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tobyunlimited, 21
I want nothing more than to be used and beaten in awful disgusting gut wrenching ways. I want to serve a sadistic gross smelly man.

Comments

tobyunlimited (Owner) – Sept 18, 2019

Anonymous – Sept 18, 2019
Noticed you haven’t been online in a while, you ok?

 

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NipplePig, 20
I am Nipple Pig. My Nipples are tiny and pale and hot wired to my cock. Fuck Yeah! I love my Nipples and have trained them to give me the ultimate in pleasure – Nipple Orgasms. When men work on my Nipples I go into convulsions of pleasure which can go on for hours. I shake uncontrollably in full body waves of ecstasy while my cock spurts by itself. I love my Nipples.

 

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beforeidie, 19
since i was a little kid i found my kinky side already like i like sniff my dad’s used underwear secretly.
my dad spank me some times and i got erection and once i let him see it and he look at it very long.
after this he spank me a lot for fake reasons and he always touching my erection and one time jack it.
he fuck me first time at age 11 in our bathroom, that was an unforgetable memory in my childhood.
after this he change and drink heavy and always yell at me, my mother throw him out and divorce.
last time he at our house he rape me at age 12 in my bedroom until blood run down my legs but i tell no one.
after that he leave me threating messages for 1 year and i am scared but sexually excite.
in early teen years i go straight with a girlfriend and unhappy but thought everyone in the world was.
at 17 one girlfriend’s father tell me he like me and i let him rape me and my world turn right side up again.
i have a dick of 6 inches only that is always erect generally and a soft ass very likeable.
i am blind, i see the world in full color but it remains blurry except for 2-3 inches of near vision.
i want boobs implanted so if someone want to do that with me then i am even ready to take female harmone pills.

Comments

Tormenter2000 – Sept 21, 2019
His blindness is more of a drawback than he makes it out.

Tedyy – Aug 27, 2019
theres so much sperm in his orgasms it creeped me out

 

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Starveme, 19
Starve me

 

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Imthedestroyer, 23
I grew up essentially locked away and left to my own devices, with religion forced down my throat. I tried to get help when I was 14 but my father wouldn’t let me get help, then pushed me off into the military thinking it was the right thing because it’s what he did, and I would probably still have that career had I actually gotten the help that I needed before i was forced in that direction I’m so tired of not being able to be myself but I keep doing it to have a job. If anybody knows my loneliness, or why everyone who’s abandoned me would never tell me why, I’d like to hear it at least once in my life.

Comments

SEVEN – Sept 19, 2019
as much as you feel lonely right now, you crowded

Imthedestroyer (Owner) – Sept 11, 2019
Right its so good

WhisperingChaos – Sept 11, 2019
love that strain

Imthedestroyer (Owner) – Sept 11, 2019
Name of it is Lavender

Glock9sntattoos – Sept 11, 2019
Name of that bud?

 

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tiemeupwithducttape, 22
slave was owned for 4 years, thought it’d be forever until Master passed from congestive heart failure. slave was brainwashed, castrated, sack & cock removed under Sir’s control. Creating selfless sex slave, trained to learn, obey, suffer. slave’s prostate was recently removed by its new Master, 9 weeks ago, scars barely noticeable. thank You, Sir.

Comments

tiemeupwithducttape (Owner) – Sept 14, 2019
no, that shit hurted

Frozen_Maverick – Sept 4, 2019
was the prostrate removal hot?

tiemeupwithducttape (Owner) – Aug 25, 2019
no as long as i get what i want, i don’t care when i die.

AnonymousButcher – Aug 25, 2019
Limits?

 

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Simon_Tyler, 20
forcefeeding… forceugliness… shave my head top to look bald and change my body xs to xxxxl

Comments

Anonymous – Sept 21, 2019
Please note that his “finances” means a boatload of debt.

Ruben_rg – Sept 13, 2019
Don’t fall for this. I know this guy. We fuck a lot. He’s a mental case need I say. Someone must have criticised his looks recently. He can’t take criticism of his looks. It makes him hysterical and melodramatic. If you want to fuck him, tell him what a tragedy it would be to destroy his looks. The more over the top complimentary you can be the better your chances.

Simon_Tyler (Owner) – Sept 8, 2019
i will surrender my body mind will time decisions finances .. everything to ugliness.

 

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sydwantsdaddy, 24
Want to be legally adopted. Only once legally adopted I’m into:
– incest
– hardcore hentai (loli, shota, all the way through, cock transformation and others I can’t list here)
– Dolcett (torture & snuff)
and every other taboo stuff!

I’m extremely extreme and can’t be shocked. I keep my conversations here to an R rating, but if you want to get hardcore and illegal we can chat on Wickr or kik.

I will be your son that happens to also be the kinkiest boy you’ve ever met. My body as it is now has been very thoroughly tested and I’m so done with it! So sick of every inch of it! Fuck it just text me.

Comments

MaxPovelXXL – Sept 7, 2019
Good boy! I’m not only a Master in the Bedroom with a huge cock (24*6), I also hold a Master of Science from an elite University. Masters with more IQ than meat don’t grow on trees, don’t pass this up!

Anonymous – Sept 6, 2019
Formerly an ok porn actor.

Ulysse – Aug 22, 2019
Don’t be so hard on your body! I was allowed to enjoy your body for several hours when you were escorting, and it is fantastic, delicious, dreamlike, enchanting, magical and gave me just an incredible divine pleasure in a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere in which I wanted to linger forever.

 

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takemetonite, 19
Bottom fag boy for hole play, fists and condom free fucks only. Guys into safe sex, guys on PREP, guys whose loads dont have murderous properties, don’t connect!

Comments

takemetonite (Owner) – Sept 19, 2019
Old people are fun.

takemetonite (Owner) – Sept 5, 2019
Or if u need a boyfriend dont worry i got u.

 

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FeedMeDogShit, 19
This boy is looking for a serious donor for dog poop. I have an intense dogshit fetish and I’m looking for a source of fresh poop, preferably from a large male dog. I have been regularly collecting random bags of dogshit from local park trash bins recently. I’ve been bringing them home and chewing up and smearing my face in the shit. I’m looking for an honest guy who will donate me his dogs poop. I can travel to you anywhere in Central Pennsylvania. This is not a joke. I am seriously in love with dogshit. If you’re turned on by this, I’m open to suggestions as to what you would like to see me do with the poop. I don’t care how gross or fucked up this is. This is what turns me on and legitimately makes me happy. I am also into horse and cow manure as a back up. So if you have cows or horses I’ll come clean your stalls or pens. Would love to find a job cleaning up animal waste at a kennel or farm.

