Martin Landau – Rest in Peace

Really don’t like it when these are so close together. Really makes one feel their mortality. As I write this up, I’m listening to the soundtrack from Creepshow, still trying to get over the loss of George Romero. But Martin Landau might not have made the impact in the horror genre like Romero, he definitely made his mark in a few titles. As an actor though, he was simply just amazing to watch. Landau passed away yesterday at the age of 89, due to “unexpected complications”, and the acting world loses one of the best.

I first recall Landau from both Mission Impossible and Space 1999, but never knew him as the actor, Martin Landau. He was just “that guy from that TV show”. But in 1984, a film started at the theater I was working at that was a collection of clips from different horror movies. The film was Terror in the Aisles, and it featured a few scenes from a movie called Alone in the Dark (1982), that starred Landau, as the demented character “Preacher”. In those brief clips, he gave us one of the most frightening performances that gave me chills. So much so that it immediately made me want to find that movie to see the whole thing. Around that time, he had also appeared in terror titles like Without Warning (1980) and The Being (1983). But it was his performance as the aging Bela Lugosi that won him an Oscar in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood (1994).

Just looking through his filmography, you can see all the different and wonderful characters that he created over the years. A real consummate actor, always making the audience believe in his character.  So no matter what role he was playing, you know it was going to be worth the watch.

Our thoughts go out to the friends and family during this difficult time. He will be missed, but never forgotten.

Christopher Lee Tributes!

After the passing of Christopher Lee earlier this month, there has been a lot of tributes being presented, which I’m grateful to the fact that he is being remembered for his huge contribution to cinema in general, not to mention what he gave us horror fans over the years, that thankfully we will still be able to enjoy for many more years to come.

One of those reasons that we are able to keep the memories alive of these wonderful actors that gave us so many chills over throughout our lives is that even though they have passed on, their movies still remain. And now thanks to Warner Home Video, 3 films that feature the late Christopher Lee will be unleashed in a 4-disc blu-ray set entitled the Hammer Horror Collection. this will feature The Mummy, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, Taste the Blood of Dracula, and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed. Since this is being called Volume 1, we can only hope that there are more to come. Not sure of any extras that might be on these discs, but even if they are just the films alone, I’m sure they will be well worth the price. The set will be released in October, a perfect time too, with a retail price of around $55. Not bad for 4 films if you ask me.