Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts

Tuesday 31 December 2019

PCASUK CHRISTMAS COMPETITION NUMBER FOUR NOW LIVE WITH BUMPER PRIZE!


PCASUK CHRISTMAS COMPETITION 4#! IS NOW LIVE at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FACEBOOK PAGE HERE! You can ONLY enter the COMPETITION THERE! A reminder . .  these competitions are open to everyone... whoever, wherever you are! 

THIS PRIZE comprises of SEVEN DVD's... 1) Sherlock Holmes! A box set of FOUR episodes on dvd of #PeterCushing's BBC series from 1968. Included is 'The Hound of the Baskervilles', though by many to be the best tv adaption of the #Doyle story. Each episode comes in it's own case with sleeve. These are believed to be the only remaining episodes from the Cushing 16 episode series, as it was standard practice at the time for the #BBC to wipe tapes and reuse them. Win this competition, and they are yours!

2) 'The Amicus Vault of Horrors'! (region 0) Directed and produced by Donald Fearney, this 146 minute documentary has to be the most comprehensive doc on the history of Amicus films. Narrated by Roy Hudd and featuring interviews with Milton Subotsky, John Carson, #DavidWarner #LindaHayden and many others, you'll find masses of rare footage, rare stills and publicity material, with a script by John Hamilton and editing by Jim Groom, this fear feast leaves no Amicus stone, unturned! 

3) 'The Legend of Hammer Vampires' (region 0) Narrated by Edward (Kiss of the Vampire' & 'Phantom of the Opera' De Souza, directed and produced by Donald Fearney, this 96 minutes of exclusive interviews with many of the key personalities, along with unseen footage and rare stills, that cover the entire history of Hammer's Vampire films and the Dracula franchise. All sales stocks of this documentary are now gone . .. WIN your copy HERE!

WE HAVE TWO batches of this PRIZE for you to WIN. All you have to do is answer the COMPETITION FOUR QUESTION below, send your ANSWER to us, as usual VIA the #PCAS #Facebook MESSAGE BUTTON ONLY! If your answer is correct, it will be dropped into the hat and fingers crossed, pulled out as a WINNER on January 2nd 2020! Good Luck!


COMPETITION QUESTION: Peter Cushing first played the character of Van Helsing, in Hammer films first 'DRACULA' film in 1958... also known as 'The Horror of Dracula'. This was also Christopher Lee's first performance for Hammer as Dracula... for many the climax of the film, is the dramatic slaying of the Count, with Cushing's Van Helsing crossing TWO CANDLE STICKS, forcing Dracula into the light of the rising sun! Cushing is on record to have actually suggested the 'candle stick' idea on the set, during the filming . ..
but he has also given credit to ANOTHER feature film, where he believes he FIRST saw the 'crossed candle sticks' idea used.


YOUR TASK: NAME THAT FILM
A) Laurel and Hardy meet Dracula? B) The A to Z of Vampire Killing? C) Home Hobbies: Making Candles? D) Berkley Square? E) Candle Square? F) Candle Shoe?

CHOOSE your answer and send it to us as your entry ONLY using the PCAS Facebook Message Button ONLY!

Have Fun and Good Luck
Marcus



Friday 20 December 2019

MY FESTIVE FRIGHTENERS : TARA CHANDLER ASKS ' WHAT'S ON YOUR WATCH LIST'


OVER AT the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE PETER CUSHING Hammer Amicus fan #TARACHANDLER has sent us this great post 🙂 Quite an interesting selection for the Christmas Fright and Spooky Festival season??? What would yours look like??? Remember you can always send us messages of your choices, thoughts and viewing experiences, which we will SHARE on the MAIN NEWS THREAD.. so others can see and join in ...anytime 😉 🙂 - Marcus


TARA'S POST: "The holiday season is upon us - here is my list of must watch DVD’s for this festive period - this evening I watched my favourite; Countess #Dracula, with my favourite actress #ingridpitt - there are some amazing Cushing features, specifically Frankenstein Created Woman (in The Best of Hammer Collection box set) - some Amicus Productions in there too (Dr Terror’s...). What’s on your festive list!? I may add a few more to mine! " 🦇 🧛‍♂️


PETER CUSHING truly did love Whitstable, for sure 😃 Be it Summer or Winter . . or even #ChristmasDay for a quick dip (??) it IS somewhere quite special ðŸ˜‰


REQUESTED: MARK HAMILL MEETS Peter Cushing with Davie Prowse on the set at Elstree studios!

