Beware the Underwater Nazi Zombies!

Shock Waves (1977)
Starring: Brooke Adams, Luke Halpin, Fred Buch, Jack Davidson, D.J. Sidney, Peter Cushing, John Stout and John Carradine
Director: Ken Wiederhorn
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Two young couples (Adams, Halpin, Buch and Sidney) are stranded on a remote island as undead Nazi supersoldiers rise from the ocean's depths to take revenge on their creator (Cushing) and all the living.


"Shock Waves" sounds like it should be the ultimate cheese-fest--how can something featuring underwater Nazi zombies NOT be? Especially a movie from the 1970s, made by inexperienced filmmakers on a shoestring budget?

Well, in the case of this film, the inexperience worked in their favor.

With classic horror stars Peter Cushing and John Carradine available each for four days of the film's four-week shooting schedule, director Ken Wiederhorn set out to make a movie in the vein of the old fashioned 1950s and 1960s Hammer horror fests but with a more modern sensibility. What he ended up with was a film that included some of the sexiness of a Hammer picture--Brooke Adams spends much of a film in a bikini and the rest of it in a barely buttoned shirt--and the mood over high velocity splatter that was increasingly in vogue during the late 1970s.

But, Weiderhorn, mostly be accident if the coversation on the DVD commentary can be believed, created a film that is far more of a mood piece than a horror show, with the zombie attacks being as horrorfying as they not so much because they are underwater Nazi zombies that seem to be able to pop up anywhere there's water (even in a disused swimming pool), but because there is an atmosphere of hazy, nightmarish dread that permeates the entire film from the moment our protaganists encounter a strange weather phenomena at sea to the final image of a sunburned, blistering Brook Adams.

With creepy locations, creative camerawork, surpringly creepy Nazi zombies and good performances by all cast members, "Shock Waves" is a film that is undeserving of its obscure status. It's almost worth seeing for Brooke Adams alone, as she is one of the better "damsels in distress" I've encountered in a horror movie, possessing a pretty face, an attractive body, and vulnerable quality that makes you fear for her safety throughout and whince with extra sympathy when she is terrorized or injured.

And then there's Peter Cushing. While this isn't is best performance--his "German" accent is even more suspicious than the "Swedish" one he tried to do in "The Beast Must Die,"--he still draws your attention like metal shavings to a magnet in every scene he appears in. He is thoroughly believable and repulsive as the Nazi commandant who eventually gets what he deserves.

And even setting Adams aside, this film is undoubtedly the masterpiece of underwater Nazi zombie movies. Maybe Oliver Stone can do a remake, once he's done showing us all how Hitler really wasn't such a bad guy,(as explained at Shades of Gray) with the Nazi zombies being heroic champions of a Greener Planet. After all, Underwater Nazi Zombies have no carbon footprint whatsoever!

Cushing reveals 'The Evil of Frankenstein'

The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
Starring: Peter Cushing, Peter Woodthorpe, Sandor Eles, and Katy Wild
Director: Freddie Francis
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Baron Frankenstein (Cushing) returns from exile to find that his ancestral home has been looted by the corrupt leaders of nearby Karlstaad. Fuming with anger, he roams the nearby mountains, where he comes upon the monster he originally created, frozen in a mountain-top glacier. With the help of his faithful assistant Hans (Eles), a deaf-mute beggar girl (Wild), and a heapin' helpin' o' mad science, he restores the creature to "life." However, it is only with the help of Zoltan (Woodthorpe), corrupt, dark-hearted showman and hypnotist that Frankestein is able to bring the monster's awareness back from the mental shell it retreated into after its "death" a decade earlier. Unfortunately for Frankenstein and his friends, the monster is now under Zoltan's control, and he quickly starts using it for nefarious purposes.




This is Hammer Frankenstein film has grown on my since I first saw it several years ago. I still think it's one of the weaker in the series--it's to the Hammer 'Frankenstein' movies what "Scars of Dracula" is to the 'Dracula' series... a kinda-sorta reboot and remake of the initial film in the series--but I found myself liking it quite a bit more than I did originally.

First of all, Cushing gives another great performance of Frankenstein... and for once, the "good" Baron actually has cause to feel put-upon and persecuted; the townsfolk of Karlstaat really are a bunch of bastards, and the betrayal he faces at the hands of Zoltan is also something that would fill even a sane person with righteous indignation. Frankenstein really has more of a heroic air about him in this film, and most of "evil" that's committed comes from corners other than his. (Okay, so he DID create a monster made from human body parts, but can't anyone let bygones be bygones?!)

