Hi Brian,

I read an account of the theatrical release print butchering of VOH from an old issue of Castle of Frankenstein back in the day and it seems as if the chopping of that film was pure politics by the MPAA.  From what I recall, the censors were at the breaking point of frustration due to their failure to curb the trend of graphic violence in films, as seen in such then-recent releases as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, and the oeuvre of Sam Peckinpah.

It almost seems as if someone at the MPAA had it in for Amicus studios, as well--Amicus was then on their last legs.

Whenever I manage to get hold of the UK region 0 release of VOH, I'll post a short notice about it here.  Perhaps Tim Lucas will do an article about this in Video Watchdog--it seems like the perfect topic for that mag.

G.

Was Episode 1104 Mrs Johnson's last appearance?

I do appreciate her brilliant thesping so much, watching the series as an adult...

G.

Fans,

Looks as if Fox Studios continues to give new meaning to the phrase "blood-spattered screen" with this week's twofer release of the Amicus classics Tales from the Crypt (1971) and Vault of Horror (1973).  From patron reviews posted today on Amazon.com (I have not been able to find reviews of the disc elsewhere), I gather that my worst fears have been released and Fox have chosen to release the butchered 1974 US MPAA-approved theatrical print of Vault of Horror.  Genre specialists were scandalized by the state in which the film debuted in US theatres back in the day.  I've never seen but have read lurid descriptions of butchered segment finales replaced by clumsy freeze-frames for more than one of the episodes in this typical Amicus omnibus entry (if you've seen Dr Terror's House of Horrors, Torture Garden, From Beyond the Grave, or any number of other titles in the Amicus catalogue, you've basically seen Vault of Horror).  I am particularly upset by this news because I've been waiting for years to see this one in a restored print, as it includes pairings of some of my favorite British thespians; notably Daniel and Anna Massey cast as brother and sister in the first and Glynis Johns and Terry-Thomas as husband and wife in a later segment.

Fortunately, a Region 0 UK release of Vault of Horror is available from British dealers on eBay and Amazon.co.uk.  This is now my sole court of resort for finally getting to see this one, it would appear.

I recommend another entry in the new releases from Fox: Devils of Darkness (a completely forgotten, stylish little film from 1965) paired with Witchcraft, a 1964 release directed by Don Sharp that's circulated for years in low-quality bootleg prints.  Both films have story elements that fans will find reminiscent of Dark Shadows, and from what I can determine, both films have been released in decent quality prints by Fox.

G.

Over the past weekend, I took several breaks from catching up with various domestic routines to revisit set number seven of the DVD series.  In particular, the memorable episode in which an hysterical Julia discovered the *true nature* of Dr. Lang's experiment and was hollering into the phone to the operator to connect her to the police, "qu-HICK-ick-ick-icklyeeee, QUICKLY!" only to be told by Barnabas to "remember someone."

Despite the gaffe, I found Julia's next line to be beautifully understated:  "You always win, Barnabas."

Barn replies something like "We checkmate one another."

And Julia sadly and quietly demurs:  "No, you stop me but I seldom am able to stop you."

I thought it was a brilliant little moment, perfectly encapsulating a lot of the relationship between these too.... and it came in the wake of one of the most notorious blunders in the series' history!

G.

Some might appreciate what I wrote about her on my blog:

The book [A Wrinkle of Time]  had a huge influence upon me as a shy, bookish, all too self-concious child in the mid Sixties. Mrs. Whatsit was perhaps the first of a series of brisk, witty Crones I kept waiting to sweep into my own life with a dash of wisdom and ample comforting arms. Above all, I remember wiping away tears when Meg is told "Your faults are your greatest source of strength." I lost track of how many times I silently repeated that line to myself during my extremely painful, awkward adolescence (which only presaged an equally uncomfortable young-adulthood). Madeleine L'Engle was thus one of my mentors, albeit second-hand through her books; I'll always remember her with honor and love.

Incidentally, Hugh Franklin wasn't L'Engle's only Shadows connection.  During the 1940s she roomed with her lifelong friend, a flamboyant New York actress named ... Cavada Humphrey.

cheers, G.

As Joy said, Nicholas frequently reminds Cassandra about their "bargain."  My understanding is that she was allowed to return to the mortal world in order to fulfill her curse upon Barnabas and drive his soul into the fires of perdition (Great Goddess, I think I'm channelling Rev. Trask!!).  Once he brings her back, we presume he hangs around to make sure she gets her job done without further blundering.

One of my favorite scenes is when Nicky and Cass are out on the terrace and he sneers at her for being "so in-COM-pe-tent."  I just adore HAA's reading of Nicholas' very fruity dialogue.  This stuff is better than heroin--hell, it's better than two sticks of Land-o'Lakes lashed together in a rough-hewn manner!

The Nicholas/Cassandra scenes hint heavily at some pretty dark and gritty backstory between the two, and a lot of fanfiction has been written speculating about just what this was.  It's too bad they never did a flashback to show how the two first met.

G.

Thanks for this, retzev. Nice to see that Tim is finally starting to understand the unique fascination of DS!

G.

Thanks for that review, Brandon.  I heartily agree that Grayson was "f**king awesome" and I'd say the same about the book, too!  Hats off to R. J. Jamison!

G.