Comments

SUPERMASK – Aug 24, 2019
Heis all what you ever wished

want_bottom_143 – Aug 13, 2-19
eats it like he’s in a Nathan’s hot dog eating contest
made me cum like vesuvius

 

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punkpxssybitch, 19
I don’t consider myself as an emø but i do listen to emø music and act edgy i harm myself i write poems and i like to drink myself unconscious. I have adhd but i sometimes feel like it’s aspergers I put myself down and i sometimes feel suicidal for no reason but i don’t think i have depression i think i just should die i am also a very anti social person any ways this is my description rawr XD :p

Comments

punkpxssybitch (Owner) – Sept 17, 2019
I apparently have a larger than average cock

L_Rayven – Sept 17, 2019
So how do u survive& make money

punkpxssybitch (Owner) – Sept 6, 2019
You’re not wrong. Pills too

L_Rayven – Sept 6, 2019
The booze helps i guess

unkpxssybitch (Owner) – Sept 6, 2019
ssiiihgghh, Dad lives with his gf, haven’t heard from him in 5 months. Mom committed suicide 6 years ago. Older brother’s in prison, younger brother drowned in January good thing cuz I couldn’t afford to feed him and shit

Kessel_420 – Sept 6, 2019
where’re your parents

unkpxssybitch (Owner) – Aug 31, 2019
No shit nearly died that day, good times

diegof1986 – Aug 31, 2019
Bushy ass eyebrows and ur eyes look all fd up

unkpxssybitch (Owner) – Aug 20, 2019
Eyy do it, no one would even think to come lookin for my body for months. I don’t even know what I do anymore.

nihilusto – Aug 20, 2019
You are one ugly little white trash piece of garbage, I’d love to rape and beat the shit out of you.

punkpxssybitch (Owner) – Aug 10, 2019
Yes sir, that they are

Xforever_in_sorrowX – Aug 10, 2019
are those pills on your tattoo

unkpxssybitch (Owner) – Aug 8, 2019
It is truly a pit of depression

Downward – Aug 8, 2019
Christ, your house. No wonder you’re suicidal.

 

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Polski, 18
Hi, i am a Instagram influencer with 50,000 followers that loves animals really much and wants to meet Some on this site.

Comments

Polski (Owner) – Sept 26, 2019
Everyone seems to be thinking this is fake profile. It’s not. I just happen to be very cute and love animals. It happens.

 

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MeatForYou, 25
I don’t know what to write exactly. The profile picture of me, the nickname, says a lot what I’m looking for, what turns me on, what’s my fetish. If you don’t want to eat, don’t write to me.

I live in northern Italy. I put Verona because a specific location is required for registration.

Comments

MeatForYou (Owner) – Sept 25, 2019
I apologise to all those I’ve spoken to. I haven’t been feeling too well mentally and I sometimes get very anxious. I got very overwhelmed and ended up reporting some of you to the police.

Flavien56 – Sept 1, 2019
CannibalGod is right. In this one’s case I would fatten him up a little, even 10-15 pounds before the butchery. Muscles look nice but they’re pure decoration.

CannibalGod – Sept 1, 2019
FYI, human meat is at its most flavorsome in its mid-20s.

 

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Iloveyou, 20
I love you

Comments

Iloveyou (Owner) – Aug 23, 2019
I love you

Anonymous – Aug 23, 2019
Prove it.

 

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Lookingforlosttime, 18
Selling my slave. Very severe no limits boy. You’ll need big bucks, you see why. It doesn’t matter what type of muscules you have or body. Slave needs a man that is limitless when it came for owing slave, for example, he will have to provide transport for the slave in any occasion locked in cage transported in shipping or truck container. I.e law is nothing for him. Things that slave has done:
Extreme interrogation
Hunt and Capture
CBT
Tit Torture
Whipping
Flogging
Mummification
Vac Sacks, Sleepsacks, and Straitjackets
Water Torture
Heat and Fireplay
Temperature Play
Medical Play
Electricution Play
Extreme breath Play
Sounding
Fisting
Enemas
Impact Play
Sensory Deprivation
Mindfucking damage
Knifeplay
Caning
Needle Play
Hypnosis and Indoctrination
Building Dungeon Furniture
Pervertible
Underage
Woman
Scat
AIDS/SPIN
Insects
Marking and Symbolism
Snuffplay
Medical Emergencies
Bull-Whipping
Satanic worshiping
Forced drug injection

I don’t sell slave to guys from my own country, Bulgaria, and if you write me you shut your ego about your perfect body, I don’t care, slave don’t care, just pay big bucks.

Comments

Lookingforlosttime (Owner) – Sept 17, 2019
Carl, SHUT UP!!!!!!!!

synkrato – Sept 17, 2019
so whens my funeral

Lookingforlosttime (Owner) – Sept 17, 2019
Slave flatlined, natural causes 03h12 09/16/19

synkrato – Sept 7, 2019
slave looks like some photos stolen from my instagram

Lookingforlosttime (Owner) – Sept 7, 2019
Didn’t say he wasn’t!

Anonymous – Sept 7, 2019
slave is very marked and scarred and seems ill

Lookingforlosttime (Owner) – Sept 5, 2019
Obviousfuckingly!

Anonymous – Sept 5, 2019
can slave be iced

Lookingforlosttime (Owner) – Sept 4, 2019
Shut up, Carl!

synkrato – Sept 4, 2019
hahahahahahahaha

 

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ViewIsBlurred, 21
Just want to freak. Let’s freak, freak and freak. Hit me up.

Cuddles after?

Comments

ViewIsBlurred (Owner) – Aug 20, 2019
I don’t play this game but if you have this game for Xboxone, and if you meet a man named Michael Sloane in this game, please slaughter him!

video_gaymer – Aug 20, 2019
Weird question but do you play the game Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds?

 

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kafka, 18
Fresh 18, somehow have a bike and am just “different”. Can be very exhausting depending on your mood but also just the opposite. Incidentally, I like to be in Attendorn at the vintage car meeting.
Who wants to spit his bag cream into my face tonight (10.08)?

Comments

ex-plorer – Aug 11, 2019
I did.

ex-plorer – Aug 10, 2019
I do.

NateJ – Aug 6, 2019
How strange! My fantasy about him is the same except he shits in my mouth and i shave his head after not before.

dio08 – Aug 5, 2019
i live in lithuania but if someone local to this boy will abduct him, tie him up, shave his head, shit in his mouth, execute him with a bullet to the brain, film that and send me the film i’ll pay 10,000$.

 

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LaPutaDeTuMadre, 19
I created an account here once when I was about 15/16. Lied about my age, duh. It’s gone now, I realised this when I tried to log in for old times sake. So now it’s 5am and I’m making another as an adult for reasons I don’t understand. Most likely nostalgia, I feel as though I wasted the better part of my teenage years getting porked by people here and I want them back. Why I turned to this, again I don’t know. By the time I was 17 I’d stopped using it anyway. But whatever. I’m Sam, and I get feelings of nostalgia that keep me up all night looking through old XXX selfies. I am alone and still want others. I fear no one or anything. I also used to slut around on grindr under the name “IdiotKing” and I’m scared that I’ll die before I do anything memorable.

Comments

LaPutaDeTuMadre (Owner) – Aug 2, 2019
Oh also I’m obsessed with men who are married, to women or men, in love and committed to the marriage but lose control and need to cheat with me. Deceptive men, men whose scruples although paramount to them can’t compete with their lust for me.

adawson – July 30, 2019
Just an average guy from NY and his boytoy. We met through a shared kink of him getting wedgies, but have also started getting into stuff that ties into it. But there’s only so many times I can wedgie him and would really enjoy another boy who can take wedgies from us both at the same time.

