215 Dementia 13 ( 1963)

Roger  Corman  had  a  bit  of  spare  cash  after  making  a  film in  Ireland  called  The  Young  Racers. Knowing  that  his  young  sound  technician had  film-making  ambitions  of  his  own, he  gave  Francis  Ford  Coppola  the  cash  with  a  brief  to  come  up with  something  similar  to Psycho.  The  resulting  film is  imperfect  but  it's  still  a  good  debut  effort  with  an  impressively  horrific  central  scene.

Louise  Haloran  is  put  out  when  her  husband John  dies  of  a  heart  attack while  on  a  night  time  rowing  excursion  effectively  disinheriting  her  by  predeceasing  his  mother  Lady  Haloran  ( Ethne  Dunn ). Louise  dumps  his  body  and  visits  the  family  in  Ireland  to  ingratiate  herself  while  pretending  John  is  still  alive. Realising  her  mother-in-law  is  emotionally  crippled  by  the  death  of  her  daughter  many  years  earlier,  Louise  concocts  a  plan  to  prey  on  this  but  things  don't  go  to  plan.

Luana  Anders  ( as  Louise  Haloran ) 

Sex:  Louise  strips  to  her  underwear  for  a  night  time  swim

Death : Hacked  to  death  with  an  axe  on  emerging  from  the  water

This  was  pretty  much  Luana's  only  leading  role  even  though  - like  Janet  Leigh - she  doesn't  make  it  to  the  final  reel.

Mary  Mitchel  ( as  Kane  )

Sex : Wears  a  see-through  nightie  in one  scene

Death : Survives

Mary  was  working  with  her  real-life  husband  Bart  Patton  who  plays  the  killer. Both  had  attended  UCLA  with  Coppola. When  her  acting  career  stalled  in  the  late  sixties, Mary  worked  behind  the  scenes  on  a  number  of  Coppola  pictures  including  The  Godfather  and  Apocalypse  Now. She  is  now  76.

214 Tower of London ( 1962 )

Roger  Corman  and  Vincent  Price  put  down  Tales  of  Mystery and  Imagination  and  pick  up Shakespeare  for  this  romp  through  the  Richard  III  legend  with  scant  regard  for  historical accuracy.  Price  plays  Richard  as  a  tortured  villain   whose  mind  grows  more  unhinged  with  each  murder  on  his  way  to  the  throne. Some  good  scenes  compensate  for  the  wild  inaccuracies  -almost  every actor  is  too  old  for  a  start.

Joan  Freeman  ( as  Lady  Margaret )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Joan  was  a  former  child  actress  who  was  more  active  in  TV  than  films. She  retired  in  the  mid-nineties. She  is  now  75.

Joan  Camden  ( as  Anne  Neville )

Sex : No

Death : Throttled  by  Richard  under  the  illusion  she  is  Mistress  Shore

This  Joan  too  was  mainly  a  TV  actress  and  this  was  the  last  of  her  handful  of  films. She  retired  the  following  year  and  died  of  a  heart  attack  on  Christmas  Day  2000  aged  71.

Sandra  Knight  ( as  Mistress  Shore )

Sex : Nice  legs  in  the  rack  scene

Death : Tortured  to  death  on  the  rack

Sandra  looks  gorgeous  in  this  but  it's  a  shame  about  the  accent.

213 Tales of Terror ( 1962 )

 More  Corman-Poe  fare  here  but  it's  a  portmanteau  of  three  short  stories  none  of  which  are  essential  but  they  don't  outstay  their  welcome. Vincent  Price  stars  in  all  three  and  he's  well  over  the  top  in  the  second  one  which  also  stars  Peter  Lorre ,the  two  men  trying  to  out-camp  each  other.

In  "Morella"  Price  plays  a  drunken  widower  who  keeps  his  wife's  corpse  on  the  bed  but  is  disturbed  by  a  visit  from  the  daughter  he  sent  away  as  a  baby.In  "The  Black  Cat"  he's  a  camp  wine  taster  who  befriends  the  local  drunk  ( Lorre )  and  finds  he  has  an  attractive  and  unsatisfied  wife. In "The  Facts  of  the  Case  of  M  Valdemar"  he's  a  terminally  ill  man  who  employs  an  evil  hypnotist  ( Basil  Rathbone )  to  alleviate  his  suffering  but  then  finds  himself  trapped  in  a  trance  at  the  moment  of  death.

