model named Lynn (Sue Lloyd). When Lynn refuses to leave a party given by photographer Mike (Anthony Booth), Rowan tries to force her to come with him, resulting in an arc light falling over and smashing into Lynn's face, disfiguring her. Surgery helps for a time, but Rowan discovers he needs fluid from women's pituitary glands to repair the damage to his lover's face time and again. This leads into a series of gruesome murders and even a beheading on a train. Where will it all end? Rowan thinks he's gotten his latest unwilling donor in Terry (Wendy Varnals), a girl runaway who turns out to have some cretinous friends. This leads into a nerve-wracking laser surgery sequence and a gross climax with an out-of-control laser that is one of the wildest things I've ever seen. 

In addition to its delightfully lurid plot, what Corruption has going for it is two excellent lead performances from Cushing and Lloyd. Kate O'Mara also scores as Lynn's sister, Val, as does Noel Trevarthen as Dr. Steve Harris; a friend and colleague of Rowan's. After the climax, the best scene is the grisly train murder with an especially intense and determined Cushing doing his best to achieve his horrible objective. The one element of the film that not only doesn't work but almost works against it is the jazzy, inappropriate score by Bill McGuffie. An advertising campaign (see photo) suggested that no woman would be admitted to the film without an escort!

Verdict: Lurid and tasteless as hell but a lot of wicked fun! ***1/4. 

TWINS OF EVIL

Madeleine and Mary Collinson

TWINS OF EVIL (1971). John Hough. 

Gustav Weil (pronounced "vile") -- played by Peter Cushing  of The Beast Must Die -- is a witch hunter who cares nothing about putting innocent women to death by burning. He has his hands full when his two nieces -- Maria and Freida (Madeleine and Mary Collinson) -- become his wards, as at least one of them has no intention of staying pure and virginal. Indeed she is fascinated by the decadent Count Karnstein (Damien Thomas), who is not only a vampire but offers sacrifices to Satan. The choirmaster, Anton (David Warbeck), intervenes when the wrong twin is accused of being in league with Karnstein. Two sides of the same coin, Weil confronts Karnstein in the climax, but it's a question as to which of these loathsome creatures will ultimately win. 

Damien Thomas as Karnstein

Twins of Evil is a highly entertaining and well-mounted Hammer horror film. Peter Cushing offers his customary excellent performance, but while he gets away with being overwrought, the same is not true of some of the actors playing the church elders. The Collinson twins, who I believe posed for Playboy years ago and go bare-breasted in this, are certainly attractive and deliver adequate performances, although all of their dialogue was dubbed by unknown British actors. Damien Thomas is strikingly effective and simply wonderful as Count Karnstein, but although he had many other subsequent credits and is still working today, he never did another horror film, more's the pity. Warbeck, Kathleen Byron [Profile] as Weil's wife, Dennis Price [The Horror of It All] as Karnstein's associate Dietrich, are all notable as well. It's never explained how Karnstein, whose image can't be seen in a mirror, can walk about in broad daylight. This is the final film in the trilogy consisting of The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, and Twins.

Verdict: Blood, vampires, witch hunters, and boobs! ***. 

ASYLUM

Robert Powell 

ASYLUM (1972). Director: Roy Ward Baker. Screenplay by Robert Bloch.

Dr. Martin (Robert Powell) arrives at the Dunsmoor Asylum to be interviewed for a job by Dr. Starr. Martin is told by Starr's assistant, Rutherford (Patrick Magee), that Starr has gone crazy and is now one of the institution's patients! Rutherford tells Martin that he can have the job if he is able to tell which of the inmates he's going to see is actually Dr. Starr. The patients then tell Martin their rather horrific stories as he tries to figure out who's who.

Richard Todd wants his wife to "rest in pieces!"

The first story, an EC Comics pastiche, has a man (Richard Todd) taking an ax to his wife (Sylvia Sims) so that he can be with his mistress (Barbara Parkins). Unfortunately for both of them, the wife's pieces, wrapped in paper, come alive to get revenge upon them. In the second and arguably best story a financially-desperate tailor (Barry Morse) accepts a commission from a strange man (Peter Cushing of The Beast Must Die) who wants him to make a special suit -- but he can only work on it at certain hours. 

