Misery is a 1990 American horror-thriller film from Columbia Pictures and Castle Rock Entertainment, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates’ performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes. Bates won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe. The film was ranked #12 on Bravo’s 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
Trivia:
Cameo: [J.T. Walsh] State of Colorado Police Chief.
Director Cameo: [Rob Reiner] the helicopter pilot.
After seeing The Shining (1980). Rob Reiner was immediately inspired to direct a movie based on a Stephen King novel.
The main character Paul Sheldon’s novels are published by Viking, the same publishing company that published Stephen King’s books at that time.
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A video of When Harry Met Sally… (1989) (also directed by Rob Reiner) is visible in the general store.
The “guy who went mad in a hotel nearby” is a reference to The Shining (1980), also based on a novel written by Stephen King.
Jack Nicholson was offered the role of Paul Sheldon but passed because he wasn’t sure he wanted to do another movie based on one of Stephen King’s novels after what he had experienced with Stanley Kubrick on The Shining (1980).
When Annie demands that Paul burn his manuscript, she lights the paper and we see a close-up of the words on the paper, an article about Cameron Crowe and how he is an amazing scriptwriter. It talks about his movies, but mostly offers praise for Say Anything… (1989).
According to William Goldman’s book “Four Screenplays”, the main character role, Paul Sheldon, was offered to William Hurt, ‘Kevin Kline (I)’, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, and Warren Beatty, all of whom declined.
Anjelica Huston was offered the leading role, and was interested, but was unable to accept it due to her commitment to The Grifters (1990). Bette Midler also turned the role down before it went to Kathy Bates.
One of Stephen King’s first typewriters had a malfunctioning “N” key, just like the one used by James Caan in the movie.
The new manuscript that Paul burns at Annie’s urging was called “Fast Cars.”
In a recent interview with Melvyn Bragg, William Goldman revealed that few actors wanted the role of Paul Sheldon because Annie Wilks overshadowed him so much as a character. Warren Beatty commented before declining that the hobbling scene made Paul Sheldon “a loser for the rest of the film”. Goldman was determined to keep that scene in the film as it was his favorite from the Stephen King novel.
Stephen King had originally planned to release the novel under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. While writing it, however, it was discovered that King was Bachman. King subsequently published the novel under his real name, and announced that Bachman had died from “cancer of the pseudonym.”
Underworld (aka Transmutations) is a 1985 British horror film, written by Clive Barker and James Caplin, and starring Denholm Elliott, Miranda Richardson, Steven Berkoff, Larry Lamb, Ingrid Pitt and Art Malik, in which a mad doctor keeps mutants underground. The film was directed by George Pavlou.
Joseph James “Joe” Dante (born November 28, 1946) is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and scifi content.
His films include Piranha (1978) and The Howling (1981), both from scripts by John Sayles; Segment 3 of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983); Gremlins (1984), his first major hit, and its sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990); Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), Amazon Women on the Moon (1987); The ‘Burbs (1989), Matinee (1993), Runaway Daughters (1994), The Second Civil War (1997), The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy (1998), Small Soldiers (1998), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), and Homecoming (2005). In 1995-1996, Dante worked on The Phantom, and when he was removed from the film, he chose screen credit (as executive producer) rather than pay. He was creative consultant on Eerie, Indiana (1991-1992) and directed five episodes. He played himself in the series finale.
Always casts Dick Miller in a cameo or supporting role.
Frequently has films/TV shows with themes similar to the movie in various scenes.
Always includes a reference to the Warner Bros. cartoons somewhere in each of his works.
Frequently casts Robert Picardo in supporting roles or cameos.
Frequently casts William Schallert in supporting roles or cameos.
Frequently hired composer Jerry Goldsmith.
Frequently casts Kevin McCarthy.
Frequently casts Ron Perlman in supporting roles or cameos.
Trivia
Former Roger Corman protégé. Also helped by Steven Spielberg.