Maggie  Pierce  ( as  Lenora )

Sex :  No

Death : Strangled  by  her  mother's  spirit

Maggie  was  a  nurse  and  model  before going  to  drama  school. She  worked  almost  exclusively  on  TV. She  retired  towards  the  end  of  the  sixties  and  died  in  2010  aged  78.

Leona  Gage  (  as  Morella )

Sex : No

Death : Consumed  by  fire

Leona  was  a  teenaged  wife  and  mother  who hit  the  headlines  in  1957 when she  was  stripped  of  the Miss  USA  title  for  lying  about  her  background. She  had  a  minor  film  career  in  the  sixties. She  attempted  suicide  in  1965  and  lost  custody  of  her  children. She  died  in  2010  aged  71.

Joyce  Jameson ( as  Annnabel Herringbone )

Sex :  Offscreen  with  Price's  character

Death : Starves  after being  bricked up  by  her  husband

Joyce  was  a  busy  and  versatile  actress  active  from the  early  fifties  to  the  mid-eighties.

She  was  a  one  time  girlfriend  of  Robert  Vaughan. She  died  of  a  deliberate  overdose  in  1987  aged  54,

Debra  Paget  ( as  Helene  Valdemar )

Sex : Some  cleavage  and  an  attempted  rape  at  the  film's  climax

Death : Survives

Debra  had  been  a  popular  young  actress  in  the  fifties  but  her  career  was  on  the  wane  when  she  made  this. She  retired  in  1964  on  her  third  marriage  to  an  oil  executive.She  is  now  83.

212 The Premature Burial ( 1962 )

This  is  another  of  Roger  Corman's  Poe  adaptations  and  certainly  has  a  "haven't  we  been  here  before ?"  air  to  it.

Dour  Ray  Miland  steps  in  for  the  presumably  unavailable  Vincent  Price  as  Guy  Carrell, a  British  aristocrat  consumed  by  a  fear  of  being  buried  alive. As  usual  he's  guarded  by  a  devoted  but  ineffectual  sister, Kate  ( Heather  Angel ). Guy  tries  to  break  up  with  fiance  Emily  but  she  persuades  him  to  go  ahead  with  the  wedding. That  doesn't  stop  him  fretting.

It's  got  all  the customary  Corman  trademarks  and  is  watchable  throughout  although  the  revelations  at  the  end  don't  cover  everything  that's  gone  before  and  leave  you  dissatisfied.

Hazel  Court  ( as  Emily )

Sex : Emily's  nightdress  is  fairly  see-through

Death : Suffocates  from  earth  piled  on top  of  her

Hazel  shines  again  in  this  one  without  revealing  as  much  flesh.

211 Hands of A Stranger ( 1962 )

This  is  another  adaptation  of  The  Hands  of  Orlac.  Unfortunately  it's  the  worst  ( or  at  least  I  hope  it  is ) Despite  a  couple  of  genuinely  horrific  scenes , it's  generally  a  talky  bore  with  a  deeply  unsympathetic  central  character.

Dr  Gil Harding  ( Paul  Lukather )  and  his  team   fail  to  save  a  John  Doe, the  victim  of  a  drive-by  shooting  but  notice  the  man's  strong  pair  of  hands. A  couple  of  hours  later  renowned  young  concert  pianist  Vernon  Paris ( James  Stapleton )  is  involved  in  a  road  accident  and  his  hands  are  irreversibly  damaged  in  the  wreck. Dr  Harding  decides  to  do  a  transplant  but  Vernon  is  not  too  happy  when  he  wakes  up.

Joan  Harvey  ( as  Dina  Paris )

Sex : No

Death :Survives

Joan  is  sometimes  confused  with  the  actress  Joan  Perry  who  was  married  to  Laurence  Harvey  for  a  time. Joan's  acting  career  was  brief  but  she  resurfaced  as  a  documentary  maker  in  the  early  eighties  and  she  also  worked  as  props  mistress  on  the 1981 horror film  Fear  No  Evil.

