RIP Gordon Hessler | Director of Cry of the Banshee, The Oblong Box and Scream and Scream Again

Tributes have been pouring in for Gordon Hessler, who has died at the age of 88. The director is best known for working on three AIP films with Vincent Price in the UK in 1969/1970: The Oblong Box (which he inherited after the untimely death of the film’s original director Michael Reeves), the cult sci-fi/horror/thriller Scream and Scream Again, and the underrated Cry of the Banshee. Hessler also helmed one of my childhood favourites, Ray Harryhausen’s The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) and the real guilty pleasure, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978).

For more about Hessler’s life and career, issue 98 of Tim Lucas’ Video Watchdog is a great starting point, and contains an intimate interview conducted by David Del Valle, who writes on his Facebook page that Hessler’s favourite film was his rarely seen 1988 supernatural thriller The Girl on a Swing. There’s also a super interview that George Reis conducted back in 2002 which you can read over on the DVD Drive In website.

RIP Gordon Hessler (1926-2014)

Vincent Price’s dramatic reading of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

DID YOU KNOW? The 1845 poem, The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe, was first attributed to the struggling writer in print in the New York Evening Mirror on 29 January 1845, just four years before his mysterious death on 7 October 1849.

To celebrate Poe's 205th birthday (19 January 1805), here's Vincent's dramatic reading to savour.

Vincent Price: The Elegant Side of Evil | The new official website dedicated to the legendary actor

 

Now here’s something fantastic to start off 2014 – a new website Vincent Price: The Elegant Side of Evil has been launched by Victoria Price, the actor’s daughter, to preserve her father’s legacy online. 

The News and Events pages is where fans can keep up-to-date with Victoria’s projects, including the insightful talks about Vincent’s life and career as an actor, writer, gourmet and art collector that she presents at festivals across the US, as well keep up to date with the four books Victoria plans to publish over the next year, including a reprint of her intimate 1999 memoir Vincent Price: A Daughter’s Biography. The new site is also the place where you can purchase brand new VP-related merchandise, including t-shirts, exclusive lobby cards and prints, and classy phone cases. Bookmark and follow, now!