tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88786772091858276472024-02-07T09:09:35.282+01:0020th Century TrashChris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-62324239073249197242011-02-15T10:56:00.000+01:002011-02-15T10:57:04.672+01:00Movie Review: The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdSxYyKbmFfvHq0nPnVDExfAs5_mJw8U3CLl8OX2pz29yx-BWLUogjytLJxOtDIwlvmZzLK1QIDCmVENmVxnuC0DsumZznwBhOD0J3X3Dskh-fzfku3t9c7LyhyphenhyphenpuouqdKK5n-j73vVG6/s1600/blood-on-satans-claw.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdSxYyKbmFfvHq0nPnVDExfAs5_mJw8U3CLl8OX2pz29yx-BWLUogjytLJxOtDIwlvmZzLK1QIDCmVENmVxnuC0DsumZznwBhOD0J3X3Dskh-fzfku3t9c7LyhyphenhyphenpuouqdKK5n-j73vVG6/s320/blood-on-satans-claw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573638190951344834" border="0" /></a>I'm getting quite a kick out of satanically-themed movies of the 70s at the moment. This one from British studio Tigon fits into an even smaller genre known as 'folk horror' which includes the likes of <span style="font-style: italic;">Witchfinder General</span> (1968 - also Tigon) and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Wicker Man</span> (1973). These films explore the pagan traditions of the countryside (often set in past eras) and the brutality of religion (both pagan and Christian).<br /><br />But where <span style="font-style: italic;">Witchfinder</span> concentrates on the abuse of power by religious bigots and <span style="font-style: italic;">Wicker Man</span> shows the horrific effects of pagan superstitions gone mad <span style="font-style: italic;">The/Blood on Satan's Claw</span> (the film was released under both titles) differs in that its religious authorities and lawmen are in fact, no matter how brutal their methods, largely in the right. There genuinely is something nasty and supernatural going on in the simple country lives of these 17th century English folk.<br /><br />The film gets off to a cracking start with several different story lines linked by the discovery of a deformed skeleton by local plowman Ralph. Believing the remains to be some sort of demon, Ralph's tale is met with skepticism by Judge Wymark who is staying with Mrs Banham. The widow Banham's nephew has also come to visit, bringing with him his betrothed. But the unfortunate girl meets an icy reception and during the night suffers some sort of fit accompanied by nasty visions before being carted off to Bedlam, sporting a nasty-looking claw where her hand used to be. Then there is the case of Angel Blake (played by the absolutely stunning Linda Hayden) who has found a claw in the field and seemingly succumbs to its power. All these intertwining story lines are evidence of an early version of the script that was set out like one of Amicus' horror anthologies. I'm glad they went with keeping it whole as it all makes for a very interesting first act.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRxPqA2hA1OK_EFZRWGgK3svxeo-7TTspdpGJy8CC64J6qrG3H3xwbDyE48gbDB-ESFlgbKnYq-WD0B2U7X-8bW9ih6397-44zYlyex0kdW7VVIu8IbLd1BotD5S8dR6qYNw3NLCmQslN/s1600/bosc+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRxPqA2hA1OK_EFZRWGgK3svxeo-7TTspdpGJy8CC64J6qrG3H3xwbDyE48gbDB-ESFlgbKnYq-WD0B2U7X-8bW9ih6397-44zYlyex0kdW7VVIu8IbLd1BotD5S8dR6qYNw3NLCmQslN/s320/bosc+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573852469272486658" border="0" /></a></div><br />Things soon take a turn for the seriously nasty with local children sprouting patches of scaly, hairy skin on their bodies and following the increasingly bitchy Angel Blake with all the fanaticism of a murderous cult. In a surprisingly gruesome and harrowing scene, Widow Banham's nephew suffers a similar trauma to his ex-fiance when he is attacked in bed by a clawed hand. After cutting the demonic hand off with a knife, he is distraught to discover that the hand was in fact, his own.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWpjaciMAxYNZgeSYX45ltINegtJQDAXw7nZoWLLIHLqfKi0OYdBh1b9tdHzcIip-Z1v6Cj0EszoPadDU2UDt-y6-dpz5wugra0-HKPSjnnn13JdCC50_9-NeCn4fKCk2ne9rjvx0CF_CE/s1600/bosc+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWpjaciMAxYNZgeSYX45ltINegtJQDAXw7nZoWLLIHLqfKi0OYdBh1b9tdHzcIip-Z1v6Cj0EszoPadDU2UDt-y6-dpz5wugra0-HKPSjnnn13JdCC50_9-NeCn4fKCk2ne9rjvx0CF_CE/s320/bosc+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573852581204786146" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>I was pleasantly surprised by the gritty and downright creepiness of the film. Most British horror films from this era are more than a little campy, playing up on the sex and blood. But this film made me feel genuinely uneasy, aided no doubt, by an extremely creepy musical score and eerie cinematography. While <span style="font-style: italic;">Blood on Satan's Claw</span> certainly does not shy away from the gore and also includes, as one might expect, the almost obligatory rape/sacrifice scene, none of it feels gratuitous.<br /><center><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2RQB6ZDNXeM" allowfullscreen="" width="480" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe><br /></center>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-69688395701224915122011-01-29T15:42:00.000+01:002011-01-29T15:45:51.844+01:00Movie Review: Race with the Devil (1975)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3xzzZl9ucaN_iOcC-l032JvnejSIMxD1JKIFRwImh7Yi306EPM_aDy4eckdltudGTQZYYDRV2RH6aMUIGqQednsA-fzyFGiuL2snqBwHpUWp02RXsqMbz4CHHL33LT7UCCtQ8ZUxPWyc/s1600/race-with-the-devil.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3xzzZl9ucaN_iOcC-l032JvnejSIMxD1JKIFRwImh7Yi306EPM_aDy4eckdltudGTQZYYDRV2RH6aMUIGqQednsA-fzyFGiuL2snqBwHpUWp02RXsqMbz4CHHL33LT7UCCtQ8ZUxPWyc/s320/race-with-the-devil.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567167929841670450" border="0" /></a>A fine example of the 1970s obsession with the occult and the Satanic here, only this movie crosses the old 'evil cult out to getcha' plot with the car chase genre. Peter Fonda and Warren Oates play a couple of chums who take their wives (one of them being Loretta Swift - 'Hot Lips Houlihan' from M.A.S.H.) on vacation in an RV. Things go pear shaped when the two fellas witness a satanic ritual where a young, naked female is sacrificed by a bunch of be-robed cultists. Spotted lurking in the bushes, our two all-American heroes make for the RV and put pedal to metal in an attempt to escape.<br /><br />What follows is a fairly usual tale of out-of-towners up to their necks in the Texan outback where seemingly everybody is in league with the cult (including the Sheriff) and is out to get them although they mask their evil intentions behind that brand of polite local friendliness seen in stuff like <span style="font-style: italic;">The</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Texas Chainsaw Massacre</span>. The real selling point of this movie is the climactic car chase where various locals pit their trucks against the RV causing more than a little destruction along the way.<br /><br />It's pure Grindhouse trash of course, but great fun all the same. The Satanic cult is extremely generic with as much thought put into it as one might expect from a low budget movie made in the 70s. People seemed terrified that this kind of stuff was going on all over the US at that time but I've never actually heard of any evidence of real sacrificial cults. It was just one of those paranoid knee-jerk reactions we've seen before in the witch hunts of the seventeenth century and the mass-panic over communism in the 50s.<br /><br /><center> <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wqv6PIH_ymY" allowfullscreen="" width="480" frameborder="0" height="390"></iframe> </center>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-42289928738718217852011-01-04T19:17:00.000+01:002011-01-04T19:17:41.953+01:00Robin Hood - A Journey<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfv_E-bwdN2EUqgoZjZFmcWbK_HT2uJCJ3NI1c4eL1bSSTdUkAmIOQpAe5BeEDZ1b3Kxwc6AKFTBqHgMijjKksBm-xwj6OHf1Lt3r9FQ3yhymBdagD0ez3crAWM9cS5pXRPI_JTDp8n9qu/s1600/P1021054.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfv_E-bwdN2EUqgoZjZFmcWbK_HT2uJCJ3NI1c4eL1bSSTdUkAmIOQpAe5BeEDZ1b3Kxwc6AKFTBqHgMijjKksBm-xwj6OHf1Lt3r9FQ3yhymBdagD0ez3crAWM9cS5pXRPI_JTDp8n9qu/s320/P1021054.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557614602215602658" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZmN5_yH6AS1jORSNJoO5fp9B-kZclI92DrmH53qihgvC5htsZAOcH1SYofmC5RJkUUsL6dqpcL5oHqN-7zeSGjslILz50GElerYJz6dSBp39e93AvSVJOcL8zenL9AHjfIcQghKl7xqI/s1600/robin+hood+lego+1.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 77px; height: 118px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZmN5_yH6AS1jORSNJoO5fp9B-kZclI92DrmH53qihgvC5htsZAOcH1SYofmC5RJkUUsL6dqpcL5oHqN-7zeSGjslILz50GElerYJz6dSBp39e93AvSVJOcL8zenL9AHjfIcQghKl7xqI/s320/robin+hood+lego+1.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557617095321678914" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">The character and legends of Robin Hood played a major part in my childhood. I was about 6 years old when I watched <span style="font-style: italic;">The Adventures of R</span><span style="font-style: italic;">obin Hood</span> (1938) for the first time and it's remained a favorite movie of mine ever since. This was about the same time that Lego were releasing their 'forestmen' sets which was basically a way of introducing Robin Hood into their Castle line and I loved them to bits. I can remember faithfully trying to recreate every scene of the Errol Flynn movie with those little men in green with the various knights and soldiers filling in for the bad guys. Not much later the Kevin Costner version of the movie hit cinemas and I fell in love with an all new version of the legend. There are innumerable such versions of England's boldest outlaw, the most recent being of course the Ridley Scott/Russel Crowe job which I only just got around to seeing (and I think it's great, incidentally). But I thought I'd take a look at four Robin Hood movies from my childhood that had a huge influence on me and my imagination.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh28w20hZoY6lRCpuD_wAx2_uSEc67W81Ehk5wo9dTuyb78te94-qv53mTIMXDnLOiCRFnc9RM87KKrAadWzyx_F94E0to2weOvKRGh6-d4hjWQnPfQFvYEC_SFgMKVuogtVgEdRskmtIFp/s1600/robin+hood+lego+3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 144px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh28w20hZoY6lRCpuD_wAx2_uSEc67W81Ehk5wo9dTuyb78te94-qv53mTIMXDnLOiCRFnc9RM87KKrAadWzyx_F94E0to2weOvKRGh6-d4hjWQnPfQFvYEC_SFgMKVuogtVgEdRskmtIFp/s320/robin+hood+lego+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557617740464941586" border="0" /></a></div></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmiqJm3HnRRMvMaDdWkLKv7OxY_mfPXWUlfNQ13OlaonuZ_OHvDZkx6Ga9T64lTRFqaIQjaUffVz8FiXkbh0XFQ_woctj5MmGH1Q3pajcBud1o-HuU0GEI7exw7cLISXAdzA1pmGcP5gj/s1600/adventures_of_robin_hood.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 229px; height: 348px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmiqJm3HnRRMvMaDdWkLKv7OxY_mfPXWUlfNQ13OlaonuZ_OHvDZkx6Ga9T64lTRFqaIQjaUffVz8FiXkbh0XFQ_woctj5MmGH1Q3pajcBud1o-HuU0GEI7exw7cLISXAdzA1pmGcP5gj/s320/adventures_of_robin_hood.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557316138869963938" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)</span><br />There were versions before this including the silent one starring Douglas Fairbanks, but Errol Flynn in green tights set the standard here and became the measuring stick to which all subsequent versions have been held. An early Technicolor effort, <span style="font-style: italic;">Robin Hood</span> is a glorious thing to behold. The colour palette is striking from the greens of Sherwood Forest to the extraordinary costume design. The only rival that comes close is The Wizard of Oz (completed a year later).<br /><br />And then there is the cast. The leading trio from <span style="font-style: italic;">Captain Blood</span> (1935) are reunited once more with Olivia de Havilland as a stunning Maid Marian and Basil Rathbone making his mark as one of cinema's greatest villains in the role of Sir Guy of Gisbourne. The Sheriff of Nottingham is relegated to a bumbling buffoon of a character played by Melville Cooper who provides much of the comic relief and Claude Rains is fantastic as the ginger-bewigged Prince John who is intent on seizing his brother's throne while the King is a prisoner on his way home from the Crusades.<br /><br />I absolutely love this movie. For me, it's right up there with <span style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars</span> (1977), and largely for the same reasons. It moves along at a great pace with stunts and sword fights that still hold up today (the final duel between Sir Guy and Robin has to be one of the greatest duels in cinema). Flynn swings around and does all manner of cool things like hacking through a rope holding up a portcullis and riding it all the way to the top while his horse gallops underneath. And the score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold is brilliantly rousing and endlessly hummable. It was this movie that made me love pretty much anything with swords in.<br /><br /><center><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xXHVDRgAFMk?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xXHVDRgAFMk?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-pUr-pipq_iBc_zFFYxeqyibbGIs1RljmYYtc6PmWacu3g-IIaE2bPOK3tFJYXI8q4-0NBPUb5OCre_Zdf8zpZv3iUplSqMgGREVUFh9-urTVflE1P79MiwNxmVk5xJr4RAKYakFPilt/s1600/Robin+Hood+1973.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 236px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-pUr-pipq_iBc_zFFYxeqyibbGIs1RljmYYtc6PmWacu3g-IIaE2bPOK3tFJYXI8q4-0NBPUb5OCre_Zdf8zpZv3iUplSqMgGREVUFh9-urTVflE1P79MiwNxmVk5xJr4RAKYakFPilt/s320/Robin+Hood+1973.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557316249826755378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Walt Disney's Robin Hood (1973)</span><br />Clearly hoping to recreate some of the success of 1967's animal caper <span style="font-style: italic;">The Jungle Book</span> Disney tried its hand at medieval England with its cast of critters donning tunics and caps with feathers in. The results were mixed, but personally I love it. It's totally daft with Robin and Marian played by foxes and a strikingly familiar looking bear (voiced by Baloo's Phil Harris) as Little John. What used to really crack me up when I was a kid was the interaction between cowardly lion Prince John (or 'PJ' - voiced by Peter Ustinov) and his slippery aide, 'Sir Hiss' who is totally useless and only serves to irritate his master to bursts of rage.<br /><br />The animation is very similar to <span style="font-style: italic;">The Jungle Book</span> and lends itself well to the high-action tomfoolery that an animated take on Robin Hood demands. The archery tournament and the ensuing chaos that results from Robin's unmasking and the nighttime mission to free prisoners from the castle are great set pieces. And the facial expressions are hilarious. But the songs are surprisingly unmemorable for a Disney production with the exception of Alan-a-Dale's narration and whistling opening tune that was forever stuck in my head as a kid.<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/V_1eN90zUG4?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/V_1eN90zUG4?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nTCcWDQi3fa2ARfwVt8g99hFNqSUdQlbiFXPXbdkkmGWbE4jquFiQ88ObnHRc1Iw8nlkbp5R9lY924RzMmfCZxGlVqCcq9Tgumrlgy1GIby7c8UecI81JtJjU_ZO0weicbGq4K4aOQ9P/s1600/Robin+Hood+1991.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 323px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nTCcWDQi3fa2ARfwVt8g99hFNqSUdQlbiFXPXbdkkmGWbE4jquFiQ88ObnHRc1Iw8nlkbp5R9lY924RzMmfCZxGlVqCcq9Tgumrlgy1GIby7c8UecI81JtJjU_ZO0weicbGq4K4aOQ9P/s320/Robin+Hood+1991.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557316379028202610" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Robin Hood (1991)</span><br />Totally lost in the shadow of <span style="font-style: italic;">Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves</span> that also came out in 1991, this version is surprisingly good. What I admire most about it is its attempt to turn in an historically accurate version of the legend. <span style="font-style: italic;">Prince of Thieves</span> is often accredited for dispensing with the tights and campy posturing in favour of a more grounded Robin Hood, but this version got there first with a decent stab at costumes fitting the period and a mossy, misty Sherwood Forest replacing the fairy-tale greenwood that we've seen before. This Sherwood (or is it Barnsdale?) is no studio back lot or national park. This is England in all its wild, bleak beauty.<br /><br />The story is also refreshingly original. The usual villainous trio of Prince John, Sir Guy and the Sheriff are replaced here by two Norman nobles called Baron Daguerre and Sir Miles Folcanet with Prince John only making a cameo appearance. The hero of the piece is a certain Robert Hode, Earl of Huntingdon; a Saxon who is chummy with his Norman overlord Baron Daguerre. After a run in with Folcanet over a Saxon poacher, Robert Hode is given the heave-ho from his lands and title and takes to the forests with his friend, Will Scarlett. Falling in with Little John and a band of thieves and outlaws, Hode comes to be called (somewhat inexplicably) Robin Hood, and the usual rabble-rousing against the oppressors begins. Uma Thurman puts in a great pre-Pulp Fiction performance as Maid Marian.<br /><br />The character of Robin is pretty different too. He is no heroic freedom fighter in the spirit of Errol Flynn. In fact, it is Will Scarlett who prompts him to save the poacher in the beginning; the very act that leads to his banishment. And the whole robbing from the rich to give to the poor concept comes very late to the party, with Robin spending most of the film as a common bandit! Patrick Bergin seems an unlikely cinematic hero with his moustache and curly black hair, but in fact gives a great portrayal as the devil-may-care bandit who gradually comes to see the plight of his people.<br /><br /><center><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WGbFTcz3rlI?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WGbFTcz3rlI?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUJnM6ev3UUpG6muPwl235-40ve9iGGg5oh6jucQgMBdlPBFi8_BsL0BClEy2beRvEw62bFssuQ5CQKblHGhd3u1OSA3Lf1S6kAiHNlWrtHgiH_87iKjLjI79LuzsXIVLUlkJ-vyWFjvf-/s1600/Robin+Hood+1991+x.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUJnM6ev3UUpG6muPwl235-40ve9iGGg5oh6jucQgMBdlPBFi8_BsL0BClEy2beRvEw62bFssuQ5CQKblHGhd3u1OSA3Lf1S6kAiHNlWrtHgiH_87iKjLjI79LuzsXIVLUlkJ-vyWFjvf-/s320/Robin+Hood+1991+x.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557316575927519826" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (1991)</span><br />This one gets a lot of flack but I've never really understood why. Some say its too Americanised and too showy. Perhaps I'm just blinded by the fact that I loved it too much as a kid and don't see it's flaws even now. But then, there are other movies I liked as a kid that I can't watch now (like <span style="font-style: italic;">Hook</span>). Anyway, I've always found this to be a huge amount of fun and can watch it over and over. Sure, Kevin Costner and Christian Slater seem a bit out of place in medieval England, but at least the film isn't bogged down by too much light-hearted comic relief as so many pseudo-historical family movies are (such as the <span style="font-style: italic;">Pirates of the Caribbean</span> series or 1993's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Three Musketeers</span>).<br /><br />What struck me about <span style="font-style: italic;">Prince of Thieves</span> as a child was the gritty realism of it all whilst still retaining the fun and action of the legends. It's violent (the hand-chopping scene in the beginning gave me the heebie-jeebies as a kid) and often brutal as in the river fight between Robin and Little John. The swords are big and heavy and the landscapes (mostly shot in Ireland) are truly stunning.<br /><br />But my favorite thing about the movie by far has always been the music. The Late Michael Kamen turned out, in my opinion, one of the finest movie scores ever. It really deals out a sense of the legendary and the medieval as well as being heroic and bombastic. Fantastic stuff. Unfortunately it isn't used in the trailer below, but the <span style="font-style: italic;">Willow</span> theme is almost as good, right?<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sCxzyVfAz3E?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sCxzyVfAz3E?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-71809640163902144742010-12-15T16:02:00.000+01:002010-12-15T16:03:51.484+01:00What was Christmas Like... 40 Years Ago?<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Movies</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />The three highest-grossing movies of December 1970 were;<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDlNmXO1qD3YtolENhV3Oa51CdqDHXEgrtyXS-V0nMfs5qvCA-ScxatqpqgrmBwhg7MIzVFxaMhaoqxPh5xHp6ptYUW9Ut81Jlxv4xJlbc5ibeWvO0aDLjYkSrUta7H7OsQNOESZxcVPk/s1600/Little_Big_Man.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDlNmXO1qD3YtolENhV3Oa51CdqDHXEgrtyXS-V0nMfs5qvCA-ScxatqpqgrmBwhg7MIzVFxaMhaoqxPh5xHp6ptYUW9Ut81Jlxv4xJlbc5ibeWvO0aDLjYkSrUta7H7OsQNOESZxcVPk/s320/Little_Big_Man.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541648193208737186" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ4TkZIoTQhUGKoKItfyCtuOzOY_Xdy40cIoxqEk1z3yicg8R9rPUCwDaGsgJQMvRv2cDxRtl7I9ftaj17CThJeJ09dFYz-PGWx7_q4DEcyPpOZXT03xfJHXQ4FFL7u69ctxX0oaYtlaa7/s1600/aristocats.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ4TkZIoTQhUGKoKItfyCtuOzOY_Xdy40cIoxqEk1z3yicg8R9rPUCwDaGsgJQMvRv2cDxRtl7I9ftaj17CThJeJ09dFYz-PGWx7_q4DEcyPpOZXT03xfJHXQ4FFL7u69ctxX0oaYtlaa7/s320/aristocats.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543876249695496370" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_YA2d9JPwszbfwDdi1kABxguK2OdKdEMaj28RwcPtjrbS3qnU01H9GGUfZQR0h_X6YZGw9xsgfgJ5O9ftlaIBqX5BH2dqfI4peAu412wKxHj0O7neR2vxRaZY_rcFYiF6BiZCeJScHlek/s1600/Love_story.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_YA2d9JPwszbfwDdi1kABxguK2OdKdEMaj28RwcPtjrbS3qnU01H9GGUfZQR0h_X6YZGw9xsgfgJ5O9ftlaIBqX5BH2dqfI4peAu412wKxHj0O7neR2vxRaZY_rcFYiF6BiZCeJScHlek/s320/Love_story.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543877816364940882" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Christmas Number Ones<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Top of the charts in the US </span>was Smokey Robinson and The Miracles with <span style="font-style: italic;">The Tears of a Clown.</span><br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/k2kxlZDOHeQ?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/k2kxlZDOHeQ?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br />And in the UK; Dave Edmunds with the decidedly un-seasonal blues classic <span style="font-style: italic;">I Hear You Knocking</span>.<br /><br /><center><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ry2td7q5ZMc?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ry2td7q5ZMc?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Toys</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nerf Ball</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Another reminder of a more simpler time, the Nerf ball was a simple foam ball. Yep, that was the big seller for Christmas in 1970. Created by Parker Brothers, the ball was declared 'the world's first indoor ball!' and came with a promise that it would not break lamps or windows when hurled about indoors (which surely sounded like a challenge to most kids). Nerf products remained popular for years afterwards with the company producing various sports balls made from the foamy, squashy material and later, in the '80s, 'Nerf Blasters' which fired foam darts.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmECdCSDoN2eKtAWhGRqhla9yL-IP6nN9ri6r3DPhHr5GQLqKBePEJkJ2GNEjrymfx0fxkdxIuGd7DlyybMFgoc-he4CcYIuSa8sByhROX7q5aoEs9LkVsI7RaIqp8daiwZmDzS0I-DQy/s1600/Nerf_Ball.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmECdCSDoN2eKtAWhGRqhla9yL-IP6nN9ri6r3DPhHr5GQLqKBePEJkJ2GNEjrymfx0fxkdxIuGd7DlyybMFgoc-he4CcYIuSa8sByhROX7q5aoEs9LkVsI7RaIqp8daiwZmDzS0I-DQy/s320/Nerf_Ball.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541988179141384706" border="0" /></a></div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Stylophone</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-w6MIheTddSr11xmifw-bHWsm9LCleUjoFNcgPazknobg6zV2rkn2orpnU8VmN4dv6y0-EILyDrFXfvXEPRnknF-sEDpZvxcudhM97IQZyus8keLtJnzf2PMjtumCS996drTP2GL3LMB8/s1600/stylophone+2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-w6MIheTddSr11xmifw-bHWsm9LCleUjoFNcgPazknobg6zV2rkn2orpnU8VmN4dv6y0-EILyDrFXfvXEPRnknF-sEDpZvxcudhM97IQZyus8keLtJnzf2PMjtumCS996drTP2GL3LMB8/s320/stylophone+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541988541762089874" border="0" /></a>This simple electronic musical instrument was big news in the UK. With Australian artist/TV personality Rolf Harris as its spokesperson, the Stylophone was a popular Christmas gift for 1970. By pressing each metal note with a stylus, a circuit would be completed and result in an electronic 'beeping'. There were several play along records also released and David Bowie even used it on his 'Space Oddity' single.<br /><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGgKyuJyzImkqPql-vabNYhykXeEEaFCBKnf_mrb0gQD5Q49Za5K8oMakII9am4zk3qlWBqCLRniufCmk9r3VKRCuQSPlvBQvUhtH-bGZJ4d2MhWN5K2-yRasae3YNWEmSpJ8sDHFx3qIM/s1600/stylophone.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGgKyuJyzImkqPql-vabNYhykXeEEaFCBKnf_mrb0gQD5Q49Za5K8oMakII9am4zk3qlWBqCLRniufCmk9r3VKRCuQSPlvBQvUhtH-bGZJ4d2MhWN5K2-yRasae3YNWEmSpJ8sDHFx3qIM/s320/stylophone.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541988337881892146" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div></div>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-60994221700447742242010-12-08T17:53:00.001+01:002010-12-08T17:53:06.804+01:00What was Christmas Like... 30 Years Ago?<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Movies</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The three biggest grossing movies for December 1980, which incidentally, are all in the top ten highest grossers for that year. Also, <span style="font-style: italic;">Flash Gordon</span> which I've included for its later cult appeal despite it's poor box office take in 1980.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TDGj6VRq5IsV-HLAbYcFZlRxyCSFk9X6or0eNmV_b0DJOlX1UJq4zYs-qzNgI4j3LjC7fPkqRc8rIsY-mzWmvu6Bnq8KxyZA-valNg9CGRC7-qym1v-J7BDKK5xGpa1-_WeDN4s20w_m/s1600/nine_to_five.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 203px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2TDGj6VRq5IsV-HLAbYcFZlRxyCSFk9X6or0eNmV_b0DJOlX1UJq4zYs-qzNgI4j3LjC7fPkqRc8rIsY-mzWmvu6Bnq8KxyZA-valNg9CGRC7-qym1v-J7BDKK5xGpa1-_WeDN4s20w_m/s320/nine_to_five.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541306094350650034" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjRwsaTfwOYDpdhCplI8vDEx2mzVDGUEnmcRvNCGjKAoRE8NZ8JQUi6vIpYd0Ohfz8av7PiJekKKWJ8S8HvbzHhEzBv0nyTo-I9IDJ8ozmHtAp_KefjLDonsjI3zKw7BqQGKyqu-ulnjI/s1600/stir_crazy.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 205px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpjRwsaTfwOYDpdhCplI8vDEx2mzVDGUEnmcRvNCGjKAoRE8NZ8JQUi6vIpYd0Ohfz8av7PiJekKKWJ8S8HvbzHhEzBv0nyTo-I9IDJ8ozmHtAp_KefjLDonsjI3zKw7BqQGKyqu-ulnjI/s320/stir_crazy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541306163761721778" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDafdeE8O6dT0K8z5ro1XALe0iJZBnKKK7b24rXzvK9OuwDpjGy3vjQoygDuB2hCIipiOXQD0rWKZBWBz4HjFrvxLIvtvZMeuGPyqzCWkM9OAeNH92HSeLLE-XnYt50iBiQzIdCsWLpeRy/s1600/any_which_way_you_can.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDafdeE8O6dT0K8z5ro1XALe0iJZBnKKK7b24rXzvK9OuwDpjGy3vjQoygDuB2hCIipiOXQD0rWKZBWBz4HjFrvxLIvtvZMeuGPyqzCWkM9OAeNH92HSeLLE-XnYt50iBiQzIdCsWLpeRy/s320/any_which_way_you_can.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541306240307454802" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRl3Ayhjfck22suMi2UjJLaA7r4P4vy3XUp1W52OD33QVbqz3wUS0DO0RvmMIr9qvNW_2AwlZwRcfVwkvA4O-PQXLvfcuLkZ9qo3-HhlqeaCePQqPDr7RsP2maJqOnheQFaKr2Mi4OTIjD/s1600/Flash_gordon_movie_poster.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRl3Ayhjfck22suMi2UjJLaA7r4P4vy3XUp1W52OD33QVbqz3wUS0DO0RvmMIr9qvNW_2AwlZwRcfVwkvA4O-PQXLvfcuLkZ9qo3-HhlqeaCePQqPDr7RsP2maJqOnheQFaKr2Mi4OTIjD/s320/Flash_gordon_movie_poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546146895677440322" border="0" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Christmas Number Ones</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: left;">Topping the Billboard Top 100 Hits in the US was <span style="font-style: italic;">Lady</span> by Kenny Rogers.<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aiWAHOWsQsk?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aiWAHOWsQsk?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br />And in the UK; the tooth-rottingly sweet <span style="font-style: italic;">There's No-one Quite Like Grandma</span> performed by Stockport-based St. Winifred's School Choir.<br /></div><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span></div><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/g5TVKhjEVtQ?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/g5TVKhjEVtQ?