I don't know if Talking Pictures have the ABC episodes lined up but I finished my boxset viewing with the grisly version of The Fall of the House of Usher, which is not a bad effort, and the very dull Oliphant adaptation The Open Door. Rounding it off was a brief clip from Casting the Runes which is all that survives on video. It looks like it would have been one of the better episodes.
Overall, it's a very mixed bag of a series. I'm glad I got to see it but the only episode that I'm unreservedly keen on is Sweeney Todd.
The Curse of the Mummy is a well-cast adaptation of Stoker's The Jewel of Seven Stars that's way better than The Awakening and way poorer than Blood from the Mummy's Tomb.
Series 4 brings colour and begins with The Suicide Club. It runs out of steam a bit before the end but is generally very watchable with Bernard Archard gleeful sinister as the President.
Sweeney Todd is easily my favourite of the series. It takes a highly original approach to Sweeney who is splendidly portrayed by Freddie Jones. Russell Hunter and Peter Sallis both have multiple supporting roles. I'd thoroughly recommend this one.
Dracula is a plodding version of the novel that combines bit of the Universal and Hammer adaptations to no good effect. Denholm Elliott, horribly miscast as the Count, sports an effectively nasty set of teeth and an unconvincing accent which sometimes seems to be Transylvanian by way of Mexico. The disintegration scene is well done but the scenes where the Count appears out of nowhere brandishing his cloak like bat wings are lamer than anything seen in the 1930s. Susan George as Lucy is easily the best thing in the play.
Might as well use this thread to comment on the DVD boxset episodes.
Uncle Silas is a pretty decent adaptation of the Le Fanu novel with fine sets and location filming.
Frankenstein is, sadly, awful, partly because the script is dull but mainly because Ian Holm is startlingly bad as the creature (he plays the creator as well). For one thing, he's a right shortarse so he's not exactly threatening. For another, he seems undecided whether the creature's voice should sound cultured, slightly retarded, like George from Rainbow, or like Spike Milligan playing a Pakistani. It's woeful.
I don't know if Talking Pictures have the ABC episodes lined up but I finished my boxset viewing with the grisly version of The Fall of the House of Usher, which is not a bad effort, and the very dull Oliphant adaptation The Open Door. Rounding it off was a brief clip from Casting the Runes which is all that survives on video. It looks like it would have been one of the better episodes.
Overall, it's a very mixed bag of a series. I'm glad I got to see it but the only episode that I'm unreservedly keen on is Sweeney Todd.
The Curse of the Mummy is a well-cast adaptation of Stoker's The Jewel of Seven Stars that's way better than The Awakening and way poorer than Blood from the Mummy's Tomb.
Series 4 brings colour and begins with The Suicide Club. It runs out of steam a bit before the end but is generally very watchable with Bernard Archard gleeful sinister as the President.
Sweeney Todd is easily my favourite of the series. It takes a highly original approach to Sweeney who is splendidly portrayed by Freddie Jones. Russell Hunter and Peter Sallis both have multiple supporting roles. I'd thoroughly recommend this one.
Dracula is a plodding version of the novel that combines bit of the Universal and Hammer adaptations to no good effect. Denholm Elliott, horribly miscast as the Count, sports an effectively nasty set of teeth and an unconvincing accent which sometimes seems to be Transylvanian by way of Mexico. The disintegration scene is well done but the scenes where the Count appears out of nowhere brandishing his cloak like bat wings are lamer than anything seen in the 1930s. Susan George as Lucy is easily the best thing in the play.
Might as well use this thread to comment on the DVD boxset episodes.
Uncle Silas is a pretty decent adaptation of the Le Fanu novel with fine sets and location filming.
Frankenstein is, sadly, awful, partly because the script is dull but mainly because Ian Holm is startlingly bad as the creature (he plays the creator as well). For one thing, he's a right shortarse so he's not exactly threatening. For another, he seems undecided whether the creature's voice should sound cultured, slightly retarded, like George from Rainbow, or like Spike Milligan playing a Pakistani. It's woeful.
"Catweazle is also getting an airing."
He could certainly do with one.