THIS ROOM IS MY CASTLE OF QUIET- BILLY MAY & HIS ORCHESTRA

     Hearing this always makes me think of the soundtrack to a cheesy 50s sci-fi/horror flick.

Horror Of Dracula

      "Horror Of Dracula", in 1958, was the first of Hammer's Dracula series. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee successfully re-invented the classic monsters from Universal, and although it makes several deviations from the original novel by Bram Stoker and the Bela Lugosi film version, there is something truly riveting about this re-telling.  It's a gorgeously eerie film- it looks sensational.

     Lee inherits the role from Bela Lugosi, and completely makes it his own.  "Horror of Dracula" is a lush, Technicolor take on Stoker's novel that became the first vampire movie to incorporate blood, red eyes, and fangs, actually.  There is an unsettling, eerie vibe in pretty much all of the Hammer productions, especially the Dracula series.  Take for instance Dracula's castle- it's nightmarish, creepy, and just plain weird looking.  It's like something hallucinated in a fever dream.  The sunlight also works well in these movies- it may seem ironic, but those sun-dappled woods for some reason really gets to me. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it is, but something about these movies creep me out.

      Director Terence Fisher got rid of the cobwebs, howling wolves, and other Gothic trappings of  Browning's "Dracula", and makes a memorable interpretation of the classic tale.  Obviously these movies struck a chord with audiences, or they wouldn't have made so many in the first place.  Christoper Lee makes a fantastic Dracula- with his bloodshot eyes and fangs dripping blood, he is truly startling and somewhat spooky.  I would have to say Christopher Lee's Dracula is probably the most frightening of them all- there is just something about Lee and that damn creepy castle that's chilling.

     Critics were shocked and outraged over the explicit bloodletting, but the movie is quite tame compared with movies of today.   "Horror of Dracula" is considered by many horror fans to be one of the greatest vampire films ever made- and it certainly is one of the most gorgeous to look at.  Lavish all around, considering the lack of a budget they had to work with.

     Anyway, like "The Curse Of Frankenstein", "Horror Of Dracula" is a great start to a memorably campy series of films that are strangely addictive.  Most definitely an acquired taste- some just cannot get into these movies, for whatever reasons.  Personally I cut my teeth on these movies growing up and they made a huge impact on my young, impressionable little head.  Honestly, I remember these being on TV more than the original Universal films.  To me they're a perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon.  I could sit and watch these all day.

Plan 9 From Outer Space

     In 1959 Ed Wood released a film about aliens from outer space and the living dead here on Earth that was so hilariously amateur and awful, it would go on to become one of the greatest cult classics of all midnight movies.  Universally known as the worst movie ever made, Ed Wood's gloriously terrible "Plan 9 From Outer Space" stars the great Bela Lugosi, (in sadly what would be his last screen appearance), and Vampira- this story of alien graverobbers is one of the all-time greatest of the cheesy sci/fi-horror flicks of the 50s.  Chock full of bloopers, terrible acting, and the same shot of poor Bela used over and over again, it's quite astonishing just how amateur the entire production is- and how these movies ever got released in the first place.  Ed Wood was very imaginative and ambitious, but we all know he wasn't the most talented of directors.  But he had a vision nonetheless, and it's so much fun to watch.  It's a hoot trying to spot all the mistakes in "Plan 9", and it's a camp lovers delight.

     This is one of the most infamous films of the 50s, and definitely one of the most fun to watch today.  The fact that this was Lugosi's last film performance, and the fact that he died three years before the films release, only adds to its cult status.  Wood bravely forged ahead and incorporated the few screen minutes he had of Lugosi already filmed and interspersed them with shots of a not very convincing stand-in, who basically wanders around with his cape pulled up over his face.  It's kinda sad, funny, and eerie all at the same time.  It's perfect viewing for the Halloween season, as it usually pops up somewhere on cable.  "Plan 9 From Outer Space" is most certainly a blast from the past.