LaPutaDeTuMadre (Owner) – July 27, 2019
I almost forgot I’m very ass and anal centric, my own only. Obsessed with my ass but need help doing it justice to put it mildly. Recently gave up on a dream to be a Buddhist monk so got some catching up to do!

 

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uniformboy, 25
Got School uniform. – But no where to go in it.

Will make me wear School uniform, etc? And juvenile clothes. The more traditional the better.

And will make me wear school uniform outside. – Take me to theatre, opera, museums, churches, shopping, restaurants, concerts, etc.

More than adequate young and passable wearing.

Looking for mentor, dad, uncle, etc.

And will regress me mentally and psychologically and keep me regressed and shaved, waxed, etc.

 

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your-dance-card, 20
Sex is non linear to me.

Into: 24/7 (receiving), abduction (everything to do with it), accents (watching), age play (everything to do with it), bdsm (everything to do with it), begging (giving), behavior modification (receiving), burlesque (receiving), chains (receiving), chakra energy play (everything to do with it), daddy/girl (receiving), damsels in distress (receiving), erotic photography (receiving), eye contact restrictions (receiving), face sitting/smothering (receiving), goth (wearing), handcuffs (receiving), high heels (wearing), high protocol (receiving), human furniture (receiving), kissing (everything to do with it), lift and carry (receiving), masks (wearing), monogamy (everything to do with it), pursuit, take-down & capture (receiving), sacred sexuality (everything to do with it), speech restriction (receiving), struggle (receiving), talking dirty (everything to do with it), tantra (receiving), victorian lifestyles (receiving), ballet shoes (wearing).

I’m the fuck hole of a truck driver at the moment and he drives mainly west of the Mississippi, dying to get cut loose from that shithead.

Comments

your-dance-card (Owner) – Aug 7, 2019
Due to recent very unpleasant accident I am no longer accepting anal.

 

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Twink2torpedo, 21
Im a sigle boy mexican i like mens i like the mens most i love the mens so i want a men whose live with me fuck me like me in jojutla mexico so plz

+Age =Better +Weight =Better +Tummy =Better +Top =Better +Manly Ass =Better +Dominant =Better -Hair =Better

Comments

Twink2torpedo (Owner) – Sept 19, 2019
Why u so obsessed w me??

YourThroat – Sept 19, 2019
How I see your dream life:

Your cock permanently (24/7, strictly NO removal, life-long) in chastity and an uncomfortably large plug in your bum-hole at all times. Your throat henceforth becomes your primary sexual organ and is stretched full for long periods.
My recurring vision is of you knelt between my legs for hours on end while I watch TV, not even noticing you. You must keep my cock buried balls deep in your mouth/throat for all these hours regardless of it’s state of erection.
You learn to worship my cock like a deity.
There is no release or escape from this arrangement, nor change in my terms of service. No matter how much you plead or beg. Your release is never brought up for consideration.

Agree to that and I will agree to live in wherever the hell Jojutla, Mexico is.

I have sought a similar relationship before and the sub has backed out because my penis was so large as to be intimidating, but you WILL persevere.

 

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VVitchBlood, 24
I’m looking for a dentist who can fix my teeth “for free”: D

 

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assup4upscale, 22
Who wants my AIDS 🥶 ….? I want more …. 🥵 Nobody wants to fuck me I’m a fake picture apparently

I have two profiles the first is … 01234543210
I stole this picture from a guy who tries to fuck you full of AIDS by any means but shhhhht ……! 🤐
And I love to piss off my world like a shit kid I’m
Go for it darling, excite you … for info, I do like you, I use the picture of another … so it’s not even me that you insult!

You see that you’re stupid!

Comments

Romain_78 – Sept 2, 2019
You are completely wrong, you are not a fake. You are a charming boy, very cute, very hot, who lives in Nantes. I have known you personally and have had sex with you frequently for more than three years. You have the heart of an angel, a body to die for, and make pleasant conversation. You are very sensual, and one never gets bored with you in bed. Your picture is accurate. Everything you say about yourself is untrue. I vouch for it.

 

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iWantToFeelNothing, 18
I just need oxytocin… shits fucking me up mentally destroying myself and shit… I smoke hella kush too so if you dont fuck with that then get tf on cuz the kush is why I’ve been able to make it this long.. I’m broke tryna make it through college but im doing wha tI can to make shit work and I have a lot of potential for some shit I just havent had many opportunities to do something with that… I’m not too much, I just need affection so I can stop having the chemichal bullshit fuck up my mindset like it does. Lacking oxytocin is a type of hell… Here only for an ass plan..

Comments

Imre77 – Sept 15, 2019
Has athlete’s foot on his left foot. His right foot is fine though.

mark16yo – Sept 12, 2019
He’s not gay, please don’t hurt him.

 

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ultraviolencex, 19
I want someone to destroy my body completely So if you are into violence and destruction I’m yours So no, I don’t want your love No, I don’t want to give you mine and No, I don’t want to sleep with you nowhere No, I don’t want none of your love If you’re looking for a slave for you to love, leave my profile Don’t be moron.

Comments

ultraviolencex (Owner) – Aug 17, 2019
No comment needed

ultraviolencex (Owner) – Aug 11, 2019

ultraviolencex (Owner) – Aug 4, 2019
The face when you watch Master snort three grams of meth and know what’s finally coming

ultraviolencex (Owner) – July 28, 2019
No, you can’t break up with me

ultraviolencex (Owner) – July 27, 2019
please SIR

Deathpower – June 30, 2019
Finally!!!!!!!

 

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McDonaldnugget, 19
My hankies:
Grey(R)
Light blue(R)
Navy blue(R)
Red(R) (in training)
Red w/black stripe (R)
Fuchsia(R)
Magenta(R)
Yellow(both)
Gold(R)
Coral(R)
Hunter green(R)
Beige(R)
Brown(R)
Fur(R)

 

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hereyougo, 23
I’ve been making “friends” on this site off and on since 2017. I have met four people in person from this site. One who traveled about three hours to fuck me then snubbed me afterward. The second was someone who resided a mere 30 minutes away from me and was fun to have heavy sex with, but we parted ways after I moved. Third, someone who I got fucked by on the way to a move, this was during a particularly depressing time in my life, so I was cutting a lot of people out of my life including this person. Fourth, was a cliche romantic master&slave thing. I put far too much effort into a relationship with someone who wasn’t really willing to put forth the same level of effort as I did. I had my heart broken with no sense of closure to this day. I have made lots of connections on this site, but only one stands out throughout this past decade because the other individual stimulated me sexually and challenged me emotionally, but ESPECIALLY intellectually. Sadly, that person did not want to own me. Regardless I am hoping to make a connection with people that will: A. Stimulate me sexually. B. Have no aversion to meeting me in person and fucking me if the opportunity presents itself. …Or simply anyone that would say I like your pix, I want to own you and do it. If you’ve read all of this, I’d like to thank you for your time, even if you decide not to fuck or own me. Best regards to all, -Charlie.