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Toys</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rubik's Cube<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><span>The brainchild of a Hungarian professor in the mid-70s became the 'it' Christmas toy of 1980. How times have changed, eh? Imagine handing this to a member of the current Nintendo Wii/PlayStation III </span><span>generation and saying "Here you go, kid. Merry Christmas. Knock yourself out"! A real reminder of a more simpler time, the Rubik's Cube was a fad that has remained with us ever since. People still buy these. Even my parents had one back in the day.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintB8QH6ZIENlB8p2JEUvEX98dNO19zGoBvg-01WgxNlCKbiWFGvPqrfvfDBldc_-1SvGxJfuZ56jNvU1xH8MplR_DNbNQDywMN7sdaw8n36P9Sqewx10GvmUY0EP50dF5ZfNGTlMu_dCV/s1600/rubiks_cube.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintB8QH6ZIENlB8p2JEUvEX98dNO19zGoBvg-01WgxNlCKbiWFGvPqrfvfDBldc_-1SvGxJfuZ56jNvU1xH8MplR_DNbNQDywMN7sdaw8n36P9Sqewx10GvmUY0EP50dF5ZfNGTlMu_dCV/s320/rubiks_cube.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541299940677130194" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupmzVcuhyYFAkHLKzvnknbwoxZW5vLb8MCvS0w4x5A38CoFCe0Kf-hczfGMgfmqazCqBW_aCgdHLAjZTaAfWygB4TeNXGNZIeTKom-QhjSzMsvbmgHfnJgkOisACcvN4pcF2u4SDjWGrx/s1600/rubiks_cube-.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 154px; height: 155px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupmzVcuhyYFAkHLKzvnknbwoxZW5vLb8MCvS0w4x5A38CoFCe0Kf-hczfGMgfmqazCqBW_aCgdHLAjZTaAfWygB4TeNXGNZIeTKom-QhjSzMsvbmgHfnJgkOisACcvN4pcF2u4SDjWGrx/s320/rubiks_cube-.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541300092464856034" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />The Empire Strikes Back </span><br />With the franchise on its second movie and before the later years of Ewoks and Jabba's muppet show, <span style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars</span> was at the top of its game in 1980. After famously being caught with their pants down in 1977 when they severely underestimated the first movie's popularity, Kenner made up for lost time with<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span>its sequel</span> and with a whole new array of bounty hunters, rebels in snow gear and Imperial war machines to choose from, Christmas 1980 was a bountiful harvest for many a young <span style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars</span> fan.<br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9SXCWNHbXROLiID2ncYFJYklWGuXyeGdp_Advv6sWnQWoIchyphenhyphenl0_e1N3d_UYvaaCuPuIvXpfxz40tVupD0CjBI2YQQtyz-QGrXJIznVC2G2hIywEycVErzkWVmDTk2rapW2-4lR3N5hyy/s1600/Bossk.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 207px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9SXCWNHbXROLiID2ncYFJYklWGuXyeGdp_Advv6sWnQWoIchyphenhyphenl0_e1N3d_UYvaaCuPuIvXpfxz40tVupD0CjBI2YQQtyz-QGrXJIznVC2G2hIywEycVErzkWVmDTk2rapW2-4lR3N5hyy/s320/Bossk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541255811703730402" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiey0NdgUbsCFqtoZEFA23lmBTpEWyeYfHEHleUqdDkCy41spP7lSW2NaLsqg1hLnLuDQfl9T3IfBIAax9TDVmggX6e6nM4ANKfy0OOTZD-_eeGdHDZvxVgir5BEAY0GiauaYofn1EKilo7/s1600/snowspeeder.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiey0NdgUbsCFqtoZEFA23lmBTpEWyeYfHEHleUqdDkCy41spP7lSW2NaLsqg1hLnLuDQfl9T3IfBIAax9TDVmggX6e6nM4ANKfy0OOTZD-_eeGdHDZvxVgir5BEAY0GiauaYofn1EKilo7/s320/snowspeeder.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541256420598294210" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCiRwqBT6w0uGwtTKh4jnYVMAymcTcHmZw-nymlGRRVjCkNaErqjn3kc0SpjRYT3KY-ClDKGFdCGLp8welHUFolXFRRN69aZPMT8cmjI-E3exzSnkZv-iSmB-L5lsbLqHZXW3SqIY6m0MA/s1600/darth+vader+carry+case.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCiRwqBT6w0uGwtTKh4jnYVMAymcTcHmZw-nymlGRRVjCkNaErqjn3kc0SpjRYT3KY-ClDKGFdCGLp8welHUFolXFRRN69aZPMT8cmjI-E3exzSnkZv-iSmB-L5lsbLqHZXW3SqIY6m0MA/s320/darth+vader+carry+case.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541281842407498562" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-90189748881271622152010-12-02T07:20:00.000+01:002010-12-02T07:20:18.842+01:00What was Christmas Like... 20 Years Ago?With the countdown to Christmas in full swing, I thought I'd take a trip back in time and stop off at each 10-year interval until 1970 or so, to see what was going on at this time of year back then. This post will take a look at a year I remember very well - 1990 (I skipped 2000 as it still feels way too recent).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Movies</span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Here are a few of the biggest widely released movies of the Christmas season in 1990. <span style="font-style: italic;">Home Alone</span> was huge and was one of the highest grossing movies of that year.<br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC0vgnlhyRV5RlZnJkFpMe8ihLfX5IcluVzofeq11Eyz1sxbIpZ66pgh7-HaIMJxl3e5YHCXXQWDHsFkkOPGs2I7OR0v3R-QRpUAeJlgCB6dgyxko32H4MAXsHZSRJMCmSNY7oAQjysLof/s1600/home+alone.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC0vgnlhyRV5RlZnJkFpMe8ihLfX5IcluVzofeq11Eyz1sxbIpZ66pgh7-HaIMJxl3e5YHCXXQWDHsFkkOPGs2I7OR0v3R-QRpUAeJlgCB6dgyxko32H4MAXsHZSRJMCmSNY7oAQjysLof/s320/home+alone.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541214893132460258" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOoVr1gR6AtezbV6shYqA5tmj10Pps4-6BQxmmbiOKzSqhpg3_fCg0vKDo_6jqhpvrdHgyl6s721aikZG9Ccxy5dnIVFzB2s5vOYyg_bSYcsIYjn5kOZeU0UI0h4crjjcT16E2OXBL901U/s1600/kindergarten_cop.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOoVr1gR6AtezbV6shYqA5tmj10Pps4-6BQxmmbiOKzSqhpg3_fCg0vKDo_6jqhpvrdHgyl6s721aikZG9Ccxy5dnIVFzB2s5vOYyg_bSYcsIYjn5kOZeU0UI0h4crjjcT16E2OXBL901U/s320/kindergarten_cop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541216113185330290" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9L_5Ki28smO_pmCDp09390x429d5CrgaSVbJ71-YwuFr8lsOLXhUdPtf6VkzutZ7UTSAFaBwyiODOKejfj1UtHVCRB9WzOGE5TBWZITgF4FcZjHR7jAI06mShUNJCo-liGXwACQYbTs2w/s1600/edward_scissorhands.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9L_5Ki28smO_pmCDp09390x429d5CrgaSVbJ71-YwuFr8lsOLXhUdPtf6VkzutZ7UTSAFaBwyiODOKejfj1UtHVCRB9WzOGE5TBWZITgF4FcZjHR7jAI06mShUNJCo-liGXwACQYbTs2w/s320/edward_scissorhands.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541216301890499810" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuVxxRnTLJKyfO7dJtblxMoJP4atwVCpaeCJqPAA3OGd2gZ2RQhdi_3IWNthzQDXuVQi6UOTRcZVn_wDrOvGslNvYbSvENx7LZvfLBIhn3fzqctjw2NKQkV4BCPFFoKplCxVyynYot8R_i/s1600/The-Godfather-Part-3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuVxxRnTLJKyfO7dJtblxMoJP4atwVCpaeCJqPAA3OGd2gZ2RQhdi_3IWNthzQDXuVQi6UOTRcZVn_wDrOvGslNvYbSvENx7LZvfLBIhn3fzqctjw2NKQkV4BCPFFoKplCxVyynYot8R_i/s320/The-Godfather-Part-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541216555998839618" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Christmas No. Ones</span></div><br />In the UK, having a number one single at Christmas is kind of a big deal and often results in festive (if sometimes overly wholesome) entries by big names (and sometimes not so big). The yuletide spirit is somewhat less reflected in the US with the Billboard Top 100 rarely taking notice of the festive season.<br /><br />In 1990, the US number 1 single on Christmas was <span style="font-style: italic;">Because I </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Love You (The Postman Song)</span> by Stevie B.<br /><br /><center><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/09qBdgqwYJY?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/09qBdgqwYJY?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center><br /><br /><center></center>And in the UK... <span style="font-style: italic;">Saviour's Day</span> by Cliff Richard. Remember what I said about wholesomeness? But to be fair, it only lasted until December the 30th before being knocked off the top spot by Iron Maiden with <span style="font-style: italic;">Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter</span> so it's not all bad.<center></center><br /><br /><center><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/prW054Q6ZyM?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/prW054Q6ZyM?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;" >Toys</span><br /><br /></div>I tried very hard to find some sort of definitive 'Top Selling Christmas Toys Year by Year' list on the Internet, but to no avail. There are many lists out there but they are all culled from different sources while some seem to be purely made up. At the risk of doing the same, I decided to trawl through a few catalogues and articles and come up with a few examples of what was hot for Christmas in 1990.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Gameboy</span><br />Released in Japan and the US in 1989 to huge success, Nintendo's Gameboy made its way to European shores in 1990. This was huge. Hopelessly obsolete in light of today's technological advancements obviously, the Gameboy was unbelievably popular in its day with its 8-bit graphics and 'green' colour scheme. A common sight in the early '90s was a group of kids crowding around a single Gameboy held in the sweaty hands of a comrade, watching over his shoulders in attentive silence as he tried to beat that tricky level on <span style="font-style: italic;">Super Mario Land</span>. And woe betide any joker who thought it was funny to flip the 'off' switch when somebody was mid-game. No way to save your games in those days, kids. Each time you switched it on, you had to start from the beginning.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><center></center> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrlZ73GxQm-Ydk9v-d1nGS47f5Oa1kbU8vIC7OXn8vv-atfhMY00YqDDDng4AeUkIvJTGZaiIZq3cpTSyNkYPcy1Z_PzYfTfMAtv3dabyvZTfeHh_z7rKJ6PmEX1-RDerPPbt-v3CIrJF/s1600/Supermarioland.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrlZ73GxQm-Ydk9v-d1nGS47f5Oa1kbU8vIC7OXn8vv-atfhMY00YqDDDng4AeUkIvJTGZaiIZq3cpTSyNkYPcy1Z_PzYfTfMAtv3dabyvZTfeHh_z7rKJ6PmEX1-RDerPPbt-v3CIrJF/s320/Supermarioland.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541172447337077794" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhpqrAnxGYFlt5Ii8K599HDjmqUCDYG_iL_xL-J19apiic-790BbJdP5fihwHDx5MYXOsDElycDFB0vcheRCwkbCUgZmZLNb3lIi-Lc_kLKYgdqIxZpLgp1Xi5wisjSN_So_6ftoBz6oM/s1600/Gameboy.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 165px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhpqrAnxGYFlt5Ii8K599HDjmqUCDYG_iL_xL-J19apiic-790BbJdP5fihwHDx5MYXOsDElycDFB0vcheRCwkbCUgZmZLNb3lIi-Lc_kLKYgdqIxZpLgp1Xi5wisjSN_So_6ftoBz6oM/s320/Gameboy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541172321749417106" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSn3lZVP5nycenPb7Fce6T0VkWimy-g8hqqTUqnJAx167ZN5vF1lWR5tTTYXiGIcXEbjeyD1nMppC1J3aTLOkfjI9OirN_jRa7JpmSrXXN8KFzIkiHC0CA-4XXGxan0gg2BLfY0Ef5f0D/s1600/teenage_mutant_ninja_turtles.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 195px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSn3lZVP5nycenPb7Fce6T0VkWimy-g8hqqTUqnJAx167ZN5vF1lWR5tTTYXiGIcXEbjeyD1nMppC1J3aTLOkfjI9OirN_jRa7JpmSrXXN8KFzIkiHC0CA-4XXGxan0gg2BLfY0Ef5f0D/s320/teenage_mutant_ninja_turtles.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541172730504805714" border="0" /></a><center></center><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</span><br />The Turtles were everywhere in the early '90s. The first movie came out in March of that year and the cartoon show was still going strong on Saturday morning television. Of course in the UK, they were called 'Hero' Turtles instead of 'Ninja' Turtles as some nanny-state enthusiasts decided that if British kids heard the word 'ninja' they would instantly start killing each other with nunchuks and shuriken. I can't say that this deterrent worked however, as I have clear memories of leaping around the living room as a kid wielding homemade nunchucks fashioned from toilet roll tubes and string.<br /><br />The Turtles figures began in 1988 and the new additions to the line in time for Christmas 1990 were variants of the main characters such as 'Leo the Sewer Samurai', 'Raph the Space Cadet', 'Don the Undercover Turtle' and 'Mike the Sewer Surfer'.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><center></center> <center></center> <center></center> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcz_fv3kfAmqv-Fa-diXbGthI99VtplB66WOeCiD2I43gl9CkhTux1cQVZX6-43HJMC7_yDBCxQoMf15-FQF9ddm-dbJFy4AwQWim8YWZkwVC2suW0sMpoWBYDFGR1QXw_0lCHGtbBsX6J/s1600/turtles.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 398px; height: 138px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcz_fv3kfAmqv-Fa-diXbGthI99VtplB66WOeCiD2I43gl9CkhTux1cQVZX6-43HJMC7_yDBCxQoMf15-FQF9ddm-dbJFy4AwQWim8YWZkwVC2suW0sMpoWBYDFGR1QXw_0lCHGtbBsX6J/s320/turtles.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541175604538121442" border="0" /></a></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU5e5FvNCwbtiCKdUt6w5i64FLGXAX1QEI5EICNFINSMsUA3mtSBRzCoZ4GKxe0Vcx01pXQO9GM0NFmvH4XIBjWE1mstmI81Nn45V9cZRsuG4IjEUPAcX29-5wvUwPWqGLZRNTzB5gRAyN/s1600/leo.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 163px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU5e5FvNCwbtiCKdUt6w5i64FLGXAX1QEI5EICNFINSMsUA3mtSBRzCoZ4GKxe0Vcx01pXQO9GM0NFmvH4XIBjWE1mstmI81Nn45V9cZRsuG4IjEUPAcX29-5wvUwPWqGLZRNTzB5gRAyN/s320/leo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541175709611276546" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1NyT0-UoVT6VKGPfcF7WK76hkrSnOVl9mWq4La420vBhRUe2h38hAWxJEemhExv49OD58FWmPnMOQ930a6FK-QNShNb761e2Ub4guXDM2s86ZbKM8wCqmPrsYJ9VniNi442WWjnVGp0bA/s1600/mike.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 161px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1NyT0-UoVT6VKGPfcF7WK76hkrSnOVl9mWq4La420vBhRUe2h38hAWxJEemhExv49OD58FWmPnMOQ930a6FK-QNShNb761e2Ub4guXDM2s86ZbKM8wCqmPrsYJ9VniNi442WWjnVGp0bA/s320/mike.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541175872851537074" border="0" /></a></center> </div></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Power Drencher</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_cFcWhkSRpeyDXUKNU8qmLGlqBDaiIyCyvTI9drjQEiHusrFqWDLOX-ioWe9NMq-VCwK58-FoikQTY2yJTaeLUTe6N-r8QG1fC1r0JBdcYnXDGGyv5G65Z92KKwifItPD3H3fXfwWcDDP/s1600/power_drencher.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_cFcWhkSRpeyDXUKNU8qmLGlqBDaiIyCyvTI9drjQEiHusrFqWDLOX-ioWe9NMq-VCwK58-FoikQTY2yJTaeLUTe6N-r8QG1fC1r0JBdcYnXDGGyv5G65Z92KKwifItPD3H3fXfwWcDDP/s320/power_drencher.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541389687297683778" border="0" /></a>Super Soakers were a huge part of childhood in the '90s. These high-pressure water guns made hot summers a war zone for kids with a seemingly endless variety of armaments from small pistol type things right up to gargantuan rifles that actually stung when you got hit by them.