Monday 16 December 2019

BE A WINNER IN OUR PCAS CHRISTMAS COMPETITIONS 2019 : JUST SOME CUSHING PRIZES UP FOR GRABS OVER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS!


HO! HO! HO! Yeah, you know how it goes 😉 . . For the last EIGHT years I've launched a series of PCAS Christmas competitions with some CRACKER prizes and this year, thanks to our very generous sponsors, it's a such bumper sack of goodies this year, that any #Santa would have probs cramming his sack down your chimney, Missus 😉 Just a few of the selection in this banner photo, but LOTS of prizes, lots of chances in many #PeterCushing #Competitions over the #Christmas holidays, starting here and at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE THIS Wednesday. As ever, these competitions are FREE and open to everyone, wherever you are, so keep your eyes, like your Christmas dinner potatoes... PEELED! 😉 Have yourself a Jolly CUSHING CHRISTMAS right HERE 😉 Feel free to share and comment below, it's appreciated by our sponsors and yours truly 😉 - Marcus


INDICATORS EXCELLENT REMASTERED BLU RAY RELEASE OF 'TIME WITHOUT PITY' REVIEWED AND CAN BE DIRECTLY ORDERED HERE! 


WE WILL ALSO BE OFFERING UP PRIZES of Second  Sight Films  BLU RAY release of the LIMITED EDITION 1972 'ASYLUM'. We gave away prizes of the Second Sight Films Special Limited Release of 'Asylum' a few weeks ago... now here is ANOTHER chance to bag YOUR COPY! or PRE-ORDER the standard blu ray release  DIRECT HERE! 

AMICUS FILMS 'ASYLUM' WELL DRESSED AND REVIEWED AS SECOND SIGHT FILMS SCREAMINGLY GOOD LIMITED EDITION BLU RAY

 
FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS of SECOND SIGHT FILMS LIMITED EDITION BOXED BLU RAY release of Amicus films, 1972 'ASYLUM' just a few weeks ago, they have now released a standard BLU RAY package of the film, available NOW for PRE-ORDER and will be released on JANUARY 6th 2020.  Their LIMITED EDITION BLU RAY PACKAGE of Amicus films, 'The House That Dripped Blood' is also available as a standard release on January 6th 2020 and can be PRE-ORDERED NOW too!


THE VISUAL QUALITY:
SECOND SIGHT HAVE transferred ASYLUM, to a neat dual-layered blu-ray, with a pretty much maxed out bitrate. I have read some reviews that claim that this 'master transfer' is the same master as used a while ago by Severin, in their box set, that included ASYLUM. Having watched both, I see no similarities at all!  We reviewed the Severin release at the time of its release, and it seemed that it wasn't just the characters in the 'madhouse' were way off it, the print we watched was far from 'all there', as they say. The first thing some of you may notice, who have previous releases of this film is, the framing is just a little different. Just a snip off the bottom and top, but nothing that drastically changes or challenges your viewing. I found the colours, clarity and sharpness of the film through out, to be very good, what i hoped for as a marked improvement on other releases I own. So soft have been those previous releases, little details of light and exposure are different here, but you can see now, are intended! You will no doubt notice your visuals on this release are sharper, contrast sitting just right, even in darker shots and scenes. What you'll see complements, the excellent score and effects . .  






