Legend April prime-time premieres
LEGEND gives April a spring, serving up a raft of Sixties vintage horror on Sunday nights plus a thrilling slate of prime-time premieres
THE VINTAGE VAULT continues to brighten up Sunday nights with its popular classic horror double-bills, including the Channel premiere of cult sci-fi comedy mystery THE TERRORNAUTS, starring Simon Oates, Charles Hawtrey and Patricia Hayes. You can also journey into the history of 60s genre cinema with Jack The Ripper thriller A STUDY IN TERROR (1965), psycho horror BLACK TORMENT (1964), DR TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965), starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966), Hammer’s sole foray into the Zombie genre, THE REPTILE (1966). another Hammer mid-’60s shift away from the traditional staples of Dracula and Frankenstein, THE SORCERERS (1967), the debut feature of cult-director Michael Reeves, Terence Fisher’s DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966), FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMEN (1967), the fourth of Hammer’s Frankenstein series starring Peter Cushing and eco sci-fi chiller NIGHT OF THE BIG HEART (1967),
April’s entertaining slate of premieres is spearheaded by the UK premieres of action thrillers EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM, starring Richard Dreyfuss, and MONEY PLANE, starring Kelsey Grammer and Denise Richards.
Plus, there are Channel premieres for air highjack thriller EXECUTIVE COMMAND, starring Bryan Cranston, high-octane crime adventure AN EYE FOR AN EYE (1981), starring Chuck Norris and Christopher Lee, and tense detective thriller STANDOFF, starring Laurence Fishburne and Thomas Jane.
Full film details in transmission order:
Sat 1 April @ 21:00 – EXECUTIVE COMMAND (1997) *Channel Premiere
A group of terrorists steal a deadly toxin and then hijack a plane that has the vice president on board. But the only man who can stop them is Dr Rick Harding (Michael Didikof), the toxin’s inventor. In a race against time, can Harding be found and can he stop the terrorists? Co-stars Bryan Cranston.
Sun 2 April @ 21:00 – A STUDY IN TERROR (1965) *Part of The Vintage Vault
In this Sherlock Holmes tale, Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary 19th-century British sleuth is on the trail of Jack the Ripper. The trail takes Holmes (John Neville) from the lowest rungs of society all the way to the peak of the aristocracy, discovering blackmail and family insanity everywhere he goes. Also features Judi Dench, Barbara Windsor and Robert Morely.
Sun 2 April @ 22:50 – THE BLACK TORMENT (1964) *Part of The Vintage Vault
When Sir Richard (John Turner) returns to his manor with his new wife. he hears rumours that he had already secretly returned and had committed several murders. Has he lost his mind, or is something dark afoot? Also stars Heather Sears and Patrick Troughton
Fri 7 April @ 21:00 – AN EYE FOR AN EYE (1981) *Channel Premiere
Sean Kane (Chuck Norris) is forced to resign from the San Francisco Police Department’s Narcotics Division when he goes berserk after his partner is murdered. He decides to fight alone and follows a trail of drug traffickers into unexpected high places. Also stars Christopher Lee.
Sun 9 April @ 21:00 – DR TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965) *Part of The Vintage Vault
Just as a train departs, a mysterious stranger, Dr Shreck, enters the carriage with his pack of tarot cards to tell the fortunes of five fellow passengers. The cards predict that every one of them will suffer a terrible death, but will fate deal them the same hand. Stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.
Sun 9 April @ 22:55 – THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966) *Part of The Vintage Vault
Directed by John Gilling, this is Hammer’s sole foray into the Zombie genre and attracted the scrutiny of the British Board of Film Censors, who expressed concerns over the scene where a lumbering corpse (Jacqueline Pearce) is decapitated with a spade. The support feature to Dracula Prince of Darkness may have been a B movie with no star names, but it is widely regarded to be a superior film
Fri 14 April @ 22:45 – EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM (2021) *Channel Premiere
Desperate to find his missing daughter, Jake Hunter (Paul Sloan), tracks her last known whereabouts to a small desert town. As Jake uncovers the truth about his daughter’s whereabouts the answers become terrifyingly clear and he goes on a merciless quest for revenge. Also stars Richard Dreyfuss.
