Miscellany | Passthemarmalade

MARMALADE MISCELLANY

A catch-all page to cover areas pertaining to British horror films that somehow don't quite fit into our main listings.

CONTENTS:

Hammer television

Mystery And Imagination

A Ghost Story For Christmas

Screen Test amateur film competition

Nationwide amateur film submissions

Forgotten amateur fragments

HAMMER TELEVISION

Fans will be well aware of Hammer Films' various excursions into TV, but may not know that the various Hammer shows were sometimes repackaged as 'movies' for US viewers, and as such are often mentioned in American film reference guides. Details are as follows:

Journey To The Unknown

Episodes of this 1968 Hammer horror show were double-billed as retitled 't.v. movies' for American television.

JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS (1968) - stories 'Paper Dolls'/'The New People'.
JOURNEY TO MIDNIGHT (1968) - stories 'Poor Butterfly'/'The Indian Spirit Guide'.
JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN (1969) - stories 'Matakitas Is Coming'/'The Last Visitor'.
JOURNEY TO MURDER (1972) - stories 'Do Me A Favour And Kill Me'/'The Killing Bottle'

Hammer House Of Horror

As with 'Journey To The Unknown', stories from this 1980 Hammer/ITC series were paired up under the title HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR DOUBLE FEATURE for U.S. television.

CHARLIE BOY/THE THIRTEENTH REUNION (1980) - African fetish doll; cannibal gathering.

CHILDREN OF THE FULL MOON/VISITOR FROM THE GRAVE (1980) - werewolves/LES DIABOLIQUES variant.

GUARDIAN OF THE ABYSS/CARPATHIAN EAGLE (1980) - satanic cult plans sacrifice of young woman; reporter investigates series of murders in which hearts have been torn out.

THE HOUSE THAT BLED TO DEATH/GROWING PAINS (1980) - clever spin on the AMITYVILLE HORROR shocks-for-profit circus; boy killed as result of scientist father's experiment returns.

THE TWO FACES OF EVIL/RUDE AWAKENING (1980) - doppelgangers; man has series of strange, interlocking dreams.

WITCHING TIME/THE SILENT SCREAM (1980) - 17th century witch escapes execution by propelling herself into modern times; former Nazi (Peter Cushing) controls animals, and ultimately humans, in electrified cages-without-bars.

The episode THE MARK OF SATAN is not recorded as having played in this 'movie-style' format.

Hammer House Of Mystery And Suspense

1984 series, individual productions usually running approx 70-75 minutes and screened in 90 minute slots for commercial TV in the UK and in the US (billed as 'Fox Mystery Theater' in America)

AND THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN (Paul Annett 1984) - evil force released when old church is demolished.

BLACK CARRION (John Hough 1984) - journalist investigates mysterious disappearance of two 1960s pop stars.

CHILD'S PLAY (Val Guest 1984) - family find their home is surrounded by an impenetrable black wall, with no means of exit.

THE CORVINI INHERITANCE (Gabrielle Beaumont 1984) - masked prowler menaces young woman.

CZECH MATE (John Hough 1984) - man disappears in Prague, leaving his young wife in peril.

A DISTANT SCREAM (John Hough 1984) - innocent man convicted of murder dreams the truth about the circumstances of the crime.

IN POSSESSION (Val Guest 1984) - married couple begin to experience strange visions in their new home.

LAST VIDEO AND TESTAMENT (Peter Sasdy 1984) - videotaped will; man fakes own death in order to plot revenge on wife and her lover.

THE LATE NANCY IRVING (Peter Sasdy 1984) - woman golfer, forced off road in her car, awakens in remote hospital - rich, ailing man plans to siphon off her blood for himself.

MARK OF THE DEVIL (Val Guest 1984) - killer, pricked with tattooist's needle, finds a design spreading uncontrollably across his whole body.

PAINT ME A MURDER (Alan Cooke 1984) - artist fakes his death in order to increase the value of his paintings, but his wife decides she likes the idea of him as a dead man...

THE SWEET SCENT OF DEATH (Peter Sasdy 1984) - scripted by Brian Clemens. Couple menaced at their country retreat.

TENNIS COURT (Cyril Frankel 1984) - couple finds that the tennis court at their new home is possessed by the evil aura of a still-living but horribly injured plane crash victim.

MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION

Donald C.Willis' reference guide 'Horror And Science Fiction Films II' lists the following feature-length dramas from this series as 'movies':

CURSE OF THE MUMMY (1970) - with Isobel Black and Patrick Mower in a version of Stoker's 'The Jewel Of Seven Stars', later filmed as Hammer's BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB.

THE SUICIDE CLUB (1970) - Alan Dobie stars in adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson tale.

SWEENEY TODD (1970) - with Freddie Jones as the notorious barber.

UNCLE SILAS (1968) - Lucy Fleming and Robert Eddison in a version of the Sheridan le Fanu shocker.

Other productions in the series are mentioned in the informative entry in 'The BFI Companion To Horror'. I have been unable to confirm running times, and suspect that most of these may be less than feature-length, but will include them here in any case (Stephen Jones' 'Essential Monster Movie Guide' suggests that these programmes were an hour long, with FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA, and the four titles noted above being 90 minutes).

THE LOST STRADIVARIUS (1966) - with Jeremy Brett

THE BODY SNATCHER (19660

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (1966) - with Denholm Elliott, Susannah York

THE CANTERVILLE GHOST (1966) - with Bruce Forsyth

THE OPEN DOOR (1966) - with Jack Hawkins

THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH (1966) - from M.R. James' story

LOST HEARTS (1966) - another M.R. James adaptation

ROOM 13 (1966) - more from the pen of M.R. James

CARMILLA (1966) - with Natasha Payne

THE BECKONING SHADOW (1966)

THE PHANTOM LOVER (1966) - with Robert Hardy

THE FLYING DRAGON (1966) - from Sheridan le Fanu's story

THE LISTENER (1968) - adaptation of an Algernon Blackwood tale

A PLACE OF ONE'S OWN (1968) - with Megs Jenkins and Joss Ackland

THE DEVIL'S PIPER (1968) - from 'Wandering Willie's Tale' by Walter Scott

CASTING THE RUNES (1968) - the M.R. James classic, previously filmed as the masterly NIGHT OF THE DEMON

FRANKENSTEIN (1968) - with Ian Holm as both creator and monster

DRACULA (1968) - Denholm Elliott as the Count

THE TELL-TALE HEART (1968) - from the Poe classic

FEET FOREMOST (1968) - from L.P. Hartley's vampire/ghost tale

A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS

The classic annual treat from the BBC during the 1970s - each December from 1971 to 1976 a 30-to-50 minute adaptation of a classic ghost story (M.R. James, Dickens) was presented as a late night special, with original stories being used for 1977 and 1978. Lawrence Gordon Clark directed up to 1977, with Derek Lister taking over for THE ICE HOUSE. The concept has been revived sporadically since 2005 by BBC4. Here at 'Pass The Marmalade' we do not consider these standalone productions as 'movies', but they are so iconic, revered, and influential that they demand inclusion somewhere on the site.

THE STALLS OF BARCHESTER (1971)

A WARNING TO THE CURIOUS (1972)

LOST HEARTS (1973)

THE TREASURE OF ABBOT THOMAS (1974)

THE ASH TREE (1975)

THE SIGNALMAN (1976)

STIGMA (1977)

THE ICE HOUSE (1978)

A VIEW FROM A HILL (2005)

NUMBER 13 (2006)

WHISTLE AND I'LL COME TO YOU (2010)

THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH (2013)

THE DEAD ROOM (2018)

MARTIN'S CLOSE (2019)

Often mistaken as part of the run, Jonathan Miller's WHISTLE AND I'LL COME TO YOU (1968) and Peter Sasdy's Nigel Kneale-scripted THE STONE TAPE (1972) are entirely separate productions. Lawrence Gordon Clark left the BBC in the late 1970s but directed a version of CASTING THE RUNES for Yorkshire TV, screened at Christmas 1979. The BBC production SCHALCKEN THE PAINTER, directed by Leslie Megahey, aired around the same time in 1979 and has something of the classic 'AGSFC' feel to it. For Halloween 2006 the BBC made a version of Dennis Wheatley's 'The Haunting Of Toby Jugg' entitled THE HAUNTED AIRMAN - this was repeated as a 'Ghost Story For Christmas' during a 2007 BBC 4 season of the productions. Mark Gatiss' three-part CROOKED HOUSE (later combined into a single presentation) and Sandy Welch's version of THE TURN OF THE SCREW were both broadcast by the BBC in the familiar Yuletide slot in 2008 and 2009 respectively; although neither is an official 'Ghost Story For Christmas', they are informed and influenced by the classic shows from the 1970s.

