Something Weird on TV: Hammer House of Horror Part Three – Positive Evil

Bringing to a close our final TV series of the year, we’re here to chat about the last few episodes of Hammer House of Horror, starting with “Guardian of the Abyss,” which originally aired on November 15, 1980. Like “Children of the Full Moon,” this is one of the few times that the series has a monster if, as in that episode, only briefly.

A cautionary tale about picking up attractive strangers on the side of the road, “Guardian of the Abyss” was helmed by Don Sharp, who was no stranger to this kind of material, having previously directed such flicks as Psychomania and To the Devil a Daughter, from a teleplay by Doctor Who scribe David Fisher.

Sharp’s affinity with this kind of flick might be why “Guardian of the Abyss” manages a few genuinely effective moments, especially during one scene of hypnosis, even while its twist ending is almost painfully inevitable.

The folks in front of the camera play their parts well, too. The sinister head of the episode’s Choronzon Society is played by Hammer regular John Carson, who previously appeared in Plague of the Zombies, Taste the Blood of Dracula, and Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, to name a few, while the pretty hitchhiker is Rosalyn Landor, who made her debut over a decade before playing a not dissimilar role in The Devil Rides Out, which also boasts a not dissimilar plot to “Guardian of the Abyss.”

Anthony Hinds, son of William Hinds, original founder of Hammer Film Productions, wrote and produced many of the brand’s best gothic horror movies, often writing under the name John Elder. Which makes his presence as writer for “Visitor from the Grave” significant, even while it isn’t one of the most respected episodes in the series.

Chalk this up, perhaps, to its almost EC Comics-like narrative, in which a woman slays her would-be rapist, only to find his body constantly returning from its makeshift grave. Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans from Dark Shadows) plays our protagonist while Simon MacCorkindale, who we previously saw in Beasts, plays her accomplice and lover, and also another character who isn’t going to win boyfriend of the year anytime soon.

“Visitor from the Grave” is as predictable as its logline might imply, but it manages a few eerie moments, thanks in part to some truly odd music and sound choices. Directing duties are once more handled by Peter Sasdy, who previously helmed “The Thirteenth Reunion” and “Rude Awakening” earlier in the series.

Alan Gibson, the director of “Two Faces of Evil,” is another familiar name, having previously helmed an earlier standout series entry, “The Silent Scream.” He was also responsible for some of Hammer’s feature-length gothic horrors, namely The Satanic Rites of Dracula and Dracula A. D. 1972. This time around, he’s handling a story about sinister doppelgangers from the screenwriter of William Castle’s last film, the 1974 oddity Shanks.

I’ve seen “Two Faces of Evil” called one of the best episodes in the series, and I’m not sure that I disagree. This isn’t because the doppelganger story is any great shakes – though it does remain delightfully under-explained – but rather thanks partly to some deft directorial choices by Gibson, including increasing the disorientation with regular intercuts of a hazily-recollected car accident and its aftermath.

That brings us to our final episode, “The Mark of Satan,” which originally aired on December 6, 1980, so we’ve pretty much caught up with ourselves. There’s also a sort of bookend quality, as “The Mark of Satan” is directed by Don Leaver, who was also responsible for the first episode of the series, “Witching Time,” from a screenplay by prolific TV scribe Don Shaw.

Fortunately, “The Mark of Satan” is considerably more interesting than “Witching Time.” It’s about a morgue attendant who is either being tormented by the forces of darkness (and the number nine, and sunglasses, and a weather vane) or is just losing his grip on reality (it’s that second thing). Peter McEnery plays the lead (he was also in the 1978 version of The Cat and the Canary), while Georgina Hale (The Devils) plays his tenant-cum-love interest.

While there’s very little guesswork involved in whether or not our protagonist is just paranoid, the episode does a good job of immersing the viewer in the world of someone who believes that coded messages are being sent to them via coincidences and that evil is a virus with symptoms similar to meningitis.

Unfortunately, that’s it for Hammer House of Horror, and that’s also it for Something Weird on TV. Due to various factors outside our control, we’re wrapping up this column and saying goodbye. Thanks for coming along on our journeys through the annals of weird TV history over the last few years. My folk horror column is also wrapping up this month, but I’ll have something new coming in January, right here at Signal Horizon, so stay tuned!