by Tomorrow marks the passing of legendary British actor Peter Cushing of cancer back in 1994.
Even as a young kid, I loved watching the old gothic horror movies. As early as the beginning of the 1980s, I already saw a clear distinction between truly unnerving classics such as The Haunting and brainless drivel like Friday the 13th. On Saturday nights, a local station showed the “Saturday Night Shocker” at 10:30 p.m., and I loved the anticipation when the theme music started (the first time I was exposed to Alan Parsons‘ “Sirius“) and this creepy Invisible Man-type creature started walking toward me from the screen.
The focus of the show was B-movie horror flicks from the 60s and 70s as well as the Hammer films of the 50s, 60s and early 70s, where Cushing was usually the hero. Along with Christopher Lee, he redefined film goers’ perceptions of the vampire, werewolf, and Frankenstein monster.
Hammer ramped up the blood, sex and gore following an era of extreme censorship within the film industry, to great success.
And how could you go wrong with titles like “The Satanic Rites of Dracula” and “Twins of Evil“??
Fans of TRUE atmospheric, gothic horror have Hammer Films to thank for the genre taking a sharp turn away from becoming a parody of itself (Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein…really?). It also paved the way for truly disturbing art such as Andy Warhol‘s re-imaginings of Dracula and Frankenstein.
So I am taking a moment today to relive some of my best memories of childhood, huddled in front of the television and hoping for a high victim count before Cushing got the best of whatever hellish fiend he was pursuing.
And yes, I realize that “Sirius” for most people conjures up stadiums, football stomps, and Michael Jordan, but for me it will always be the song that plays as you descend down crumbling castle steps in the dark, approaching the large wooden door that holds unimaginable horrors within.