Directors he has cited as his principal influences include Chuck Jones, Frank Tashlin, James Whale, Roger Corman, and Jean Cocteau.
Was interested in directing Batman (1989).
Was scheduled to direct a Jaws (1975) parody (under the National Lampoon banner) in the early 1980s called “Jaws 3 People 0″. Universal Pictures dropped this concept in favor of a “straight” film (which became the critical and financial flop Jaws 3-D (1983)).
They (also known as Wes Craven Presents: They) is the title of a horror film released in 2002. The plot centers on the phenomenon of night terrors and their impact on the lives of adults who experienced them as children.
Though Brendan Hood is credited as screenwriter, he only came up with the basic idea. Everything in his original draft was subsequently written out by the producers, and it’s estimated that up to 10 people have worked on the script.
Directed by Robert Harmon
Written by Brendan William Hood
Producers
Tony Blain … co-producer
Tom Engelman … producer
Ted Field … executive producer
Barbara Kelly … co-producer
Scott Kroopf … producer
David Linde … executive producer
John Mariella … associate producer
Cast
Laura Regan … Julia Lund
Marc Blucas … Paul Loomis
Ethan Embry … Sam Burnside
Dagmara Dominczyk … Terry Alba
Jon Abrahams … Billy Parks
Alexander Gould … Young Billy
Desiree Zurowski … Mary Parks
Mark Hildreth … Troy
Jonathan Cherry … Darren
Peter Lacroix … David Parks
Steve Oedekerk (born November 27, 1961) is an American comedian, director, editor, producer, screenwriter and actor. Oedekerk is best known for his collaborations with actor Jim Carrey (particularly the Ace Ventura franchise), his series of “Thumbmation” shorts and his film Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002).
Oedekerk gained popularity with his series of “Thumbmation” shorts: Thumb Wars, Bat Thumb, The Godthumb, Frankenthumb, The Blair Thumb and Thumbtanic.
Trivia:
Is highly involved in Martial Arts.
Is best known for the “Thumb” movies.
Was a contestant on “Star Search” (1983), and appeared on the TV series “Full House” (1987) as Joey Gladstone’s (Dave Coulier) competitor on Star Search in the episode “Star Search”.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is a 1986 motion picture released by Paramount Studios. It is the fourth feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television series. It completes the story begun in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and continued in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Intent on returning home to Earth to face trial for their crimes, the former crew of the USS Enterprise travels to Earth’s past in order to save their present from a probe attempting to communicate with long-dead humpback whales.
After directing The Search for Spock, cast member Leonard Nimoy was asked to direct the next feature, and given greater freedom to the film’s content. Nimoy and producer Harve Bennett conceived a story with an environmental message. After dissatisfaction with the first script produced by Steeve Meerson and Peter Krikes, Paramount hired The Wrath of Khan writer and director Nicholas Meyer, who collaborated with Bennett to rewrite the script.
James Horner, the composer for the previous two films, declined to return; Nimoy’s friend Leonard Rosenman was given the job instead.
The film earned four Academy Award nominations, for Best Cinematography, Best Effects, Best Music and Best Sound.
Trivia:
The device Dr. McCoy uses to heal Chekov’s head injury is part of a model kit of an AMT movie version Klingon Battlecruiser.
The punk on the bus is played by associate producer Kirk R. Thatcher. He also wrote the song that is playing on the boom box during his scene.
Some shots of the whales were in fact four foot long animatronics models. Four models were created, and were so realistic that after release of the film, US fishing authorities publicly criticized the film makers for getting too close to whales in the wild. The scenes involving these whales were shot in a pool underneath a Paramount parking lot. The shot of the whales swimming past the Golden Gate Bridge were filmed on location, and nearly ended in disaster when a cable got snagged on a nuclear submarine and the whales were towed out to sea.
