Wednesday 31 October 2012

Vincent Price Halloween Carving - The Result

 


OK. So I downloaded the template (which I included in my last post), printed it out to the size I wanted it, then copied it on the pumpkin and carved it out accordingly. I really didn't think it would work, but look at the result. Happy Halloween everyone. I'm quite chuffed at my first attempt.




Tuesday 30 October 2012

Vincent Price Halloween Pumpkin Carving



This Halloween I've decided to up the ante on my pumpkin carving skills this year. I've found this template which I am going to attempt tonight. I will post my efforts tomorrow. Do you have any Vincent Price pumpkin carving templates to share? Let me know, if you do. Now, wish me good luck!






Friday 26 October 2012

Little Shoppe of Horrors No 29 – What's Inside the Definitive Dr Phibes Issue


 The Covers
Jeff Preston’s autumnal cover perfectly captures Vincent Price as the Phibes character, while
 Dean Ormston’s inside cover is a much more ghoulish affair - especially those eyes, and that white-robed Phibes creeping around the cemetery is really sinister.
Paul WattsDr Phibes Rises Again poster on the inside back cover contains some nice ideas, but the soft focus doesn't do it justice. MarkMaddox’s back cover, however, is priceless.



Issue 29 kicks off with Frank Darabont reviewing The Abominable Dr Phibes in his article The Magic Window. Here, Darabont describes how the films we worshipped as kids just disappoint in our adulthood. Fascinating stuff, especially as the films he lists are exactly the same as mine. Of course, TADP is one that will never disappoint.

Of course Tim Burton offers a few words. After all he practically owes his career to Vincent Price. Here, he talks to film producer Constantine Nasr about Vinnie, director Robert Fuest, and his boyhood fantasy of having Vulnavia as his girlfriend.

The Kind of Fiend Who Wins: The Making of The Abominable Dr Phibes
Justin Humphreys has done an amazing job piecing together all of the elements that went about making Fuest’s cult film. The 29-page article explores the director’s cinematic style and his troubled relationship with the film’s producers, AIP; traces the history of the script through its the creators, James Whiton and William Goldtsein; and looks at the casting of Vincent Price and Joseph Cotton in their lead roles. It also reveals the secrets behind the makeup and costumes; and sheds light on how designer Brian Eatwell and cameraman Norman Warwick helped bring Fuest’s vision to life. There’s also some interesting nuggets about the film’s music and title, and how it was received on its release. Humphreys also provides an amusing aside against the errors you find on the Internet Movie Database.

Not Introducing Virginia North
David Taylor uncovers the real-life Vulnavia #1, Viriginia North, a model turned actress whose silent but seductive turn as Syphile in a controversial 1970 play Council of Love got her the role. North gave up acting in 1974 when she married Hanson CEO Gordon White, but was ‘severed too quickly from this life’ in 2004 after a two-year struggle with cancer. This is a touching tribute.

Abandoning the Obvious: The Brilliant Life and Art of Brian Eatwell

Justin Humphreys shines a light on the technical artist whose name may not be well-known but whose CV is enviable.  Humphrey’s piece is set to be expanded into a much larger piece, and I look forward to reading that.

A Date with Dr Phibes

Denis Meikle (author of Vincent Price: The Art of Fear) recalls the memorable day he spent 90 minutes on the set of TADP interviewing an in-costume Price. Reading this made me very jealous indeed.



The Unphilmed Phibes: From The Fingers of Dr Pibe to Somewhere Over the Rainbow

David Taylor and Sam Irvin have produced something phans have been trying to do for decades – a definitive timeline on the genesis of all those scripts and treatments linked to the proposed franchise, and brings the Phibes character right into the 21st-century with a look at how the character has been resurrected in books and comics. Thanks to Dave, Sam and all those people who helped in the research. Wonderful stuff.

David Del Valle, who needs no introduction, dishes the dirt on Vincent Price, Robert Quarry and Fiona Lewis in three witty columns. Reading these will only make you want to read more of his work, especially Lost Horizons - Beneath the Hollywood Sign and Six Reels Under.

The Sting’s in the Tale!

Writer and Hammer historian Bruce G Hallenbeck's 'The Making of Dr Phibes Rises Again' is a much shorter piece than the Humphreys piece, though not as indepth.