Second, although the story is thin, it is quote good. The film's strength is derived mostly from Cushing's ability as an actor--as, with the exception of Woodthorpe's destible Zoltan character, the rest of the actors turn performances so muted or predictable that they are little more than parts of the sets--but his performance is made all the stronger by the way the story elevates Frankenstein almost to the level of tragic hero; he is a man pursuing a dream of science, but he is ultimately doomed to failure through his own actions. (In this case, it's hiring Zoltan that's his main mistake... he really should have asked for checkable references first!)

The film also has one of the best Frankenstein Monster Labs in the series. That weird Martin the Martian raygun-style lightning catcher on the roof is very cool, as is the entire set-up by which Frankenstein transfers electricity into the monster's body.

Finally, the film shows us that Frankenstein's Monster is a mean drunk. Never let your monster drink booze. He's sure to run amok and light your house fire.

On the downside, the film has the second-worst monster in the series (only the furry beast of "Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell" is worse). It is suitably hideous, but the square-headed mask worn by the actor is shown so-very-clearly to be a mask in every closeup shot by the makeup around the actor's eyes. There's also the aforementioned issue of a very thin story, not to mention an illogical reason for why Frankenstein returned to his ancestral castle in the first place.

All-in-all, I think "The Evil of Frankenstein" (a film that's as mistitled as "Revenge of Frankenstein" was, as there are characters in this film more evil than the Baron) is worth a look if you're a fan of Hammer movies. It's even more worth a look if you're a fan of Peter Cushing... now that I've watched the movie again, I think it can be ranked among his best performances. It's not among the best overall of the Hammer Frankenstein films, but it's worth your time.

Cushing vs Hound of the Baskervilles: The Rematch

It the mid-1960s, Peter Cushing starred in 16 episodes of a BBC-produced series devoted to adapting Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes tales to the small screen. Althogh believed lost for nearly 20 years, a few episodes have been rediscovered and brought to Region 1 DVDs by American cable network A&E.


Naturally, I got me a copy as soon as possible. I'll be posting reviews of the six episodes and the odd little documentary included in the three disk set over the next couple of weeks.

In general, the episodes are quite good. Peter Cushing once again plays an EXCELLENT Holmes (after starring as the character in the first ever color Sherlock Holmes movie for Hammer Films a decade or so earlier.)

THE SHERLOCK HOLMES COLLECTION: DISC ONE
The Hound of the Baskervilles, Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 (1968)
Starring: Peter Cushing, Nigel Stock and Gary Raymond
Director: Graham Evens
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Sherlock Holmes (Cushing) and Dr. Watson (Stock) are called upon to solve the mystery of a spectral hound that seems to be visiting very real death upon the Baskerville family. Will they solve the mystery before Sir Henry Baskerville (Raymond) joins his forebearers in the most gruesome of fashions?

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" is the famous and most-often adapted Sherlock Holmes story, and it is the second version of the take that Cushing starred in. It seems odd choice to lead with in this DVD collection, as the earliest chronological episode included in the set is "A Study in Scarlet" and Cushing/Holmes is absent for the second half of the first episode and about 2/3rds to seonnd part. Most consumers of this will almost certainly be buying it for Cushing, and even if they weren't, his absense is felt. While Nigel Stock and the rest of the cast are talented and give admirable peformances, they don't have Cushing's presence.

As an adaptation of "The Hound of the Baskervilles," it's as faithful as can be expected and as well-done as other similar BBC productions from the 1960s. It is even better in many areas, as there are no pathetic attempts at night-for-day shots and most of the sets are well-constructed. On the downside, though, there seems to be a timidity against showing violence that goes beyond even typical television avoidance. For example, when Watson tustles with an escaped convict on the moor, all we get to see is the convict preparing to strike and then Watson stumbling backwards the next scene. The blow happened somewhere during the reversal of angles, but we didn't get to see any action. There are two or three instances like that in the film. The hound is also dissapointing. We don't really get to see anything as far as what it looks like.

However, despite not showing us the hound (and barely showing us the characters' reactions to it), the BBC director and editors did get the ending exactly right. It is suspenseful, with Holmes and Watson rushing through the fog along a nearly invisible path through deadly quicksand pits, the hound howling somewhere nearby, and Henry Baskerville walking blindly toward doom.

While the 1950s Hammer adaptation is more exciting and colorful, this version is more in keeping with Doyle's original story. I prefer the Hammer version, but this one is also well done, and Cushing is, once again, absolutely magnificent as Sherlock Holmes.

'The Creeping Flesh' is a neat gothic horror flick

The Creeping Flesh (1973)
Starring: Peter Cushing, Lorna Heilbron, Christopher Lee, George Benson and Hedger Wallace
Director: Freddie Francis
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A 19th century paleontologist (Cushing) uncovers what he first believes is the missing evolutionary link between apes and men, but later finds it to be the skeleton of a demon, a skeleton that flesh appears on when it becomes wet. He devises what he believes is a inoculation against evil, injects his innocent daugther with it... and that's when the nightmare begins.