<br /><br />But the famous Super Soaker brand didn't come until 1991. In 1990, the very first Super Soaker was named the 'Power Drencher' and was later re branded the 'Super Soaker 50' the following year. The bright neon (and so very '90s) colour scheme and top-mounted reservoir was a staple from the beginning and totally changed the game for summertime water fights.<br /><br /><center></center>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-66018162977345320312010-11-28T04:45:00.001+01:002010-12-05T15:55:42.916+01:00Movie Review: Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKVT4DKRtpze_l0uhwS_ynqTgoBzFsVTy2GYJjvo_f46ANrvx3SgcrYgr9e5My-K60DGoms1qGU_yDzoR855_bivF1qFALIxlv54UQuY41_bba7elzZUHzOT-UMl_6IL02HLBHicpmGTu/s1600/Silent+night+poster.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKVT4DKRtpze_l0uhwS_ynqTgoBzFsVTy2GYJjvo_f46ANrvx3SgcrYgr9e5My-K60DGoms1qGU_yDzoR855_bivF1qFALIxlv54UQuY41_bba7elzZUHzOT-UMl_6IL02HLBHicpmGTu/s320/Silent+night+poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527570876203485218" border="0" /></a>It seems like only last week that I was doing posts on Halloween, and yet here comes Christmas already. I'm still kind of in 'horror movie mode' and so what better way to make the transition than with <span style="font-style: italic;">Silent Night, Deadly Night</span>?<br /><br />Released the same month as <span style="font-style: italic;">A Nightmare on Elm Street</span>, this less influential slasher flick was understandably overshadowed by Wes Craven's more inventive project. But <span style="font-style: italic;">Silent Night, Deadly Night</span> outdid Freddie Kruger in one respect - parents and religious organisations <span style="font-style: italic;">really</span> hated it! The idea of Santa Claus going on a killing spree was not one relished by many and the film was banned for a good while.<br /><br />The story revolves around a youngster called Billy who, after a Christmas visit to his senile old grandpa (who warns him that Santa punishes naughty children) sees the murder of his parents by a felon dressed as the jolly man in red. Understandably this traumatises him no end, a fact that has little effect on the iron-handed Mother Superior of the orphanage he winds up in - a woman whose method of raising kids is thrashing the living daylights out of them with a leather belt.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmN1uIYDDuxd7Cauy4te6v1YvbZEOGi7Dn7Jq3UF5LCcd6ZteyBMGBwtp9Ra1TKEJoevpmQ02KMhCmMYPK1jCwl10nMjjUbqbQW8EIMZ0_tPeNmhF-q61KFxpFRLuvJgd7BMF19DoAXOvs/s1600/Silent+night+pic.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmN1uIYDDuxd7Cauy4te6v1YvbZEOGi7Dn7Jq3UF5LCcd6ZteyBMGBwtp9Ra1TKEJoevpmQ02KMhCmMYPK1jCwl10nMjjUbqbQW8EIMZ0_tPeNmhF-q61KFxpFRLuvJgd7BMF19DoAXOvs/s320/Silent+night+pic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541384026031902738" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>Flash forward a few years and Billy is all grown up and working in a toy store. Things are going well for him until Christmas time comes around and he is asked to suit up in the dreaded red costume and be nice to kids. At an after hours party in the store, Billy (still in his Santa suit) sees the female co-worker he has a crush on getting manhandled by a fellow employee. This pushes him over the edge and he kills them both before embarking on a rampage across town that will eventually lead him back to the orphanage for a confrontation with the old Mother Superior.<br /><br />I can't not mention the toy store in this movie which is a great snapshot of 1980s childhood. Many people have spotted treasured items from their own past on the shelves in the background and I'm no different. Jabba the Hutt action figures! He-Man and Battle-cat (on some sort of kite)!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnS7bYC-CWTyx2oE0HXTczEiwojMzNU9eu_C5Q8hG0dQwf7DIb-ZluYrB9rit80jiZoq6bWm4aUN86ixLJqmp013LlozreBuIp44IhGkduHQ0Ra6S8S3sZQ2x1jOOlblZbX4zJknChB1e/s1600/sndn+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnS7bYC-CWTyx2oE0HXTczEiwojMzNU9eu_C5Q8hG0dQwf7DIb-ZluYrB9rit80jiZoq6bWm4aUN86ixLJqmp013LlozreBuIp44IhGkduHQ0Ra6S8S3sZQ2x1jOOlblZbX4zJknChB1e/s320/sndn+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527599427388515874" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElppsSlXFZNFBfoYagT4ZPNU63c68Dag_W5TFrlDtmFAhaYwJza0WgLLU8tTTsDFuAc92h4YQOPDOnsjIgR6UBt-uZx1tH7g79uVu6I9iF5xA4gPnapCA6_mA5Jnc7SR7HXn48VBUDWVR/s1600/sndn+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiElppsSlXFZNFBfoYagT4ZPNU63c68Dag_W5TFrlDtmFAhaYwJza0WgLLU8tTTsDFuAc92h4YQOPDOnsjIgR6UBt-uZx1tH7g79uVu6I9iF5xA4gPnapCA6_mA5Jnc7SR7HXn48VBUDWVR/s320/sndn+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527599597242827938" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway, back to the movie. What makes this one different from most other slashers is that it is played out from the point of view of the killer. Most entries in this genre begin by establishing a group of teenagers who will eventually be picked off, one by one by a masked killer as the film progresses. <span style="font-style: italic;">Silent Night, Deadly Night</span> spends the first half of its running time establishing the killer! In fact, I can't really remember any of the victims, except the ways in which they are killed. And there are some great ways including impalement by deer's antlers, strangulation by fairy lights and my personal favorite - a swinging chop of an axe that decapitates some young miscreant as he hurtles down a slope in his sleigh (incidentally the film's working title was 'Slay Ride').<br /><br />But the 45 minutes spent setting up the killer's motive still doesn't quite warrant his sudden turn into a zombie-like killer of all 'naughty children'. Sure, he's got more motive than the likes of Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees, but the film still falls into the trap of almost every slasher - there is never enough credibility to make us believe that somebody would really go out and do this stuff. But never mind. A noble and entertaining entry in the genre nevertheless.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlMnkPNziPkWrkcmvvtGOw1ASlAvJCs1YKwJpaC_dAiCsEo1FD9-0tehFYEUhwasBIS9Wy6bFgGuPV5w8Nvj_677-SjsKVpHmk2XAKLwdj-11CZDtsyCGAZJCZlCmyL1FDZwsnzUBcfXsF/s1600/sndn+3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlMnkPNziPkWrkcmvvtGOw1ASlAvJCs1YKwJpaC_dAiCsEo1FD9-0tehFYEUhwasBIS9Wy6bFgGuPV5w8Nvj_677-SjsKVpHmk2XAKLwdj-11CZDtsyCGAZJCZlCmyL1FDZwsnzUBcfXsF/s320/sndn+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527602973695022434" border="0" /></a></div></div></div>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-57147642204857434692010-11-24T07:03:00.006+01:002010-11-24T07:17:10.067+01:00RIP Ingrid Pitt<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazoKL96eCpPAP7iT_j6YquexKagLaR8oiOEc2caWQrCgdXKOWXYy_QazNv3JXxM-MhbcdzF2_tyTUtaB0809gs1AMxJJ0b4VnIIBt7gVm1T-89exkKqQpEQwT9fLe2Fliwpz9zVpfhNcy/s1600/ingridpitt1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazoKL96eCpPAP7iT_j6YquexKagLaR8oiOEc2caWQrCgdXKOWXYy_QazNv3JXxM-MhbcdzF2_tyTUtaB0809gs1AMxJJ0b4VnIIBt7gVm1T-89exkKqQpEQwT9fLe2Fliwpz9zVpfhNcy/s320/ingridpitt1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542993033947607314" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkEv2jxgR6m10sukLGmR2WRuXdzewf9YLF_h08nf9P9YZrBWJI3PvB76GwnYqj8AnfnbKgRzcSGzVlrSM822cZ2ykBIIyQPSqOCz5tyKMTT5UYydfiDqI4M-CEdzmEOetTg7Yk_nyQ5d_F/s1600/Ingrid+Pitt2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkEv2jxgR6m10sukLGmR2WRuXdzewf9YLF_h08nf9P9YZrBWJI3PvB76GwnYqj8AnfnbKgRzcSGzVlrSM822cZ2ykBIIyQPSqOCz5tyKMTT5UYydfiDqI4M-CEdzmEOetTg7Yk_nyQ5d_F/s320/Ingrid+Pitt2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542993103183171778" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNuBFLfPGsjWTGb6iH3D83DFCylPKWQ4TCTaiGXsNZeONZ4kmgvGpGsUMpvZR50O7l1iKkMAZWwNuYlSXxp8fF0cZyyYpMXqy5iXMcPxGosYHjDfe_aAHyMDO-vCObrtX-nzElSB3sO1Qg/s1600/Ingrid+Pitt3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNuBFLfPGsjWTGb6iH3D83DFCylPKWQ4TCTaiGXsNZeONZ4kmgvGpGsUMpvZR50O7l1iKkMAZWwNuYlSXxp8fF0cZyyYpMXqy5iXMcPxGosYHjDfe_aAHyMDO-vCObrtX-nzElSB3sO1Qg/s320/Ingrid+Pitt3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542993183284384466" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Sad news today as another icon leaves us. Polish actress Ingrid Pitt (born <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ingoushka</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Petrov</span> in 1937) who is best remembered for her work in Hammer Horror films (<span style="font-style: italic;">The Vampire Lovers</span> - 1970 and <span style="font-style: italic;">Countess Dracula</span> - 1971) died yesterday in London at the age of 73 of heart failure. She led an extraordinary life having survived the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp as a child and then escaping communist Berlin before beginning a lengthy acting career that saw her in <span style="font-style: italic;">Doctor Zhivago</span> (1965), <span style="font-style: italic;">Where Eagles Dare</span> (1968) and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Wicker Man</span> (1973).<br /><br />But for many she will always remain the epitome of the voluptuous vamp woman that later Hammer films became famous for.<br /></div></div>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-71806560736607032742010-11-11T16:28:00.000+01:002010-11-11T16:28:51.486+01:00SAGA Entry 2: Poul Anderson<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrowepJ4lIQYC7Bjt3-XdS8NNtHwRjbLU2Gt2W9dHQl8c3GkC-Pzs0xfdo3BEBELIiucToZJEVyq4mEleUGPAXQ8l1-ObY5Cx1lK3ZgNTHV_C0eELVW4HCofHNeNC8nx2rtxY386RYG6g1/s1600/Broken+sword+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 195px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrowepJ4lIQYC7Bjt3-XdS8NNtHwRjbLU2Gt2W9dHQl8c3GkC-Pzs0xfdo3BEBELIiucToZJEVyq4mEleUGPAXQ8l1-ObY5Cx1lK3ZgNTHV_C0eELVW4HCofHNeNC8nx2rtxY386RYG6g1/s320/Broken+sword+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538256885134566850" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJ7anlBQYT3cM7fIRo5YsZkTFZI0osi6YTNsyu5DuMAO8yFlKiBHosaJ9jXZHxA5VC5Q6j7yydevAxaxUdsCmSLcakMdJ3vWrSoiNhfYdlKWVTYvtrwin55-p8iy0WlQb8y3mY2ya69nx/s1600/3+hearts+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJ7anlBQYT3cM7fIRo5YsZkTFZI0osi6YTNsyu5DuMAO8yFlKiBHosaJ9jXZHxA5VC5Q6j7yydevAxaxUdsCmSLcakMdJ3vWrSoiNhfYdlKWVTYvtrwin55-p8iy0WlQb8y3mY2ya69nx/s320/3+hearts+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538256593858278882" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">An American author of Scandinavian descent, Poul Anderson was a giant in the genre of 20th century science fiction. These two hugely influential sword and sorcery novels earned him a place in the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA).<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Broken Sword (1954)</span> is a strangely paced tale that entwines fairy-tale style elves and trolls with historical Vikings and Anglo Saxons. Taking its cue from the Norse sagas, it tells of the son of Orm the Strong who is replaced in his crib by a changeling who grows up to be a doom-bringer to all his people. Orm's real son is raised by the elves as 'Skafloc'. There is also the matter of the titular broken sword - a theme present in the Norse sagas and also used by Tolkien (who's first volume in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Lord of the Rings</span> trilogy was published the same year).<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Three Hearts and Three Lions</span> (1961) was based on Anderson's novella printed in <span style="font-style: italic;">Fantasy and Science Fiction</span> in 1953. Starting in wartime Europe, Danish resistance fighter Holger Carlsen - in true Burroughsian fashion - is sent hurtling through space and time by an explosion and winds up in another world. This pseudo-medieval world is under siege by the evil of 'Faerie' and Carlsen (who now goes by 'Ogier the Dane') discovers that this is where he is most at home.<br /><br />Both books are essential reading in the sword and sorcery genre, not least for their influence on other writers. Michael Moorcock has credited <span style="font-style: italic;">The Broken Sword</span> as a major inspiration in writing his <span style="font-style: italic;">Elric</span> tales and the alignment of creatures and characters into the groups of 'law' and 'chaos' as shown in <span style="font-style: italic;">Three Hearts and Three Lions</span> was used in the game system of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dungeons and Dragons</span> the following decade.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sL9nAZppGwSPiPFOATL-MpLk0o_Gi8rcB4HD9r5qwp1TbLWs6Zo1vV_leHyYYmPkFDiID53tu5eS6-tQORiqO_TED7vYumFR-5dZVdjvosNRrGFeXyI7tABb0wVvMIAui2YMt64RFhAV/s1600/Broken+sword+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2sL9nAZppGwSPiPFOATL-MpLk0o_Gi8rcB4HD9r5qwp1TbLWs6Zo1vV_leHyYYmPkFDiID53tu5eS6-tQORiqO_TED7vYumFR-5dZVdjvosNRrGFeXyI7tABb0wVvMIAui2YMt64RFhAV/s320/Broken+sword+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538260233293141410" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPuMdPhqsaJh4DO7vXM_gmpCMohHHc-xx63GIWwXGgv6ovQPlZ5VBzjOt_h9hyphenhyphenzwlEGBNXj2_4p9yfKFvfqDjPBxALVvSjTxjMsT4FJ1qmvm5uAV9ILGEPRGbpzVAb8kKXXkMUHt2DGIJ/s1600/3+hearts+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 196px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPPuMdPhqsaJh4DO7vXM_gmpCMohHHc-xx63GIWwXGgv6ovQPlZ5VBzjOt_h9hyphenhyphenzwlEGBNXj2_4p9yfKFvfqDjPBxALVvSjTxjMsT4FJ1qmvm5uAV9ILGEPRGbpzVAb8kKXXkMUHt2DGIJ/s320/3+hearts+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538260371087836898" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9l8PgFnLeVhplkezCQf_2QpTKjVPZai8uzTNsazRQcMryysWZp4_7hVWahwj_IMDJ6sXVbCgZkUqeq5gSlpL2v8X_-4Nkisv_-HidIk4_UyOAva8Qlwlfiz7b7VEt5HudUyp67mW0M4E/s1600/Broken+sword+1.jpg"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsXvn7OpslnYQ4eQ2mPfQdWZL1On0VLD4W9hVV4KHK7oh0edfpp6-ncdLDq81FcmaXMKwvx56GI6F-L5wV-EFgx1muZowPDkBOSH2DLJNCWUmo2I_I69_S6A-IhAOhoY_8-vfJIq83cskA/s1600/3+hearts+1.jpg"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9l8PgFnLeVhplkezCQf_2QpTKjVPZai8uzTNsazRQcMryysWZp4_7hVWahwj_IMDJ6sXVbCgZkUqeq5gSlpL2v8X_-4Nkisv_-HidIk4_UyOAva8Qlwlfiz7b7VEt5HudUyp67mW0M4E/s1600/Broken+sword+1.jpg"><br /></a>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-19896545073304151902010-11-02T11:46:00.011+01:002010-11-02T17:31:48.755+01:00Movie Review: The Black Hole (1979)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB-M8F8i2qzCWXSB2b3fgdA9bAz5NFdld48SeKSWtnniMuXqgiek2K5P_eb-nuoadtlFPp6eC4RhFVDS_1A32d60pc3maKOM6w9WaJ4eaKH6p6jLikxC6PcAY3tuBsftDW30onzzJ9GwCz/s1600/Black+Hole.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 335px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB-M8F8i2qzCWXSB2b3fgdA9bAz5NFdld48SeKSWtnniMuXqgiek2K5P_eb-nuoadtlFPp6eC4RhFVDS_1A32d60pc3maKOM6w9WaJ4eaKH6p6jLikxC6PcAY3tuBsftDW30onzzJ9GwCz/s320/Black+Hole.