HOW DOES IT SOUND? THE AUDIO SPEC: 
IF YOU KNOW THIS FILM WELL, from your previous releases, you'll know JUST how it sounds and that the SCORE and MUSIC here makes up a rating on its own! If you are new to ASYLUM, you are in for a treat. Regulars,will notice it's the transfer is the film's familiar audio, using its original mono via an uncompressed 24-bit 1.0 channel linear PCM tack. All the assorted unsettling sound effects, are here and  sound clearer on Second Sights chosen mono track. An improvement then on the previous up converted 5.1 attempts on other releases of late. Douglas Gamley's score is probably the best of all Amicus films title sequences, with his Mussorgsky 'Night On Bald Mountain' clanking it up, even before we get past the titles. The musical accompaniment to Robert Powell's climb up the stairs of the Asylum, while glazing at the framed portraits and drawings of the Mentally Ill and Bewilderd, put a frightening and crueller twist on even Hogarth's etchings of 'Gin Lane and Beer Street' of the 1700's. It's all scary stuff and Gamley, does it so well . .   




THIS SECOND SIGHT FILMS RELEASE not only presents us with a very neat and much improved print of the film, which stars some of the not only past Amicus casts, but a neat crew in 'post production' and behind the camera too. The film has a pretty tight story and each of the four tales of terror skip along, just pausing for breath under Peter Tanner's editing. Tanner had a very good understanding of the pace needed for Brit Fantasy and strange stories, having edited some of the best of the TV series 'The Avengers' in nine episodes during 65 and 66. Tanner worked in a few Amicus films and was very much in demand until 1998, sadly passing at the grand age of 88 in 2002.


They have more than made a VERY good effort  and a lot of thought has gone into design and the actual extras content.




SO HERE IS THE LIST OF THE EXTRA VALUE OF EXTRAS!
Audio Commentary with Director Roy Ward Baker and Camera Operator Neil Binney
 
Two’s a Company: 1972 On-set BBC report featuring interviews with Producer Milton Subotsky, Director Roy Ward Baker, Actors Charlotte Rampling, James Villiers, Megs Jenkins, Art Director Tony Curtis and Production Manager Teresa Bolland Screenwriter David J. Schow on Writer Robert Bloch Fiona Subotsky Remembers Milton Subotsky
 
Inside The Fear Factory: Featurette with Directors Roy Ward Baker, Freddie Francis and Producer Max J. Rosenberg
 
Theatrical Trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys and original artwork
Limited Edition Contents

Rigid Slipcase Featuring New Artwork by Graham Humphreys
40 page booklet with new essays by Allan Bryce, Jon Towlson and Kat Ellinger
Reversible poster featuring new and original artwork
 
 
 
YOU CAN WIN YOUR COPY of SECOND SIGHTS FILMS REMASTERED BLU RAY of Amicus films 'ASYLUM ' in one of our many CHRISTMAS PCAS COMPETITIONS this CHRISTMAS! Look out for a whole SACK LOAD of PRIZES AND COMPETITIONS over the next TWO WEEKS! You can ALSO place YOUR PRE-ORDER direct with Second Sight Films RIGHT HERE!  
 
 
READ AND SEE MORE on the making of AMICUS FILMS 'ASYLUM' in the above PCASUK feature and gallery with DIRECTOR ROY WARD BAKER : HERE!
 

Saturday 9 November 2019

IT'S A BIRTHDAY WISH FOR BRAM AND IS HOLLYWOOD PUPPETEERING THE DEAD?


BORN TODAY November 8th 1847 in Clontarf, Dublin, Republic of #Ireland… we mark the BIRTHDAY of  #BRAMSTOKER, creator of #Dracula and a hundred thousand nightmares! #HappyBirthday, Mr Stoker!!!


BACK IN 2016, for some it was an act too hard to accept. #PeterCushing's Grand Moff Tarkin featured nearly 20 years since his passing, kind of live and kicking courtesy of mega bucks CGI, presented on the big screen in the #StarWars epic, Rogue One. In a cinematic series where the footing is firmly rooted on a fantasy and other worldly canvas, those who wanted to embrace could. This week #Hollywood has announced the arrival of another CGI resurrection, in #JamesDean. Dean will be recreated in an action drama entitled #FindingJack through a mixture of old footage and computer-generated creations projected over stand-ins, as a secondary character called Rogan. The producer Anton Ernst said he will try to keep Dean's “legacy firmly intact”.