Elaine  Martone  ( as  Eileen  Hunter )

Sex :  She  doesn't  wear  a  bra

Death : Her  dress  catches  fire  when  she  backs  away  from  Paris  and  she  burns  to  death

Elaine  was  a  bit  part  player  in  mostly  uncredited  roles. She  disappears  in  the  mid-sixties.


Irish  Macalla  ( as  Holly )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was  the  last  movie   of  a  short  career  in  B-pictures  for  the  former  model  on  the  back  of  her  TV  success  in  the  titular  role  of  Sheena  ; Queen  of  the  Jungle.  She  retired  on  marriage  in  1964  and  took  up  painting . She  had  a  long  struggle  with  a  brain  tumour  which  finally  got  her  in  2002. She  was  72.

Sally  Kellerman  ( as  Sue )

Sex : No

Death : Throttled  ( offscreen )  by  Paris

This   was   Sally's  second  film   and  she  would  toil  for  a  few  more  years  in small  roles  before  hitting  the  big  time  in  M.A.S.H. Sally  is  still    hard  working  comic  actress  despite  turning  80  a  few  weeks  ago.

210 Carnival of Souls ( 1962 )

Besides  inspiring  an  early  REM  song, this  film  by  one time  only  director  Herk  Harvey , has  become  a  cult  classic. It  has  bags  of  creepy  atmosphere  with  the  organ  music almost  a  character  in  itself. If  the  twist  ending  isn't  that  much  of  a  surprise, it's  because  subsequent  films, The  Survivor  for  one, have  ripped  it  off.

Mary  Henry,  a  young  organist, is  a  passenger  in  a  car  involved  in  a  bridge  plunge. She  is the only  person  to  emerge  from  the  water  alive  but  her  attempts  to  pick  up  her  life  are  sabotaged  by  the  frequent  appearances  of  a  cadaverous  man  ( played  by  Harvey  himself )  that  no  one  else  can  see. She  also  has  sleazeball  neighbour  Linden  ( Sidney  Berger )  to  fend  off.  

Candace  Hilligoss  ( as  Mary  Henry )

Sex : No

Death : Drowns  in  a  car

This  was  Candace's  film  debut  but  she  was  an  experienced  stage  actress. Her subsequent  screen  appearances  were  few and  far  between  and  ceased  after  appearing  in  Quincy  in  1981. She  is  now 81.

209 Captain Clegg ( 1962 )

This  little-known  Hammer  movie  is  more  of  an  historical  adventure  yarn  than  a  horror  film   with  more  violence  than  shocks  but  it's  got  a  good  plot and  an  impressive  cast  headed  by  Peter  Cushing. It  was  released  as  Night  Creatures in  the  US

Captain  Collier  ( Patrick  Allen )  leads  a  party  of   government  men  to  a  small  village  on  Romney  Marshes  which  is  suspected  of  large  scale  smuggling. The  village  is  also  the  burial  place  of  a  notorious  pirate  Captain  Clegg  and  there  is  a  legend  of  ghostly  horsemen  roaming  the  marshes  at  night . These  narrative  strands  are  brought  together  in  entertaining  fashion.

Yvonne  Romain  ( as  Imogene )

Sex :  Imogene's  nipples  are  clearly  visible  just  before  her  guardian  tries  to  rape  her

Death : Survives

Yvonne  was  Oliver  Reed's  mum  in  Curse  of  the  Werewolf; here, she's  his  girlfriend.

208 The Brain That Wouldn't Die ( 1962 )

This  film  was  actually  completed  in  1959  but  not  released  until  three  years  later. I'm  not  sure  why  anyone  thought  it  would  do  any  better  then. I  don't think  I've  ever  seen  a  film with  such  uniformly  terrible  acting. The  script  doesn't  help  but  even  so. It  gets  quite  gory  towards  the  end  and  there's  a  fair  amount  of  female  flesh  on  view  but  this  film  only  works  when  nobody  opens  their  mouth.