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534902028635748562" border="0" /></a>Odd that I've only just got around to seeing this. It was pretty big news in the late '70s when a lot of films were keen to follow the success of <span style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars </span>(1977) and as I love pretty much everything from that decade it's strange that it's taken me this long to discover it.<br /><br />Anthony Perkins and Robert Forster star in this Disney production which invested heavily in the special effects department and it certainly is a very pretty film to look at. The story is simple enough; a space exploration team discover the titular black hole along with a massive craft identified as the <span style="font-style: italic;">USS Cygnus</span> which went missing twenty years ago. The ship appears to be deserted but the team soon come across Dr. Hans Reinhardt, something of a mad scientist, who has spent the last two decades living alone with only his robotic crew (which he built) and large, red, robot henchman, Maximilian for company. Reinhardt explains that rest of the old crew fled back to earth after the <span style="font-style: italic;">Cygnus</span> was disabled by a meteorite shower. He remained and now has ambitious plans to travel through the black hole and see what lies on the other side.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0qpx4s3_aRTHQJ60YCtsbP05V4xaO0WnJxznM5G1nJFZbcW0fXmhlVkW76rFRhy7ZZgGU3pWujgihRLjgfm2MKfQbHvsMJ_64xNx0id2bgE-wj8q-vqGK9DNbrQpSq3TWPzMgi7RKXNa/s1600/black+hole+1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 467px; height: 197px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0qpx4s3_aRTHQJ60YCtsbP05V4xaO0WnJxznM5G1nJFZbcW0fXmhlVkW76rFRhy7ZZgGU3pWujgihRLjgfm2MKfQbHvsMJ_64xNx0id2bgE-wj8q-vqGK9DNbrQpSq3TWPzMgi7RKXNa/s320/black+hole+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534903838829859890" border="0" /></a>Suspicions arise that Reinhardt may not be so devoid of human company as he claims as the crew discover a garden with enough food reserves to feed a small army and one of them witnesses some sort of funeral procession. As they gradually uncover Reinhardt's scheme, they discover the true fate of the old crew and soon find themselves his prisoners and at the mercy of his army of robots.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFC0ZpSyEplxYBrhpKxSNukTBr14qwAA6n2ircB6sZwQEMsWgyfIyDX-NlGk0AJSjPiQLsfYD9V5A8xcgW0673fs5bXmR_qzFLI_9QZyWJr-gmdjn8jOhU2W4LEb82ieGblpP9-0ezF0sz/s1600/black+hole+2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 468px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFC0ZpSyEplxYBrhpKxSNukTBr14qwAA6n2ircB6sZwQEMsWgyfIyDX-NlGk0AJSjPiQLsfYD9V5A8xcgW0673fs5bXmR_qzFLI_9QZyWJr-gmdjn8jOhU2W4LEb82ieGblpP9-0ezF0sz/s320/black+hole+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534907844256294066" border="0" /></a>The main thing this film has going for it is its production design. It really is stunning. True, it's very much a product of its time with its browns and beiges reminiscent of other '70s sci-fi such as <span style="font-style: italic;">Battlestar Galactica</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Space: 1999</span>, but the effects and sets are still very impressive today. From the cavernous interiors of the <span style="font-style: italic;">USS Cygnus</span> and its sprawling views of space and walls of consoles to the laser gun fights and floating robots, the film is what I suppose one would call a 'visual feast'.<br /><br />But the film is not without its flaws. Primarily these revolve around the character of V.I.N.CENT, a robot buddy of the main characters. Clearly included as some sort of comic relief, R2-D2, this guy ain't. As a result the movie can't seem to decide whether it is a light-hearted family romp or serious science fiction and ends up being neither.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzSk9XDn3K24KQnqyHUwMqh-Oq9aKQdxmtYav1WEVzxdn9LMfc7iziba4GEjVuwO3OxyZJEoVWTpitiYvLpdGnI-eAr-24dxtLusp6K1TrVj6WXRc4MWIJcYnjfY3tO6iiiE1J8iI73yy/s1600/black+hole+3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 471px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzSk9XDn3K24KQnqyHUwMqh-Oq9aKQdxmtYav1WEVzxdn9LMfc7iziba4GEjVuwO3OxyZJEoVWTpitiYvLpdGnI-eAr-24dxtLusp6K1TrVj6WXRc4MWIJcYnjfY3tO6iiiE1J8iI73yy/s320/black+hole+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534912912363059362" border="0" /></a>Of course, the film was merchandised to the hilt alongside other sci-fi extravaganzas of the late '70s.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHIG7rfpNHn0w7VsQzy2bbCEZo1dL0MLZnWcwWd35dC6yJ0XjVv_Pd-_nLrpKFud-NP4BPCaHTqjOo5RT60tobiLQJMXjzE1lQGvt0GlRq15A0DfiHNZR5JKan0kwVOvIh6r0Wq8jJ5eP/s1600/img205.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHIG7rfpNHn0w7VsQzy2bbCEZo1dL0MLZnWcwWd35dC6yJ0XjVv_Pd-_nLrpKFud-NP4BPCaHTqjOo5RT60tobiLQJMXjzE1lQGvt0GlRq15A0DfiHNZR5JKan0kwVOvIh6r0Wq8jJ5eP/s320/img205.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534913634642665570" border="0" /></a>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-35892895151278300922010-10-31T05:14:00.000+01:002010-10-31T05:15:01.806+01:00Greatest Halloween MoviesThis might not seem like a particularly original post, but most 'Top Ten' Halloween movie lists are just an excuse to slap up ten favorite horror flicks. But is that all Halloween is about? Since its arrival on the shores of the US in the hands of Irish immigrants, All Hallows' Eve has metamorphosed into a holiday that embraces all things gruesome and terrifying with a plethora of newer traditions that are almost solely confined to the US. While that's all well and good, what about the roots of the festival? And what movies can we find that are associated with these oldest traditions?<br /><br />Originating in the Celtic parts of Europe (i.e. Britain, Ireland and Gaul) Halloween (or 'Samhain' as it was called in Ireland back then) heralded the beginning of the dark half of the year and was a night when the spirits of the dead (presumably both good and bad) could return from the Otherworld to visit the places and people they knew in life. When Christianity grew in strength under the rule of the late Romans, the newly formed church naturally frowned on such pagan beliefs, connecting them with devil worship and other un-godly things (which must have been news to the Romanised Celts). In an effort to replace these heathen customs with their own mythology of saints, the festival was renamed 'All Saints' Eve' or more commonly 'All Hallows' Eve'. Also, the church's seemingly innate fear of women with spiritual power (or any kind of power in society) led to the concept of witchcraft (after all, if these priestesses and healers were not Christians, they had to be using their mystical powers for evil, right?)<br /><br />And so there we have it; a pagan seasonal festival connected with spirits returning from the realm of the dead and doorways into other worlds layered with a Christian mythology of demons, witchcraft and the big, bad man downstairs. In these more secular times, the fusion of cultures and beliefs has become inseparably entwined. But what present day movies reflect this strange witch's brew of mythologies?<br /><br />Well, for over a century horror movies have fed on the gothic, the supernatural and the demonic. But not all of them. Some rely on the psychological or the problems of society and others are just in it for the gore. So for a list to properly represent the true spirit of Halloween (in my opinion), some parameters need to be defined.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left; font-weight: bold;">1. A Halloween movie must deal with the supernatural (except in a very few cases which will be discussed further). So, while the likes of 'Psycho', 'Jaws', and the various slasher franchises may be considered great movies, they don't fit the bill in this case.<br /><br />2. Halloween is all about the dead returning to the realm of the living. So no werewolves, aliens or monsters of earthly creation. On the other hand ghosts, vampires and zombies (the gothic rather than the scientific kind) are in.<br /><br />3. The 'doorways into other worlds' concept is a much used one and really ties in with what the Celts believed in and their traditions surrounding Samhain. While this could potentially cover a huge amount of ground, other worlds such as Hell and the realm(s) of the dead etc are perfect territory.<br /><br />4. Arguably, Halloween is as much a Christian concept as a pagan one and as the early church made connections between Satan and heathen happenings, why not represent this too? Demonic possession, devil worship and satanic cults are hardly in short order in the world of movies.<br /><br />5. Oh, and as this blog deals with 20th century pop culture, all films must be pre-2000.</div><br />After much thought, I have assembled the following list. All films are in alphabetical order (saves me having to pic a favorite, see?)<br /><br /><center><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Blair Witch Project (1999)</span><br /></div></center><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVnk31VHd7fdY-oBom4WmCEcMOjtoAc2Lion4GI9qXORmt81CkKoIzR4egniWvHt_Xum06I9W8ajnsAlXXufu9DIinmdPJxbWmNQhuPDxfbVWeftrobePvw40Kck7beWDLOLqLrWZ6F0i/s1600/blair-witch-project-poster.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVnk31VHd7fdY-oBom4WmCEcMOjtoAc2Lion4GI9qXORmt81CkKoIzR4egniWvHt_Xum06I9W8ajnsAlXXufu9DIinmdPJxbWmNQhuPDxfbVWeftrobePvw40Kck7beWDLOLqLrWZ6F0i/s320/blair-witch-project-poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524167679090364194" border="0" /></a>Remember the hype surrounding this one? Many people thought it was the real deal and as this 'missing footage found in the woods' gimmick was ultra cheap to film, it remains one of the most profitable movies of all time.<br /><br />I'll go ahead and admit that I wasn't scared into convulsions by this, but it remains damn well eerie to this day. The invented mythology surrounding the alleged witch of the nearby woods is effectively done and the gradually deteriorating friendship of the three protagonists as they get more and more lost really portrays the feeling of hopelessness which is terrifying in itself. And then they find that old house in the woods...<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tW6bCiqxYoo?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tW6bCiqxYoo?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Crow (1994)<br /><br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFiMjQeLkEs3XTT6HqL1Ym_P14Y5Kxf_JjBi7t6BKzxlA11Qx0_K6ljj0S1k7Ias95JOMlhVw_0DEYZFVFc3kPLsB6et05nQiIHZPE-2E4F6s1jVFw6hEQu_JF4yxyghsnThd5sn2VXfBw/s1600/the+crow+poster.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFiMjQeLkEs3XTT6HqL1Ym_P14Y5Kxf_JjBi7t6BKzxlA11Qx0_K6ljj0S1k7Ias95JOMlhVw_0DEYZFVFc3kPLsB6et05nQiIHZPE-2E4F6s1jVFw6hEQu_JF4yxyghsnThd5sn2VXfBw/s320/the+crow+poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529415188701738930" border="0" /></a>Top marks for spotting the one film on my list that isn't a horror movie. Nevertheless, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Crow</span> is a fantastic tale of a spirit brought back from the land of the dead to right the wrongs on Devil's Night (aka Halloween). The fact that a crow acts as the guiding link between the living and the dead is a real nod to Celtic mythology, displaced as it is in the hellish urban landscape of 1990's Detroit.<br /><br />What could have been a simple action/revenge flick typical of its decade was really elevated by the gloriously noirish production design. Steamy, rain-slicked streets reflect the fires of anarchy as the resurrected Eric Draven chases down the hoods who raped and murdered his bride to be, caked up in goth trappings and following the titular bird all the way to the top of the criminal ladder. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6UCqYrHFzdI?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6UCqYrHFzdI?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Dracula (1931)</span></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-cEe7PySY7PzCiShRvkWKOCKot0g0M365pFeCV2Ub3-GgbmjmQnOdDAWySWd80P3muQwhPL86WA2ZeQQ71gh88yuP1digfMKVt1PMqB5SdHaMhkMBFJkBbUERJnSd_dWvkAJUHevqQ495/s1600/Dracula_1931_movie_poster.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 336px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-cEe7PySY7PzCiShRvkWKOCKot0g0M365pFeCV2Ub3-GgbmjmQnOdDAWySWd80P3muQwhPL86WA2ZeQQ71gh88yuP1digfMKVt1PMqB5SdHaMhkMBFJkBbUERJnSd_dWvkAJUHevqQ495/s320/Dracula_1931_movie_poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524170412648819250" border="0" /></a>I said vampires were fair game in my intro, so I'll go ahead and add the most influential vampire flick of all time. We can argue which of the countless cinematic versions of Stoker's classic is the best until the cows come home, but you can't deny the cultural impact of Bela Legosi's opera-cloaked count who has influenced everything from breakfast cereal to Sesame Street.<br /><center></center><br />Eerie and atmospheric (check out the superbly gothic crypt scene complete with rats and insects in which the stench of decay can practically be smelled), the film was the first in a long line of Universal Studios monster movies which remain popular subjects for Halloween costumes to this day.<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7Nfmh178L98?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7Nfmh178L98?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Exorcist (1973)</span></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimmXlvDximUkm_IRp-X9X2hIybpUjIfL2qCapn4UvQHEY_fkLFyq8Sn9IWZvoa-zh-Ny87bdQqkd2TH-8zMJ3yVl8gP0_p47azaXyh1236IlT966iwHvIO6DEMILfMlW1NcgiGClqrjBta/s1600/exorcist.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimmXlvDximUkm_IRp-X9X2hIybpUjIfL2qCapn4UvQHEY_fkLFyq8Sn9IWZvoa-zh-Ny87bdQqkd2TH-8zMJ3yVl8gP0_p47azaXyh1236IlT966iwHvIO6DEMILfMlW1NcgiGClqrjBta/s320/exorcist.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524173596320192082" border="0" /></a>Widely regarded as the most terrifying movie of all time, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Exorcist</span> (along with <span style="font-style: italic;">Rosemary's Bab</span><span style="font-style: italic;">y</span> - 1968) was largely responsible for the shift in horror movies from gothic crypts and haunted houses to the demonic terrors of the modern world. Telling the tale of a young girl possessed by a demon and the plight of the elderly priest to expel the evil entity is the ultimate in the glut of satanically themed movies of the 1970s.<br /><br />Essays have been written as to why this is so effective as a horror movie, so I won't over analyse here. All I'll say is that it is the corruption of innocence along with the hideous, puppet-like contortions of a young girl that makes this film just as horrific today.