"The Creeping Flesh" is a decent chiller that is a bit slow in getting started, but once it gets going, it's a riveting experience. It's got Peter Cushing giving one of his best performances as a mentally unstable scientist, Christopher Lee at his most effective as a monstrous villain hiding behind a veneer of respectability, and the unique-looking Lorna Heilbron as a gorgeous and completely deranged young woman.

Out of all the films that uses Victorian-style fantasy, horror, and pseudo-science, this is perhaps the film that captures the sexual repression and misogynism that was at the heart of so much of Victorian thought. And Cushing and Heilbron capture this mindset to a tee.

It may not be the best horror film ever made, but "The Creeping Flesh" definitely captures the mood of "gothic horror" that I was shooting for back when I worked on the Ravenloft line. It's also a film that fans of both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee will be happy for seeking out.

(It might be a bit hard to find, though... near as I can tell, the film is officially out of print. Amazon.com still has some copies for sale, and I suspect it might be rented from various outlets as well.)

'Scream and Scream Again' is a movie as pointless as Cushing's appearance in it

Scream and Scream Again (1970)
Starring: Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Marshall Jones, Peter Cushing and Christopher Matthews
Director: Gordon Hessler
Rating: Two of Ten Stars

One day, during the Swingin' Sixties, three clerks collided in the hall of American International Productions. Each and been carrying a film script--one was a supernatural/political thriller set within a fictitious East bloc country, the other was a modern-day psycho-vampire flick set in London, and the third was a mad doctor/Frankenstein flick--and the pages went everywhere. They tried their best to sort them out properly, but in the end the three scripts were hopelessly jumbled together. In the hopes of covering their sloppiness, they simply put the three mish-mash "scripts" in for review. One ended up being gree-lighted by an indifferent executive. A shooting script was then approved by a drunk producer. Directors went about finding actors, and soon principle photography on "Scream and Scream Again" was underway.

I don't know if that story accurately describes how "Scream and Scream Again" came to be produced, but it's a more generous explanation than one that assumes this incoherent and disjointed movie was intended to be this way.

For more than 3/4ths of the picture there is barely a connection between the various plots, except for a single actor who crosses over between the two. And when they do come together, it's only barely and it's not in any way that seems terribly well thought out. (A sign of the complete confusion that reins in this film is even evident in the theatrical preview where the actor who is identified as Peter Cushing is actually Marshall Jones.)


The story, such as it is, starts with a series of "vampire murders" in London. It turns out that these are being perpetrated by the creation of a mad scientist (Vincent Price) who is working as part of a global secret scientific society to create a superior human race through surgery. When the police refuse to investigate due to political pressure a young coroner (Christopher Matthews) starts doing his own investigation. He is soon in over his head and that's when things get really stupid.

Although Cushing, Lee, and Price get top billing, Cushing is only in one scene (and it's a pointless one at that) and Lee's presence isn't much more than Cushing's. Price's role is larger and very important to the story, but his screen time is still very limited and he doesn't have much to do. His presence is almost as big a waste as that of Cushing and Lee.

And the score, the easy-listening rock/jazz fusion score, is almost too painful for words!

All in all, this film should go on the "must-miss" list, except for those who might be looking for the worst "day-for-night" shots since Ed Wood stopped making Z-grade thrillers and turned to Z-grade pornos. It makes the worst of the Hammer Film efforts look like the work of Orson Wells. What's even more embarrassing for this film is that it looks like it probably had a bigger budget than several Hammer Films combined, based on the number of locations and aerial shots featured.

Mile-stone first Kung Fu vampire movie

The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1973)
Peter Cushing, Julie Ege, David Chiang, and Robin Stewart
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

The year is 1904. Decades have passed since Dr. Van Helsing first took up arms against the cult of vampires, and his struggle has brought him to China. While guest-lecturing at a university, Van Helsing is approached by His Ching (Chiang), who, together with his brothers and sister, have dedicated themselves to ridding his native village of the Seven Golden Vampires which have terrorized it for centuries; they require Van Helsing’s expertise in vampire-killing to augment their own considerable martial arts skills, however. Van Helsing and his son Leyland immediately offer their expert services. After wealthy Swedish adventuress Vanessa Buren provides funding, they embark upon the long and dangerous trek to the isolated village of Ping Kuei, facing both bandit lords and vampire minions before the final apocalyptic showdown between the vampiric army of the Seven Golden Vampires and Van Helsing’s band of heroes. Then, as the smoke is clearing, and heroes and villains alike are taking stock of their dead, Van Helsing’s arch-nemesis Dracula makes his presence known—and only one of them will walk away from this final confrontation.