Bill  Cortner  ( Jason  Evers )  is  a  mad  young  doctor  experimenting  with  transplants  at  his  disapproving  father's  country  house. When  his  girlfriend  Jan  loses  her  head  ( literally )  in  a  car  accident, he  retrieves  it  and  keeps  it  alive  in  a  tray  while  he  looks  around  the  clubs  for  a  body  for  her. She  meanwhile  starts  talking-at  length- to  the  creature  locked  in  the  cupboard.

Virgina  Leith  ( as  Jan )    

Sex : No

Death : Perishes  in  the  fire  at  the  end

The  former  model  from  Cleveland  had  been  tipped  for  stardom  in  the  mid-fifties  but  it  hadn't  worked  out  and  this  was  her  last  credited  film  role . She made  a  brief  comeback  on  TV  in  the  late  seventies. She  is  now  84.

Adele  Lamont  ( as  Doris  Powell  )

Sex :  Poses  in  a  bikini

Death :  ?  - she's  carried  away  from  the  fire  by  the  monster  but  we  don't  know  what  his  intentions  are

This  was  Adele's  only  film  role. She  died  in  2005  aged  74.

Bonnie  Sharie  ( as  Blonde  Stripper )

Sex : Does  a  routine  then  attempts  to  seduce  Bill ( in  a  scene  with  the  erotic  charge  of  a  tin  of  prunes )

Death : Survives

Bonnie's  only  film  role.

Paula  Morris  ( as  Brunet  Stripper  )

Sex  : Huge  boobs

Death : Survives

Paula  was  a  bit  part  actress  active  in  the  sixties.

Lola  Mason  ( as  Donna  Williams  )

Sex  :  Some  saucy  dialogue

Death : Survives

This  was  Lola's  first  film. She  went  on  to  a  moderately  successful  TV  career  up  to  the  mid-eighties. She  is  now  76.

Doris  Brent  ( as  Nurse )

Sex  : No

Death  :  Survives

Doris  made  just  four  film  appearances  but  remarkably  they're  all  in  different  decades. She  had  a  small  role  as  Machine's  Mom  in  8mm.

Audrey  Devereal   ( as  Jeannie )

Sex  : No

Death : Survives

This  was  Audrey's  only  film  role.

207 Taste of Fear ( 1961 )

This  Hammer  offering  is  as  much  crime  thriller  as  horror  film  but  it's  pretty  good  with  an  ingenious  plot  that  keeps  you  guessing  to  the  end.

Crippled  Penny  Appleby  accepts  an  invitation  to  stay  with  her  father in  France  but  when  she  arrives  there's  only  her  stepmother  Jane  ( Ann  Todd )  and  hunky  chauffeur   Robert ( Ronald  Lewis )  to  welcome  her. Then  her  father's  corpse  begins  appearing  in  odd  places  but  only  she  sees  it.She  stands  to  lose  her inheritance  if she  goes  insane. Aha  !  you  think,  but  nothing  is  quite  as  it  seems. Christopher  Lee  has  a supporting  role  as  the  family  doctor.

Susan  Strasberg  ( as  Penny )

Sex : Penny  appears  to  be  bra-less  for  most  of  the  film

Death : Survives

Susan  was  the  bait  for  audiences  in  the  US  where  the  film  was  re-titled Scream  of  Fear. She  was  born  in  New  York,the  daughter  of  legendary  drama  coach  Lee  Strasberg. She  was a  big  hit  on  Broadway  as  a  teenager  playing  Anne  Frank. She  was friends  with  Marilyn  Monroe  and  had  affairs  with  Richard  Burton  and  Warren  Beatty. Despite  these  connections, she  ultimately  became  more  of  a TV  actress  than  a  film  star. She  died  of  breast  cancer  in  1999  aged  60.