The film was originally supposed to have Eddie Murphy instead of Catherine Hicks. Murphy was supposed to have played a professor concerned with UFO’s who spots the de-cloaking Klingon ship at the Super Bowl. Apparently, all others are convinced the ship is a half-time special effect while Murphy believes it is real. Paramount declined this script for two reasons: Paramount didn’t want to combine their two most profitable franchises (“Star Trek” (1966) and Beverly Hills Cop (1984)), and Murphy had signed on to do The Golden Child (1986) instead.
According to George Takei, when McCoy, Scotty and Sulu are standing in front of the building with Yellow Pages advertisement, a door opens and an Asian woman appears. The scene in the movie ends at this point but originally this woman was to begin shouting for a young boy named Hikaru, who would run into Sulu. Sulu would realize that this boy was his great-great-(etc.) grandfather. The young boy hired for this scene began to cry on the set before the shot and they were unable to get him to do the scene. With no one to replace him, the scene was never shot.
Sulu (George Takei) was supposed to leap into the Huey helicopter when the pilot was outside, looking the other way, and make off with it. Takei had just run the San Francisco marathon when they were supposed to shoot this scene, and was too sore to leap into the helicopter. They tried having a grip throw him in, but couldn’t get it to look realistic, so the scene was cut. In the final edit, Sulu is shown talking to the pilot, then shows up flying the helicopter a few minutes later.
Cameo: [Bob Sarlatte] The waiter in the restaurant.
The Cetacean Institute is actually the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California. The Institute’s logo also belongs to the Aquarium.
When Kirk, McCoy, and Gillian first enter the hospital and are walking around trying to locate Chekov, a voice on a loudspeaker in the background says “Paging Dr. Zober… Dr. Sandy Zober.” Sandra Zober was director/star Leonard Nimoy’s wife at the time.
The officer on the Saratoga who announces that the thruster controls are offline is of the same alien race as the Federation President in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). This race has never been officially named, but some promotional materials identify the race as the Efrosians (named after Mel Efros, unit production manager for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)).
During Spock’s memory tests, the computer speaks very rapidly, almost too rapidly to discern. The first question it asks Spock is, “Who said ‘Logic is the cement of our civilization, with which we ascend from chaos, using reason as our guide’?”
The time-travel method used in the film comes from the “Star Trek” (1966) episode ‘Tomorrow is Yesterday’.
A scene written for but cut from the film explained why Saavik stays on Vulcan: she is pregnant with Spock’s child, stemming from an event in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). This was the character’s final appearance in a Star Trek film.
Jane Wyatt’s final cinematic appearance.
The computer graphic consoles that became standard on the 24th century Star Trek bridges and also called “Okudagrams” (named for designer Michael Okuda), make their first appearance on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-A. It is also the final appearance of the entire original Star Trek movie bridge set as only small parts were reused for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).
Scenes of the Enterprise’s final moments and its self-destruct were reused from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).
During the film’s 1 hour 59 minute runtime, there’s only a total of about 1 minute 13 seconds worth of shots of the Enterprise – the shortest amount of time the Enterprise is seen on screen in any Star Trek movie. The first 33 seconds of it during the beginning courtroom scene was stock footage of the Enterprise’s destruction from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). The other 40 seconds of it were shots of the Enterprise-A towards the end.
One early draft script was subtitled ‘The Trial of James T. Kirk’. This script involved Kirk being ‘court-martial’ed at the request of the Klingons, who were indignant about the events in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). One particularly interesting facet of this script is that it included the character of Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel)as a character witness. When the time-travel script was approved instead, the trial was included as a minor sequence. The trial-by-Klingons idea (and portions of the dialogue) was later re-used in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).
Cameo: [Jane Wiedlin] The Go-Go’s rhythm guitarist appears as the captain of a ship rendered powerless by the Probe. She is seen on the right of three huge video screens amid a chaotic control room on Earth. Her line: ‘The condition remains the same. The Probe has neutralized all power supplies. We are functioning on reserves only’.
