Something in the Darkness Pulled Me Deeper

Some people just learn quicker....

This was supposed to go in the last post - but that one degenerated and....  Well, I forgot.

So it can go here.

Kermit is....hilarious. Especially when on the Muppet series - that was just...priceless. I'd love to watch whatever one that gif above is from - it looks hilarious.

Now, let's talk about vampyres.

Alright, not really.

The Tenth Doctor is just too much fun to watch and I need a distraction....  Voila!

I actually did think about bringing Morecambe and Wise into this with Cushing - but not today. Maybe another day.

Although speaking of vampyres, it really is the perfect situation for that discussion......

No, actually, let's do talk about creepy villains though. 

WHY DO SUCH GOOD ACTORS HAVE TO PLAY PEOPLE WE REALLY SHOULDN'T LIKE???

Jedikiah Price, Loki, Mr. Smith....Well, after that it generally becomes the actors. Pellegrino, Hiddleston, Cumberbatch (actually, why are MOST actors from the UK generally villains??), Cushing, Lee, Rickman, Carlyle....

Ah, and now the source of my annoyance today: Robert Carlyle.

Actually, Eragon. And Carlyle by default because he's in it and of COURSE he's the villain.

There are a few things I can't or won't watch. Eragon, Harry Potter.... Fun things like that. Well, I can't say how fun - just that they have an awful lot of excellent actors.

Irons, Carlyle, Oldman, Rickman - IT IRKS ME!!

The fact that they're villains TOO is....  Frustrating.

The sarcasm is overwhelming.....

I finally figured out where he's from by the way: House of the Long Shadows. Really, an amazing film - with a completely surprising ending.

Alright, forget it - we'll talk about vampyres.

Really, this time.

In a round about way. What's new....

Grand Moff Tarkin

It started with him. Obviously, known from Star Wars, but I actually came to know him and his works through Sherlock Holmes - always my interest.

Sherlock Holmes

I had seen Downey's Holmes and  BBC's Sherlock series and - while waiting out the interminable hiatus - decided to look up some other adaptations of Holmes. I've seen most of Basil Rathebone's films in the character, didn't particularly care for him, and wondered how others were. For some reason, it had simply never occured to me that Dracula has been remade countless times - why in the world would Sherlock Holmes not have been?

I found quite a bit of worthwhile adaptations. I found a new Russian series first that was interesting for the language and the viewpoint - but not excellent as an adaptation. the Young Sherlock Holmes is something I plan to never see again and never finished in the first place - I fear it ranks with Elementary. I heard of and finally managed to find the first Russian adaptive series that was completely superbe and well-worth watching, even if one must put up with subtitles. It was a brilliant adaptation.

Ah, and of course, there was Jeremy Brett. I should do a posting series concerning the different adaptations of Holmes that I enjoyed. Brett was brilliant and excellent and a joy to watch. The first series or two were the absolute best as then he began to fall ill - but Granada! Not only was he an excellent Holmes, they adapted the cases almost literally word for word. It was a pleasure to watch. So much better than even BBC's modernisation - and that was actually quite good, until I saw older adaptations.

And then, there was Peter Cushing.

His first performance as Holmes was in Hammer's production of The Hound of Baskervilles. Being made by Hammer, with all of their connections to the Horror genre, it's far from a perfect adaptation. Far from a purely scientific, natural explanation for a family legend, Hammer introduced things like a special dagger and makes the girl evil. 

That being said, Cushing? Watching him play Holmes was completely worth the errors in the adaptation - likely what makes it one of the best versions of Hound of Baskervilles in people's opinions.

And! Christopher Lee is in it as well! Not really surprising, given he also often worked with Hammer Films.

Also the first to be filmed in colour.

I went on to watch all available of his tenure as Holmes in the television series. I completely enjoyed it, but he reportedly hated it.

That aside: I hate BBC.

Alright, it makes perfect sense. BBC isn't notorious for having an extensive budget, and film was likley expensive - hard to justify when it was easy enough to simply tape over preexisting film. Television episodes and serials. Especially when 're-runs' were completely unheard of as television was a newly emerging medium. Theatre was still predominating.

So, BBC, in an effor to be thrifty or efficiant or in an event of rare forshadowing to completely annoy and irk hundreds of fans to come, reused or disposed of countless films.

And among those were many of Cushing's episodes as Sherlock Holmes. Not all - thankfully - but any at all was too much when he barely played any to begin with.

Especially! Especially! When one of those lost episodes was "Black Peter". I'd love to see that adapted, but unless it's in one of the much older series or radio series, it's not been done and kept. Cushing's tenure was almost the only one to adapt that case.

And of course it was lost.

At least people had taken copies of the Doctor Who film reels as actors, or just as souveniers or for whatever reason. Apparently. that was not possible with Cushing's Holmes. Annoyingly so.

