THE MUMMY - "Nerve-Shattering Shock!" (1959)

 This evening's Saturday Night Special is a classic from 1959, and even if it is basically just a cover tune, it's still a classic! Sometimes remakes are as good or better than the original, I'm not going to say that about "The Mummy," but at least it's in colour, and that's a good place to start!

 In 1957, Hammer Films decided to start remaking some of the classic themed Universal horrors, and the first one was "The Curse Of Frankenstein" with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Hazel Court. Next up in 1958, again with Cushing and Lee came "Horror Of Dracula," and in 1959, they released tonight's feature film, "The Mummy," once again with the same two stars. Over the next ten or fifteen years, Hammer released no less than six Frankenstein sequels, eight Dracula sequels, and three more Mummy movies. Not stopping there, they also released seven more Vampire movies, a werewolf movie, two Dr. Jekyll films, and a Phantom of the Opera movie. It seems the only Universal classic monster they didn't try was "The Creature From The Black Lagoon," and I'm assuming that's because it was basically from the same era, not 20 years in the past

 Peter Cushing as John Banning is in Egypt on an archeological dig with his Pop! He can't fully participate because he's broken his leg, and will have a limp the rest of his life if he doesn't get it attended to, which he doesn't!

 George Pastell as Mehemet Bey, tells them they need to stop digging or they are going to be in deep shit! Boy, did he call that one right!

George racked up 80 exotic credits before passing away at the age of only 53. In the 60's he was in various "Dr. Who," and "The Saint" TV shows!

 The scroll inside the box is where it all begins!

It's always funny when the scientific geniuses are the stupidist ones! Some people just don't see it, even when it's right in front of them!

 Three years later!!!

 Homeboy is now considered 'mentally disordered.' These days he'd just be another homeless person!

 The large box that was being delivered to the new weird guy's home falls off the wagon because the drunk driver was driving too fast! (A D.U.I. checkpoint would really have prevented a disaster in this case!) But...it was a mmumy in the box, and since he's already dead...

 Sir Christopher Lee has never looked better!!

 It was after visiting hours at the nursing home......That's number one in the revenge department!

Almost looks like The Creature in this shot!

 The brother who was also on the quest is the winner behind door number two!

 In a flashback scene, we find out that Kharis (The Mummy) was a man in another lifetime with a Cleopatra complex!

 And that's why he was subjected to an eternity of servitude and protection to his lover, Princess Ananka! (He's like, Damn, I really screwed up here!)

 The mummy is going for a triple play, and the last on the list is John Banning! The trippy part is that Princess Ananka is a dead ringer for John Banning's wife Isobel!

 Yvonne Furneaux had the double role of  Isobel Banning and Princess Ananka!

Yvonne was also in "The Death Ray Of Dr. Mabuse," and her last role was in a movie I have never heard of until tonight "Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie," in which she was Matilda 'Tillie' Frankenstein with Donald Pleasence and June Wilkinson! (I thought I needed to see it, but I just watched the trailer on YouTube,...Maybe Not!) Sometimes I feel like I'm on a giant international scavenger hunt! If I did the math right, Yvonne turned 91 last May.

 John Banning is ready! 

(Does anybody out there not like Peter Cushing? He is SO freakin' consistently cool!)

 The mummy is choking the crap out of John when Isobel comes into the room so John yells at her, "Let your hair down, Let your hair down!" so that she looks more like Princess Ananka!

 That immediately gets the mummy's attention!

Like in all good western movies, the hero rides off into the sunset!

CASH ON DEMAND - "Pay Up Or Else!" (1962)

Tonight's feature might sound like it's a Pay Per View country western concert, but it's not! Welcome to this Wednesday's Crime Thriller Classic, Hammer's 1966 feature, "Cash On Demand!"

"Cash On Demand" is not a movie that needs a whole lot of photos to justify it's existence! In fact, it's charm lies in the wonder of it's simplicity! It's not astounding what you can do when you have a couple of thousand bucks, a good little story, and some fine quality actors! It's money well spent!

The music as far as I'm concerned is nothing special, it just sets the mood for this tale of a clever bank robbery! It's not surprising that the writer, Wilfred Josephs, was a dentist before becoming a full-time composer! Wilfred also worked on "The Deadly Bees" and "Die! Die! My Darling!"

Almost a stage play, about 90% of "Cash On Demand"  is shot in the office of Peter Cushing as the bank manager Harry Fordyce! Always a class act, if you're a big fan of Peter Cushing and Hammer films in general, then I would imagine that like me, you will find it refreshing to just watch Peter act in something other than a horror film!

Peter's nemesis in the film is slick bank robber André Morell as Colonel Gore Hepburn! Like Peter Cushing, André Morell also had an awesome career in British horror films that included everything from his role as Professor Bernard Quatermass in the TV series "Quatermass And The Pit" to films like "The Giant Behemoth," "She," "The Plague Of The Zombies," and "The Mummy's Shroud!" He also had the role of Marshal Gaspard de Saux-Tavannes on the "Dr. Who" TV series, and I would be completely remiss in my duties if I didn't tell you one of his earliest films was titled "13 Men And A Gun!"

