Saturday 29 August 2015

TRUMPS! A GREAT DEAL ON THE CARDS FOR FANS OF DR TERRORS HOUSE OF HORRORS ON BLU RAY


Amicus films classic DR TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS is soon to enjoy a blu ray release on BOTH sides of the Atlantic. In Europe and the UK O.E.G. (Odeon Entertainment Group) are releasing their LIMITED EDITION of just 4,000 STEEL BOOK blu ray on OCTOBER 26th 2015. The STEEL BOOK commissioned artwork is by Graham Humphreys and extras include along with a new documentary on the film, directed by Jake West (Razor Blade Smile, Doghouse, Video Nasties) called House of Cards, and a recently filmed appreciation of the life and career of the late Sir Christopher Lee. This release is also is REGION FREE.

ODEON ENTERTAINMENT DR TERRORS
HOUSE OF HORRORS PROMO FOR EXTRAS
DOCUMENTARY 'HOUSE OF CARDS'



Also it is good news for our friends in the US, as Dr Terror's House Of Horror's gets a REGION A BLU RAY AND REGION 1 DVD  release from Olive Films. No word yet on special features, but we'll keep you posted. Olive Films is currently scheduled to released their Dr Terror's House of Horrors DVD/ BLU RAY package on October 27th 2015.



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Friday 28 August 2015

SUSAN DENBERG: THAT FEMININE TOUCH : WOMEN IN GOTHIC : PART FOUR FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN


The Baron's most physically perfect creation was undoubtedly Christina, played by the enchanting Susan Denberg, in Fisher's return to the series, Frankenstein Created Woman (1967). Born Deitlinde Zsechner in Bad Polzin, Germany - which is now Polczyn-Zdroj in Poland - Denberg was a gorgeous blonde who had been a chorus girl in both London and Las Vegas.


She was the daughter of Austrian and German parents, having been raised in Klagenfurt, Austria, before making her decision to go into show business. Having adopted the name Susan Denberg, she became the centrepiece of a nationwide contest in America during the production of a film called See You in Hell, Darling, (AKA An American Dream)  in which Warner Bros had offered a $500 prize in a publicity campaign to come up with a new name for the actress.


There were 5,000 entries in the contest, including the bizarre 'Norma Mailer,' but they were all rejected and she remained Susan Denberg.


Acting against such veterans as Cushing, Thorley Walters, Peter Blythe, Barry Warren and Peter Madden, Denberg held her own. Given her relative lack of acting experience - the only other performance she is remembered for is as one of Mudd's Women in a Star Trek episode - she is, in fact, something of a revelation.



FRANKENSTEIN CREATED
WOMAN ORIGINAL THEATRICAL
TRAILER


Although her voice was ultimately dubbed in the film by another actress, Denberg's natural talent shines through. She is just as convincing as the 'crippled' Christina as she is portraying the 'created' one, who receives not a brain transplant, but a 'soul transplant' from her dead boyfriend.

THE UNRAVELING



This was not an easy role for an ingenue, and indeed would have taxed a more experienced actress, but she brings it off with passion and grace. Of course, what made playing the dual roles even more difficult was that Christina, once 'reborn,' was possessed by the soul of a man! In a genuinely disturbing scene, and one which the censor objected to, Christina has the severed head of her lover Hans (Robert Morris) skewered on her bedpost so that she can commune with her - his? - former self.

HEAD IN A BOX!


Later in the film, she carries the head around in a hatbox, and after her final murder - in which she avenges herself upon the last of Hans' three killers - she pulls it from the hatbox and speaks to it in Hans' voice in a scene reminiscent of the classic ventriloquist sequence in Dead of Night (1945).

 

CHRISTINA AND HANS

Although publicity photographs for Frankenstein Created Woman featured Denberg in a kind of 'bikini bandage' outfit with Peter Cushing nearby, seemingly proud of his 'creation,' no such scene was in the film. Those who wanted to see 'more' of Denberg had to settle for her Playboy layout, which had already been published in August, 1966.


Unfortunately, the postscript to Denberg's life story after Frankenstein Created Woman was not a happy one. Her drug use caused her to have a nervous breakdown and she made only two more appearances, both on American television, before returning home to Klagenfort. Broadcast interviews of the time show an obviously depressed Denberg alongside her mother. Eventually, fans began to circulate rumours that the actress had taken her own life, but in fact, she still lives in Austria as of this date.


The reputation of Frankenstein Created Woman continues to grow, perhaps in part because of Denberg's 'mysterious' disappearance from public life. The highest praise for the film has come from none other than Martin Scorsese, the Oscar-winning director who chose Frankenstein Created Woman to show as part of a National Film Theatre series of his favourite films. Introducing the movie, Scorsese (who had once considered becoming a priest before he was a filmmaker) said: 'If I single this one out, it's because here they actually isolate the soul, a bright blue shining translucent ball. The implied metaphysics is close to something sublime.' 


BEHIND THE SCENES ON 
FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN
AND PETER CUSHING ON HAMMER FILMS

 


More About SUSAN DENBERG in our Special Feature
'The Girl From Pomerania'
Here At The Website Quick Link: HERE


Did You Miss PART THREE of That Feminine Touch : Women In Gothic 
 The Evil Of Frankenstein: Featuring Katy Wild And Carol Gardner?
You Can QUICK LINK To It Right HERE 


Feature Written by: Bruce G Hallenbeck
Stills: Stephen Jones and Marcus Brooks
Feature Design: Jamie Somerville and Marcus Brooks


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