How I Learned To Love Being Scared - Page 4

We’ve reached 1979 and now 14, I was finally allowed to watch both movies regardless of when they were made. That year's "Masters of Terror" season brought the delights of Hammer and an introduction to the horror films of one of my favourite actors -- Peter Cushing. Until then, I’d known him mainly for his kind old man roles epitomised in the two Doctor Who films and as cinema's greatest mass murderer, Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars.

First came his take on the Baron in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), and while he’d get better in later entries of the series, he’d already become, in my young mind, the definitive Frankenstein. Christopher Lee was a new face to me at the time and, here, it was a face covered in makeup in order to play Victor’s creation. Lee’s monster had none of the sadness of Karloff’s version and consequently made less of an impact.

Having made the role of Frankenstein his own, he next showed he was also a fine Sherlock Holmes in Hammer's The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959). The film was preceded by Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman (1944), featuring Basil Rathbone as the super sleuth. This was the start of my fascination with Holmes and these two actors are still my personal favourites, although Cushing was much better in the BBC series than in the Hammer film.

Having given new life to one of the old Universal monsters, I next saw Cushing in a revival of another. The Mummy (1959) paired Cushing with Lee again, although the latter once again spent most of the film unrecognisable, swathed in the mummy’s bandages. I’m not a fan of mummies, they move too slow to be really scary and I just can’t seem to generate any sympathy for them.

The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1974) was my first chance to see Lee in his most famous role. While not to most people's taste, I’ve always found Hammer’s two contemporary Dracula films, this and Dracula A.D. 1972, to be a lot of fun. Cushing plays Van Helsing and as with Victor Frankenstein, there’s still been no one to touch him in the part (whatever era he was playing it in).

That year also provided two other delights from Hammer. Dennis Wheatley's satanic novel was adapted in The Devil Rides Out (1968), giving Christopher Lee a chance to shine. Then Quatermass and the Pit (1967) added a touch of SF to the horror mix with aliens unearthed in London. A bit like The Thing, but in a heavily populated area. This was scary because, not only was it based on science rather than the supernatural (and therefore possible at least to a 14-year-old boy), but it was also set somewhere not that far from home.

Article Author: Ian Woolstencroft

Ian Woolstencroft was brought up on a diet of John Wayne movies and Marvel Comics and still has a passion for both. Now as a blogcritic he finally understands what Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben meant when he said ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ …

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