*If you want to see how far i’ve fallen, bottom pic is from back when i could do bottle runs and getting arrested didn’t matter. I must have been 14.

Comments

fuckyou1998 – Sept 3, 2019
As far as I can tell.

ineedahotboy – Sept 3, 2019
so theyre just here to whine with each basically?

fuckyou1998 – Sept 3, 2019
The big Emo social site VampireFreaks is shutting down so I guess they’re being forced to particularise?

ineedahotboy – Sept 3, 2019
not a question about this guy necessarily, but does anyone know what’s up with all the depressed emo boys flooding into this site lately?

Lucian_Lyca – Sept 1, 2019
are you ever at your best or is this it?

hereyougo (Owner) – Sept 1, 2019
If someone doesn’t fuck you at your worse… they don’t deserve too fuck you at your best.

hereyougo (Owner) – Sept 1, 2019
It just makes you more depressed. Those people who fucked me weren’t my friends. We all just used each other with no regard. I was raped many times in high school. All my “friends”. Life is lonely now. And I’m lonely and miserable now. And my memory is so fried that i can’t remember anything. Don’t fret, being alone is better than being with horrible people. Everyone should have a mentor. Not a therapist. A person they meet and don’t have a sexual relationship with that they feel a bond and a sense of greater knowledge. That’s what i always looked for, which is why i always got raped or my brains fucked out from hanging out with people who had charisma.

Junkbait_Loser – Sept 1, 2019
If I had a time machine I would have lived it up in high school and let everybody fuck me lol if only I knew how lonely my like would be 15 years later

 

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JustAnotherAlchyHomo, 19
How’s it going?? I’m Zay, and I’m just another homo who loves being gotten drunk then getting my ass ate and fucked.

I’m becoming more and more of a alcoholic. That’s the scene I have liked doing so far.

Going to be getting myself into rehab down the line so don’t feel guilty 😝

Comments

Sinister_Wave33 – Sept 16, 2019
I like my boys like I like my coffee… ground up and in the freezer xD… I love drunk/stoned out/wasted boys and such like shit…./woozy/bloody/slurry/uhhh…cute/wrecked… I like music but if a boy plays mainstream I’d rather shoot him in the face with …. bazooka and stuff… I like knifes and rope preferred red black or purple… I love sex but… not just any sex I love the very very very deep kind of romantic slaughter boys type of sex… hmmm guess I “like” quite a bit… just ask me preferably with your last breath. ? dark magic…

JustAnotherAlchyHomo (Owner) – Sept 10, 2019
Please don’t write if you want to suck me.

 

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GayForever, 19
My mind is already made up

I am seeking for incarceration and ltr 24/7/365

Presently working as a stocker in a grocery shop

Living situation : I live with my aunt who owns a cabin ..

Family : they passed when I was 14. Please I would avoid taking about this because it brings back sad memories

How did I know I was meant for this ? I have always been gay ..

Health issues : Diabetic Type 2

I smoke cigs . I smoke every day, all day

I have never had unprotected sex but I am dying to ..

Body count : 16 men ..

Comments

AttorneyM – Sept 14, 2019
I’m an Attorney.
I write slave agreements that are legally valid and help other Masters own slaves or prisoners.
For more information on this, visit a document I have written that explains this more in detail on my Google Drive account, yes, its free and no sign up needed.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10UfjxAt8Q0o_WCTUE8tHC5A99JJyG-1KUgXNIVwFpRA/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** MyNeighbourJohnTurturro, Hi, neighbor. Cool, and yes. And yes, I know black midi and similarly find them very intriguing. No live footage, but I’ll find some. Them backing Suzuki makes total sense and is a swell idea, obviously. Mm, no, I haven’t done a Rob Zombie full-fledged post. There’s an idea. He’s so divisive that I guess it could get readers messy, but that’s good too. Huh. Yeah, I’ll get on that. Thank you. I still crank ‘Superbeast’ and leap out of my desk chair at least once a week. You good? ** David Ehrenstein, Thanks, sir. Yeah, good classic/post-classic stuff. The classics given the UK treatment. ‘The Irishman’ is the first Scorcese film I’ve been bonifiably excited to see in as long as I can remember. ** Steve Erickson, Hi. Yes, I read that interview, thank you. He’s branching out all over the place. Oh, wow, thanks for the tip about the Suzuki/black midi footage. I’m very there. Are your eyes notably more sharp when glassed over now? ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T! You’re here! Or almost here! Yes, yes, I’m mostly very free. I haven’t changed my phone number, so that should work. I must have yours too. Give me a shout/text/call when you’re in, and let’s make a fast plan. Excited to see you, hobbling 🙁 pal! ** Misanthrope, I would imagine so. I was thinking more a vibe or visible presence of Brexit madness on the streets or having some kind of tonal effect or people’s normal behavior. But crossing paths with protests seems highly likely. So, did you find Gus, I hope? Or is freedom better? He’s probably too domestic to be safely free? Nice little name. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. That was a really good interview, wasn’t it? That’s why I let it run so long. I found it quite riveting. ** Bill, ‘The Devil Rides Out’ is a keeper, I’m there. Yes, I know of the Shudder channel, and, no, it’s not here just like all the other channels, Criterion, etc., that I would actually watch if France let them exist. I crave it. Enjoy your coziness with it. Don’t take that for granted, man. ** Okay. Well, it’s the last day of the month yet again, and the blog, which usually prides itself on its veneer of relative unpredictability, services the obvious. So do whatever you do with the slaves every month please. See you tomorrow.

* (Halloween countdown post #2)

 

‘Terence Fisher’s critical reputation rests almost entirely on the horror films he directed for Hammer in the 1950s and 1960s, but he was a more versatile filmmaker than his horror output suggests. Born in London on 23 February 1904, he served in the Merchant Navy before entering the film industry in 1933. From 1936 to 1947 he worked as a film editor for a variety of production companies, with his best-known project probably the Gainsborough melodrama The Wicked Lady (d. Leslie Arliss, 1945). His first three films as director – Colonel Bogey (1947), To the Public Danger and Song for Tomorrow (both 1948) – were short dramas produced at Highbury Studio, which was being used by the Rank Organisation to develop new talent. To the Public Danger, an impressively staged adaptation of a Patrick Hamilton radio play, was the best of these, and some critics have retrospectively seen it as anticipating Fisher’s later horror work. As a further sign of things to come, future Hammer star Christopher Lee made a brief appearance in Song for Tomorrow.

‘After Highbury, Fisher moved to Gainsborough where he directed (or co-directed with Antony Darnborough) four feature films. As with To the Public Danger, horror critics have identified the period mystery drama So Long at the Fair (1950), Fisher’s final Gainsborough film, as a horror-like project. But Fisher’s other Gainsborough films reveal him to be a talented director adept at a range of subjects – the plight of post-war refugees in Portrait from Life, tragic romance in the Noël Coward vehicle The Astonished Heart (1949) and light comedy in the portmanteau drama Marry Me! (1949).

