Fred Haggerty Movies

While wandering the English moors on vacation, college yanks David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) happen upon a quaint pub with a mysterious patronage who warn them not to leave the road when walking after dark. Irreverent of such advice as characters in horror films always are, the two decide to find a short cut....David wakes up in the hospital with a nasty bite wound to his shoulder; the freshly deceased, and rapidly decomposing, Jack arrives soon after to deliver the grim news that, unless he commits suicide, David will become a werewolf when the moon is full. David dismisses the encounter as a hallucination, but all indicators point to lycanthrope; evenings of barking and bloodletting follow closely behind. While the story is thin and much of the tongue-in-cheek humor is overdone, there are plenty of genuine jolts thanks to makeup guru Rick Baker's eye-popping special effects. The werewolf, resembling a cross between a bear and a wolverine, appears frighteningly real, and, given the fantastic premise, the gore is most convincing (although surprisingly and refreshingly scant). The hospital dream sequences are creative, and the scenes in which the werewolf runs rampant through downtown London are particularly good. In all, An American Werewolf in London is an original, atmospheric film that manages both to scare and amuse. While dismissed by most American critics upon its release, the film managed to secure a place in the annals of American cinema when Baker won an Academy Award for his amazing effects and creature designs. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

Written by Roger Woddis, this episode of The Prisoner guest stars Patrick Cargill (also seen in the previous episode "Free for All") as super sadistic New Number Two. Delighting in tormenting the villagers, Number Two drives at least one of them, Number 73 (Hilary Dwyer), to suicide. Hoping to avenge the woman's death, Number Six begins his own campaign of psychological warfare, utilizing such "weapons" as his collection of Bizet recordings! In addition to resembling an installment of the much later CBS series, Survivor, this episode also predates American Gladiators by offering an "extreme sport" known as Kosho. Originally slated as the 14th episode of The Prisoner, "Hammer into the Anvil" was seen as episode number 10 when it first aired in England on December 10, 1967. It was placed in its original chronology for American television, where it was first seen on August 31, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Captain Sindbad was based on an Arabian Nights story, was filmed in Germany, and starred an American leading man (Guy Williams), a German leading lady (Heidi Bruhl) and a Mexican villain (Pedro Armendariz). How's that for cultural diversity? Anyway, the story involves Sindbad's (Williams) efforts to enter the impenetrable castle where the evil El Kerim's (Armendariz) heart is being kept. So long as his heart is outside his body, El Kerim is invulnerable, enabling him to be as wicked and despotic as he chooses. Sindbad comes to the rescue just seconds before the heroine (Bruhl) is about to be crushed to death by an elephant. Despite the mortality rate on both sides, Captain Sindbad is pure kiddie-matinee stuff, adroitly put together by director/cinematographer Byron (War of the Worlds) Haskin and boasting top-notch special effects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of a small cluster of creepy films to come from England's Amalgamated Studios in the late '60s, this lesser entry details the twisted practices of a deranged German plastic surgeon (Anton Diffring) who hides out in France after mutilating a patient and begins his work anew under an assumed name. Staying mobile by traveling with a circus troupe, Diffring offers his services to disfigured female criminals, who pay him for his services by joining the circus as performers -- and by catering to his perverse whims. Naturally, it's not long before the ladies' gratitude begins to wear thin, and they begin to plan their escape... only to meet horrible ends in carefully-orchestrated catastrophes while performing. Viewers may find themselves haunted by Gary Mills's "Look for a Star" several days afterward like a cloying advertising jingle; the performance of a rug-topped Donald Pleasence (as the show's former owner, who meets with a sticky end) is a nice touch. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide