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Sometimes we bloggers are just wrapped up in our own little worlds. Creating and pandering our little websites and checking stats for high numbers and comment boxes for adulations and praise. But most of us are kind human beings as well as far as I am concerned and sometimes some of us figure out a way to use the Internet for a genuinely benevolent cause. Such is the case with the people over at the Celluloid Slammer who took it on themselves to try and raise funds to buy black actor Willie Best (sometimes billed as Sleep ‘n Eat) an actual head stone. I wish I could say I was able to help by running a link in my sidebar for a while but I do not know if I was able to at all. I hope at least a few people from here clicked on it to at least check it out.  I am glad they asked me for even some small support as I got interested in the man after I did a small post on him after a reviewing a film he was in in the 1930′s called The Monster Walks. In fact Willie Best’s performance is the only reason to even watch that movie. I was sent a copy Willie’s obituary and found a picture of his new grave stone. An improvement on what was there before. Nothing.

Drop by the Celluloid Slammer and thank them for their efforts.

THE HOUSE OF HAMMER

The House of Hammer was a British movie magazine put out in the mid 70′s when Hammer as a film company was grinding down to a near stand still. But at the time the magazine was the best selling movie magazine in Britain. The publication tried to combine what Warren magazines was doing with Famous Monsters of Film Land and its black and white comic magazines. The artists that contributed to the magazine were also frequent Warren contributors and they may have jumped at the chance to illustrate some of the classic Hammer films in narrative form. The magazine however did not only focus on Hammer films or exclusively on British cinema but contained articles on classic American horror as well.  I included an illustrated version of one of the better latter day Hammer films Vampire Circus drawn by the fantastic Brian Bolland. I have all the issues on my hard drive and look forward to posting some more samples from this curious magazine including some comic strip hosted by an illustrated Peter Cushing as Abraham Van Helsing. For now enjoy Vampire Circus and a couple page samples.

MORE HOUSE OF HAMMER #17 HERE >>

I got this album actually when it was first released. I heard it played on the midnight album  show of one of the local radio stations in San Antonio. It was released on the Chrysalis label-a sort of light green label with a red butterfly off to one side-which was also the label that backed Jethro Tull and Robin Trower. I understand that there was a comic book that was released with some versions of the album but not with mine and I could not find scans of such a thing online but I believe that this is a fact and not a myth. There was a small tour that did not last long as it did not feature any of the big stars that collaborated on the album, including Elkie Brooks, John Entwistle and Keith Moon, James Dewar (of Robin Trower), Jim Dandy and of course the inimitable Alice Cooper. It is a mini rock opera and the songs are all pretty good 70′s style rock and roll. The album all but vanished into obscurity but was recently re-released to accompany the Alice Cooper boxed set The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper, which contains his two songs from the album. If anyone has scans of the comic book I would love to see them. Enjoy.

UPDATE: Some kind reader hooked me-and therefore you, the dedicated reader- up with some scans of the comic book that came with some versions of the original album. Here is the link to the best scans of the Flash Fearless comic you’re ever going to find.

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FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL

1974/Director: Terence Fisher/Writer: Anthony Hinds

Cast: Peter Cushing, Shane Briant, Madeline Smith, David Prowse, John Stratton, Michael Ward, Elsie Wagstaff, Norman Mitchell

This was the last of the Hammer Frankenstein series and it actually takes up where Frankenstein Must be Destroyed left off as the prior film, The Horror of Frankenstein, broke the continuity of the films by going back to when Frankenstein was younger. Horror also suffered a bit by the absences of Terrence Fisher as director and Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein, but more on that film another post. Cushing and Fisher are both back for this 1974 film, as are Anthony Hinds (writing as James Elder) and Hammer composer James Bernard. In a couple more years Hammer would see itself all but out of business as the British film company that revived Gothic horror and with Monster from Hell they ended on a pretty good note. The only flaws for me are the title that does not really suit the film’s atmosphere and the rather shoddy monster played by David Prowse (Darth Vader) who also played the creature in Horror of Frankenstein as well. There were understandable budget constraints with the film since Hammer itself was going under. The idea of some sort of Neolithic monster is not in and of itself that bad and certainly the monster here is one of the most unique in the annals of Frankenstein films. I think it could have worked better really with less rubber makeup and poorly applied fake body hair. But it is easily over looked after a while really. Some people have criticized Madeline Smith’s as the mute assistant Angel but I liked it. The close ups of her face are beautiful and the innocent character’s charm may have been soiled by exploiting her ample endowments with a title corset as is known to be the attire of most Hammer queens.

MORE FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL HERE >>

This post on The Cramps is actually something I have had in my draft folder for months and was just waiting to upload some music to go along with it. Lux Interior, the progenitor of “psychobilly” rock-n-roll just died at the age of 60 (some sites say 62) and I figured I would finally get this post up as a tribute to this outrageous but creative rocker.

There is not a lot of reliable information on the net about punk-rockabilly band The Cramps really that can paint an accurate picture of their history. Some fan sites dismiss the possibility of providing a believable bio at all. What comes across ultimately is that they are as wild as their songs and have lived an on the edge life that qualifies them as the real deal and not just a theatrical stage show that leaves their antics at the dressing room door.

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BRIDE OF THE MONSTER

1956/Director: Edward D. Wood Jr./Writers: Edward D. Wood Jr. (story) and Alex Gordon (story)

Cast: Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, Tony McCoy, Loretta King, Harvey B. Dunn, George Becwar, Paul Marco, Don Nagel, Dolores Fuller

I have actually always liked Ed Wood’s films long before the Tim Burton docu-drama made his name a little famous with mainstream movie goers. I once had almost everything he did on VHS and watched them a few times. Again I have most everything he did and still find I enjoy watching them. It is not fair to say the guy had no talent whatsoever. In fact in Bride of the Monster some of the scenes are shot fairly well. The same can be said for the “sequel” to 1955’s Bride, Night of the Ghouls, which came out the same year as Plan 9 from Outer Space, 1959. Some moments show skill and focus but of course in the big picture we get a sense of real disorganization on the part of Wood and his crew. I have never cared much for the Mystery Science Theater or Cinematic Titanic type shows that rip apart a bad movie scene but you can really see this type of film sets it self up as a sitting duck for such a show.
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