Sat 15 April @ 21:00 – STANDOFF (2015) *Channel Premiere
When Isabelle (Ella Ballentine), a young girl with a knack for photography, sees something she shouldn’t, an assassin (Laurence Fishburne) follows her to a lone farmhouse, inhabited by grieving Carter Green (Thomas Jane). Unable, and unwilling to hand the girl over, Carter vows to protect her from the ruthless hitman.
Sun 16 April @ 21:00 – THE REPTILE (1966) *Part of The Vintage Vault
Harry and Valerie inherit the Cornwall home of Harry’s brother, who died under mysterious circumstances. The couple’s neighbour, the hostile Dr. Franklin (Noel Willman), had been investigating a secret tribe of snake-people on his last trip to Borneo, and they had reacted to his intrusion by making Anna, his daughter, one of them. As a result, she turns into a hideous cobra-woman every winter…
Sun 16 April @ 22:50 – THE SORCERERS (1967) *Part of The Vintage Vault
experience sensations felt by their subjects. They take control of a teenager and have him live out what they associate with contemporary youth: violence and sex. This disturbing and powerful film is the debut feature of cult-director Michael Reeves and stars Boris Karloff, Catherine Lacey and Ian Ogilvy.
Sat 22 April @ 21:00 – MONEY PLANE (2020) *UK TV Premiere
A professional thief with $40 million in debt and his family’s life on the line must commit one final heist – rob a futuristic airborne casino filled with the world’s most dangerous criminals. Starring Adam Copeland, Kelsey Grammer and Thomas Jane
Sun 23 April @ 21:00 – DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966) *Part of The Vintage Vault
Christopher Lee stars in this chilling tale of four English tourists who become stranded in the Carpathian mountains. When a driverless coach appears and takes them to a sinister castle, can they survive the night? Directed by Terence Fisher and also starring Andrew Keir and Barbara Shelley
Sun 23 April @ 22:50 – FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMEN (1967) *Part of The Vintage Vault
The fourth and one of the best of Hammer’s Frankenstein series sees mad doctor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) once again experimenting with human bodies. This time he transplants the soul of an executed young man into the disfigured body of the young man’s female lover, Christina, who had committed suicide. But the revenge impulse of her male soul takes over and she seeks out those who brought about her/his unjust execution.
Sat 29 April @ 21:00 – NARROW MARGIN (1990) *Channel Premiere
Robert Caulfield (Gene Hackman), the DA of Los Angeles, has been protecting Carol Hunnicut, a prime witness in a murder case. But he was careless and they are forced to hide on a train going to Vancouver. But the mafia killers are on board. As the train speeds around the Rocky Mountains, how will they escape the trained hit men?
Sun 30 April @ 21:00 – THE TERRORNAUTS (1967) *Channel Premiere *Part of The Vintage Vault
has reported no positive results. But just when the project is about to be cancelled, Burke discovers a faint signal the same mysterious signal that intrigued and haunted him as a child and decides to respond. Doomwatch star Simon Oates takes the lead role in this cult ’60s sci-fi gem, adapted from visionary author Murray Leinster’s novel ‘The Wailing Asteroid’ Also features typically comedic turns from Patricia Hayes and Charles Hawtrey.
Sun 30 April @ 22:30 – NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT (1967) *Part of The Vintage Vault
A freak heat wave sends the temperatures soaring on a remote island. Dr Stone (Peter Cushing) and Callum (Patrick Allen) try to uncover the mysterious reason for the sudden change in climate. But the arrival of Callum’s former mistress (Jane Merrow) forces the atmosphere to boiling point and it falls to Godfrey Hanson (Christopher Lee) to discover that the rising heat is the start of an invasion of merciless aliens…
TV: Sky 148 / Virgin 149 / Freeview 41 / Freesat 137