Peter Cushing is the only actor whom I have seen that I would rank as an equal if not a superior to Christopher Lee. Not only have Cushing Lee worked together in pefect sync in multiple films, Cushing has been able to hold his own in worse-than-second-rate movies involving ridiculous plot lines, disgusting special effects, and horrible supporting casts.
One example in which I have seen all of these three awful elements molded into one film (out of the approximate ninety movies involving Mr. Cushing, I have seen twenty of them in my so far short existence of fourteen years) was Island of Terror. (I swear the goo coming out of the turtle/vacuum-cleaner "monsters" was congealed oat-meal.) This movie would be dubbed on a personal level as one only required to complete a collection of Cushing movies. He is really the only good actor in the film, providing a serious yet slightly comedic performance that was highly impressive.
One of the few reasons I feel Vincent Price is far more widely known than Mr. Cushing is that he was in better-made movies. Cushing fans will agree that he was one of the best actors of his time and of times yet to come.
In an afterthought, a reply to the original thread of what is my favorite Cushing film without Mr. Lee would probably have to be either The Revenge of Frankenstein or Frankenstein must be Destroyed. These are two very powerful performances of the good Baron. Yet, this may or may not be an accurate decision due to the fact that I have seen but twenty movies with him in it.
I've seen The Vampire Lovers two or three times. It is quite boring and for the most part badly acted. Ingrid Pitt wasn't in the film for her acting talent. When Peter is on screen, however, the film picks up. Sadly he only has a few scenes at the start, looking splendid in dress uniform as General Spielsdorf, but when he reappears at the end his decapitating of Ingrid Pitt is the films highlight. He repeats the performance to greater efffect in the excellent Twins of Evil.
I have seen very many of Peter's performances in drivel like Shock Waves, through the bizarreness of Scream and Scream Again to classics like Dracula. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance as Dr. Abner Perry in At the Earth's Core but I think my favourite Peter film withouit Christopher Lee has to be The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas. The Nigel Neale script is excellent and Peter shines throughout. This movie is well worth a look for anyone who enjoys Peter's work. I recently got a copy on DVD which is of superb quality and has a documentary as well.
My favorite Peter Cushing roles are his eccentric characters; At the Earth's Core, the 'Weird Tailor' segment of Asylum, his wonderful Coroner from Legend of the Werewolf, and who could forget his heartrending performance in the 'Valentine' segment of Tales From the Crypt.
While these are far from his "best" films; they are among his most endearing performances.
Cushing is the reason I became an acotr, and while he has appeared in less than stellar films (BLOOD BEAST TERROR) he is always a joy.
When he appears in great films
FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED,
CASH ON DEMAND,and END OF THE AFFAIR ,
he is truly brilliant.
God bless you St Pete..
Quote:
He is really the only good actor in the film, providing a serious yet slightly comedic performance that was highly impressive.
I have fond childhood memories ofIsland of Terror and still pop it into the VCR every once in a while. For me it's an almost archetypal good ol' bug-eyed monster (OK, tentacled) movie. It's just plain fun to watch. Besides, I think you inadvertently short-changed the always watchable Eddie Byrne as the island's resident MD.
I still recall the shock of watching Cushing having his hand lopped off ! This doesnt happen to the hero, I thought, and that meant anything could happen-- that they all COULD die !! The ending was therefore much more suspenseful ...
and by the way, Cushing is the reason I became an ACTOR, but has nothing to do with my terrible typing ......
Happy holidays all....
my wife never watches horror movies, she hates them..anyway Peter Cushing story..For xmas I got Blood Beast Terror ..I had never seen it before and heard Peter thought it was his worst film role.. I read a lot about it and knew it wasnt a classic but i put on my dvd list anyway...So im watching the other night with my wife( if i knew she would be home that night i would have put the Hammer Mummy in ah what a bad choice for her to watch) anyway half way through i say wow this isnt a great movie i would have done this a little different..she goes why did you want it , why are we watching it and why did i pay 24 bucks for it?
simple and why im replying to this thread. ... Peter Cushing !!!
the movies not the greatest but i will watch it again and again because of Peter Cushing. If he wasnt in it I wouldnt have any desire to see it let alone watch it
Now that was an excellent film. Proper title is "Flesh and the Fiends" though and Cushing is superb in it. Its definately my fav PC flick after "Dracula". Donald Pleasence i think gives one of his best performances as Hare. He was another actor he was vastly underated and made alot of bad movies but like cushing brought dignity to his role.
Peter Cushing's preparation for each role was uniquely meticulous.
Not many actors could dominate a scene which they were in like he did - Peter Cushing's contribution always seemed more noticeable than anybody else's even if it was a minor one.
He could enhance a good script with a top-notch, perfectly judged performance. eg. "Twins of Evil", "The Creeping Flesh" "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed", "Dracula", to name but a few.
He also lent distinct credibility to rather more dubiously scripted/plotted films, eg. "The Ghoul", "House of the Long Shadows", "Dracula A.D. 1972".
Undoubtedly, I would watch any Peter Cushing film whatever it's quality was!!
Reading your various replies to this thread, I feel I can accurately assume that most if not all of you are not only avid Christopher Lee fans, but avid Peter Cushing fans as well. Now I have a question for you all:
I have heard that two of Peter Cushing's most emotional and powerful performances were those of Dr. Lawrence in The Ghoul and Mr. Grimsdyke in Tales from the Crypt. Do any of you know where I could possibly locate copies of these in the states, more specifically Massachusetts in New England? Thank you all for your help.
Mathew, i live in Mass as well..I have seen the Ghoul at 2 locations of a video chain called Superstar Video.. they have either a orange or red backing behind the name and theres about 2 or 3 in my area . I f you have to drive or in the area the one i use in Tewksbury RT 38 has it as well as House of long shadows which is the only rental store i was able to find that title at all...Tales is on video for sale in a lot of places in the budget section usually..I have not seen it on dvd but Ames dept store has it for like 7.88 or something similar to tht price ..also i have seen it at suncaost and sam goody for under $10.00
Good Luck
Be careful that you do not buy the WB dvd /vhs of TALES FROM THE CRYPT- that is the tv series...
i have contacted a few web sites who listed it as the Cushing version in error...
TALES FROM THE CRYPT is on Fox video-- no word yet on the DVD release--
I thought I heard that ANCHOR BAY will be releasing THE GHOUL and LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF,but could find nothing on the site..
Cushing used his wife's photo in both films, & supposedly got so worked up on THE GHOUL, that he had a near nervous breakdown..
yeah good point ..the movie has Peter on the front as he came out of the grave as well as a skull on the front. When you see Peter on the front your in like flynn...thats great news about Legend of the Werewolf i dont even have it on video yet and its one of my favs
Cushing proved to be a very devoted husband who greatly loved his wife. So far, I have heard that he used her picture in the Ghoul and Tales from the Crypt (The Ghould has a rather interesting story behind it actually. In a book written about Mr. Cushing's films entitled Peter Cushing: The Gentle Man of Horror and his 91 Films, it was said that his character had to give a bit of a soliliquy about his character's wife. During a shooting of this scene, Mr. Cushing lost control of himself and began to speak about his rteal wife, Helen, and eventually had to leave the set after the shooting due to the extreme emotional stress. Not a dry eye had been left on the set that day.) I have also seeon a rather nice cloase up of Helen on Lorimer Van Helsing's desk in Dracula A.D. 1972. Next time you watch these movies be sure to look for them, and thank you for your assistence as to where I may locate some of Mr. Cushing's movies.
Peter Cushing is a legend just like film veteran Christopher Lee. Nowadays, there is no one I believe who can go down in history like these two phenomenons. As an avid viewer for over ten years It has become an honour to watch their films. As a collector, you cannot watch better actors on screen who give masterful performances whether they like the films they're in or not. Twins of Evil is my favourite Peter Cushing/Hammer films collaboration. I do not have the Ghoul on video but I do have Tales from the Crypt which I got from Barnes and Noble via anchorbay. A good source informed me that The Creeping Flesh is soon to be released on DVD. This was made by Tyburn, also responsible for The Ghoul. With any luck this should mean that the Ghoul and Legend of the Werewolf will soon be released.
CREEPING FLESH- I do not believe was a Tyburn film, but the same company that did TALES THAT WITNESS MADNESS ( a rip off of the Amicus anthology films)......CREEPING did have Francis as director, and a superb cast..... I remember catching this film in the cinema & have enjoyed it several times since...
what company is releasing to DVD??
I look forward to the Tyburn films coming on DVD like
THE GHOUL
LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF
and
MASKS OF DEATH .
i can't argue there on Peter cushing has done some bad movies.the differnce between him an vincent price is in some movies v. price gives a bad performance not that many i have to say that. but not all actors give it there all v.price was forced to do the bad movies was in his contract so he didn't really care he just wanted to get it over with he knew they were bad. but what i am getting at is with p. cushing he always gives it his best even when he knows it's
bad movie. but one of his i really didn't like was
The vampire lovers a lot of people like it yes i didn't. was too boring for me i couldn't wait till
it ended an his role is maybe 10 min if that.but house of long shadows is a great p.cushing movie.
U should see that one if u can find it