COMMERCIAL BREAK: Hamlet Cigars - Dracula (1987)

Gothic horror is so much an integral part of the British psyche and our national identity, that its utilisation in TV commercials was inevitable. This particular ad is an example of that now virtually extinct species, the tobacco commercial. Although cigarette advertising on TV in the UK had been banned as far back as 1965, cigars and loose/pipe tobacco could still be plugged on air until 1991.

Possibly the most famous series of cigar ads (at least with UK viewers) was that for the Hamlet brand, which would inevitably focus on someone encountering a calamity of some kind, before consoling themselves by lighting up the aforementioned cigar, accompanied by the voiceover "Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet...", and presumably inhaling the smoke into their remaining lung.

In these more enlightened times, they really don't make 'em like this anymore...


With thanks to YouTube user HallOfAdvertising for the upload:

COMMERCIAL BREAK: Dracula Has Risen From The Grave - TV Spot (1968)

Following my recent piece on Hammer's Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (which you can read over at SpookyIsles.com by clicking the image above), I came across this vintage TV spot.

It was created by Warner Bros-Seven Arts to promote the original theatrical release on US television back in 1968. Quite bizarre, yet strangely enjoyable, it would certainly make me want to go and see the movie, although the humourous tone does the movie a disservice somewhat. It's an interesting timepiece nonetheless...

With thanks to YouTube user Ash595 for the upload...

FOOTNOTE: Yes, you heard that right - The MPAA rated this film G - General Audiences, All Ages Admitted. Go figure...

PICTURE THIS: On the set of Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (1968)

Dracula Has Risen From The Grave: (c) Hammer Film Productions/Warner Bros.

At Pinewood studios in the spring of 1968, director Freddie Francis (right) talks Veronica Carlson and Barry Andrews through a scene, whilst Hammer stalwart Michael Ripper looks on in the background. For Hammer's first Dracula picture after their move away from Bray Studios, Terence Fisher was originally intended as director. When he pulled out after an injury, Francis stepped in.

Hammer's newest discovery at the time, Veronica Carlson was spotted by studio head James Carreras when he saw a photo of her in a newspaper, and offered her the role of  Maria. Barry Andrews played her suitor Paul - he would later appear in the brit-horror classic Blood On Satan's Claw (1970).

Christopher Lee was making his third appearance for the company as Count Dracula, and he is seen here with Carlson in a posed publicity photo.

Dracula Has Risen From The Grave: (c) Hammer Film Productions/Warner Bros.

Photos originally sourced from Horror Films by Alan Frank (Hamlyn, 1977)

PICTURE THIS: Lugosi & Browning, on the set of Mark Of The Vampire (1935)

Click the image for a larger view - Mark Of The Vampire (c) Turner Entertainment Co.

I'm a sucker for vintage on-set photos, and this is a particular favourite of mine. Bela Lugosi, in the role of Count Mora, is accompanied by Carol Borland as his daughter Luna. Director Tod Browning (in cap) is seated in front of the camera, with cinematographer James Wong Howe.

In the space of a few years, Lugosi would find himself trapped in the grind of poverty row studios like Monogram, a far cry from the cosseted environs of the MGM back lot where Mark Of The Vampire was made. At this stage, Browning hadn't directed in three years since the furore around his earlier Freaks (1932), and would retire altogether after 1939.

The film itself, a remake of the currently "lost" London After Midnight (1927), was enjoyable enough, if unfortunately copping-out by explaining away the film's supernatural events as an elaborate set up to catch a criminal. However, Borland's turn as Luna gave the gothic cinema one of its most enduring poster girls.

Click the image for a larger view - Mark Of The Vampire (c) Turner Entertainment Co.

As with most things discovered in my early years of horror fandom, I have Alan Frank to thank for introducing me to these images, through his books Horror Films (Hamlyn, 1977), and Movie Treasury: Monsters & Vampires (Octopus, 1976)

MOVIE: The Brides Of Dracula (1960)

Time has passed since Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) destroyed Count Dracula. He now finds himself facing one of the vampire cult's disciples, one Baron Meinster (David Peel), who has been kept chained up by his mother (Martita Hunt) in an effort to curb his nocturnal activities. When an unsuspecting visitor (thinking him a cruelly treated victim) releases him, he is on the loose. It's up to Van Helsing once again to take care of matters...

Some of Hammer's greatest individual moments appear in The Brides Of Dracula. The sequence in which Van Helsing deals with the possibility of becoming one of the undead himself remains one of the most powerful in the English Gothic cinema, and the fiery climax is a visual feast. The final denouement is ingenious and still looks superb. There is also (intentionally or otherwise) a subtle sexual/freudian/oedipal undercurrent to proceedings. However, I would suggest that more has been made of this in the passing years than director Terence Fisher ever intended. I would also suggest it isn't overt enough to justify placing it in the Gay/Lesbian film category that my online rental service chose to...

All the ingredients which make a great Hammer horror are here. Superstitious villagers, the village inn, comic turn from a peripheral character (in this case Miles Malleson as the local doctor), ghostly vampire brides clawing their way out of their graves, an appearance from Michael Ripper... Whilst I wouldn't go quite as far as some in declaring it their greatest effort (there's some serious plot holes resulting from a series of rewrites for one thing, and the bat still looks a bit ropey), it's still top tier stuff.

Blu-Ray Notes: The high-def transfer in the Final Cut release looks very good if not the most striking HD presentation I've seen. The original film grain is intact, if occasionally overpowering. I don't think we're dealing with a first generation source here - Universal's master was apparently lost in a fire, so this is probably as good as it's gonna get for now. As has now become de rigeur for any Hammer BD release, the aspect ratio used will be sparking debate all over the internet. The ratio used here is probably correct for the film's original US outing, but not for its European release. Some picture information has been lost from the lower portion of the screen. Whilst the option to see a European ratio version would have been nice, this edition does look pretty damn good all in all. Extras are a trailer, photo gallery and a very good making-of documentary.



UK 1960 - Hammer/Universal

85 Minutes

Certificate - X (following cuts, original UK release); 12 (uncut, for this release!)

Blu-Ray: Final Cut Entertainment (UK) (previous DVD from Showbox Entertainment)

  

Original Theatrical Trailer

An aside: A favourite anecdote of mine relates to The Brides Of Dracula. Film writer and critic Alan Frank (who I must credit with getting me interested in vintage horror movies on an academic level) was standing by Terence Fisher during a conversation with some Belgian film journalists where they were discussing the film. The interviewers were very excited by one scene in the film and the camera angles used. Alan said, “Terry says you could only put the camera in one position. When they built the set, it was the only place left for the camera! It was easy for the critic to see something that was never intended.”

Thanks to SpookyIsles.com for this story - you can read their interview with Alan Frank here