206 The Shadow of the Cat ( 1961 )

Hammer  had  a  go  at  the  old  dark  house  film  here with  reasonably  good  results. Conrad  Phillips  plays  exactly  the  same  character  here - the  upright  and  uptight  young  reporter -  as  in  Circus  of  Horrors

Ella  Venable  ( Catherine  Lacey )  is  a  wealthy  writer  who  is  killed  by  a  servant  at  the  behest  of  her  envious  husband  Walter  ( Andre  Morrell ). The  only  innocent  witness  is  Tabitha  the  cat. Three  nasty  relatives  and  one  nice  one  stand  to  inherit  and  it's  up  to  Tabtha to  see  that  justice  is  done.

Barbara  Shelley  ( as  Beth ) 

Sex : Great  cleavage

Death : Survives

Barbara  is  the  female  lead  in  this  one  as  the  innocent  heiress.

Vanda  Godsell  ( as  Louise )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Vanda's  film  career  started  late  after  nearly  two  decades  in  the  Bristol  repertory  theatre. She  was  a  supporting  player  who  became  a  reliable  character  actress . occasionally  getting  regular  roles  on  TV  up  to  the  mid-eighties . She  died  in  1990  aged  67.

205 The Pit and the Pendulum ( 1961 )

This  was  another  Poe  adaptation  from  Roger  Corman  and  a  huge  commercial  success. It's  good  fun  despite  some  obvious  plotholes  resulting  from  the  expansion  of  Poe's  very  short  story..

In  sixteenth  century  Spain, Francis  Barnard  ( John  Kerr  )  visits  the  castle  of  his  former  brother-in-law  Nicholas  Medina  ( Vincent  Price )  to  seek  an  explanation  for  his  sister  Elizabeth's  recent  death. Nicholas's  sister  Catherine  leads  him  to  a  torture  chamber  where  it  is  revealed  their  father  killed  their  mother  and  uncle  over  an  adulterous  affair   and  where  Elizabeth  took  her  own  life  after  becoming  disturbed  by  the  instruments. Vincent  believes  she  may  have  been  prematurely  buried  and  spooky  events  suggest  she  may  be  haunting  him.

Barbara  Steele  ( as  Elisabeth )

Sex : Has  been  having  an  affair  with  Vincent's  friend  Dr  Leon

Death : Left  for  dead  in  an  iron  maiden

This  is  our  first  sighting  of  the   famous  British  scream  queen  but  she  made  already  made  her  mark  in  the  Italian  horror  film  Black  Sunday  the  year  before. She  was  born  in  Birkenhead  and  had  made  a  few  film  appearances  in  the  late  fifties. She  quickly  got  typecast  and  fed  up  of  horror  movies, she  quit  acting  for  a  few  years  after  marrying  screenwriter  James  Poe  at  the  end  of  the  sixties. She  returned  to  action  in  1974  but  struggled  to  find  good  roles. At  the  start  of  the  eighties  she  became  a  TV  producer  and  enjoyed  success  with  The  Winds  of  War. Barbara  has  become  reconciled  to  her  horror  image  and  still  makes  the  occasional  film. She  is  now  79.

Luana  Anders  ( as  Catherine )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Luanda  attended  the  same  drama  class  as  Corman  and  appeared  in  a  number  of  his  films. She  was  also  friends  with  Jack  Nicholson  and  Dennis  Hopper  and  often  appeared  with  them. She  also  wrote  and  was  responsible for  the  screenplays  of  Limit  Up  and  Fire  on  the  Amazon.  She  worked  right  up  until  her  death  from  cancer  in  1996  aged  58.

Lynette  Bernay  ( as  Maria )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Another   small  part  for  Lynette  as  the  maid.

Mary  Menzies  ( as  Isabella )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Mary  was  a  bit  part  actress  with  a  few  film  credits  of  which  this  is  the  last. She  died  in  March  aged  88.



