Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

one-nine-eighty Don Sharp directs this Hammer House of Horror film from 1966 which is about an hour and a half in duration. Christopher Lee is Grigori Rasputin: The Mad Monk, and why not - Christopher Lee has played every other type of villain after all (Not that I have a problem with that at all). The film chronicles Rasputin's life from his rise to power through to his assassination. While it may not be 100% factual and historically accurate it's still a good yarn and a way to pass an hour or so. Starring opposite Lee is Barby Shelley and the experienced due carry a lot of weigh on the screen, working perfectly in tandem with each other throughout. In fact it's their delivery which seems to lift a somewhat drag script. Being a Hammer House film the sets are obvious wobbly at times, unfortunately it feels like this film was made slightly on the cheap as all the action seemed limited to a handful of locations. Although not varied the sets was certainly not drab - even when it wobbled!! This is a different kind of film to what you might expect from Hammer but it's a good attempt all the same and looks at the legacy of Rasputin in a different way to other films I have seen on the topic. For it's obvious flaws there is a charm about the level of evil portrayed by Christopher Lee, if it was possible to rate an acting performance separately from a film as a whole I'd award 8/10 the Mr Lee, but I'd only award 5/10 for the film.

Rainey Dawn Is this film a biography? I would say no because it would be a lot closer to being accurate than it really is. Is this film a history film? Yes because they used a historical figure to center a mainly fictional story around. I'm sure the film is great fun as long as you do not take it as historical fact - it's just very loosely based on Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin's story.I guess I was looking for more historical accuracy within the film - it had very little accuracy - so I was not pleased with the movie. This is not to say the film is a bad film - because it's not meant to be taken seriously - just not what I was personally hoping it would be.I had to fast-forward a few times to watch a bit then fast-forward again to the ending. How the real life Rasputin died is quite different than this film.I would say watch the film if you want Rasputin as a character in a fictional story - you might enjoy it then. But if you want a bit more accuracy this is not the film for you.Search out Discovery Channel: Rasputin: The Devil in The Flesh ( 2010 ) for a good documentary on Rasputin.3/10

Theo Robertson Shown as part the Hammer double bill that gets shown on the UK Horror Channel the audience might feel rather cheated by the schedulers . Being a Hammer production and starring Christopher Lee you can be forgiven for thinking you're going to be watching a horror film of sorts . Add to that the fact that the station might be called The Horror Channel for a reason and you'll be disappointed that this is in no way a horror movie despite the studio brand name That said it does have a bizarre feel down to director Don Sharp directing everything in a way that he would have directed a horror movie . As you can imagine much of this is achieved by having intrusive scary music blasting all over the soundtrack to tell the audience this scene contains a lot of menace and any second now a monster will be appearing which being a pseudo historical film will not be the case and the only scene approaching horror is a scene where a rubber hand drops past the screen . The emphasis is on "pseudo " which means from a historical point of view there's not a lot to recommend this movie and pales in to insignicence compared to something like DOCTOR ZHIVAGO which was released at the same time and was set in the period and locale . Of some interest is that being a Hammer film the little Englander mentality is present and the characters being foreign all have prominent suntans because all foreigners even ones living in a country like Russia must have suntans . Apart from that there's little other interest to the film unless you enjoy watching the Hammer repertory cast emote and overact in a rather ludicrous manner almost as if they're having a contest to see who can shout the most which has an entertainment value of sorts

Michael O'Keefe From the fabled Hammer Studios comes a distortion of Russian history, but its in that great vivid Hammer color. Most assuredly a lot of liberties have been taken with this tale about a "man of mystery", Rasputin, brought to life by who else but Christopher Lee. This movie shows how The Mad Monk used unexplainable evil powers to garner, or demand, influence and manipulate anyone of his choosing. Rasputin also saw himself having a physical prowess with women; and even eased entry to the court of the czar. My favorite scene is the sequence leading to his assassination; but how was this head strong character so easily duped. Remember this film forgoes accuracy in favor of entertainment. Also in the cast: Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Dinsdale Landon, Robert Duncan and Richard Pasco.