<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YDGw1MTEe9k?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YDGw1MTEe9k?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Halloween (1978)</span></span><br /><center></center> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuR1GOQKgitBd9BEWjlSws4YkGhK7ojUYsR0DlgVOxavjcPPBTU8TSAjfVKa8gO1r6eRH4peg8xHXSMZNQuxjua4MfHn6jRARddhDxyx89iWi6nkptWeEkOBl-3oWPXgKeiNJQSFBueDw/s1600/halloween-poster.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuR1GOQKgitBd9BEWjlSws4YkGhK7ojUYsR0DlgVOxavjcPPBTU8TSAjfVKa8gO1r6eRH4peg8xHXSMZNQuxjua4MfHn6jRARddhDxyx89iWi6nkptWeEkOBl-3oWPXgKeiNJQSFBueDw/s320/halloween-poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524184414951516338" border="0" /></a>You knew this was coming, right? I said that I would explain the inclusion of any films with non-supernatural themes, and well, the clue is in the title. The atmosphere and festivities of Halloween in American suburbia are the backdrop here as an escaped psychopath returns to his home town and begins offing teenagers with the aid of a large kitchen knife. Why? We shall never know, but the concept kickstarted a trend in the horror genre that would dominate the next couple of decades.<br /><br />Surprisingly bloodless, John Carpenter's classic film was an exercise in suspense and the terror of not knowing what is lurking in the shadows. Slasher films before this had been set out in the sticks (<span style="font-style: italic;">The Texas Chainsaw Massacre</span>) and in sorority houses (<span style="font-style: italic;">Black Christmas</span>) - both 1974, but <span style="font-style: italic;">Halloween</span> put the masked killer right in the backyards of American suburbia.<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NgaY2UR2tSs?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NgaY2UR2tSs?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><center></center><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >The Haunting (1963)</span><br /><br /><center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7q3nywAj2EHMOE_hpvl1f33PyZ6F5rHhgM6gyN3yEGKBjfguPxdngVJTicj8GguxgCmfNLDWNIB9vOgHefmQgc7s9-CMQBD-s02CMBGMLG0ZWp8A17pyTs-1HoTME3vZS0XZLlxFfRMmB/s1600/The_Haunting_Poster.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 223px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7q3nywAj2EHMOE_hpvl1f33PyZ6F5rHhgM6gyN3yEGKBjfguPxdngVJTicj8GguxgCmfNLDWNIB9vOgHefmQgc7s9-CMQBD-s02CMBGMLG0ZWp8A17pyTs-1HoTME3vZS0XZLlxFfRMmB/s320/The_Haunting_Poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524201387317771410" border="0" /></a></center> It took me a long time to choose this over <span style="font-style: italic;">The Innocents</span> (1961) as the greatest haunted house movie of all time and I'm still not sure I made the right decision. This was back when atmosphere and eeriness made a horror film rather than blood and cheap shocks. Based on Shirley Jackson's novel, the film follows a nervous young woman who is invited along with three other guests to stay at the forboding Hill House by a psychologist interested in the paranormal.<br /><br />The fact that it was filmed in black and white only adds to the chilling sensation I get when watching this; the shadows are deeper, the faces more expressive. And that scene with the face in the wallpaper really gets me.<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xq74oz6mf3w?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xq74oz6mf3w?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hellraiser (1987)</span></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcU_wYy8INKLsAXdEmJpVD1-5Ope7JNR_HY034jcnFzzhOEMJz2nNzN2TS_wUZalULbGohcbJ67W03yQ1JAOkxuHw0vHDpA4Zuhv8KJC7Lv5yOVOa0KTn7_gjUs3TPjD6SQYT9hDLSmDO/s1600/hellraiser_poster.png"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcU_wYy8INKLsAXdEmJpVD1-5Ope7JNR_HY034jcnFzzhOEMJz2nNzN2TS_wUZalULbGohcbJ67W03yQ1JAOkxuHw0vHDpA4Zuhv8KJC7Lv5yOVOa0KTn7_gjUs3TPjD6SQYT9hDLSmDO/s320/hellraiser_poster.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524204676840886690" border="0" /></a>Based on director Clive Barker's own novel (<span style="font-style: italic;">The Hellbound Heart</span>), <span style="font-style: italic;">Hellraiser</span> tells of a man who acquires a mysterious puzzle box which opens a gateway into another dimension. His earthly flesh taken by the Cenobites who dwell there, the man's ex-lover (his brother's wife) learns what has happened and begins a chain of murders that will bring her lover back from beyond the grave.<br /><br />At a time when the horror market was saturated with slasher sequels from the US, Barker brought the British touch back and created a horror character (Pinhead) just as iconic as the Freddies and Jasons of the genre.<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WAx34IZ8bTk?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WAx34IZ8bTk?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Night of the Living Dead (1968)</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqMd23mq6kqUemxuedhpixW3x5_npdVK2PKyw9I7Cpz4QN908F6PIWzCElMhYlxXgiMuNLccPNPOtucDSvRMY-ZUsnXGRmp4bjQ-6Gk6uhvYT4j2DoDdXYDV_bTO-VZOt36mr9nCW3ml9/s1600/night_of_the_living_dead_xlg.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 336px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqMd23mq6kqUemxuedhpixW3x5_npdVK2PKyw9I7Cpz4QN908F6PIWzCElMhYlxXgiMuNLccPNPOtucDSvRMY-ZUsnXGRmp4bjQ-6Gk6uhvYT4j2DoDdXYDV_bTO-VZOt36mr9nCW3ml9/s320/night_of_the_living_dead_xlg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524208951007253282" border="0" /></a>Radiation from a downed space probe causes the dead to rise up from the grave. A group of vastly different people find themselves under siege in an abandoned farmhouse and must use their wits to stay alive.<br /><br />What, on the surface, might look like a science fiction movie fuelled by Cold War fears of atomic technology (and mind control) is in fact one of the most influential examples of the 'dead back to life' theme ever. George A. Romero's gritty and cheap independent movie started a trend of low budget zombie gore fests that has continued to this day. Archetype-bending concepts (the hero is black) and a brutally abrupt ending make this film a cut above the slew of imitators that followed.<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5gUKvmOEGCU?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5gUKvmOEGCU?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sleepy Hollow (1999)</span></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQC-wATkHsbUWOoft7UZ3dmg9P2H6TSv5UZCFcqbw7jwmbPdiN9yH7YVrhr4dPuLvhjTMvcwQKs7GPwho1S0ClII-OqJ6OMiwhCGevmsEiDh24gCu6DgBCcBSo0M9OZuTvuhYJ4S4eEe39/s1600/Sleepy+Hollow.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQC-wATkHsbUWOoft7UZ3dmg9P2H6TSv5UZCFcqbw7jwmbPdiN9yH7YVrhr4dPuLvhjTMvcwQKs7GPwho1S0ClII-OqJ6OMiwhCGevmsEiDh24gCu6DgBCcBSo0M9OZuTvuhYJ4S4eEe39/s320/Sleepy+Hollow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524211493849760882" border="0" /></a>Washington Irving's American classic gets the Hollywood treatment in this wonderfully atmospheric version. Police Inspector, Ichabod Crane visits a small Dutch settlement where the legendary Headless Horseman is relieving the townsfolk of their heads, one by one. Piecing the mystery together, Crane notices a pattern in the killings and begins to suspect that there may be some human involvement.<br /><br />If I had to choose a favorite Halloween movie, I would go for <span style="font-style: italic;">Sleepy Hollow</span>. Tim Burton's gloriously gothic take on Irving's classic reeks atmosphere and perfectly sets the mood for the season. Eerie mist cloaks skeletal trees, the blood is as bright and as lurid as in any Hammer Horror (a comparison increased by appearances from Christopher Lee and Michael Gough) and the pumpkin head motif is used to full effect.<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/R6O4Himch7g?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/R6O4Himch7g?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Wicker Man (1973)</span></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyRWIGc9NNV9z-0_8bZKKBsXqUrKtWA5x3m4DG16uxu0dZWQOEi7vKTjuT5kMlXkoI1Ks-3ZTghyI2K-MVqfrazzWypB06evHN9N7LeVdVhWsHXO5RKDJbBgUkfWApK_o4ZnzbGsIkbFO/s1600/Wicker+Man.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 236px; height: 332px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyRWIGc9NNV9z-0_8bZKKBsXqUrKtWA5x3m4DG16uxu0dZWQOEi7vKTjuT5kMlXkoI1Ks-3ZTghyI2K-MVqfrazzWypB06evHN9N7LeVdVhWsHXO5RKDJbBgUkfWApK_o4ZnzbGsIkbFO/s320/Wicker+Man.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524214049150629458" border="0" /></a>Investigating the disappearance of a little girl on a remote Scottish island, a deeply Christian police officer uncovers a heathen community with some very sinister traditions.<br /><br />This is the second film to feature on my list that has absolutely no supernatural goings on in it at all. And with good reason. Few films have portrayed the age-old head on collision between pagan practices and Christian arrogance as perfectly as this one. It has been said that the things people do to one another and the things they do in the name of religion can be more horrifying than any monsters or ghouls the mind can imagine and that is the message that lies at the heart of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Wicker Man</span>. Although set during the spring festival of Beltain rather than Samhain (despite being filmed in November), the film depicts a culture not too far removed from the Celtic practices that lie at the heart of Halloween.<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5FdV-O8o7ok?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5FdV-O8o7ok?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-71589468774028393582010-10-30T10:35:00.001+02:002010-10-30T21:59:06.820+02:00Movie Review - Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4CDDcavA55xqXlPxzgzB9n4wsP2hv50uRhzGJudE2hh-Jd1lfPCArC9N9lJWAiaTonEt7-f3H5eBhNHS9aSpp7j3UW9dAe47wu7Mv99Rs4c4CuzDKPBU1V3CCL-A-oDAyzei4kmYeWA_6/s1600/Halloween+iii+poster.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 236px; height: 373px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4CDDcavA55xqXlPxzgzB9n4wsP2hv50uRhzGJudE2hh-Jd1lfPCArC9N9lJWAiaTonEt7-f3H5eBhNHS9aSpp7j3UW9dAe47wu7Mv99Rs4c4CuzDKPBU1V3CCL-A-oDAyzei4kmYeWA_6/s320/Halloween+iii+poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527609424572017746" border="0" /></a>A controversial film for many horror fans, <span style="font-style: italic;">Halloween III</span> is probably the most despised entry in the series for many. This would be on account of the fact that it is the only <span style="font-style: italic;">Halloween</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>movie that does not feature masked killer Michael Myers. But is that really such a bad thing? I mean, honestly?<br /><br />The Halloween franchise suffered a very similar fate as the <span style="font-style: italic;">Friday the 13th</span> series did at roughly the same time. The original concept for both franchises was to do a movie based on something completely different each year or so, making a series that would be something of an anthology of different horror stories. But after the huge success of the first film, Michael Myers, like Jason (despite the latter never actually appearing in the first 'Friday' movie) was revived for the sequel with mixed results. So I have to give credit to the filmmakers of part III for going back to the original concept and making something completely different, despite the fact that this entry is largely ignored by <span style="font-style: italic;">Halloween</span> and horror film fans alike.<br /><br />Based on a script by Nigel Kneale, the British force behind the classic sci-fi horror <span style="font-style: italic;">Quatermass</span> series (although Kneale went uncredited after disputes with the producers), the story involves the machinations of 'Silver Shamrock' - a company that manufactures Halloween masks.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFt05wWVGX4LMjrLLgwvyDaU-hSAKgM491_uRwSK1xXCKsP-pRbYKNbKWWKJzQc3u926Cc0vqjw_CnvP5GAQo0bcJEqoW06y0JGGAIfVfnBpKaoiumrsXaYtz4Mi2MvVqbL_MY88jenKZA/s1600/halloween-3+2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFt05wWVGX4LMjrLLgwvyDaU-hSAKgM491_uRwSK1xXCKsP-pRbYKNbKWWKJzQc3u926Cc0vqjw_CnvP5GAQo0bcJEqoW06y0JGGAIfVfnBpKaoiumrsXaYtz4Mi2MvVqbL_MY88jenKZA/s320/halloween-3+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529070930316854978" border="0" /></a>The film opens a few days before October 31st with a man being chased by some suited Agent Smith types. Evading one, the man winds up in hospital and is able to babble a crazed warning; "They're gonna kill us. All of us!" to a Dr. Dan Challis before he is killed in his sleep by another goon who then sits in his car, douses himself with gasoline and sets light to himself.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hthmznPKT9qyWNOocEzKApqbxwTwq7UP2rN-wqkGAFk8xsShF0Q1a7tNPdgy084r61DX7ctZkVza2kMjwIBCJI_FK1wVaImigStOc8r2KhGqrmgdfQYZqoYlp_IsMZiNSRFzVj4ODFDD/s1600/halloween+3+5.gif"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 151px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hthmznPKT9qyWNOocEzKApqbxwTwq7UP2rN-wqkGAFk8xsShF0Q1a7tNPdgy084r61DX7ctZkVza2kMjwIBCJI_FK1wVaImigStOc8r2KhGqrmgdfQYZqoYlp_IsMZiNSRFzVj4ODFDD/s320/halloween+3+5.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529072006458485906" border="0" /></a>Dr. Dan Challis, mystified by the turn of events, is soon joined by 'Ellie' the daughter of the man who was killed. Ellie informs Dan that her father was involved with the Silver Shamrock company, a toy and mask factory based in the small farming town of Santa Mira. Deciding to do a little detective work, Dan and Ellie make their way to Santa Mira where they find the town totally subservient to Mr. Conal Cochran, the founder of the Silver Shamrock company.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImzjhi9Dz-zSXTcF60GIa5smBXnvOuxRCf4M1Qv5OqoRr9nqMvg2S5-Ccc56bDnojpXPOu1Woqdk73OCLciSRwBoR8fU8RC1p0DUZJ0p7pfl5POfrAWSIyOGtgY5-9WOQP_d2EVzClbj_/s1600/halloween-3+3.