 

204 Mr Sardonicus ( 1961 )

Another  William  Castle  effort  but  this  is  actually  a  rather  splendid  Gothic  horror  story  with  a  sharp  script  that's  only  spoiled  by  Castle's  unwarranted  intrusion  at  the  very  end  with  his  "punishment  poll"

Sir Robert  Cargrave  ( Ronald  Lewis )  is  a  prominent  specialist  in  muscular  complaints. He  is  summoned  to  a  baronial  castle  by  his   lost  love  Maude who  has  contracted  a  loveless  marriage  to  its  wealthy owner  Baron  Sardonicus. The  Baron, it  transpires, is  actually  a  peasant  farmer  called  Marek  who  had  to  disturb  his  father's  grave  to  retrieve  a  winning  lottery  ticket  and  whose  jaws  have  locked  into  the  same  rictus  grin  ever  since. The Baron  relieves  his  torment  by  exercises  in  sadism,  aided  by  sinister  servant  Krall  ( Oscar  Homolka, Michael  Caine's  Russian  nemesis  in  the  Harry  Palmer  films ).

Audrey  Dalton ( as  Maude )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was  Audrey's  last  horror outing.

Erikah  Peters  ( as  Elenka  )

Sex : No

Death :  Suicide  but  we  only  have  the  Baron's  word  for  that

Erika  was  a  German  actress  who'd  appeared  wuth  Elvis  in  GI Blues. She  retired  in  the  mid-sixties  and  is  now  81.

Lorna  Hanson  ( as  Anna )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was  the  second  and  final  film  of  Lorna's  career  and  she  didn't  do  any  TV.


 
      

203 The Mask ( 1961 )

This  was  Canada's  first  contribution  to  the  horror  genre. It  was  in  3-D  and  screenings  came  with  a  mask  which  audiences  were  instructed  to  put  on  so  they  could  experience  the  hallucinations  suffered  by  the  lead  character  in  3-D. That  was  of  dubious  benefit  as  the  low  budget   sequences  recall   nothing  so  much  as  early  Dr  Who  sets  from  the  Hartnell/ Troughton  eras. The  story  is  so-so.

Michael  Radin  ( Martin  Lavut )  a  young  archaeologist  is  suffering  from  nightmare  visions  after  trying  on  an  ancient  mask  he  stole  from  the  museum  where  he  works. After  believing  he  might  have  killed  a  woman,  he  consults  Dr  Barnes  ( Paul  Stevens ) . When  he  doesn't  get  a  sympathetic  hearing  he  shoots  himself   after  sending  the  mask  to  Barnes  who  can't  resist  trying  it  on  for  himself

Claudette  Nevins ( as  Pam  Albright )  

Sex :  No

Death : Survives

Claudette  was  born  in  New  York  and  this  was  her  first  film. She  had  a  long  career  on  TV  and  the  odd   film  without  making  any  headlines. She  retired  in  the  mid-noughties  and  is  now  80.

Anne  Collings  (  as  Jill  Goodrich )

Sex :  Jill  has  a  clinch  with  Barnes

Death :  Survives

Anne  was  an  English  actress  born  in  Ipswich.  She  was  mainly  a  TV  actress  who  retired in  the  early  eighties. She  is  now  78.

Nancy  Island  ( as  murder  victim )

Sex : No

Death : Throttled  by  Michael  Radin

This  was  Nancy's  only  film.

202 The Innocents ( 1961 )

Here  we  cross  over  with  one  of  my  other  blogs  so  you  can  read  my  summary  of  the  film  and  all  about  one  of  the  actresses  here

Deborah  Kerr  ( as  Miss  Giddens  )

Sex : Nothing  overt  but  there's  a  sexual  subtext  running  throughout  the  film  culminating  in  the  famous  "infant  kiss"  scene

Death : Survives

Deborah  was  one  of  Britain's most  celebrated  actresses  of  the  fifties and  sixties, She  received  the  most  Oscar  nominations -six - without actually  winning  one. Probably  her  best  known  role  was Anna in  The King  And  I  but  she  also  starred in  From  Here To  Eternity, Separate  Tables  and  Black  Narcissus. Later  in  her  career  she  unfortunately appeared  in  the  trashy  A  Woman  of  Substance  but  her  reputation  was  secure  enough. She  died in  2007  from  Parkinson's  Disease  aged  86.

Pamela  Franklin  ( as  Flora )

Sex : n/a

Death : Survives

For  information  on  Pamela  follow  the  link  above

201 Homicidal ( 1961 )

Gimmick  king  William  Castle  was  first  out  of  the  traps  when  it  came  to  ripping  off  Pyscho  with  this  campy  tale  of  a  transvestite  slasher. It's  OK  but  wouldn't  stand  up  to  repeated  viewing.

