Film buff finds lost 1968 vampire TV movie that…
A movie buff discovered a lost 1968 British TV movie about vampires that sparked a legend it was so terrifying it was marked for destruction, a preservation group announced.
“No Such Thing as a Vampire” — one of six episodes from the short-lived Sixties BBC anthology sequence “Late Night Horror” — has been lacking for more than half a century after it scarred viewers and triggered an uproar that prompted the community to not only kill the show.
“No Such Thing as a Vampire,” one of the six episodes from the short-lived 1960’s BBC sequence “Late Night Horror,” has been lacking for more than half a century. BBC
But what is now believed to be the last surviving copy of the gory movie was lately found by English film-buff and cinematic engineer Darren Payne, the movie preservation group Film is Fabulous! announced on Saturday.
“I am really passionate about this episode being seen again,” Payne said, according to the group.
What is now believed to be the last surviving copy of the gory episode was lately found by English film-buff and cinematic engineer. BBC
The newly re-discovered horror movie will screen publicly for the first time since 1969 at Europe’s “Grindfest” horror pageant this September, the group said.
From the Fifties through the Nineteen Seventies, BBC routinely erased previous broadcasts to reuse costly tapes, a cost-cutting coverage that worn out an estimated 70% of its programming throughout those twenty years, according to an estimate by the British Film Institute.
But the overall disappearance of Late Night Horror’s six episodes, which was canceled by the BBC after quite a few viewers called in to the community complain it was far too horrific, fueled a darker idea that the community intentionally destroyed the copies because the content was too disturbing at the time, according to Atlas Obscura.
The episode was deemed so terrifying that it scarred viewers and triggered an uproar that prompted the community to not only kill the show, but destroy the tapes to guarantee they might never be seen again. BBC
The lost vampire episode, which was shot in shade but preserved in a black-and-white copy, was written by legendary horror author Richard Matheson, who is best identified as the creator of “I Am Legend” and roughly a dozen episodes of the traditional sequence, “The Twilight Zone.”
Another lacking episode of the sequence was written by the great Roald Dahl. One other episode, “The Corpse Can’t Play,” beforehand resurfaced, leaving 4 still lacking.
“The recovery of ‘No Such Thing As A Vampire’ was purely by chance,” Payne said, according to the group.
The newly re-discovered horror traditional will screen publicly for the first time since 1969 at Europe’s “Grindfest” horror pageant this September. BBC
A board member of The Regent movie theater in England turned up a small assortment of thriller reels that had been in storage for years and requested Payne to verify them out, he explained.
One of the movie canisters was scrawled with the phrases “Late Night Horror” in handwriting, and as a self-described horror aficionado, the identify rang a bell, he said.
Film is Fabulous! is also making an attempt to restore the episode’s unique shade utilizing a “colour recovery” course of, though success isn’t assured, they said.
Payne, however, said the episode will terrify audiences and is “more than capable of sending shivers down spines,” even if it’s shown in black and white.
The digital scan and unique 16mm print will also be returned to the BBC Archives and the episode will screen at a future Film is Fabulous! event alongside other current recoveries that have yet to be announced, the group said.
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