Early Birthday Creepers from Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing!
By
Kristin Battestella
We’ve
raided the horror video vaults yet again in search of more frights and mayhem
from that irrepressible, diabolic duo: Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing! Their
upcoming May birthdays are the perfect excuse for a quick list of creepy, oft-scary
combinations, and warm weather horror.
Asylum – A totally fun, spooky score anchors this 1972 anthology
film from Amicus Productions, not to mention the great gothic locales, mental
institution horrors, and an intriguing frame story puzzle from writer Robert
Bloch (Psycho). Director Roy Ward Baker (Scars of Dracula) keeps the filmmaking swift, with proper cuts and
zooms for full effectiveness. Although the first story “Frozen Fear” is slow to
start its voodoo angles, the murderous twists and turns arrive with increasing
suspense and shocker moments. Perhaps it’s hokey, but eerily efficient
nonetheless. “The Weird Tailor” features
Our Man Cush as a seemingly straightforward gentleman asking for a very
interesting custom garment. Again, some may spot the plot, but this tale is still
likeably bizarre and macabre. Each of the stories are very fun in getting to
their kickers, and “Lucy Comes to Stay” adds some crazy woman hysterias for Charlotte
Rampling (Swimming Pool) and Britt
Ekland (The Wicker Man) – or so it
seems. “Mannikins of Horror” ties into the framing story finale with a perfect,
deeply entwined spin, and it’s great to see bookends that are just as long and
involved as the featured tales are. Maybe this one isn’t as frightful or as
gory and pure horror as other similar anthologies, but the demented mood and
atmosphere are excellent. Unlike more elusive seventies horror films, this one
also has a great DVD release complete with commentary, Amicus behind the scenes
features, and subtitles. Oh my!
Crypt
of the Vampire – I’m not sure
about his hair, but golly Christopher Lee looks young in this black and white
1963 foreign creepy also titled Terror in
the Crypt. While all sexy screaming ladies are dubbed, Lee’s commanding
voice adds to his suave count/pimp style – complete with monogrammed smoking
jacket, blonde mistress, and spooky castle.
Cool carriages, fearful forests, good gothic sets, candles, and mood
lighting help to forgive the weird narrations and fast and cheap production.
The time period is also some kind of 19th century – the looks are
effective but a little nondescript in establishing a year – but fortunately,
nightmarish innuendo, shades of skin, and saucy rituals make up the difference.
Billowing winds, creaking doors, and ghostly tolling bells also up some very
scary moments in the final half hour despite the relative lack of vamps or
blood. Interestingly, the family name here is Karnstein, and the female implications
are similar to the so-called Karnstein trilogy of vampire movies from Hammer.
Of course, some of this back-story might get confusing onscreen, and the poor
sound, cheap DVD quality, and foreign filmmaking hiccups might make this tough
for some. However, this relatively solid 90 minutes will be fun for gothic
audiences and Lee fans. 
I,
Monster – The DVD presentation
for this 1971 twisted take on Robert Louis Stevenson from Amicus is cheap with
a bad print, varying color saturation, and poor sound. Nevertheless, the experimentation and
psychoanalysis spins on the Jekyll and Hyde theme are intriguing thanks to
great debates at the apathetic Victorian gentleman’s club on good and evil or nature
versus nurture and the Freudian analysis on horror by the disturbed Doctor
Christopher Lee and the suave solicitor Peter Cushing. Though perhaps slow to start and the gruesome
mad scientist laboratory is not for feline friends; there is a lot of red and colorful
set decoration in the faux Hammer spirit.
Scenes with slick Dr. Lee and his lady patients are also wonderfully
ambiguous, racy, and fun to watch. Is he evil or just taking the amoral of his
medicine too far? The quiet transition scenes, silent-esque performances, and
orchestrated score ala the 1920 Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde show the viewer the suffering personality changes and freaky
progression of depravity with just enough horror make up and violence to
accentuate a scary death or two. Some
longtime fans may find this one a Lee and Cushing retread with the real frights
and gore elsewhere, but the impressive take on the oft-told Jekyll and Hyde
make this somewhat hidden gem worthwhile.
Tale
of the Mummy – Director Russell
Mulcahy (Highlander) assembled a
pretty impressive cast for this 1998 creepy – including Jason Scott Lee, Sean
Pertwee, Lysette Anthony, Honor Blackman, Shelly Duvall, and brief appearances
by Gerard Butler, and of course, Christopher Lee. Though not a big appearance, the
commanding and authentic Sir Christopher helps the period archaeology, dangerous
digs, and ancient astronomical threats build, and we know the high tech follow
ups and Egyptian mysticism designs will lead to some scary supernatural
elements and creative kill scenes. The then modern club scenes and hip music,
however, are very dated, and today’s CGI accustomed viewers may find the mummy
wrapping effects corny. The Egyptian flashbacks also should have started the
tale at its beginning, rather than letting several tomb discoveries and false starts
slowly set up events. Though much more fearful in tone then the action fun of
Brendan Fraser’s The Mummy, it might have
been interesting to see the action here remain exclusively in Egypt with
ancient curses and desert madness horrors instead of the London escape and
investigation. Nonetheless, the pace moves nicely, and I know I would have much
rather seen sequels to this than the Fraser continuations we did receive. Of
course, we can’t even give this a proper, restored director’s cut video release
stateside. Typical. 
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