A  mysterious  woman  calling  herself  Miriam  Webster  checks  into  a  cheap  hotel  and  makes  a  strange  marriage  proposal  to  young  bellhop  Jim  Nesbitt  ( Richard  Rust )  involving  a  midnight  hitch   by  a  county  magistrate. She  proceeds to  butcher  the  man  leaving  Jim  unharmed. We  then  learn  she  is  really  Emily , a  Danish  girl   who  looks  after  the  invalided  Helga  ( Eugenie  Leontovich ). Helga  was  formerly  the  nanny  to  siblings  Miriam  ( the  real  one  )  and  Warren , heir  to  a  considerable  estate , who  has  engaged  Emily  without  consulting  his  sister. The  explanation  of  all  this  stretches  credibility  to  breaking  point.

Joan  Marshall  ( as  Emily  and  Warren )

Sex : No, it  would  give  away  too  much

Death :  Shot  by  the  family  doctor  without  asking  any  questions

 Joan  wasn't  entirely  unknown  when  she  made  the  picture,   having  a  string  of  TV  credits  to  her  name,  but  Castle  insisted  on  billing  her  as  Jean  Arless  to  leave  the  audience  unsure  whether  the  character  was  played  by  a  man  or  a  woman. Joan  reverted  back  to  her  real  name  for  the  rest  of  her  career  which  was  mainly  on  TV. She  retired  at  the  end  of  the  sixties;  her  life   story  was  turned  into  the  hit  film  Shampoo  by  her  ex-husband. She  died  in  Jamaica  in 1992  aged  61.

Patricia  Breslin  ( as  Miriam )

Sex : Has  a  few  scenes  in  a  neglige

Death : Survives

Patricia  too  was  almost  entirely  a  TV  actress. She  retired  in  the  mid-sixties, not  long  after  her  stint  in  Peyton  Place.  She  died  in  2011  aged  80.

200 Dr Blood's Coffin ( 1961 )

This independently-made British film  isn't short of gore and the ending is entertainingly preposterous but it doesn't half take a long time to get going. I think the problem might be the location. The  coastal scenery  around  St  Just  is  terrific  and  the  characters  spend  too  long  just  walking  around  it.

Peter  Blood  ( Kieron  Moore )  is  an  arrogant  young  doctor  kicked  out  of  medical  school  in  Vienna  for  unethical  experiments  in  heart  transplants. He  shows  up  in  a  Cornish  village  where  his  father  ( Ian  Hunter )  has  a  practice  and  secretly  continues  his  experiments  in  a  disused  mine  while  romancing  his  father's  widowed  nurse  Linda.

Hazel  Court  ( as  Linda  Parker )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Hazel  is  the  only  female  in  the cast   in  this  one.

199 Curse of the Werewolf ( 1961)

This  is  Hammer's  first  excursion  into  werewolf  territory  and  is  chiefly  remembered  for  launching  Oliver  Reed  onto  an  unsuspecting  world, Ollie's  very  good  as  Leon  the  werewolf but  he  does  take  a  while  to  appear  and  the  preceding  twenty  minutes  are  very  pedestrian.

Yvonne  Romain ( as  Jailer's  Daughter )

Sex : The  girl  is  raped  by  the  prisoner  she  has  been  tending.

Death : Dies  after  giving  birth  to  Leon

Yvonne   has  no  lines  in  this  film  as  she  is  mute. You'd  think  they  could  have  thought  up  a  name  for  the  character  though.

Catherine  Feller ( as  Kristina ) 

Sex : Kristina  has  trysts  with  Leon  but  we  don't  see  them  getting  it  on.

Death : Survives

 To  say  Catherine  had  a  thirty-year  career  , more  in  TV  than  film, biographical  detail  is  hard  to  come  by. She  was  born  in  1939  and  was  very  active  up  until  the  late  sixties  when  her  appearances  became  sporadic. She  was  last  seen  as  a  chambermaid  in  Fresh  Fields.