‘When Gainsborough closed in the early 1950s, Fisher became a prolific specialist in the low-budget support feature that was becoming an increasingly important aspect of British film production. None of these films, nineteen in total, were strikingly original but some of them – notably the melodrama Stolen Face (1952) and the SF drama Four-Sided Triangle (1953) – contained flashes of talent and ambition. Eleven of these films were made for Hammer, an up-and-coming independent production company with which Fisher’s future career would become inextricably linked. When Hammer decided in the mid-1950s to remodel itself as a horror factory, Fisher became its main director. He was part of the team that produced all the ‘classic’ Hammer horrors – including The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958), The Mummy (1959), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) and The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) – and his measured and stately style was a key aspect of the Hammer formula.

‘Given the low budgets involved and the breakneck production schedules, the quality of these films was inevitably uneven, but some of them, and especially Dracula, were remarkable achievements, albeit ones that were not generally feted by critics at the time of their initial appearance. After the box-office failure of The Phantom of the Opera (1962), Fisher worked less often for Hammer, although his later Hammer films arguably comprise his best work, reflecting as they do both a technical maturity and a willingness to innovate. Although Fisher is regularly accused of representing a conservative moralistic force within British horror, films like Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) and The Devil Rides Out (1968) show a tentative and questioning attitude to social authority and morality.

‘Fisher’s other films from the 1960s – the SF invasion fantasies The Earth Dies Screaming (1964), Island of Terror (1966) and Night of the Big Heat (1967), and a German-produced Sherlock Holmes story – are less successful although interesting nevertheless. Fisher’s final film, the Hammer production Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, was completed in 1972 (although not released until 1974).

‘Fisher received very little critical attention throughout his career. Ironically, as that career ended, the publication in 1973 of A Heritage of Horror, David Pirie’s book-length study of the British horror film, led to a re-appraisal of his work. Since that time, Fisher has come to be seen as a major British film director, especially so far as his horror films are concerned, and as someone who embodies the virtues of a popular British genre cinema. It is still the case, however, that Fisher’s pre-horror work has not received the critical attention it merits. Terence Fisher died on 18 June 1980.’ — screen online

 

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Stills

 

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Further

Terence Fisher @ IMDb
Terence Fisher, Hammer’s Horror Maestro – A Biography
Les meilleurs films de Terence Fisher
Lumière ! Réalisateurs : Terence Fisher
Book: The Films of Terence Fisher: Hammer Horror and Beyond
Terence Fisher Fan Page @ Facebook
TERENCE FISHER INTERVIEW: AN AFTERNOON IN “HOLLY COTTAGE”
The Cross and the Vampire: Religious Themes in Terence Fisher’s Hammer Horrors
Terence Fisher @ TSPDT
Book: Terence Fisher, by Peter Hutchings
Terence Fisher: Horror, Myth and Religion
Terence Fisher @ letterboxd
Terence Fisher, le roi de la Hammer
Situation historico-fantastique du château dans l’œuvre de Terence Fisher
DIRECTORS CUTS: TOP 7 FILMS BY HAMMER’S MAESTRO TERENCE FISHER
TERENCE FISHER – ACTERIEUR DU CINEMA
Terence Fisher and science fiction

 

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Extras

Terence Fisher – Films Posters Collection

Terreur et Glamour: Montée et Déclin du Studio Hammer

 

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Interview

 

JVG: Before you became a director, you’ve worked as an editor for quite some time. You have often said that the cutting of a film is very important. Were you yourself deeply involved in the cutting of your own films?
Terence Fisher: I’ve always worked closely with the editor after the film was finished. But I don’t think I gave him as much material as most directors do. When I was working in the cutting room as an editor, I learned to cut in the camera. I was a good film editor and consequently I don’t have to waste time on shooting extraneous cover shots which I wouldn’t need in the end anyway. The film always jigsawed together without any pieces left over. We were never left at the end with one picture and three bits, or even more than three. I shoot to an average of footage of 3½-4 to 1. If you’re working on a moderate budget, anything counts that appears to be a waste. Every shot I ever did was used. Unless of course one ran over the maximum length of the film and wanted to reduce the time by cutting a whole scene, or a sequence, or half a sequence. But in the first complete edition of the film everything we had shot on the floor was in the film.

JVG: Your editors had an easy job then, they were just continuity editors.
TF: That is exaggerating it a little bit of course. You still have to intercut and cut in close shots and so on. Their choice comes in when they have to intercut a conversation between different characters. You are never quite sure in that situation, but you do know how you build up to that situation and how you come out of it. I didn’t supply the cutting room with a lot of wasted material. I cut quite largely in the camera. Basically I cut in the shape of a scene, but when one gets into close shots, showing the emotional reactions of the characters involved in a certain situation, one has to get the full emotional impact of that situation. The whole basis for cutting emotional scenes is reaction rather than action. Generally speaking it is more important to see the effect of a particular spoken word upon the person who’s listening, rather than upon the person who is expressing. If you sit in a theater and see a stage play in whole – in one long shot, to use the film expression – the audience’s attention is more fixed upon one person than another person and another person and another person, according to the development of the scene and what is said. I don’t think the audience is hypnotized by the person who is speaking. I think they automatically go to see the reaction of the character who is listening. I’ve tried to analyze this after I’d been to the theater occasionally, how my attention switched in that respect in certain scenes. But it is too difficult to remember afterwards, because one gets emotionally carried away and your emotion shows you what it wants you to see. You can’t remember afterwards which person caught your eye’s attention, the person who’s speaking or the person who’s listening. Maybe different people have different reactions. This is interesting to analyze. Maybe some people will always be more interested in and fascinated by the person who’s speaking, I don’t know. This may also vary according to the make-up the person is wearing. What is your opinion about this?

JVG: I don’t know, really… I think it will largely depend on the situation…
TF: This is the whole basis of cutting, whether it concerns close-ups in conversation or highly dramatic action scenes.

AF: It’s what you say and what’s been said to you, what makes the reactions rather than the words themselves.
TF: Yes, that’s right.

JVG: You have often worked with Bernard Robinson. He designed most of your Hammer films. You liked him very much…

TF: Tremendously! I liked him very much personally and professionally. He had a great feel for the emotional impact of a subject. One always knew in his sets what was going to happen. He was uncanny in knowing that you would need a certain kind of window design or wall or something at a particular place. He would know exactly where a certain action would take place, and he would give you a background which went well with the emotional impact of that scene. He had a great feeling for his work.

AF: Would you say that his use of the twisted pillars, which appear in most of his sets, were really designed to make you feel uneasy?
TF: Yes. I think so. because he used them right from the start. They gave a peculiar effect.

GP: Roger Corman also used them in some of his later films…
TF: I should think Bernie started the fashion. I’m sure he did.