"Cash On Demand" is a keen battle of wits between a couple of fine actors! It's only 66 minutes long, so it won't take up a lot of your time, and it's available as a double feature DVD with "Stop Me Before I Kill!" The story takes place during the holidays, so why not watch it instead of "A Christmas Story" this year! I'm sure the change will do you good!

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE - David Gamely - "Creatures" (1974)

R.E.S.P.E.C.T., do the Wooley Bully or the Hokey Pokey, that's what it's all about!!! For a while there, Amicus had a love affair going with anthologies that combined four or five stories into one film, you know, like "Torture Garden," "The House That Dripped Blood," "Tales From The Crypt," "The Vault Of Horror," and/or tonight's feature, "From Beyond The Grave." The original music was composed by Douglas (What the Hell happened to this guy?) Gamely in his only credit ever! There seems to be no other information about the man! Do a Google search, and they'll ask you if you meant Game Fly, an American online video game rental subscription service, WTF?!

And "what's it all about, Ralphie?" Pretty basic in my church, Don't F with people......Period!! And especially don't F with kindly old men that look like Peter Cushing! Okay, that is Peter Cushing, don't F with him either, and whatever you do, don't rip-off or steal from him!

The first of these R. Chetwynd-Hayes tales called "The Gate Crasher" concerns David Warner as supreme jackass Edward Charlton! David is still working today and is one of the few people you can use his name and any of the following in the same sentence and it makes sense! TRON, Scooby-Doo, Captain Planet, Babylon 5, Batman, Rasputin, Dr. Who, Titanic, Toonsylvania, and Freakazoid!

Nice antique mirror, too bad it comes with a previous owner still embedded!

You know, maybe your life isn't so bad, after all! Things can always be worse!!

After Edward and his new best friend thrash his apartment, it's time for a little cleanup and a new resident, and you can even rent it out for a higher price now because it's been completely redecorated!!

Next up is tale number two, titled "An Act Of Kindness," starring Donald Pleasence, and Ian Bannen, neither whom are strangers around these parts! Ian was the star of the recently profiled "Doomwatch," and Donald Pleasence is a household word in the depths of The Dungeon!

Ian steals a military medal from The Proprietor, because he has told Donald that he is a veteran!

Ian's home life with Diana Mary Fluck, The English Marilyn Monroe, The Siren of Swindon, Miss Diana Dors is anything but pleasant! I'll tell you one thing, somebody had a good time decking out this set ala 1970's floral pattern city!

So it's time for Ian to take shelter in the arms of another, and although she looks slightly like a character from Tod Browning's "Freaks," Donald's real life daughter Angela Pleasence is lookin' damn fine to Ian, and she likes him, and she pays attention to him!

Ian's home life isn't getting any better, and his son is just as obnoxious as his wife. Although Diana is looking kinda saggy and over the hill, you have to remember that Marilyn never made it anywhere near this age!

Angela Pleasence is a fascinating woman with issues, and pays Diana a visit in the middle of the night!

You didn't really expect this to work out, did you? Instead of a knobjob, Ian ends up with a nutjob!!

NEXT!!! Pompous jerk Ian Carmichael steps into the batting circle to square off with The Proprietor in "The Elemental!" In his second role ever, Ian played Bill the Postman in a 1949 film titled "The Gay Lady," after that, it was continuous roles on TV as Bertie Wooster, Peter Lamb, Lord Peter Wimsey, Sir James Menzies, Lord Cumnor, and T.J. Middleditch! Ian passed away at the age of 89 just last year!

Great shot of Peter Cushing peering out from behind some of the treasures in his shop!

Lucky dog that he is, Nyree "Madame Bovary" Dawn Porter is Ian's wife!

Ian needs some help delivering himself from evil by the hands of Margaret "The Upper Crusts" Leighton!!

Once you're in this deep, there's no help for you!

The last story is about a door that is actually a portal to another world! Guy's got some weird stuff in his shop, you got to admit!

So what's the deal? You had to be named Ian to try out for a lead part in this film? This fourth segment is titled "The Door" and stars Ian Oglivy! A couple of this Ian's credits include "She Beast," The Sorcerors," and "Witchfinder General!"

So you put a new door in your pad, and because you obtained it in a less than correct manner, suddenly the door leads to another world where an insane pirate lives! No thanks, I'll stay in my garage!

Bummer! At least it's over! Right?!

In between all the other stories, there was always a seedy character milling around outside the shop. Ben "The Land That Time Forgot" Howard, is The Burglar, and the last vignette depicts this poor bastard's fruitless attempt at robbery! You should have no doubt that one more rocket scientist is going to bite the dust!

"Temptations Limited, Offers You Cannot Resist," that pretty much sums up the whole thing! Catchy! Soul Catchy!