Doc Rotten's 666 Revelations: Horror Icons of 1971

The early Seventies, the second wave of horror legends are in full swing: Cushing, Lee and Price. In 1971, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee star in The House That Dripped Blood and I, Monster for Amicus and Cushing also appears in Twins of Evil for Hammer films. Vincent Price creates his most famous role for his 100th picture, The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Newer stars return to the screen as well; Paul Naschy returns as Waldermar Daninsky in Werewolf Shadow and Robert Quarry reprises his vampire role in Return of Count Yorga. Bruce Davidson and Ernest Borgnine face rats in Willard, the legendary Charlton Heston faces vampire mutants in The Omega Man and Malcolm McDowell becomes Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange. Andrew Keir (Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb), Nigel Green (Countess Dracula), Ralph Bates (Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde), Eric Porter (Hands of the Ripper) and Mike Raven (Twins of Evil) star in the numerous Hammer horror films this year alone. On TV, Darren McGavin creates a legend, Karl Kolchak, the Night Stalker, and Dennis Weaver faces a killer tractor-trailer in Stephen Spielberg’s Duel. Here are six of these talented actors who are the Horror Icons of 1971.

VINCENT PRICE as DR. ANTON PHIBES in THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES

After spending most of the Sixties playing various roles in adaptations of the works Edgar Allen Poe (House of Usher in 1960, Pit and the Pendulum in 1961 and The Tomb of Ligeia in 1964 among others) and becoming a horror icon to rival Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Vincent Price teams up with director Robert Fuest to create the imaginative, charming and villainous Dr. Anton Phibes. Visually, the horror beneath the mask would appear much like Prof. Henry Jerrod in one of Price’s earliest horror films, The House of Wax (1953); however, here, his face is even more skull-like, lacking lips, a nose and ears. Ironically, the character of Phibes would not utilize Vincent Price’s most recognizable trait: his voice. Much like Boris Karloff, Vincent Price can frighten the weak of heart with just narration (The Raven) or an evil laugh (Thriller); but, in the Phibes movies, he is forces to speak through a voice-box device that muffles and disguises his true voice. Still, a testament to his charismatic presence, Price makes Phibes an entertaining and memorable character as he masterminds elaborate traps to capture, torture and dispatch the doctors he holds responsible for the death of his wife. Vincent Price returns as Dr. Anton Phibes in Dr. Phibes Rises Again in 1972, facing off against Robert Quarry.

DARREN MCGAVIN as CARL KOLCHAK in THE NIGHT STALKER

Known more for comedic roles, No Deposit, No Return (1974), Hot Lead, Cold Feet (1978) and A Christmas Story (1981), Darren McGavin teams up with producer Dan Curtis and writer Richard Matheson to create one of televisions premiere monster hunters and horror iconic characters, Carl Kolchak, the Night Stalker. Kolchak, an abrasive newspaper reporter, believes a recent string of murders in Las Vegas were committed by a European vampire. Darren McGavin returns as Kolchak in The Night Strangler in 1973 followed by the television series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-1975). The series would influence television horror for decades, X-Files and Supernatural both incorporate key elements in their serial plot structures.

CHARLTON HESTON as ROBERT NEVILLE in THE OMEGA MAN

From 1968 with Planet of the Apes throughout the Seventies, Charlton Heston starred in a number of genre-related sci-fi, disaster flicks: Soylent Green (1973), Earthquake (1974), Airport 1975 (1974) and The Awakening (1980). In 1971, he brought Richard Matheson’s Robert Neville to the screen for The Omega Man, a version of I Am Legend. In the post-apocalyptic world, Heston’s Neville faces the threat of mutated vampire-like survivors; he’s a man on the edge of sanity trying desperately to find a cure to the horror all around him. His larger-than-life persona goes a long way in giving Neville the presence needed to convey the solitude and magnitude of the situation. Much like Planet of the Apes, he carries much of the picture by himself, facing the surrounding threats alone until finally teaming up with others in similar despair.

MALCOLM MCDOWELL as ALEX DELARGE in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Directed by Stanley Kubrick in A Clockwork Orange, Malcolm McDowell would rise to stardom and horrify audiences as the ultra-violent UK youth, Alex DeLarge. It is a career defining role and screen persona that reaches cinema lexicon still today. Whether it be the chorus of “Singing in the Rain” or the indelible fashion statement, the passion for milk laced with narcotics or the histrionic reactions to the experimental and shocking treatments Alex receives in prison, Alex’s journey is filled with tragic, frightening, and disturbing visuals many in 1971 were unprepared for. Malcolm McDowell reinvents the psychotic protagonist for many generations to come.

ERIC PORTER as DR. JOHN PRITCHARD in HANDS OF THE RIPPER

In Hammer’s Jack the Ripper horror outing, Hands of the Ripper, Eric Porter plays Dr. John Pritchard. Set 15 years after the infamous Ripper killings, Jack the Ripper’s daughter may be possessed by the killer’s spirit and begins to rack up her own murderous body count. Noted psychiatrist, Dr. John Pritchard believes he can cure the young lass. He soon find he regrets that decision. As with many horror scripts in the early Seventies, Hammer twists the plot to make the female the villain (much like Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde). Eric Porter as the protagonist almost becomes secondary to the plot, but that doesn’t stop the respected Shakespearean actor from adding class to the role and the movie. He would only star in a few genre flicks, both for Hammer films, this and The Lost Continent (1968). He later stars as Professor Moriarty in BBC’s Sherlock Holmes in 1985.


DENNIS WEAVER as DAVID MANN in DUEL

As David Mann in Stephen Spielberg's Duel, Dennis Weaver is the everyman, unsure of his future, struggling to rise to the occasion and lacking the confidence to deal with the challenges ahead of him, large or small. However, when confronted with a mysterious and menacing tractor-trailer on a lonely two-lane highway, he eventually musters the courage and strength to confront the threats before him. In the face of danger and possible death, he becomes the man he wasn’t sure he could be. Duel would be one of the very rare genre roles for Dennis Weaver, who is best known as Sam McCloud on the McCloud television series.