The captain of the USS Saratoga, seen at the start of the film, was the first female captain ever seen in a Star Trek story. The success of this film led to offers by several US TV networks to produce a new Trek TV series with the original cast. Instead, Paramount gave the green light to produce the syndicated “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987) starring an all new cast. A woman (Kate Mulgrew) was cast as ship’s captain in the Star Trek series Star Trek series ‘Star Trek: Voyager (1995)’.
The miniature of the Spacedock interior (some fifteen feet across) had been destroyed at the end of production on the previous film and had to be rebuilt from scratch.
As part of a deal with reincarnating Spock in the previous film, Leonard Nimoy took the director’s chair.
When Chekov is running through the Enterprise (the aircraft carrier), trying to get away from the Marines, the words “Escape Route” and an arrow can be seen on the bulkhead walls.
The ‘USS Enterprise CVN-65′ was actually The USS Ranger CV-61. The Enterprise was out to sea during filming.
According to Spock’s computer on Vulcan, Kiri-Kin-Tha’s First Law of Metaphysics states that “Nothing unreal exists”.
Kirk R. Thatcher did such extensive work on the film that he was promoted from “Production Assistant/Visual Effects” to “Associate Producer” by the end of the film.
Scenes filmed on location in San Francisco marked the first time any Star Trek installment had been filmed outside the Los Angeles region.
When Nicholas Meyer was asked to help with the script, the first thing he wanted to do was change the location from San Francisco to Paris because he had previously written and directed a movie about time travel involving San Francisco called Time After Time (1979). But since Starfleet is supposed to be located in San Francisco, he was overruled. Oddly enough, scenes in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), as well as scenes from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993) depict the Office of the Federation President to be in Paris.
The scene with the punk music on the bus was written by Nicholas Meyer to revive a scene that was cut from his movie Time After Time (1979), that had H.G. Wells encountering a teenager with music blaring from a boom box.
The scene with Chekov and Uhura kneeling on rocks looking at the Aircraft Carriers was shot in San Diego at North Island Naval Air Station.
It is often claimed that this is the only Star Trek film where no weapons are fired. This is incorrect, as Kirk uses his phaser to weld a door shut, and the whaler fires its harpoon. Chekov also tries to use his phaser, though it doesn’t work. It is also one which no cast member from this film is killed, as the only deaths were from the reused footage from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).
The whale hunters speak Finnish. The older Finnish hunter says “What the hell was it, that hit the harpoon?”
The film bore the dedication, “The cast and crew of Star Trek wish to dedicate this film to the men and women of the spaceship Challenger whose courageous spirit shall live to the 23rd century and beyond…”
The computer that Scotty uses to show transparent aluminum was originally going to be an Amiga, but Commodore would only provide a computer if they bought it. Apple was willing to loan them the Mac.
When the alien ship is approaching Earth at the beginning to look for the humpback whales, there were originally subtitles saying things like “Where are you? Can you hear us?”. The studio wanted to keep them despite Leonard Nimoy’s objections. In the first test screening, however, test audiences indicated the subtitles were unnecessary so they were cut.
For the shot of Sulu flying the helicopter over San Francisco bay, the filmmakers tried to get a pilot to fly a Huey, but they were unable to. The long shot was accomplished using a radio controlled model from Japan.
The Probe is modelled after Rama from Arthur C. Clarke’s “Rendezvous with Rama”.
While attempting to escape from the security agents aboard the USS Enterprise, Chekov tosses his phaser to one of the agents; although it is representative of twenty-third century technology, it is never retrieved.
After Leonard Nimoy allowed Kirk R. Thatcher to play the punk on the bus, Thatcher expressed displeasure at the music chosen for his boom box on the bus scene. He then asked to write and perform a song that he felt would be more representative of his character than the pre-selected music that was to appear. The result was the song “I Hate You”.
The original script called for the whales to be intercepted during aerial transport over the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco Mayor Diane Feinstein objected, saying that the city already had enough trouble with jumpers on the bridge, and that the scene would only encourage more. This led to the scene showing capture of the whales in Alaska.
One of the questions Spock is asked by the Computer on Vulcan asks about the major historical events of 1987. We never see or hear the answer to that question as the film was made in 1986.
The sounds of static from the computers heard in the background when the Bird of Prey comes out of timewarp are the loading sounds of a Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer.
The location where Dr. Gillian Taylor picks up Kirk and Spock is not an actual street. It’s a parking lot that runs alongside the main road.
In order to find the best actress to play Dr. Gillian Taylor, two prospective actresses were brought out to William Shatner’s ranch by Leonard Nimoy to meet with the man himself. It was Shatner who personally chose Catherine Hicks saying that she was “spunky” (According to Shatner and Nimoy in the DVD Commentary).
The idea of having Spock give the Vulcan nerve pinch to the punk rocker was inspired by Leonard Nimoy who was walking down the street in New York when a punk came out of a store with his boombox blaring, disturbing everyone around him. Annoyed, Nimoy thought “If I was REALLY Spock, I’d pinch his head off!” (According to Nimoy in the DVD Commentary).
This film features the only instance in which Kirk says “Scotty, Beam me up”
During the final scene of the movie, where the Enterprise crew is in the shuttle Sulu says “with all due respect I hope we get Excelsior”. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Sulu is the Captain of the Excelsior.
The scene where Chekov and Uhura are asking a woman about “nuclear wessels” was almost completely improvised. Her line about them being in Alameda was ad-libbed by her, and although she wasn’t supposed to say very much, Leonard Nimoy enjoyed the spontaneity of the scene so much he left it the way it was.
The sound the probe makes is taken from the sound of baby’s heartbeat during a sonogram, slowed down and digitalized.
Final cinema film of Robert Ellenstein.
The antique glasses that Kirk sells to make some cash are the pair that was given to him by McCoy for his birthday in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982). It’s suggested that once sold in the antiques store, those glasses hang around until they’re bought by McCoy, in the future, and then Kirk takes them back in time, and so on, in which case one has to wonder where the glasses “originally” came from. This constitutes an “ontological paradox”, an old favorite of science fiction writers, and raises too many questions to discuss here. (It is possible that these glasses existed in two places simultaneously, like characters in the “Back to the Future” films, rather than being caught in a causal loop.) The same paradox arises when Scotty explains how to make transparent aluminum. If the formula is “found” for the first time in the 20th century, but only because Scotty took the information back, then it was never invented in the first place! (This may not be a paradox if Scotty only gave Doctor Nichols the chemical formula but not the manufacturing process.)
Scotty provided the formula for transparent aluminum in this movie. Interestingly, this state of matter was discovered in 2009.
According to Leonard Nimoy, about 95% of the Humpback Whale footage in the final cut of the film was man-made.
Susan Sarandon was among performers that were considered for the main guest lead of Dr.Gillian Taylor.
From the Earth to the Moon (1958) is a science fiction film adaptation of the Jules Verne novel of the same name. It starred Joseph Cotten, George Sanders, Debra Paget, and Don Dobbins. The film began as an RKO Pictures movie but when RKO went into bankruptcy the film was released by Warner Brothers.
Trivia:
This was one of the last films produced for RKO. By the time it was completed, RKO had ceased production and distribution. It was released through Warner Brothers.
This went into production as RKO was preparing to shut down. It was believed to have had a much larger budget which was later cut. This greatly affected the quality of the special effects.
Among the last minute cost-cutting measures inflicted upon this film was the elimination of all scenes taking place on the moon.
Some of the music is actually the “electronic tonalities” created by Louis Barron and Bebe Barron for Forbidden Planet (1956).
Debra Paget
Cast -
Joseph Cotten … Victor Barbicane
George Sanders … Stuyvesant Nicholl
Debra Paget … Virginia Nicholl
Don Dubbins … Ben Sharpe
Patric Knowles … Josef Cartier
Carl Esmond … Jules Verne
Henry Daniell … Morgana
Melville Cooper … Bancroft
Ludwig Stossel … Von Metz
Morris Ankrum … President Ulysses S. Grant
Robert Clarke … Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Les Tremayne … Countdown Announcer (uncredited)
William Albert “Billy” Burke (born November 25, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Swan in the 2008 film Twilight and as Gary Matheson in the second season of 24.