When it was released, “The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires” was something new and spectacular. It was the first serious effort to mix the horror film genre with the martial arts genre. With everything from “The Bride With White Hair” to “Blade” to “Vampire Effect” on our shelves, this movie may not seem like a big deal, but when Hammer and the Hong Kong-based Shaw Bros. production company teamed up, they were blazing new territory.

“The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires” is a film with great potential and an even greater premise, but in the final analysis it fails to live up to both. While there are some great touches in the film surrounding Chinese vampire lore—the lesser vampire minions of the Seven Golden Vampires are “hopping vampires” and shrines to Buddha repulse the evil undead, not just the typical cross—and Cushing and the rest of the cast deliver fine acting performances, the martial arts side of the film is quite lackluster, even by the standards of Shaw Bros. movies of the 1970s. The big battle between the vampire army and the vampire-busting martial artists might have been more exciting if the martial arts displays had been. Certainly, that climactic battle had plenty of horror—with some quite unexpected twists and deaths as it unfolds—but its Kung Fu is weak.

On the upside, Cushing is a joy to watch as always (despite the fact that the actor was dealing with health issues and severe depression following the death of his wife), and his Van Helsing is again a fun mix of scholarly dedication and grim, determined action. He has great on-screen chemistry with everyone in the supporting cast—particularly Ege and Stewart. The addition of Leyland Van Helsing, the son of the great vampire hunter, is a nice addition to the mythos, and it’s too bad that nothing more came of that. (Hammer was always throwing in great characters in the Dracula films that never developed into anything—such as Father Sandor from “Dracula: Prince of Darkness.” But in the case of the younger Van Helsing, primed to take over the vampire-busting franchise, if the character was added simply because the film was deemed to need a vibe younger than the ailing Cushing, or if there were ideas of plans for a new Dracula/Van Helsing direction, “Legend” was destined to be among Hammer Films’ final productions.

Speaking of Dracula, readers have probably noticed that he’s only been mentioned in passing during this discussion. That’s because when Baker and the actors and the rest of the crew were all done with “The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires,” Dracula was nowhere to be found in the story. In fact, it was Hammer executives who insisted that Dracula be added to the film, so Cushing was called back for an additional scene. An opening sequence featuring Dracula (played by John Forbes-Robinson) was hastily thrown together, along with a denouement that had Van Helsing dispatch Dracula without even being missed by his companions who stepped outside a moment before the Prince of Darkness revealed himself. I really can’t imagine what the people at Hammer were thinking; I think the pointless presence of Dracula in “The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires” weakens the film rather than strengthens it.

By the way, I recommend you get the version of “The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires” that Anchor Bay released as part of their Hammer Collection. Both the DVD and the VHS versions contain the US release of the movie that was titled “The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula.” The bit of film butchery is an example of how editing can make or break a film—and in the case of this movie, the editing definitely broke it. They took an entertaining, straightforward vampire/kung-fu hybrid adventure film and turned it into a confusing mess. When the Americans were done transforming “The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires” into “The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula,” they had a movie that even Ed Wood and Uwe Boll would be ashamed to be associated with.





(Trivia: This was the fifth and final time Peter Cushing would play Van Helsing.)

'The Gorgon' is a Hammer Films masterpiece

The Gorgon (1964)
Starring: Peter Cushing, Barbara Shelley, Christopher Lee and Richard Pasco
Director: Terence Fisher
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

When the spirit of the sole surviving Gorgon sisters of Greek legend rises again to plague a Balkan village, The doctor in a small Balkan village (Cushing) attempts to cover up the fact that citizens are being turned to stone under the full moon, even as a visiting scholar (Lee) attempts to determine the fate of a colleague.


"The Gorgon" is a curious mixture of elements, being part ghost movie, part romance movie, part fantasy epic--but all the elements congeal into a fabulous horror film.

With the usual lush sets that marked Hammer Films of this period, and the usual topnotch direction from Terence Fisher, we have a film that is gorgeous to look at. Add a great script being performed by a fantastic cast, some of whom are in parts we don't typically see them in (Christopher Lee is the monster-busting scholar here, while Peter Cushing is the antagonist who may or may not be in league with the monster) but all of whom are at the top of their game.

"The Gorgan" contains a number of truly chilling moments and the script features a couple of twists and turns, so that the viewer is kept guessing as to who is actually host to the gorgon's spirit until it is revealed. Even better, the final confrontation between the heroes and the Gorgon is one of the most dramatic endings to a Hammer film, period! (The film loses a bit of steam as it heads toward the climax, but the finale more than makes up for the slight drag.)

"The Gorgon" is one of the most underrated horror flicks from Hammer Films. For years it was unavailable even on VHS, but last year Sony finally released four Columbia-distributed Hammer Films in a multi-movie set as part of their "Icons of Horror" series. Get it. All four films in the set are excellent, with the "The Gorgon" being the very best.