Posts by Jenn Dlugos

The opening credits roll. The audience sees a man immersed in a fortress of oversized medicine bottles, presumably on the brink of madness. An image of a cat is superimposed to the right of the screen. The man? He’s the canary awaiting slaughter. Most would assume that this scene could only be created by modern movie technology.(read more...)

Of all of the lists of “classic movie monsters,” Dr Jekyll/Mr. Hyde is the monster most forgotten. Maybe because the plot is entirely too similar to the far superior Wolf Man, or perhaps because there is only so many ways you can rehash such a simplistic tale. Of the many versions of the tale, the only two that stand out as truly unique are both from Hammer – Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, and The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll. The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll is the far superior version, and could well possibly be the most emotional version of the story ever made.(read more...)

I've argued in the past that Hammer Films can only seem to make an excellent horror movie when at least one of the Trifecta of Hammer Horror is involved: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, or Terence Fisher. They’ve made adequate films, even good films, without the trifecta, but only the trifecta is capable of making the masterpieces.

Apparently, I have lied to you people.

Nightmare, despite the absence of any member of the Hammer Trifecta, is a Hammer masterpiece. From the chilling beginning to the surprising conclusion, this film sets the bar for British suspense. Sharp, haunting, and absolutely timeless, Nightmare should already be on your video shelf.(read more...)

One of the things that is so intriguing about Hammer Films is that they were never afraid to take risks or to deviate from the norm. Most of them times we damned them for it, but sometimes we praised their trailblazing. Hands of the Ripper is an example of one of their “deviations from the norm” that Hammer got oh so right.(read more...)