Charlotte Rampling and Britt Eklund

The third story is a fairly obvious split-personality tale of a sick woman (Charlotte Rampling) and her best friend (Britt Eklund) and murders that ensue. The final story has an inmate (Herbert Lom) putting his soul into a tiny robot-like replica of itself, a murderous "doll" that has realistic internal organs and blood inside of it. Despite some lame aspects -- and its lack of real scares -- Asylum is probably the best horror anthology put together by Amicus Studios. The film is well-acted, fast-paced, and extremely entertaining. Barry Morse [No Trace], who is marvelous as the tailor, certainly shows off his  versatility in this.

Verdict: Lots of fun! ***. 

THE BEAST MUST DIE

Calvin Lockhart

THE BEAST MUST DIE (1974). Director: Paul Arnett. 

A black man named Tom Newcliffe (Calvin Lockhart) is chased by what appear to be white mercenaries through a forest and is apparently shot and killed. But Newcliffe turns out to be the wealthy owner of the island, and the men have been hired to test him and his security equipment. Pavel (Anton Diffring) is the chief security officer and watches everything that happens on the island through not-so-hidden cameras.

Peter Cushing

Newcliffe has become convinced that one of his guests, all of whom have some dark secrets in their past, is a bonafide flesh-eating werewolf,  and as the full moon approaches he is determined to find out who the guilty party is. Suspects include painter Paul Foote (Tom Chadbon); pianist Jan (Michael Gambon); Jan's girlfriend Davina (Ciaran Madden); the businessman Pennington (Charles Gray); Dr. Lundgren (Peter Cushing), who is knowledgeable about the loup garou;  and even Newcliffe's beautiful wife, Caroline (Marlene Clark). As victims with torn-out throats start piling up, and the survivors are unable to leave the island, panic begins to set in and the already slightly unhinged Newcliffe becomes even more manic and possibly dangerous.

Anton Diffring and Calvin Lockhart

The Beast Must Die benefits from an excellent premise and a suspenseful and exciting screenplay by Michael Winder (taken from a story by James Blish). Paul Arnett's direction is satisfactory. It is interesting that the lead role is played by handsome Nassau-born "blaxploitation" star Lockhart [Myra Breckenridge], whose flamboyant acting style doesn't quite work with this material. A frail Peter Cushing [The Gorgon] has little to do as the doctor who dispenses wisdom about werewolves, but he does it well. Anton Diffring [The Man Who Could Cheat Death], another old pro like Cushing, plays with his customary adeptness and authority. The other actors are mostly professional and on target in their portrayals. Marlene Clark is dubbed by Annie Ross, which may be why her performance seems a bit odd at times. The film has a "werewolf break" in which the audience has thirty seconds to decide who they think the monster is. Aside from this one theatrical feature, Paul Arnett directed British television productions. From Amicus Studios. Douglas Gamley's theme music is awful and completely inappropriate. 

Verdict: Imperfect but entertaining and unusual werewolf-on-the-loose flick. ***. 

THE GORGON

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing

THE GORGON (1964). Director: Terence Fisher. 

Near the turn of the century, a village is bedeviled by a series of bizarre murders where the victims are turned to stone. Dr. Namaroff (Peter Cushing) seems to know more about what is going on than he is willing to tell Professor Jules Heitz (Michael Goodliffe), whose son, Bruno (Jeremy Longhurst) was one of the victims. When the professor himself succumbs to the strange ailment, his other son Paul (Richard Pasco), comes to investigate. There he begins a romance with Namaroff's lovely associate, Carla (Barbara Shelley), which greatly complicates matters. But does she have anything to do with this weird legend about the spirit of one of the three gorgons of mythology inhabiting a human female ... ? 

Barbara Shelly and Richard Pasco

On one level, The Gorgon is somewhat ridiculous -- one has to assume there are good reasons why those in charge recognized these were actual petrified corpses and not just statues put in place of the victims --  but despite the viewer's foreknowledge the movie manages to be absorbing and suspenseful for the most part, almost with the bittersweet quality of a fairy tale. One thing that helps tremendously are the performances by the entire cast. As usual, Christopher Lee -- playing an associate of Paul's -- and Cushing perform very well together, and Pascoe, Shelley, Goodliffe and the others also play with absolute conviction. The film also has an eerie atmosphere and good art direction, and moves at a fairly good pace thanks to director Terence Fisher. The gorgon's brief appearances are always creepy although one might quibble about aspects of her make up. James Bernard's score is also a decided plus. 

Verdict: Medusa herself might have enjoyed this look at one of her sisters. ***.