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImzjhi9Dz-zSXTcF60GIa5smBXnvOuxRCf4M1Qv5OqoRr9nqMvg2S5-Ccc56bDnojpXPOu1Woqdk73OCLciSRwBoR8fU8RC1p0DUZJ0p7pfl5POfrAWSIyOGtgY5-9WOQP_d2EVzClbj_/s320/halloween-3+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529071380655489314" border="0" /></a>Of course the suited goons turn out to be androids and agents of Cochran who plans to kill all the children of America with a TV commercial that will activate special chips fashioned from fragments of a stone recently stolen from Stonehenge, hidden within Silver Shamrock masks. This will cause their heads to dissolve into heaps of bugs, worms and snakes in some sort of parody of the Celtic festival of Samhain. Why? Something to do with pagan sacrifice. At least that's all I could gather from it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qTmzxqScyI0vpQIlyO2igqwAatnT58W3zlt6-Fu7aS9b34qfkHFKRTC4pU2AbnW_AvWKro_bBioNZr_xvgvt7paAgW_QKHVQiNL6xH2RnqWwkn2Cv86TJNt-Q_AZO_ElyaCEFmrCszVu/s1600/Halloween+3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qTmzxqScyI0vpQIlyO2igqwAatnT58W3zlt6-Fu7aS9b34qfkHFKRTC4pU2AbnW_AvWKro_bBioNZr_xvgvt7paAgW_QKHVQiNL6xH2RnqWwkn2Cv86TJNt-Q_AZO_ElyaCEFmrCszVu/s320/Halloween+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529070480110515426" border="0" /></a>As you can probably tell, the plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense and the film fits more within the territory of sci-fi thriller than gothic horror as its title might lead us to believe. But it's not too bad in a b-movie kind of way, certainly undeserving of the scorn regularly heaped upon it by Michael Myers fans. It's a shame that more stuff from Nigel Kneale's script didn't make it into the film as all the talk of Samhain and the stolen stone from Stonehenge comes across as pretty convoluted in the final film. Kneale's script contained references to ancient demons and gateways to other worlds that never made the final cut. A little more clarity certainly wouldn't have gone amiss.<br /><br />The film bombed on its release, not helped by the fact that it was up against <span style="font-style: italic;">First Blood</span> (1982) when it opened. Having learned its lesson to not be so damn original, the series picked up with Michael Myers once again in 1988 and hasn't looked back since. Disappointing though <span style="font-style: italic;">Season of the Witch</span> may have been, I think it's a shame that no other non-slasher stories were ever attempted as the series certainly ran out of steam fast.Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-81676472239176894452010-10-29T11:38:00.003+02:002011-01-27T16:18:06.460+01:00'Rosemary's Baby' by Ira LevinHappy Halloween folks! As the great festival for all things creepy, spooky and demonic is this Sabbath, I will be putting out several posts over the next few days celebrating the spirit(s) of All Hallows' Eve. First up; a remarkable novel which played a large part in the popular shift towards all things occult and satanic in the late '60s and early '70s.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5m6vsVn5q7DOqbVttjhcmSHXZRMmcasxHy9o8y9VAR6HZMkHCbXkM8ZX7T6NDKPp8vaH6B_h1wX4S_yxIUxXM5QZK9TlrC9RsJl7DbRZTzadK7i1xC_ajdHJsafFPYfL1en9Ke8tZDIX/s1600/Rosemary's+Baby.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5m6vsVn5q7DOqbVttjhcmSHXZRMmcasxHy9o8y9VAR6HZMkHCbXkM8ZX7T6NDKPp8vaH6B_h1wX4S_yxIUxXM5QZK9TlrC9RsJl7DbRZTzadK7i1xC_ajdHJsafFPYfL1en9Ke8tZDIX/s320/Rosemary's+Baby.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526405197731315618" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckQ4Mfx1zuolFlj3yTcLxAa7KdhIQXFl2DyI1R56Fw2udKuHo5PaCAwlKw94DrPb9uZaJnzQO4smqXO4SvPvddxnkv_O8kz_HW-04wc45W4z3SKljSavH3mJkOrnKv2gVWOvEzUbKZbBV/s1600/Rosemary's+Baby+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckQ4Mfx1zuolFlj3yTcLxAa7KdhIQXFl2DyI1R56Fw2udKuHo5PaCAwlKw94DrPb9uZaJnzQO4smqXO4SvPvddxnkv_O8kz_HW-04wc45W4z3SKljSavH3mJkOrnKv2gVWOvEzUbKZbBV/s320/Rosemary's+Baby+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526405499979805938" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Popular culture in the late '60s was vastly becoming obsessed with the demonic. Anton LaVey founded The Church of Satan in 1966. <span style="font-style: italic;">Rosemary's Baby</span> was published the following year and the film adaption came the year after that. The early '70s saw the huge success of novels and movies like <span style="font-style: italic;">The Exorcist</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Omen</span>, as well as more low budget stuff like Hammer's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Devil Rides Out</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">To the Devil a Daughter</span>. The big bad man downstairs was everywhere it seemed, popping up on magazine covers, paperbacks and movie posters. The cause for a lot of it can be laid at the door of <span style="font-style: italic;">Rosemary's Baby</span> and Roman Polanski's near perfect 1968 film adaptation.<br /><br />Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move into an old apartment block in New York City. Rosemary wants a baby and Guy is an out of work actor. They get friendly with an elderly couple living in a neighboring apartment and after the mysterious death of a fellow actor, Guy's career suddenly soars. Rosemary soon gets pregnant and that's when things start to get creepy. Horrific dreams plague Rosemary as the new life grows inside her and she becomes convinced that their friendly neighbors are intent on stealing her baby.<br /><br />The book is less supernatural horror than paranoid thriller and is all the more effective for it. The terror of a mother for her unborn child and the sense that she can trust nobody - not even her own husband - is the real horror at the centre of the story. The comparison on the back to Henry James' <span style="font-style: italic;">The Turn of the Screw</span> is one I can agree with - it is never clear until the very end whether or not it is all just some horrible paranoid fantasy on the part of the protagonist. What's really creepy is just how ordinary the villains are. There are no crimson cloaks, black masses or naked dancing in the moonlight here. Just a group of elderly people who wouldn't be out of place in any neighborhood. They could be living next door to you or I.<br /></div></div>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-90433453866389965832010-10-27T14:00:00.001+02:002010-10-27T14:48:51.682+02:00Clive Barker's 'Books of Blood' Vols. 4 - 6<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ECGXSD9iczsFrG7loGaS7iQztdugOElbsLDw0jwFXjpjSl8S4pg5Zom6DVT84ZUUSGebEjqVRIQjxEaqZv0O10eQkXShplk4_Bld9YfPU88nalNfyveSKMBF2VLRMfF_idCKMIv1_cd_/s1600/img181.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 205px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ECGXSD9iczsFrG7loGaS7iQztdugOElbsLDw0jwFXjpjSl8S4pg5Zom6DVT84ZUUSGebEjqVRIQjxEaqZv0O10eQkXShplk4_Bld9YfPU88nalNfyveSKMBF2VLRMfF_idCKMIv1_cd_/s320/img181.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531960759112175426" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7v8nJPiUPBL6T7isBHGgXQeM3DZdTY940eE6eb8J6UUxNcCNp_sTtnw7Qfsdmyr_kb_Dny4AKXPhgBfdEq5blDkDRoDcF0938o4DcQ1qfiXOUVKCafSJ-MlimX1SlrUduWyA8BexcYoRp/s1600/img182.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7v8nJPiUPBL6T7isBHGgXQeM3DZdTY940eE6eb8J6UUxNcCNp_sTtnw7Qfsdmyr_kb_Dny4AKXPhgBfdEq5blDkDRoDcF0938o4DcQ1qfiXOUVKCafSJ-MlimX1SlrUduWyA8BexcYoRp/s320/img182.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531960863240855458" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>Having read <span style="font-style: italic;">The Hellbound Heart</span> and thoroughly enjoyed Clive Barker's self-directed film adaption, I began poking around in second hand bookshops for his fabled 'Books of Blood' anthologies. That's why I only have this second collection (volumes 4 - 6) and not the first.<br /><br />I'll admit that it took me a while to get into his short stories. The first two entries in this book didn't really do anything for me and I was gradually coming to the conclusion that perhaps (other than <span style="font-style: italic;">The Hellbound Heart</span>) Barker wasn't for me. But in a fit of stubbornness, I picked it up again and read the third story and got really hooked.<br /><br />The great thing about Barker's work is that it is totally unclassifiable. Breaking away from the restrictions of various horror sub-genres, his imagination is seemingly endlessly original. There isn't one story here that I could sum up in a couple of words and that is probably what gave me a hard time getting into the book to begin with. It's impossible to predict what one might get when starting on a Barker story. But if you allow your mind to be opened up enough by a couple of brushes with Barker, it should be ready for the truly bizarre.<br /><br />Not all of the surreal ambiguity worked for me though and while several of the stories are off-beat enough to be truly original and entertaining, a few of them were so far out that they had me wondering exactly what the hell was going on.<br /><br />On the other hand, real highlights for me were <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelations</span> - a great tale of murder and ghosts in a run down motel, <span style="font-style: italic;">Down, Satan!</span> - an exploration of a totally mad and demonic mind, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Forbidden</span> - which inspired the movie Candyman (1992) and the wonderfully morbid <span style="font-style: italic;">The Life of Death</span>. Gore is never something to be shied away from by Mr. Barker and stuff like <span style="font-style: italic;">How Spoilers Bleed</span> had me literally squirming with discomfort - always an interesting experience for one who considers himself pretty much desensitised by exposure to too many horror books and movies.Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-55404611407073211712010-10-24T19:11:00.000+02:002010-10-24T18:37:26.058+02:00Movie Review: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDROv2D7vXn7_xtjFHGQd6PvArKiEDuSDDDMl4N6wnLTlGLNrXKNefvwJC6Xk3BqWNoYDDw75nDaRiL27xN34cI44mWWNGdGkNTyHvbNyt3uo17GOZ1n7MKkYrxsLhbCMYpddYSBlQqzIg/s1600/Halloween_H20.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDROv2D7vXn7_xtjFHGQd6PvArKiEDuSDDDMl4N6wnLTlGLNrXKNefvwJC6Xk3BqWNoYDDw75nDaRiL27xN34cI44mWWNGdGkNTyHvbNyt3uo17GOZ1n7MKkYrxsLhbCMYpddYSBlQqzIg/s320/Halloween_H20.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531291005713158306" border="0" /></a>As much as I love the original <span style="font-style: italic;">Halloween</span> (1978), it's been a relatively recent infatuation. The late 70s was a bit before my time. My time was the 90s when Wes Craven's self-referential <span style="font-style: italic;">Scream</span> (1996) had turned the slasher genre on its head after many years of stale sequels and had inspired a new boom in the field of masked killers stalking teenagers. This, the seventh entry in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Halloween</span> series, was the first <span style="font-style: italic;">H</span><span style="font-style: italic;">alloween</span> movie I saw in the cinema and I can remember thoroughly enjoying it. But like most movies of the 90s, I haven't paid it so much as a second thought since seeing it back in '98. Deciding to watch it again, more than 10 years since its release, I discovered not just another generic <span style="font-style: italic;">Halloween</span> sequel, but a thoroughly well made entry in the franchise and a damn good update on the original.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1eNAgNTOPHeTIQ_Cc_DEslYM-7H9mjrJ4TkusPjwlnLjvbFFFs5E2W8Je9Ne-HMCL6ZNnIn18O29ljd7VWIZ6_MWfY_i_cNayp-fddPfVesVuCEdoZbX1-jmrQsuzgmpVFt1NA8ps_8-e/s1600/h20+3.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1eNAgNTOPHeTIQ_Cc_DEslYM-7H9mjrJ4TkusPjwlnLjvbFFFs5E2W8Je9Ne-HMCL6ZNnIn18O29ljd7VWIZ6_MWfY_i_cNayp-fddPfVesVuCEdoZbX1-jmrQsuzgmpVFt1NA8ps_8-e/s320/h20+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531620444305179618" border="0" /></a>Largely ignoring the three sequels that dealt with Laurie Strode's daughter and her own encounters with her uncle Mike, <span style="font-style: italic;">H20</span> returns to Jamie Lee Curtis' character, who is now the headmistress of a fancy private school in California where her 17-year old son (Josh Hartnett) attends. Having faked her death and changed her name to 'Keri Tate' in an effort to throw her murderous brother off the scent should he still, by some miracle, be alive, Strode suffers from recurring nightmares and is pretty heavy handed with the old liquor bottle. During a very well done opening sequence, the home of a nurse who used to work with the now deceased Dr. Loomis is robbed and the file on Laurie Strode (presumably containing details on her new alias and current whereabouts) is stolen. Soon Myers is doing what he does best in an effort to kill his nephew who is now 17 (the same age Strode was when Myers resurfaced the first time).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJsGC2sE5wkJEvI6KoJIH09ro2ZiJT7lXq0qAatHkOLu_LrCeysbHhbDpdyG9C_q5rCWHdmTWQM8t4egXekZXONnkbB9dW1sYUVdQ52aar3Ywp94QTG9tdtcMmkoSGSDTrp_wDGUOUTJoj/s1600/h20+1.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 169px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJsGC2sE5wkJEvI6KoJIH09ro2ZiJT7lXq0qAatHkOLu_LrCeysbHhbDpdyG9C_q5rCWHdmTWQM8t4egXekZXONnkbB9dW1sYUVdQ52aar3Ywp94QTG9tdtcMmkoSGSDTrp_wDGUOUTJoj/s320/h20+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531617581455067842" border="0" /></a>Apart from the awesomeness of seeing Jamie Lee Curtis return to the role that she did so well twenty years previously, The film contains a large number of 'in joke' type stuff that us nerds love. From Joseph Gordon-Levitt's sudden appearance wearing a hockey mask often sported by another psycho-killer from a different franchise to the cameo of Janet Leigh (Jamie Lee Curtis' mother) who was the star/victim of <span style="font-style: italic;">Psycho</span> (1960) alongside the very car she drove in said classic, <span style="font-style: italic;">H20</span> is just as self-referential as <span style="font-style: italic;">Scream</span>. And, unlike most entries in the genre, <span style="font-style: italic;">H20</span> actually takes its time with characterisation and exposition. In fact it's nearly an hour into the movie before Michael Myers makes his appearance at the California school to begin his one-night rampage. Curtis is just as great to watch as she was in the original and her quick-thinking and motherly toughness is a breath of fresh air from all the running, screaming teenagers we've seen in pretty much every slasher movie since 1978. In fact the movie spends a surprisingly little amount of time on the teenage victims, instead focusing on the more mature storyline of a mother's over-protective tendencies and psychological trauma of her past. One other plus is the film's musical score. Using John Carpenter's iconic theme tune, the tinkling piano notes of the original are replaced by sweeping brass and strings, making the eternally creepy theme a much grander and more epic affair.