STACK #204 Oct 2021

FEATURE FILM

and dabbles in classic Haiti lore of old. Not only stylish and viscerally arresting, it's also wonderfully acted and perfectly paced. The story of The Quartermass Experiment was broadcast as a television serial in 1953, and influenced many popular future titles including The X-Files , 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien . Hammer Horror’s series of Quartermass films peaked with their 1967

and fictionalised account of Grigori Rasputin, the mystic holy man whose stranglehold over the Russian royals in the early

must be stopped before the death count keeps mounting. Incredibly creepy and atmospheric, The Reptile is highly regarded amongst horror historians, and makes for a wonderful companion piece to The Plague of the Zombies . Finally, TheWitches (1966) is a surreal and spine-chilling story about a woman whose own horrors at the hands of African witch- doctors lead her to believe that witchery is afoot back home in England, and her line between reality and fantasy is

1900s is the stuff of legend. Taking advantage of the more sensational aspects of Rasputin’s mythology, the film has Lee as the imposing titular figure, dishing magic upon the royals like Doctor Strange on a bender. Lee considered this performance to be amongst his best and there’s no doubt that the role's power-hungry and sex-driven persona is unlike anything he’s done before or since. As you work your way through this amazing collection of Hammer Horror films, you may get a sense of deja-vu when you arrive at The Reptile (1966). Filmed back-to-back with The Plague of the Zombies , the production used most of the same locations as well as its cast and crew. The result is a familiar-looking film with a new story, that might have been influenced by the work of H.P. Lovecraft. When people of a small Cornish township begin to die under mysterious circumstances, it’s discovered that something scaly

entry Quartermass And the Pit , which possibly paved the way for stories from Stephen King and George Lucas, with its horror-infused science fiction leanings. The story remains faithful to its source

soon blurred. Not to be mistaken for the equally thrilling1990 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches , this Hammer classic is a mesmerising descent into madness, made all the more

material, and depicts the excavation of a spaceship near the London Underground, which alters the known origins of mankind. This unique entry in Hammer’s catalogue makes it a must for all, and might be considered as the original (and possibly superior) Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Christopher Lee cuts a historical figure in Rasputin The Mad Monk (1966), a horrific

compelling by a strange and eclectic production design.

• The Hammer Film Classics Remastered is available October 20 from JB Hi-Fi. PRE-ORDER NOW

and monstrous lives amongst them, and

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