Josephine  Llewellyn   ( as  The  Marquesa )

Sex : Impressive cleavage

Death :  The  narrator  mentions  that  she  died  a  few  years  into  her  marriage  to  the  Marquis

Josephine  is  even  more  obscure  although  she  had  a  regular  role  in  a  TV  series  A Matter  of  Degree  the  year  before  this. She  disappears  from  view  after  this  film.

Hira  Talfrey  ( as  Teresa )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Tira   was   from  New  Zealand  but  mainly  worked  in  British  TV  up  to  1978. She  died  in  2011  aged  85.

Sheila  Brennan ( as  Vera )

Sex : Vera  takes  Leon  to  her  room  for  sex....

Death : .. but  ends  up  having  her  throat  ripped  out

Sheila   made  few  films  but  did  a  lot  of  TV  between  1955  and  1982. She  had  a  run  in  Crossroads  in  1978.

Joy  Webster ( as  Isabel )

Sex : Isabel  is  a  prostitute

Death  : Survives

Joy  plays  a  whore  once  more.

Renny  Lister  ( as  Yvonne )

Sex  : Yvonne  is  a  prostitute

Death : Survives

This  is  one  of  few  films  made  by  Renny  who  had  a  long  career  on  TV  although  her  appearances  since  1988  have  been  rare. She  has  been  Mrs  Kenneth  Cope  since  1961.

Loraine  Carvana  ( as  the  young  jailer's  daughter )

Sex : n/a

Death : Survives

This  was  young  Loraine's  only  film. She  is  a  good  match  for  her  adult  counterpart.

198 Village of the Damned ( 1960 )

This  is  a  well-remembered  adaptation  of  John  Wyndham's The  Midwwich  Cuckoos, made  by  MGM's  British  arm  because  the  Americans  got  cold  feet  about  the  film's  depiction  of  virgin  birth  being  sinister. It's  a  long  time  since  I read  the  book  but  it  seems  pretty  faithful  and  would  be  chilling  enough  in  its  own  right.

The  small  village  of  Midwich  is  struck  by  a  strange  phenomenon  whereby  every  animal  ( including  people )  fall  asleep  for  a  couple  of  hours. Two  months  later  every  fertile  woman  is   pregnant  regardless  of  whether  they've  been  sexually  active. One  of  the  women  is  the  wife  of  government  scientist  Gordon  Zellaby  ( George  Sanders )  who  observes  the  development  of  the  resulting  telepathic  children  with  both  alarm  and  curiosity.As  the  children  respect  him  alone  for  his  intellect  he  has  to  decide  what  to  do  about  them.

Barbara  Shelley  ( as  Anthea  Zellaby )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Barbara's  is  the  only  decent  female  role  in  the  film ; the  rest  are  mere  cameos.

Sarah  Long  ( as  Evelyn  Harrington )

Sex : No

Death :Survives

This  was  one  of  only  two  film  roles  for  Sarah  who  is  much  better  remembered  for  her  long  stint  as  a  presenter  on  Play  School  which  lasted  until  a  year  before  her  untimely  death  from  cancer  in  1987  aged  49. she  was  married  to  Coronation  Street  actor  Peter  Baldwin.

Charlotte  Mitchell  ( as  Janet  Pawle )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Charlotte  had  a  40  year  career  in  film , TV  and  radio. She  played  the  female  parts  in  The  Goon  Show  and  reputedly  had  a  relationship  with  Peter  Sellers. Her TV  work  included  regular  roles  in  Not  In  Front  Of  The  Children, The  Adventures  of  Black  Beauty,And  Mother  Makes  Five  and  finally, Heartbeat.  She  also  wrote  poetry  and  some  scripts  for  TV , theatre  and  radio. She  was  the  mother  o  actors  Dominic  and  Christopher  Guard. She  died  in  2012  aged  85.

Pamela  Buck ( as  Milly  Hughes )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was  the  last  sighting  of  this  obscure actress  whose  other  work  was  all  on  TV  in  the  fifties.

Diane  Aubrey  ( as  WRAC  Secretary )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

A  very  tiny  part  for  Diane  in  this  one.