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Burke was born in Bellingham, Washington. His television credits include roles in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (in the episode “Second Skin”), Party of Five, Gilmore Girls, Karen Sisco, Fringe, Monk and The Closer (Season 4, episode 13, “Power of Attorney” playing the attorney Phillip Stroh). He also plays Detective Eric Box in the movie Untraceable.
His motion picture credits include Jane Austen’s Mafia!, Along Came a Spider, Final Jeopardy, Flashpoint and Ladder 49. His upcoming film credits include The Fallen, Forfeit, Fracture and Retirement. He also appeared in Feast of Love (2007), co-starring Selma Blair and Morgan Freeman. In 2008, Burke appeared in Twilight, based on the best-selling novel by Stephenie Meyer, playing the role of Charlie Swan. He also plays Bobby’s brother Jack on the show My Boys. Burke reprised his role as Charlie Swan in Twilight‘s sequel, New Moon.
Burke is one of the “famous faces” on the online poker website Hollywood Poker, which is run in conjunction with Ongame Network.
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave is a 1968 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis for Hammer Films. It stars Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, with support from Rupert Davies, Veronica Carlson, Barry Andrews, Barbara Ewing, Ewan Hooper and Michael Ripper.
The world of the film is arguably far darker and more ambiguous than the world created by director Terence Fisher for the previous three films in the Dracula series.
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave is the Sequel to “Prince of Darkness” (1966).
Veronica Carlson and Christopher Lee
Directed by Freddie Francis
Writer – John Elder
Producer – Aida Young
Cast
Christopher Lee … Dracula
Rupert Davies … Monsignor Ernest Mueller
Veronica Carlson … Maria Mueller
Barbara Ewing … Zena
Barry Andrews … Paul
Ewan Hooper … Priest
Marion Mathie … Anna Mueller
Michael Ripper … Max
John D. Collins … Student
George A. Cooper … Landlord
Chris Cunningham … Farmer
Norman Bacon … Mute Boy
The Story: (Spoiler Alert!!)
A year has passed since the demise of Dracula, buried under the ice in the river that flows past his castle. Ernst Mueller [Rupert Davies], monsignor of the monastery at Kleinberg, has decided to visit the village to see that all is well. What he finds is appalling. The village priest [Ewan Hooper] has become an alcoholic. The villagers will not attend Sunday Mass because the shadow of Dracula’s castle touches the church during the evening hours. The Monsignor decides to exorcise the castle and prove to the villagers that the evil is gone. He and the priest climb the hill to the castle, but the priest chickens out halfway. The Monsignor continues alone to the castle door where he performs his exorcism and seals the castle door with a large cross. The priest, in the meantime, is taking swigs from his hipflask. He stumbles over a cliff, cuts his head, lands on the river ice, causing it to crack open just above Dracula’s body. The priest’s blood drips through the cracked ice, flowing into Dracula’s mouth, and Dracula is thus resurrected.
Veronica Carlson
Barred from his castle by the cross on the door, Dracula [Christopher Lee] must now find other lodgings. He enslaves the priest, forcing him to dig up a new coffin for him. He also forces him to reveal who is responsible for the exorcism. The coffin is loaded onto a funeral coach, and the priest and Dracula head toward Kleinberg. His exorcism finished, the Monsignor also returns to Kleinberg where he lives with his brother’s widow Anna [Marion Mathe] and his niece Maria [Veronica Carlson]. It is Maria’s birthday, and a dinner party is planned for her. Tonight, Maria will introduce her boyfriend Paul [Barry Anderson], who she has been climbing over the rooftops to meet secretly) to her family. Paul works as a baker at the Johann Cafe and engages in scholarly studies during his spare time. Scared to meet Maria’s family for the first time, Paul’s plight is not helped when his friends at the cafe spill beer down his shirt. Still, all goes well at the dinner until Paul, in a fit of truthfulness, admits to the Monsignor that he is an atheist. Paul returns to the cafe, downs 3 glasses of Schnapps, and passes out. The waitress Xena [Barbara Ewing] carries him up to bed just as Maria enters through a window.