And while Peter Cushing might have thought he didn't do nearly as good of a job as he could have, it's still excellent. I wonder if he could have gotten better then, and what the series would have been like if he'd the opportunity.

Besides Sherlock Holmes and Grand Moff Tarkin (now it really is bothering me: what is a 'Grand Moff'....), he - as previously stated - played in many of Hammer Films' productions. 

Dr. Frankenstein

He really just does not seem the person that would act in horror films - let alone be a recognisable and major figure in the genre. He designed scarves for goodness sakes - not exactly the type of person that would be a mad scientist. 

Two of the main characters he played as were the notorious Dr. Frankenstein, and the vampyre hunter Abraham Van Helsing.

I've not gotten around to watching his Frankenstein films yet, but I fully intend to if just to watch his acting. But, given it is Frankensteing and I've not seen it - do not blame me if there is aught in them to offend. Van Helsing on the other hand....

I grew up on darker films; and, albeit I am startled easily, do enjoy a good suspenseful story. I also love mythology and history, and vampyres are....there's just something elegant about them.

Let me rephrase myself: there is something elegant about OLD vampyres. Twilight, or whatever other version of vampyres there are don't count.

Abraham Van Helsing

Side note: SPARKLING??? I'm sorry. That's just...wrong. These are creatures that survive on blood. That must sleep on the dirt of their homeland. That are burnt by touching crosses or holy object. That cower from crosses. NO WHERE IN HERE DOES IT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT SPARKLING!!

Alright, it doesn't help that the only thing I've really seen of Twilight has been gifs, and the picture was likely touched up - BUT I DON'T CARE. Vampyres are dark creatures - soulless, literally.

Faeries sparkle. Pixies sparkle. Pegaii sparkle - unicorns sparkle! Vampyres? Do. Not. Sparkle.

I did say we were going to be talking about vampyres.... My apologies to all who believe that the topic is a matter of dark beings and should never be mentioned in polite company.

In that case - don't let excellent, marvellous actors play characters that will evoke such conversations.

See? Even Giles agrees with me. I feel sorry for everyone that thinks those vampyres are the best.....  How are they even interesting??

.....even more amusing is that those are actually two different images - yet, they fit together and form a conversation....

I had a point.....  I was making a point or working towards one and then I got distracted......

It would be interesting to see how long these posts go without the aid of images. Would they be longer as I no longer limit myself to try to spare the Reader's attention? Or would they be shorter as I no longer amuse and distract myself?

An intriguing experiment - one perhaps I should try.

Ach! That's what I was talking about. I had mused a bit on my lack of familiarity with Cushing's Frankenstein, and then I was making to move on to his portrayal of Van Helsing.

Well, Van Helsing is actually more compatible to Cushing than what I imagine Frankenstein could be. He is a consummate gentlemen - most of his characters are actually..... - and I actually think he's a horrid vampyre hunter.

Although, in the first two - and only two - films I saw, he seemed simply more like a doctor that got wrapped up into something he wasn't really prepared for rather than someone familiar with that supernatural battlefield.

For instance: he faints. At the most inopportune moments. Usually right when the vampyre villain is about to sink its teeth into his throat. He faints.

What sort of vampyre hunter faints?? That's just...terrible for one's continued existence! Extremely bad for one's health.

In the later films, I think they changed him a bit - but I also think it's supposed to be a descendant of the original Abraham Van Helsing, although still played by Cushing. But I didn't watch those, and have no intention of doing so. The first two were fine. Monsters and killing and suspense - nothing horrid. And then....then they had to include things such as satanic rites and what not. That was a bit too much.

Sadly, because watching Christopher Lee and Cushing together is quite enjoyable.

The Grisbanes

And then there's House of Long Shadows.

It's really....quite good. Surprisingly so. I'd only watched it for Cushing and Lee, and I absolutely regret it not in the slightest. It's rather...macabre and dark, and definitely suspenseful - but the ending!!  Oh, the ending is just.... C'est formidable. Parfait. And I think the other two old men are also well known actors, but sadly not to me.....

That being said, I find it incredibly interesting that I could even watch any of these films. When I first  heard that he played in many horror films, I gave up watching any of his parts because I can't stand that genre. And then I saw Hound of Baskervilles and thought it worthwhile to watch Horror of Dracula.

And....It never ceases to amaze me how times have change. A horror film now I can't stand and they usually make me quite nauseous with fear or adrenaline - I don't know and don't care which. Those Hammer Horror films? Doctor Who has episodes just as scare!!  Sometimes, just as - if not more - bloodier too! And the episodes with serial killers in shows such as Castle or NCIS were worse than any of the horror films I saw with Cushing.

I don't understand what happened - and can barely understand how those were counted 'horror' films.....

Besides, who wouldn't want to watch a gentleman in a film or series? I think I miss that most about old films: there are hardly ever any gentlemen anymore.....