spookypurple7

I really couldn't believe my eyes as I started to watch this. The thought of an actor (even someone as iconic as Mr Price) simply reading Poe made me wary - I've heard it done often, and not well at that (why do actors always seem to get hysterical when reading Poe?!)! But from the first few words of The Tell Tale Heart I was, as the previous comment stated, absolutely mesmerised. Transfixed. And very probably sat with my mouth hanging open. It was magnificent. Poe in its truest form. Spell-binding, macabre, poetic, horrifying, all of it.

However - the greatest revelation was the man himself. Boy, could he act! I never realised this. Why, oh why didn't directors push him more?! He was capable of so much more... I've always enjoyed his performances, glorious in their over-the-top ripeness, but never, ever, dreamed he was capable of such control and such intensity...

I remained stunned and awed by the experience!

This was one of the most powerful pieces of drama I have ever seen. I originally tuned in when it was first aired in October 1988 (I still have the Radio Times for that week!) because I think Charles Dance is an excellent actor. Being a rather fond of scientific fiction, when I found out the subject matter of the story - well, that was just icing on the cake. But I was totally unprepared for the gut-punch of a story which followed. For anyone interested, it's based on a novel Gor-Saga by Maureen Duffy (which I promptly went out and bought!). The storyline is similar but the TV adap has a far more brutal and thought-provoking 'ending' and the character of Forrester has far more depth. The whole drama made me want to become a writer! What more can I say?

When you think Hammer, you think Dracula, and er.. well, Dracula really. You certainly wouldn't imagine the glorious Mr Lee as one of the good guys! Hammer was a studio that covered a full range of horror beasties & subjects. Not all of them well. This is one of the better ones, with dependable acting from a bunch of British stalwarts. It is very easy in these days of CGI to mock the production values, but for its time, the suspension of disbelief is quite enough to support the effects ( and at least they don't have the 'Readybrek glow' of say, Dr Who of the 70's. It is unsettling, if not terrifying (though there are parts that to this day I have to shut my eyes and hum loudly during), disturbing if not scary. We may ask a lot these days, but don't forget when it was made! Christopher Lee is, as pretty much always, irresistible to watch, Charles Gray (those eyes!) skin-crawlingly malevolent/charming. Not sure about that tan though.