As you may know, I have a small collection of Dracula editions. I’m particularly fond of hand sized editions. Much as I love Folio Society quality, I’m not mad about large volumes. They must be hardback and bound with stitched sections. This new one, with red-gold gilding, ticks all the boxes!
It was a pleasure to be invited by Ian Fleming Publications to the launch party for my friend Raymond Benson’s latest book in the James Bond universe: a Felix Leiter adventure called THE HOOK AND THE EYE. I look forward to getting stuck in with it!
It’s one of Hammer’s weakest, most perfunctory films.
But...
It’s Christopher Lee doing Dracula; it’s Patrick Troughton being devilish just after Doctor Who; the James Bernard score is splendid; and it’s a beautiful looking 4K edition.
Plus, this film has a special and unique connection with me.
Interesting. I knew there must be a market for custom amaray case insert covers, but I didn’t realise there was an underground supply of custom-made steel books.
What you get out of a book or movie relates to what you put in. I read this as if assigned to write reader’s notes and I’m loving it. Mockery of archetypes and class structures with insiders, outsiders, and parasites locked inside the decaying prison of a house and their insular neuroses. Familiar?
Our pre-dinner movie. An enjoyable fusion of science fiction, nuclear tension, and spy stuff, with that enjoyable, comforting Universal films house style of the era. When I see the name of director Joseph Sargent, I’m reminded of my love for that top five Star Trek episode, The Corbomite Manoeuvre.
It looks like a 007 villain lair, does it not? It’s actually one of the grottos at Capo Caccia near Alghero, Sardinia. We just returned from a late summer week there.
WOW. Three landmark recordings from 1978 and the early 1990s of three legendary film scores presented for the first time in the SACD format, so they can be enjoyed in super hi-res digital quality. I’m all in!
I have never seen a classic era Hammer film in the cinema. Is anyone going to one of the special Curse of Frankenstein theatrical screenings on October 2?
Indeed! It's the one from the 007 store. (Quicker in UK.) One of my LLL copie is en route,l: the one with Black Sunday. The other, which I actually ordered first, hasn't been despatched yet.