Valli Kemp – Vulnavia #2

LSoH's Richard Klemensen gets in a quick Q&A with Valli Kemp, who played Vulnavia in DPRA. Its short and sweet, but reveals nothing about Kemp’s work on the film. Pity.

Sidebar features
And finally, there's some short pieces to chew over. Longtime LSoH reader Lem Kitaj reveals his close links to some of characters in TADP; David Taylor tracks down Phibes' 1926 Rolls-Royce; Sam Irvin reveals how Rocky Horror’s Richard O’Brien got to become a Dr Phibes; Derek Botelho highlights the links between Phibes and the Saw films; Dennis Lynch looks at the collectable soundtracks, and Fred Olen Ray has an amusing piece about Robert Quarry’s fedora. There's also an odd one about a Phibes-inspired online book, but that looks a bit out of place. Personally, I would have preferred more pictures of the car (like the one I found here) or maybe more of those Italian motoring magazine ads featuring Virginia North. Still, this is one issue of Little Shoppe of Horrors that I'll be treasuring forever.



Thursday 25 October 2012

October 25: The anniversary of the death of Vincent Price



It was on this day in 1993 that Vincent Price left us at the age of 82. How will you be remembering the great man? There's a host of films, TV shows, and documentaries to watch over on my YouTube channel dedicated to all things Vinnie. So why not grab a bite and a drink or two and start surfing...

And to quote the man himself, 'A man who limits his interests, limits his life.'

Check out my YouTube Channel here.




Monday 22 October 2012

Les Baxter's score to The Comedy of Terrors gets its world premiere on CD



From Intrada comes the world premiere of Les Baxter's 1963 score for the American International fright picture, The Comedy of Terrors, directed by Jacques Tourneur, and starring those titans of terror Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone.

Rare for Les Baxter/AIP projects, the MGM vaults contained the complete score as recorded in mono. But the highlight for me will be hearing Joyce Jameson's intentionally hilarious out-of-tune song He Is Not Dead which is included in this special edition release.


TRACK LIST
1. The Mourners 3:36
2. Meet Cleopatra 1:19
3. Hearse Of A Different Color 7:44
4. Atmospheres 1:44
5. Two Birds 1:23
6. Up We Go 2:25
7. Abra-Cadaver 3:55
8. A Tisket A Casket 1:17
9. He Is Not Dead 2:19
10. Play It Straight 5:38
11. The Axe 4:39
12. Par For The Corpse 1:30
13. Waltzing 1:01
14. Never Say Die 0:49
15. That's All 2:17
Total Disc Time: 41:53

To hear some clips from some of the tracks, head over to the Intrada website.





Friday 19 October 2012

Diary of a Madman opens the 47th season of the Gothique Film Society



The Gothique Film Society in London has been hosting screenings for connoisseur's of the macabre since 1966 and its new season kicks off tonight with 1963's Diary of a Madman and the late-Universal low-budget horror whodunit Night Monster starring Bela Lugosi.



Diary of a Madman was directed by the workman-like Reginald Le Borg, best known for helming The Black Sleep and Voodoo Woman, and loosely based on the The Horla by Guy De Maupassant.  Price plays a French magistrate and part-time sculptor who comes under the influence of an invisible evil which tries to turn Price into the thing he fears most - a killer.



The indie feature was not well received on its release, with Variety observing 'Price, that master of the wickedly arched eyebrow, handles his role with the ease acquired through a career of myriad villainous personifications, although there are times when he seems like a man more in need of an aspirin than a psychiatrist'. The Monthly Film Bulletin, however, praised the actor by noting that 'Vincent Price does nobly by intractable material'.

For me, it's a period piece that has stood the test of time and belongs in the same company as Price's Corman films.

The Diary of a Madman and Night Monster screen from 6.50pm (19 October 2012) at The Gothique Film Society, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, WC1

Monday 15 October 2012

Confessions of an Opium Eater (aka Souls for Sale) coming to DVD


Warner HomeVideo's latest collection of horror titles from the archives include Christopher Lee's two Fu Manchu films, Boris Karloff in that underated classic The Sorcerers, and Vincent Price in the trashy trip film Confessions of an Opium Eater. Given that my copy of Confessions is so old and dusty that I can barely hear or see a thing, then this just has to be an improvement.