An Alternate History of Horror X: Kensington Gore Part 1.

[David Flin]

Comment on this article by @RyanF

 

[Alex Richards]

Kensington Gore is one of those pun's so obvious it feels serendipitous.

 

[Thande]

I see Ryan is hitting the same dilemma as I did with the Trek articles where you end up with so much material that you end up having Part 10: (Subject), Part 1 of 2. Always puts me in mind of the Adrian Plass bit with the tape about helping confused people: "My message divides into three sections, the first of which consists of two parts, Part "A" being approached from four perspecftives, the most immediate of which can be sub-divided into two areas, the initial one breaking down into four main categories, beginning with a multi-faceted topic, the primary facet being contained under six main headings, and I would like to look at number one from two points of view, the first consisting of five components, the commencing item of which falls naturally into seven sections, starting with a three point introduction to part one of the opening item in the first stage of the primary point of a six-step argument on the subject of confusion in the church..."

On the subject of the article itself, I didn't know there was a broader term to describe this genre/period than just alluding to Hammer Horror specifically, so learned something there.

 

[David Flin]

I see Ryan is hitting the same dilemma as I did with the Trek articles where you end up with so much material that you end up having Part 10: (Subject), Part 1 of 2.

As an editor with articles to source and prepare, I am all in favour of this.

 

[Charles EP M.]

Because Hammer is old and had many respectable thespians in it, it can get a reputation of 'genteel' and then you watch the originals and they're going "HEY AUDIENCE CHECK OUT THESE ORGANS FRANKENSTEIN IS HOLDING, COR LOOK AT THAT BLOOD, HEY THERE'S SOME CLEAVAGE, HAVE A LOOK AT OUR X RATING" just like the nasties of the 80s (though they could go further by then).

 

[RyanF]

Kensington Gore is one of those pun's so obvious it feels serendipitous.

Being myself, I only knew of it from its horror connotations and had no idea it referred to an actual London thoroughfare until researching for this article.

On the subject of the article itself, I didn't know there was a broader term to describe this genre/period than just alluding to Hammer Horror specifically, so learned something there.

The term was well-known enough in the past, 1980 at any rate, to be used in motion pictures with no explanation aside from context. In The Mirror Crack'd, the American film director played by Rock Hudson complains about the consistency of the theatrical blood being used in his production of a costume drama about Mary, Queen of Scots. When asked what they were using, it prompts the following response from the makeup technician:

"Just the usual stuff, mate: Kensington gore."

Because Hammer is old and had many respectable thespians in it, it can get a reputation of 'genteel' and then you watch the originals and they're going "HEY AUDIENCE CHECK OUT THESE ORGANS FRANKENSTEIN IS HOLDING, COR LOOK AT THAT BLOOD, HEY THERE'S SOME CLEAVAGE, HAVE A LOOK AT OUR X RATING" just like the nasties of the 80s (though they could go further by then).

I always remember that some later reviews called Freddie Francis's Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) a far more sexually driven Dracula film than those directed by Terence Fisher. It's amusing because one piece of direction Fisher gave to Melissa Stribling as Mina Harker was to look like she had come back from the best sex of her life when the character returned home from a liaison with the Count.

 

[Alex Richards]

Being myself, I only knew of it from its horror connotations and had no idea it referred to an actual London thoroughfare until researching for this article.

It's literally the address of the Royal Albert Hall, for added amusement.

 

[RyanF]

I really wish the BBC would stop riding the coattails of SLP Magazine:

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