SCREEN TEST (BBC TV 1970-1984)

Fondly-remembered children’s movie quiz, a regular part of BBC tea-time programming in the 1970s. Besides the quiz format, the programme also ran an amateur filmmaking competition, often screening extracts from the winning entries. Chris Wood’s ‘British Horror Films’ website contained the following reminiscences:

‘Dredger’ (posted on 5/6/03):

“Another (Public Information Film) I remember still with a shudder is a film warning children about the perils of getting into strangers cars, and involves a couple of moppets doing just that on the promise of ice cream. The final shot is of two little graves at dusk, the ghosts of the now deceased kids appearing at the feet of the graves, ice cream still smeared around their screaming mouths...you can see why that has stayed with me for 25 plus years. Still, suppose it had the desired effect. Does anyone else remember that one, or is my memory cheating? Or was it on Screen Test?!”

('Dredger' posted about the film again on 10/2/06, this time giving it the title 'ICE CREAM KIDS'). I have now listed this in the shorts section of the main site, under the title ICE CREAM - after seeing it covered in detail in the book 'Scarred For Life: Volume Two', which ought to be an essential purchase for anyone reading this.

‘John Sewell’ (posted on 6/6/03)

“I remember that one! From what I remember, it was one of the entries for the annual Young Filmmaker of the Year contest, but could have doubled as a genuine PIF quite easily! I seem to recall that there were quite a few horror/supernaturally themed entries for the contest. One that sticks in my head featured a ghostly echoing football match, finishing with a slow pan across a school sports trophy room, revealing that the team had been killed in a bus crash on their way to a game. Must've been something they were putting in our Quosh and Westlers hot dogs in the 70s!” John's reminiscences there may refer to the same film mentioned on page 48 of Scarred For Life: Volume Two by Tim Worthington, referring to a 'dead rugby team', 'doors opening by themselves', 'shots of an empty pitch and team members disappearing from a photo one by one'. Tim guesses at a 1982 date for that one but it is unconfirmed.

Also in 'Scarred For Life: Volume Two', there is extensive coverage of FEVER from 1981 (see our main shorts listing), and several half-remembered fragments summoned up by viewers of the Screen Test series. Steve Berry of the TV Cream website recalled "a lad in a top hat and cape, in a misty field. Somewhere between Marc Bolan and the Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town. Creepy". Phil Tate recalls "one about an invisible monster that lived in a cave and left footprints in the sand"; A 'Carly McCarlface' mentions an entry where a young lad working in a cemetery tending graves keeps seeing a white shrouded figure, getting closer day by day - eventually it faces him, removes its hood, and reveals his own face staring back at him. Paul Jones aka 'Shoot The Screen' mentions a film where a child discovers his own name - which happens to be Paul Jones, which is why it stuck in this contributor's mind! - etched into a grave, accompanied by a future date of death, foretold. Somebody calling themselves 'The Fool' mentions a stop-motion animated film about an apparition of a monk which keeps appearing to an old man and eventually causes him to fall to his death from a high window.

The November 2nd 1982 edition of Screen Test is on YouTube; notable for its Young Filmmaker entry MR. PUNCH BESIDE THE SEA (a brief documentary about a Yarmouth Punch & Judy show with a brief glimpse of a puppet ghost haunting Punch at the end), and for one of the comments beneath the video, from a person naming themselves 'Blackpool Bootz' - they mention a Screen Test Young Filmmaker entry allegedly named 'Damien'; described as "very scarry (sic) at the time. Used special effects cutting film and moving chair across the room". Might this have been FEVER?

NATIONWIDE (BBC TV 1969-1983)

Graeme Clark, regular contributor to ‘The Spinning Image’ website ( www.thespinningimage.co.uk ), contacted me with a query concerning an amateur horror film competition hosted by the 1970s BBC news/current affairs t.v. show ‘Nationwide’. Graeme states:

“I was looking at your website recently and was interested in the short horror films section. I wonder if you can help me with this, I didn't see them mentioned on your site, but years ago on Nationwide there was some kind of horror film competition introduced by Frank Bough.
They showed three clips, all in colour:

The first was of a T-Rex wandering down a British street. A policeman shoots at it, but in response the dinosaur eats him as two old ladies stand and watch in terror.

The second was a woman trapped in a car at night, being terrorized by a bloke with a white, blobby face and wearing a black cape. He was trying to get in.

The last one was the weirdest: a man sits in a room writing a letter with his gloves on. He pauses, but when he does so his hand comes off and continues writing, much to his alarm.

I asked on a nostalgia site about these, and the only thing I found out was that the third one might have been called "With This Hand". “

Also regarding 'Nationwide', the following was posted at 'British Horror Films' by 'Crazy Man Michael' on 25/4/05: " I remember being rather impressed by an item on Nationwide (this would be in 1972-3 I reckon) about a fellow who actually had his own private cinema in his back garden. It had about three or four rows of tip up seats, the walls were adorned with old movie posters and there was even a bar in one corner! (In those good old days you were allowed to smoke at the pictures and during the intermission as well as choc ices you could buy beer and G and T from the usherettes). This chap and his mates also made their own black and white horror/sci-fi films which they then projected for family and friends. I vaguely recall a clip from one such in which a space helmeted alien takes a pot shot with a cardboard 'ray gun' at a bloke on a windswept beach".

The head honcho at 'British Horror Films', Chris Wood, e-mailed the following addition to me on 28/11/05: "I'm pretty sure that another entry in that 'horror films' competition involved a man sitting watching the television - the screen went to static, and I think an animated mouth might have appeared on-screen. The upshot was that the man was sucked into the screen, leaving just his clothes lying on the floor in front of the telly. This scared me to death as a child, and I still can't bear the sight of an untuned screen. Funny how these things just pop back into your head!"

Naturally, I’d be grateful for any further information!

FORGOTTEN AMATEUR FRAGMENTS

In our bid to be as complete as possible with regard to British horror filmmaking here at 'Pass The Marmalade', the main list and short films list on the site contains details of amateur production as well as the classics from the major companies. However, amateur filmmaking brings a whole set of problems in terms of cataloguing and archiving - how many people made short 8mm horror films around their own home/garden/school/local park only for those epics to have deteriorated or been left, forgotten, in a box in the attic? How many fans shot Savini-inspired gore effects on their camcorders in the 80s, only to tape 'Top Of The Pops' over their creations a week later? How many people go out at the weekend every time their nearest pub or other community hub announces a '48-hour film challenge', hastily scripting and shooting a five-minute zombie item, screening it in competition, and then discarding the results to start afresh when the next contest comes along? The ephemeral nature of amateur production, and its hobby-like status, continues to this very day, and in a world where the filmmakers see their work as instant and disposable, what chance does the archivist have?! So the best we can do is to at least record any scraps of information that we do stumble upon, and use this part of the 'Marmalade' site to preserve whatever we can.

On the Facebook page 'The Derann Vaults', Stuart Edwards from Dudley in the West Midlands posted details of amateur films he and friends had shot during the late 1970s. I have listed the 40-minute A CRAWLING MADNESS (a Lovecraft adaptation) on the main site here at 'Marmalade' as we have a confirmed 40-minute running time for that one, but Stuart and Ged Jones provided information about a few additional titles produced by 'Terry-Stuart International Films' (i.e. Stuart and Terry Rudge). Stuart reveals that they made 7 in total, winning a BBC competition with one called ONLY A STEP AWAY. Horror output included AND NOW THE TERROR STARTS (starring Terry as 'Karl' and Debbie Tromans as 'Victoria'), and Stuart posted a trailer for a vampire film called THE FEAR WITHIN from 1978 ("Terror Is Only A Scream Away", runs the tagline)

At the private tracker/download site 'Cinemageddon', one kind uploader made a 50-minute-plus package of British amateur horror available to the site's users. This appeared to be grab-bag footage from at least four separate short productions, and the only on-screen title to appear (halfway through) was, bafflingly, NOT A LOT OF VEGETABLES! I duly and dutifully watched the whole lot and have penned a review, of sorts, for my book 'Dead or Alive: British Horror Films 1980-1989'. For what it's worth, and to whet your appetite (or otherwise!), here are a few shots from the downloaded file:

And here's David Gregory of Blu-ray label par excellence, Severin Films. David is currently US-based but was born and raised in England, and posted at Facebook in August 2019 about amateur horror films he'd made as a kid. His post read: "Here's me, about 9, in an early Super 8 work, modelling fangs not dissimilar to those used in horror movie classic DRACULA VS FRANKENSTEIN, then being staked and rotting. Don't ask me to tell my makeup FX secrets; a magician never reveals his tricks" Stills from David's junior moviemaking days are shown below:

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