JVG: The lighting and photography are of course also very important in your films… What exactly is everybody’s function in that respect when you are directing? Of the camera operator, the director of photography, you yourself…
TF: In England directors of photography don’t want to interfere with their operators, as they do on the continent. Continental directors of photography want to have more control over their operators than they do in England. It can work both ways, but I think it’s easier for a film director to work with the camera operator, without actually interfering. But let’s take the director of photography, or let’s call him lighting camera man. You’ve got to leave his style to him. Different lighting camera men have different styles of working. Within each one’s style you can get a certain type of mood if you tell him what you’re aiming at. If you want for instance an actor not to be seen in features but in silhouette, you tell him so. In the first rehearsal he will work from that. Then again it is a co-operative thing between the director and the lighting camera man. But you can’t tell him to change his style. Each lighting camera man has his own individual style. Jack Asher, who did the early Hammer ones, had a very distinctive style of lighting, which was quite different to Arthur Grant’s. He had a more realistic approach to the situation. Jack Asher’s was almost theatrical lighting with little tricks, like color slides placed over the lights and so on.

JVG: I think Jack Asher was also very emotional…
TF: Oh indeed he was. Indeed…

JVG: Much more so than Arthur Grant…
TF: Arthur Grant approached it with a more realistic interpretation. But Arthur would give you a good job if you told him what you were aiming at. If you asked him not to see people’s features and to do it with back-lighting, which is very important at certain moments within the field, he could give you almost theatrical lighting like Jack Asher did. Which of the two is the best I don’t know. I don’t know exactly how audiences react to this.

AF: They shouldn’t react at all on a conscious level.
TF: No, but it must be affecting them, one way or another, although they wouldn’t know why.

AF: The use of your exteriors was totally against the norms of the time. That was very much your own personal signature rather than say Jack Asher’s or Arthur Grant’s.
TF: Yes, that is correct.

JVG: Do you work close to the camera operator?
TF: Yes, very closely, shot by shot, where the camera should be at any given moment, when and how it should be moved. All this we work out together. The camera is the instrument for translating the script into a visual form.

JVG: In the early reviews of your films, you were very wrongfully criticized for not moving your camera often, for being “static” or even “pedestrian”, while on the contrary your plenty camera movements are very intricate and laborious, but probably so much in accordance with the action, that they remain unnoticed by the audience and the critics.
TF: I strongly believe that there always has to be a reason for moving your camera, or for changing an angle. You can’t move or change, just because you are bored with your angle. But I do move my camera! People who say that are maybe not conscious of it being moved all the time. If they would take the trouble to sit down and count how many times the camera moves, they’d be staggered. In a straight viewing you would not, and you should not be conscious of that movement. Unless I want you to be conscious of it, when it has a dramatic impact. A lot of people have misguided ideas in that respect. For me there has to be a definite reason, a logical or emotional and dramatic reason, for changing the position of your camera or for moving it. It could even be a movement for the sake of convenience, provided the audience is not conscious of it, if it does not intrude into the dramatic content of what you are showing. You can find all sorts of tricks for moving your camera. One of the simplest tricks in the world is to follow a side character. Take for instance a night club or a restaurant scene, where you want to show the whole thing and end up at a particular table with people in conversation. The simplest way to give a reason for moving your camera is by having a waiter enter from anywhere with a serving tray. He is moving towards the table you want to get into the frame. The camera goes round with him, showing the interior, and will end up precisely where you want to have it. The audience will accept this movement of the camera as natural, because it has been taken there by the waiter, for a reason. It’s a simple trick. And there are many ways of doing it.

JVG: Do you look through the view-finder yourself?
TF: I know lenses pretty well. I used to look a lot through the view-finder in the early days, but only very quickly, just to see the effect. After a short time one gets to know the different distances and all other things.

JVG: Did you use many trick lenses?
TF: I didn’t. Only when there was a definite reason to use one.

JVG: In THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, you used the zoom lens for the first time. Later you said you weren’t too happy with the result.
TF: When the zoom lens first came into use, people were mesmerized by it and misused it completely. The zoom is very useful and can get you out of an awful lot of tracking. Instead of tracking you can use a slow zoom, which is the same thing, but you avoid having to lay tracks on exteriors and sometimes even on interiors, which is very expensive. You can also combine a tracking with a zoom and make the camera move physically in a way you couldn’t possibly do on tracks alone. [Many marvellous examples of this technique became one of Terence Fisher’s trademarks.] These are ways to use the zoom intelligently. Today’s zoom lenses are perfected up to the point where you have full control over the speed. In the early days you didn’t have that control, it was a somewhat haphazard thing technically. If it is under control, however, it can give you a tremendous advantage, provided it is used properly. It is far less expensive than a travelling. There still is a slight difference between a zoom and a travelling because with a travelling you move your camera towards the subject and with a zoom you pull the subject towards your camera. It gives a different psychological effect, but the distinction is very subtle.

JVG: In fact, you don’t hold anything really against the way you used the zoom lens in THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, as one could conclude from the interview you gave to “Midi-Minuit Fantastique” about ten years ago?
TF: No, certainly not. Those people must have misinterpreted a lot of what I said in those interviews. I was not abusing the zoom lens but the misuse of it. I think it is a wonderful technical achievement. To misuse it, like the misuse of any other technical aid, is foolish. But you use anything technically that will help dramatically and if there is a reason for it.

JVG: When you discuss a film with your actors, do you seriously consider their suggestions?
TF: Of course, very much so. They are vital to consult. Many things come out of what we call the first rehearsal, the rough run-through. That is when you find out what the actors are going to bring to the film. Although you will also discuss the content and the line of direction on the set, that first rehearsal is the most exciting thing. Little twists and variations come in which no director could think of, but which an actor, who is really living the character he is to play, will bring in. Like how the characters will react under certain circumstances… how he reacts, what he does, what he says. You would never have thought of these things yourself, no director would. Many directors are rather definite about what they expect, they lay down the rules before the first rehearsal. I think that is ridiculous, because it is then when those impromptu things come from an actor who is really living the character he is supposed to portray. No director could think of these things. He could think of something else of course, but it wouldn’t be nearly as good or in the wrong place. I love that first run-through, the spontaneous expression of what the actor feels without too many preconceived ideas. And here we come again to this question of the intuitiveness of filmmaking…

AF: From what you say now, an actor is probably the least obvious person to direct a film…
TF: Indeed. I don’t think that any actor is, with that one great exception. Orson Welles is a tremendous actor and a tremendous director as well.

JVG: Do you think a film could be ruined by an actor who is miscast or who is not giving his best.
TF: Yes, in various degrees…

JVG: Don’t you think a director could still make something out of it?
TF: Well, he could make something out of it, but not what he should make out of it. Please. Bad casting is a tragedy, isn’t it.

JVG: Yes… On the contrary, do you think that when you have a bad script but a very good cast, you could still make a good film.
TF: No… One could make a better film, yes, but not a good one.

JVG: But better because of the actors?
TF: Yes, because of the actors. In what degree the actor will affect the film, for better or worse, is very hard to tell. That depends so much on the size of that actor’s talent and on the content. You can’t sit on the back of his neck all of the time, can you. You have to believe, with the actor, in the particular part he is portraying. It’s a bit of life, isn’t it. He’s got to emotionally portray to the audience. That’s communication again. The audience has got to believe in him as long as they’re looking. I don’t care much for what they say afterwards, but during those two hours they got to believe the whole thing. It’s like hypnotism really. They got to believe what they see, they got to move emotionally into the action.