AND AS IN  the case of Peter Cushing, the 'estate' or family are on board. “We feel very honoured that his family supports us,” he said. “The family views this as his fourth movie, a movie he never got to make. We do not intend to let his fans down.” says Antin Ernst. Zelda Williams, daughter of the late actor and comedian #RobinWilliams, accused the producers of “puppeteering the dead” while #LordoftheRings actor #ElijahWood tweeted a simple “NOPE” in response to the news, while #Avengers star #ChrisEvans wrote: “This is awful... the complete lack of understanding here is shameful.”
 
OVER AT THE FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE we are asking what your opinion on this?! . .. Should the Cushing Tarkin CGI appearance be seen as an interesting 'one-off' and a good try, totally necessary to help embellish and tell the story of Rogue One . . Is this a CGI trick too far, bringing James Dean, once more to the big screen??

Friday 21 December 2018

HAVE YOU WON COPIES OF WARNER BROTHERS 'HORROR OF DRACULA' REMASTERED BLU RAY IN OUR PCAS COMPETITION?


CONGRATULATIONS to MARLA AND BEA, on winning our Warner Brothers remastered Blu Ray of the BFI restored Hammer film classic... 'Horror of Dracula' / 'Dracula' ! Well Done 😀  It was great to see so many enteries, and I think it's a fair indication of how popular this release is and hopefully, that will being us MORE Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee classics released through Warner in the near future 😉



THE ANSWER to the Competition, which wasn't guessed by everyone, was PHOTOGRAPH E! This was a publicity pic of Christopher Lee and Barbara Shelley, from Hammer films 'Dracula, Prince of Darkness' and not from the 1958 Dracula!



FIND OUT MORE ON THE WARNER BROTHERS release of Hammer films 1958 'DRACULA' / 'HORROR OF DRACULA', in our feature and review! JUST CLICK HERE!  


THIS IS THE LAST of our FIVE competitions that I planned over the last six weeks. I hope you have had a lot of fun, enjoyed them, even if this time, you weren't a winner. THERE is ALWAYS next time Again, many, many thanks to the guys at Warner Brothers for sponsoring this and our others competition over the past few weeks! Here's to our next PCAS Competititon... SOON! 

YOU CAN ORDER AND PURCHASE YOUR COPY of this MUCH awaited classic now on release in the US! RIGHT HERE! 
 


 

Saturday 1 December 2018

CONGRATULATIONS TO WINNER OF THE FIVE QUESTIONS SIGNED LEE DRACULA COMPETITION PLUS ANSWERS!


AND SO, HERE WE ARE AT LAST!  I am very happy to congratulate... SAMANTHA PEREZ whose name was pulled out of HUGE pile of correct entries in our PCAS Five Question Competition! Samantha has bagged the signed Christopher Lee framed colour photograph portrait from Dracula AD 1972. THis competition was, if you remember, part of our celebration of Dracula AD 1972, being released on remastered blu ray, by Warner Brothers. I would like to thank everyone who not only took part in this competition, but also the two other opportunites to win copies of AD and Satanic Rites . .  both fine Hammer Dracula outings starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and available from Warner Bros now! You'll find all the answers to the FIVE questions below Question five was a little bit of an issue for some, but in really wanting everyone to have an opportunity to win, we found a solution! Again, well done to Samantha and here's to our next PCAS Competition....Tomorrow...! - Marcus







COMPETITION NEXT WEEK!


COMPETITION TOMORROW!


Saturday 23 December 2017

CHRISTMAS COMPETITIONS AND REMEMBERING FREDDIE!


CHRISTMAS COMPETITIONS AND PRIZES TO SLEIGH YOU! Christmas Eve and New Years Eve PCASUK Competitions! Can't wait? You can ORDER your copies of these two EXCELLENT prizes HERE!  ORDER TORTURE GARDEN HERE! AND ORDER HAMMER FILMS BOX SET HERE!


TODAY ALSO we remember the wonderfully talented director and cinematographer Freddie Francis, who worked for both Hammer and Amicus, directing such films as THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN and DR TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS and many more …



Jack Palence with Peter Cushing in 'THE SKULL' directed
by Freddie Francis in 1965




REMEMBER! IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA
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