armansyal

Yesterday I watched 'Haxan', going in with high expectations, thinking of it as a horror classic. Honestly, it was completely different to what I was thinking; and was more of a study on witchcraft and demons etcetera. Personally, I don't believe in any of it; but it certainly is an interesting topic, director Benjamin Christensen does a great job at explaining and portraying these beliefs from centuries ago, going through ancient scriptures and demonstrating the barbaric nature of torture to 'witches'. There are a few weird and eerie scenes throughout which were interesting but I wished there was more of. Overall it was VERY long, and the film being split into 7 parts didn't really help; but to be fair this is my first feature length silent film I have watched in full... oh, and the score I watched it with was pretty good aside from a few scenes which didn't really fit well but nothing too distracting from the main film.

'Mr. Teddy Bear' is the first episode of the second season of The Avengers and is the episode debut of Cathy Gale played by Honor Blackman. Interestingly this episode, despite being the first broadcasted, happens to be the fourth episode Honor Blackman shot- which was typical as many tv shows broadcasted their episodes out of production order at the time.

The episode starts off with a camera crew getting ready and setting up for an interview in a studio with an author advertising his latest book, played by Tim Brinton- who was the genuine ITV newsreader of the day. As they start recording, the interview begins- however, just before the author can answer a question, he falls to the floor and dies immediately. It turns out the author had been poisoned. One Ten, played by Douglas Muir believes this man was yet another victim of the infamous assassin 'Mr. Teddy Bear'. Gale investigates about this hitman by disguising herself and organising a meeting with this assassin; ordering him to assassinate Steed.

I really enjoyed this episode, many great moments. Bernard Goldman was excellent as the mysterious and eerie-looking Mr. Teddy Bear. Honor Blackman is absolutely FANTASTIC as Cathy Gale;

"You have a surprising faith in gentlemen's agreements, Mr. Teddy Bear. But perhaps you've noticed, I'm not a gentleman."

Bad-Ass! Also, the "Why aren't you dead" quote was hilarious. Looking forward to seeing more of her throughout the series. Pat and Honor have amazing chemistry between them!