On her way home, Xena is attacked by Dracula. With Xena’s help, Dracula and his coffin are moved into a storage room in the cafe cellar, and the priest takes a room at the cafe. The next evening, when Maria drops by the cafe to see Paul, Xena leads her into the bakery, covers her head with a bag, and takes her to see Dracula. Maria escapes, however, when Paul comes looking for her, and she tells of being attacked by a man “with burning eyes.” Angry at the failed attempt, Dracula kills Xena and orders the priest to destroy her in the furnace fire. Later that night, Dracula comes to Maria’s bedside and drinks from her. He returns the next night but, just as he prepares to drink from her, the Monsignor enters the room. Dracula sees the cross in the Monsignor’s hand and leaps from the window. The Monsignor attempts to follow but is knocked out by the priest. As the Monsignor lies dying, he sends for Paul and tells him what he must do to save Maria. Paul finds Dracula’s coffin and drives a stake through his heart but, because neither he nor the priest can pray to God, Dracula succeeds in removing the stake. He escapes, summons Maria and, together with the priest, they return to Dracula’s castle. Paul gets a horse and follows.
Upon reaching the castle, Dracula forces Maria to remove the cross from the castle door. As she throws it down the cliff, Paul arrives. He and Dracula battle. They both fall off the porch. Paul catches a branch on the way down but Dracula falls to the ground where he is impaled upon the cross just tossed away by Maria. As the priest recites the Pater Noster, Dracula turns to dust.
Production Info:
This was the first of the Hammer Dracula films to be shot at Elstree Studios in London. Notably missing are the approach road, coach path and moat seen in front of Castle Dracula in 1958′s Dracula and 1966′s Dracula: Prince of Darkness. Those films were made at Bray Studios.
The film was photographed by Arthur Grant using colored filters belonging to director Freddie Francis, also a cameraman by trade, who used them when photographing The Innocents (1961). Whenever Dracula (or his castle) is in a scene, the frame edges are tinged crimson, amber and yellow.
In Australia, the film was the first Hammer Dracula to be passed by the censors; the previous films Dracula (1958) and Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) were banned. The film was slightly censored and ran for a three-week season at Sydney’s Capitol theatre in January 1970. In the US, the film was rated G. ……… Source(s) IMDB, Wikipedia
Scrooged is a 1988 comedy film, a modernization of Charles Dickens’ novella, A Christmas Carol. The film was produced and directed by Richard Donner, and the cinematography was by Michael Chapman. The screenplay was written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O’Donoghue. The original music score was composed by Danny Elfman.
The cast includes: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Bob “Bobcat” Goldthwait, John Forsythe, Carol Kane, David Johansen, John Houseman, John Glover, and Robert Mitchum. It also features cameo appearances by Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton, musicians Larry Carlton, Miles Davis, David Sanborn, and Paul Shaffer, actor/singer Robert Goulet, and actors Jamie Farr, Buddy Hackett, Lee Majors, and Pat McCormick as well as the Solid Gold Dancers. Bill Murray’s real-life brothers, Brian, John, and Joel also appear in the film.
The film was marketed with references to the film Ghostbusters which had been a great success four years earlier in 1984. In the USA, the tagline for Scrooged was, “Bill Murray is back among the ghosts, only this time, it’s three against one.” In Brazil, it’s named “Os Fantasmas Contra-Atacam” (The Ghosts Strike Back). In Spain, the film was titled “Los fantasmas atacan al jefe” (The Ghosts Attack the Boss). In Italy, the movie was released as “S.O.S. fantasmi” (“S.O.S. ghosts”).