JVG: You have worked with an incredible number of famous actors in your carreer. I’ve got an impressive list here of actors you worked with. It includes Dirk Bogarde, Mai Zetterling, Noel Coward, Oliver Reed, Jean Simmons, Eva Bartok, and so on and on, too many to name. You must have been directing every good actor in this country at one time or another…
TF: Yes… I hadn’t realized it so much until Alan here reminded me the other day and started reading all the names of the people I worked with. That’s a lovely thing, isn’t it.

JVG: Yes, indeed it is.
TF: It’s a most exciting idea…

 

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17 of Terence Fisher’s 64 films

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Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
‘Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell is a 1974 British film directed by Terence Fisher and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It stars Peter Cushing, Shane Briant and David Prowse. Filmed at Elstree Studio] in 1972 but not released until 1974, it is the final chapter in the Hammer Frankenstein saga of films as well as director Fisher’s last film.’ — horror.fandom

Trailer

Excerpt

 

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Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
‘The key image of this film occurs early on, as a hideous monster removes its face, only to reveal itself as Baron Frankenstein in a mask. Hammer’s fifth installment in the series sees the transformation of doctor into monster complete. Peter Cushing’s portrayal of the Baron here is all insanity and hatred, rather than the misunderstood (if unethical) genius of previous entries. Frankenstein transplants the brain of an insane doctor into Freddie Jones’ body, creating a pathetic, misshapen beast, while using blackmail and rape to control the people around him. This was director Terence Fisher’s favorite film, and his pacing and composition have rarely been better. Jones (the nasty showman in The Elephant Man) is great at communicating the disorientation and helpless agony of his condition, and while Cushing’s character is more one-dimensional than usual, he does his normal excellent job as the Baron. Hammer’s next installment was the silly Horror of Frankenstein before Fisher returned to end the series with Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell.’ — RT

Trailer

Excerpt

 

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The Devil Rides Out (1968)
‘In Rosemary’s Baby, Roman Polanski builds the suspense by cloaking the evil in dark hallucinogenic dreams. Terence Fisher brings the frights to The Devil Rides Out by concentrating on the minutiae of the workings of black magic. Both films were made in 1967, the year of the first publicized Satanic baptism in history, when three-year-old Zeena Schreck, now a tantric Buddhist yogini, heralded the summer of love. The same year as The Rolling Stones’ sympathetic album Their Satanic Majesty’s Request and The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, almost twenty years, to the day, that the man who brought new parts to play, Aleister Crowley, died.’ — Tony Sokol

the entirety

 

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Island of the Burning Damned (1967)
‘While mainland Britain shivers in deepest winter, the northern island of Fara bakes in the nineties, and the boys at the Met station have no more idea what is going on than the regulars at the Swan. Only a stand-offish visting scientist realizes space aliens are to blame.’ — The Movie DB

Trailer

 

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Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)
‘In this “most conceptually wild and outrightly science-fictional of the Hammer Frankenstein films”, Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) and Dr. Hertz (Thorley Walters) are embarking upon an experiment to capture the souls of the dead and impose them into other bodies. When their assistant, Hans (Robert Morris), is unjustly accused of murdering his girlfriend Christina’s father and is himself put to death, the two men claim his body and trap his soul in their laboratory. Meanwhile, Christina (Susan Denberg) is consumed with grief over the death of her beloved Hans and commits suicide.’ — SHOUT

Trailer

 

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Island of Terror (1966)
‘Success invariably leads to imitation. With all the attention (and box office grosses) Hammer Film Productions was attracting in the 1960’s, it was inevitable that Hammer wannabes would start sprouting up like mushrooms from the loamy, light-starved soil of the English movie industry. Amicus and Tigon are probably the best known of the Hammer clones, but there were other studios out there playing Monogram to Hammer’s Universal. One of the most utterly forgotten was Planet Film Productions, the studio responsible for bringing us Island of Terror/Night of the Silicates/etc. The amazing thing about Planet was that they were able to pull off the very same trick as their richer, higher-prestige competitors, and dip into the Hammer talent pool. Amicus you expect to be able to pay Peter Cushing’s or Terrence Fisher’s price; a little fly-by-night operation like this is another matter altogether. And almost equally remarkable is the particular aspect of Hammer that Planet chose to copy— rather than producing knockoffs of the somewhat sensationalized gothics that Hammer is best remembered for today, Planet’s stock in trade (at least as far as genre movies were concerned) seems to have been clones of the clever little sci-fi flicks Hammer used to make in the mid-to-late 1950’s.’ — 1000 misspent hours

the entirety

 

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Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
‘Hammer’s second outing for the notorious vampire after their hugely successful Dracula (1958), with Christopher Lee returning as the demonic Count. Here he is revived by a devoted servant using the blood of an unwary guest and so begins his reign of terror once more.’ — RT

Excerpt

Behind the scenes

 

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The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)
‘Their target: Humanity. Their mission: Total Annihilation! The world has just been decimated by an unstoppable, merciless army of killer robots, and millions of innocent souls have been wiped out! Only a handful of survivors have managed to escape the deadly alien apocalypse, and they must endure a non-stop struggle to save themselves from destruction, and somehow find a way to defeat the marauding death machines… before the entire human race becomes extinct! Legendary Hammer director Terence Fisher (Horror of Dracula) directed this Sci-Fi thriller written by Harry Spalding (Chosen Survivors) under the pseudonym Henry Cross and starring Willard Parker, Virginia Field, Dennis Price and Thorley Walters.’ — Kino Lorber

the entirety

 

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The Gorgon (1964)
‘An extremely bizarre offering from the renowned Hammer Film Productions, The Gorgon is the movie that asks, “What would happen if a monster from Greek mythology returned from the dead to terrorize East Prussia in the early 20th century?” Now, you might expect such a movie to be more fun than the proverbial barrel of monkeys, but sadly, you’d be wrong. The Gorgon may be plenty stupid, but it isn’t fun stupid.’ — 1000 misspent hours

the entirety

 

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The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
‘As usual, Terence Fisher and Hammer Studios take a concept already done exquisitely by Universal in the 30s and 40s and make it their own. This film stands out among a long hallmark of werewolf movies, going for the straight dramatic content of lycanthropy rather than the sensationalism.’ — classic-horror

Trailer

 

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The Two Faces of Dr Jekyll (1960)
‘Hammer’s flop version of the overworked Robert Louis Stevenson classic grafts on Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray for extra literacy amid the tired Gothic chills. This time the old and weak Jekyll (Paul Massie) transforms into a dashing and virile playboy with an eye for London’s cancan girls. Christopher Lee lends his usual excellent support as the lecherous best friend, crushed to death by a python when found in the arms of Jekyll’s wife (Dawn Addams).’ — Radio Times

Trailer

 

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The Brides of Dracula (1960)
‘This is director Terence Fisher’s ultimate statement of his unusual and deductive aesthetic and it embodies the very best efforts of Hammer Films’ technicians and artisans. It’s about one of those remote castles in some indistinct hollow of middle Europe. There a handsome, young Baron is kept chained up by his mother who lives in fear of him. A lovely visiting schoolteacher is not afraid of him at all of course, so she turns the key to release him, which turns out to be a big mistake. Featuring the incomparable Peter Cushing as the vampire hunter. Thrilling, beautiful, and a little kinky naturally.’ — Austin Film Society

Excerpts

 

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The Mummy (1959)
‘Hammer’s The Mummy is absolutely cracking stuff. After the success of their first two gothic horrors, Michael Carreras – usually relegated to Executive Producer duties – got the job of properly producing this one, and it shows. While Anthony Hinds was undoubtedly one of the masterminds behind Hammers success, Michael’s love of spectacle is what elevates The Mummy to something greater than it might otherwise have been. Carreras’ input, a bigger budget, and the general increase in confidence of a company hitting its peak are all on display here. The movie ‘feels’ much bigger than either Frankenstein or Dracula, the cast is a lot larger, and just to put some truly spectacular icing on this particular cake, Franz Reisenstein’s score is there to tell you that this is Hammer doing epic. And for a tiny company filming all this in a few sheds near Windsor this was a tremendous accomplishment and should be viewed as such. Bernard Robinson’s set design feels epic, and Jack Asher’s cinematography is gorgeous. Jimmy Sangster’s script condenses a whole cycle of Mummy movies into one film, and even if he mistook Karnak for a god rather than the location in Egypt it actually was, we can forgive him. Terence Fisher’s unobtrusive direction ensures that everyone’s skills are displayed to their best advantage.’ — This is Horror

Excerpt

Excerpt

 

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The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)
‘After emerging as a potent force in the genre with Horror of Dracula, Hammer Films added their handsome Gothic touch to this lesser-known remake of the 1944 suspenser The Man in Half Moon Street (itself adapted from a play by Barre Lyndon). Anton Diffring stars as a century-old artist who maintains a youthful appearance by regularly replacing certain glands — in transplants that he receives thanks to the unwilling participation of healthy donors. Despite his outward physical vitality, his advanced years lead to an increasing mental instability, evinced by his mad obsession with an old flame (Hazel Court) whose newfound love for a suave doctor (Christopher Lee) compels Diffring to commit acts of diabolical cruelty that ultimately become his grisly undoing. Directed by Hammer regular Terence Fisher, who applies a high polish to this atmospheric period thriller.’ — Cavett Binion, Rovi

the entirety

 

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The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
‘Nothing holds Dr. Frankenstein back from his reanimation obsession. Narrowly escaping his own execution at the guillotine, the Doctor flees to Germany, where he changes his name to Dr. Victor Stein. In the town of Carlsbruck, Dr. Stein opens a medical clinic for the wealthy and a charity hospital to tend to the indigent. Of course, the need to fiddle with the creation of a new creature is forever with the doctor and, as usual, something goes wrong. In The Revenge of Frankenstein we see the charitable, socially conscious side of the doctor, who genuinely wants to assist the poor and destitute; he is paid handsomely by the affluent citizens for his medical services and turns that profit into caring for the impoverished. There’s only one hitch with his altruism: he’s also using the charity hospital as a supply house for his gruesome experiments.’ — MoMA

the entirety

 

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Horror of Dracula (1958)
‘Horror of Dracula for me ranks very highly amongst other Dracula films. I personally believe that the changes made to the original Bram Stoker novel are definite improvements when translating them to the screen. While I admire the stylistic approach that Francis Ford Coppola would later make with his adaptation many years later, Horror of Dracula is entirely about the eradication of Count Dracula and his dark minions. It’s what makes Lee’s portrayal of the character all the more menacing. He’s an out and out villain and not a misunderstood creature of darkness. On the other hand is the methodical Dr. Van Helsing, played to sheer perfection by Peter Cushing. Both he and Lee are actors in their prime and totally flipped sides of the same coin. Their battle at the end is one of the most enthralling set pieces of any vampire film, Dracula or otherwise. Cushing’s energetic jumps across the dining room table to retrieve two candlesticks in order to make a makeshift crucifix in order to subdue Lee is still thrilling, and all the more reason to continue to appreciate the film sixty years after its initial release.’ — the digital bits

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The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
‘Released onto a market dominated by science fiction ‘creature features’, the success of Terence Fisher’s The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) revitalised and reinvented the ailing horror genre. Critics were horrified by the colourful blend of blood and sex, but the film was a huge commercial and artistic success. Despite the success of Hammer’s The Quatermass Xperiment (d. Val Guest, 1955) and X – The Unknown (d. Leslie Norman, 1956), and other studios’ efforts like Devil Girl From Mars (d. David MacDonald, 1954) and Fiend Without A Face (d. Arthur Crabtree, 1958), the science fiction genre belonged firmly to the Americans. Fisher’s retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic (which could itself be classed as science fiction) would prove to be Hammer’s first successful foray into the closely related but temporarily stalled horror film market.’ — bfi

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p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Happy weekend! Everyone, New FaBlog entry from Mr. E, this one called ‘Anyone Can Whistleblower’, which is a reference to the Sondheim musical ‘Anyone Can Whistle’, but whether the reference extends beyond the title is something you will have to find out by clicking this. ** Bill, I almost made it a Halloween post, but I’m trying to be a classicist. Thanks about the ‘Crowd’ shows. They’re going spectacularly well. Ithell Colquhoun … the name rings a bell. Hm. Maybe not. I think I have to hunt down that novel you mentioned and her other stuff. Leonora Carrington are pretty magical words. Thank you, me too, about the novel. Gulp. Fun weekend? ** KK, Hi, man. Industrial product, nice. Thank you. Yeah, I thought it hit the right haunting/trippy/simple mixture. I’m going to miss the Amphetamine Sulphate shebang in LA by just a few days, unfortunately, drat. It’s utterly normal to worry no one will give a shit. I’m having that about mine too. I’m afraid that never goes away, but it’s rarely a justified fear. Ergh, about your car. As an LA guy, I feel that. Adam Curtis, the filmmaker? I’ve seen a few things of his, and I liked them, yes. Huh. I’ll look more into him. Could be a post. Pretty exciting about Damo Suzuki! Who’s playing with him? He did shows in the UK recently, and I think he was backed up by some pretty interesting local (to the UK) talents. Thanks about ‘Crowd’. It’s going great. The shows sold out in 30 minutes, so we’re doing another run in December. It’s going to the US next year, but, other than NYC, I don’t know what/where the tour will involve yet. Enjoy your groceries. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, B. Yes, those Kippenbergers are swell, I agree. Even only having had a quick glance at/skim of that blog thus far, your book idea seems pretty good and canny. That’s using the olde thinking cap, buddy. ** Steve Erickson, Eek. Assuming they’re not fucked up, yes, patience, but that must be annoying as hell. ** Right. This weekend’s Halloween post dives back into some old fashioned classics that I hope you will attend to and appreciate, thank you. I’ll see you on Monday irregardless.