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZ8GQNF3re2ZI5Owa0bxST94ZaGMj7FqEyNDsOPOQ6Lk_qIR3hNtos-HYFh2gjZREdEMC15_prReJMe71qJi_USVzhiaBqCfa7q4qja7QCmqf-zAEuY5Zl5Yh-qG3T8xaqVh-Rg4xV2cs/s1600/H20+2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZ8GQNF3re2ZI5Owa0bxST94ZaGMj7FqEyNDsOPOQ6Lk_qIR3hNtos-HYFh2gjZREdEMC15_prReJMe71qJi_USVzhiaBqCfa7q4qja7QCmqf-zAEuY5Zl5Yh-qG3T8xaqVh-Rg4xV2cs/s320/H20+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531618688483712018" border="0" /></a>My only real complaints with the movie lie with the character of Michael Myers himself. I don't know what it is but he just doesn't seem as menacing as he was in the original. Despite some shots that bear striking similarity to ones in the original (reflections in glass, appearing and vanishing in the blink of an eye etc) there still seems to be something missing. Also, with all the time taken explaining Laurie Strode's reappearance after her supposed death (mentioned in one of the sequels), you would have thought that a bit of attention would have been directed towards the killer himself. What exactly has he been doing for the last 20 years (assuming that the sequels are now non-canon), and how did he survive the blazing inferno that concluded part 2?<br /><br />All in all, a great conclusion to the series. Too bad it was all spoiled by the awful <span style="font-style: italic;">Halloween: Resurrection</span> (2002) and the recent remakes. But nevermind Rob Zombie, <span style="font-style: italic;">H20</span> remains the true successor to the 1978 original.Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-72741391784891640142010-10-14T16:39:00.012+02:002010-10-14T19:26:01.584+02:00Movie Review: Friday the 13th Part II (1981)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-Rf9ll9Yz4-OREqItsOJeAmCxAqf0BB0vrDWFmeOPqfGcrU-UArtuB-uW9Q8kUzm4QKj_FJGdvFvkpV5Ji_U0xyyrPWCZfOSogANkOzVK5wQgreZDtpk67Xvvg3-6WHYtqhXOiLZuqps/s1600/f13.jpeg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8-Rf9ll9Yz4-OREqItsOJeAmCxAqf0BB0vrDWFmeOPqfGcrU-UArtuB-uW9Q8kUzm4QKj_FJGdvFvkpV5Ji_U0xyyrPWCZfOSogANkOzVK5wQgreZDtpk67Xvvg3-6WHYtqhXOiLZuqps/s320/f13.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527911785643874802" border="0" /></a>With Halloween just around the corner, I've been watching a few classic horror films. While the second entry in the infamous 'Friday' series can hardly be considered a 'classic', it's actually pretty good considering how awful the series eventually became. The franchise is also called the 'Jason' series, but strictly speaking, such a series would have to begin with this entry as it is the first appearance of Jason Voorhees who, despite wearing a pillow case throughout the movie instead of his trademark hockey mask, would go on to become a horror icon as famous as Michael Myers or Freddie Kruger.<br /><br />Good a sequel though this movie is, I can't help but feel a sense of missed opportunity considering how the creators of the first installment originally envisioned a long running 'Friday' series that would focus on a different story with each entry. After all, Jason Voorhees was supposedly dead at the bottom of Crystal Lake, with his appearance in the original movie only a nightmare vision and the real killer being his mother. But various big shots in control of the money side of things demanded that the killer in part 2 be an adult Jason who had somehow survived his childhood drowning incident and spent the rest of his youth living as a hermit in the nearby woods until witnessing the decapitation of his mad mother. Taking her severed head, he builds a shrine to her and starts his own killing spree supposedly on her whim.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFRvf_aSvYmztxGUN4u5IabgK7ryDdyztW4heShPzXUCkdOiv53bjM-yZSHkyr_yM2BYuRgjoy16ZUqpOsc6H3NDtAAwwfwvW6Oc-_xNiLNEcbsNL8nDsBC5TOYW0xZFrX2J9ZUWjzHWj/s1600/f13+5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFRvf_aSvYmztxGUN4u5IabgK7ryDdyztW4heShPzXUCkdOiv53bjM-yZSHkyr_yM2BYuRgjoy16ZUqpOsc6H3NDtAAwwfwvW6Oc-_xNiLNEcbsNL8nDsBC5TOYW0xZFrX2J9ZUWjzHWj/s320/f13+5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527946596586785714" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />That's the more than slightly preposterous set up for the second Friday movie. After the credits we are re-introduced to Alice Hardy, the surviving heroine of the first installment. It has been two months since all her friends were massacred at Camp Crystal Lake and she is now trying to get on with her life and forget all about it. But somebody is not about to let her get off the hook so easily and she soon departs this world via a screwdriver in the temple. I hate it when this happens in sequels. Killing off the protagonist in a post credits sequence really undermines everything they achieved in the previous movie. I felt the same way about <span style="font-style: italic;">Alien 3</span> (1992) when Hicks and Newt are revealed to have been killed before the credits even started! What a downer!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEius3CLMKYfihYYaG-LlKd6JScl7Uox7Tf7GuF-zPf-R0IiCR6dDAmmYwjFSMuawPrY4QgoTupwytF_quNLPav60b835UWbWTq5bllK4Wn-Wa4CGruk6LDIrduNf_TAnZ_yQD-g44Q4VXqd/s1600/f13+4.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEius3CLMKYfihYYaG-LlKd6JScl7Uox7Tf7GuF-zPf-R0IiCR6dDAmmYwjFSMuawPrY4QgoTupwytF_quNLPav60b835UWbWTq5bllK4Wn-Wa4CGruk6LDIrduNf_TAnZ_yQD-g44Q4VXqd/s320/f13+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527945849637333746" border="0" /></a>But I digress. Not long after this gruesome affair, a group of teens are Crystal Lake bound once more. A new training camp for camp counsellors has been set up and soon we are subjected to watching these hopefuls perform various wholesome activities like forest runs, carpentry and cook-outs (all done whilst wearing obscenely small shorts, I might add). Crazy Ralph turns up to do his doomsaying bit and 'heed my warning' speech just as he did in the first film, and of course he goes ignored by the gleeful youngsters. There is also a spooky campfire story which serves to inform us that there are folks about who believe that little Jason Voorhees didn't drown all those years ago and is in fact living in the woods like a savage.<br /><br />With all that exposition out of the way, the film is free to get on with its killings. First up is poor old Crazy Ralph who is garroted while spying on a couple of teens making out. Don't know why he was still lurking around, but that'll learn him! The following day another couple, inspired by the local tales, decide to check out the abandoned (and strictly off limits) Camp Crystal Lake. All they find is a dead dog belonging to one of the other camp counsellors. A cop catches them snooping around and hauls them back to the training camp for a stern ticking off before getting a claw hammer in the skull whilst chasing a mysterious stranger into the woods on his way back to the station.<br /><br />Things really get moving when most of the counsellors head out for a night on the town, leaving just six remaining for an evening of arm wrestling, making out and playing video games on some antiquated handheld device that even I don't recognise. Needless to say, they don't quite get the quiet night in they were hoping for.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhac1sbKAUpB4LxBmcjjMoYROr9IxFIidZ_NG_vGNoAYUFamEomXBjS2bSAynbxjmyR-1u9IBogiB4cd2k7f-uCVRE0VpbqwKyR9aHbErrQQ4118s1mDbOYtyJZZlLtT6Xv5iFdyOmuQJ__/s1600/f13+3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhac1sbKAUpB4LxBmcjjMoYROr9IxFIidZ_NG_vGNoAYUFamEomXBjS2bSAynbxjmyR-1u9IBogiB4cd2k7f-uCVRE0VpbqwKyR9aHbErrQQ4118s1mDbOYtyJZZlLtT6Xv5iFdyOmuQJ__/s320/f13+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527943400318172738" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>One of the best things about the movie is it's protagonist. Amy Steel plays 'Ginny' the girlfriend of the camp leader. She proves to be the epitome of the 'Final Girl' archetype - brave, resourceful and smart. Despite a scene where she is hiding under a bed, literally urinating with terror (what the hell was that all about anyway?), Ginny uses her smarts to outwit the killer in the film's conclusion - donning Mrs Voorhees's old sweater and playing mind games with Jason.<br /><br />Oh, and then there is that final scare which is a retread of the most popcorn-tossing moment in the first movie - Jason's sudden appearence just when we think it's all over. Turns out to be a dream of course, but we at least get to see what he looks like under that pillow case and it ain't pretty.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLMazStAshdXio2LftDF8xdHFKXKqW_isiFb4LjWOWA2SduyFLhxu3kpZmowWkFYSiB8ABQrpKhLAikF8WOAnP3Rm-IgsBjv2WpqmFf7OA0BI4JTcWvxCLYk-hSSIjKTeSu_IU8nEnSr4D/s1600/F13+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLMazStAshdXio2LftDF8xdHFKXKqW_isiFb4LjWOWA2SduyFLhxu3kpZmowWkFYSiB8ABQrpKhLAikF8WOAnP3Rm-IgsBjv2WpqmFf7OA0BI4JTcWvxCLYk-hSSIjKTeSu_IU8nEnSr4D/s320/F13+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527942163109106226" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-78520264309881080612010-10-13T18:35:00.001+02:002010-10-13T12:44:29.556+02:00Movie Review: Cleopatra Jones (1973)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8NblukZ-da1-RULz5n94x1SG2qSPdoBnBHdECOAPQDN9D3AT6i3Hrhfga1bD_un4XTfJgATIqzsOp1GRSlFjc7bBcp9narHRLpA72xTGyEKNzkP5y-eSw_FUkEvHGSY7KmWOKXJaXIPA/s1600/Cleopatra+Jones+poster.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH8NblukZ-da1-RULz5n94x1SG2qSPdoBnBHdECOAPQDN9D3AT6i3Hrhfga1bD_un4XTfJgATIqzsOp1GRSlFjc7bBcp9narHRLpA72xTGyEKNzkP5y-eSw_FUkEvHGSY7KmWOKXJaXIPA/s320/Cleopatra+Jones+poster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527087888449034690" border="0" /></a><br />Another Blaxploitation classic here. Overshadowed by the more memorable <span style="font-style: italic;">Coffy</span> (released a month before),<span style="font-style: italic;"> Cleopatra Jones</span> is still a huge amount of fun. Both films center on the war against drugs, and whereas Pam Grier played a night nurse on a quest for vengeance, Tamara Dobson here plays a government agent who works closely with the police. The film opens with the spectacular bombing of a poppy field in Turkey on Jones's orders. This results in immensely cheesing off a drug queen called 'Mommy'.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidI46_6gQH4ZPttEs2Tg23ayYsNuT4RUsc4rE1lWqW-v4bHKOB3PzLgbSwfZSyqn9XcQ-FwKlTuJHXIVWc0y84UnB5JrU-L591KQJqAoh_lrw_Q0812VG6F0Zc20adMJeNnuQpVn6yEmwN/s1600/CJ+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 166px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidI46_6gQH4ZPttEs2Tg23ayYsNuT4RUsc4rE1lWqW-v4bHKOB3PzLgbSwfZSyqn9XcQ-FwKlTuJHXIVWc0y84UnB5JrU-L591KQJqAoh_lrw_Q0812VG6F0Zc20adMJeNnuQpVn6yEmwN/s320/CJ+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527443604028369538" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />I'm certain that this 'Mommy' character (played by Shelley Winters) inspired the 'Mom' villain in <span style="font-style: italic;">Futurama</span> with her three idiotic sons whom she verbally and physically abuses throughout the movie. Only this Mommy has a rather lesbian penchant for the young ladies under her employ.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKOBOG1dQsbFNtIMYMrLKz2fRFv2pTh7ctZdsFMh5NpQ1tDoZ9NfBXruKqg1T-5wB9WHPWQY3aRs9O-zHAmaNeGEkeNqjKFHdlOWeI0mwhpzVdfA-uTVWpgtVr0iiZX0yQmTq88pOH0xm/s1600/CJ+2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKOBOG1dQsbFNtIMYMrLKz2fRFv2pTh7ctZdsFMh5NpQ1tDoZ9NfBXruKqg1T-5wB9WHPWQY3aRs9O-zHAmaNeGEkeNqjKFHdlOWeI0mwhpzVdfA-uTVWpgtVr0iiZX0yQmTq88pOH0xm/s320/CJ+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527443839349397506" border="0" /></a>Ordering a police bust on an African-American anti-drug centre, Mommy rouses the ire of Cleopatra Jones who launches an all out crusade against Mommy's empire. Things are further complicated by the resignation of one of Mommy's crew, Doodlebug (Antonio Fargas) who wishes to set up his own little crime empire.<br /><br /><br />There's a lot going on in the film as the kung-fu kicking mama tries to clear her friends' names whilst attempting to frame the crooked cop who is on Mommy's payroll at the same time as evading the various hitmen the crime boss sets on her trail. Also, there's a girl who needs saving - the girlfriend of Doodlebug whose life is forfeit after her hubby is gunned down by Mommy's goons. But with all this happening, the film never gets convoluted and the action doesn't let up for a second. Cleo's car is a beautiful souped up Corvette with a small armoury stashed in the door panels a la James Bond. And the car chase midway through the film is spectacular.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQlaqXs_M2NAarAkMHOadKA5Cu6ekH1yDPuRNq0AZrt5zxAd3wUWRutxLyg0ZCY6kOnRObkcE8OmppNrFwGgZ63jiEIgJ_ksb-UCbRZ1La93Fc0knKMvwbLh98Rxfaa0Xu92BKmjEPqaJ/s1600/CJ+3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQlaqXs_M2NAarAkMHOadKA5Cu6ekH1yDPuRNq0AZrt5zxAd3wUWRutxLyg0ZCY6kOnRObkcE8OmppNrFwGgZ63jiEIgJ_ksb-UCbRZ1La93Fc0knKMvwbLh98Rxfaa0Xu92BKmjEPqaJ/s320/CJ+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527476096029677906" border="0" /></a>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-85861572050011218392010-10-08T14:37:00.008+02:002010-10-13T12:44:05.138+02:00Movie Review: Black Caesar (1973)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKqpPlYV7pSVfWnYFlOVTeTnJnoHl2K0npUH8jSuQqQLVU-Jbn2lo-plWmZUgvo4WeH68x3XgbDiS-wfjtDejKwlp_vS0XHZK8pSQZhjIWzwsLLRjtsxkUnRoFPyoJeHHaSO-HnLmanFX/s1600/BlackCaesar.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKqpPlYV7pSVfWnYFlOVTeTnJnoHl2K0npUH8jSuQqQLVU-Jbn2lo-plWmZUgvo4WeH68x3XgbDiS-wfjtDejKwlp_vS0XHZK8pSQZhjIWzwsLLRjtsxkUnRoFPyoJeHHaSO-HnLmanFX/s320/BlackCaesar.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525653590545240674" border="0" /></a>A little while ago I was on a Blaxploitation kick and was watching as many movies in the genre as I could get my hands on. As well as the classics like <span style="font-style: italic;">Shaft</span> (1971) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Coffy</span> (1973), I was pleasantly surprised by <span style="font-style: italic;">Black Caesar</span>, a rise and fall type story which we've seen since in stuff like <span style="font-style: italic;">Scarface</span> (1983) and <span style="font-style: italic;">American Gangster</span> (2007), a film which has much in common with <span style="font-style: italic;">Black Caesar</span>.<br /><br />The film centers on Tommy Gibbs, a tough shoeshine kid in 1950s Harlem. After a savage beating from a nasty Irish cop (which leaves him with a permanent limp), Gibbs disappears for a few years and returns in the shape of Fred Williamson. Gunning for the mob, Gibbs soon has his own territory and is on the up, surrounding himself with a posse of hoodlums and running Harlem with the old tools of fear and respect.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7wP7CqwE4XDb2VIBB6biZ1zY2glSsxks_M7Oz3LRhG8xSUOMF_BYUcIhBqoZfpC9nAqX5Gg4JhdjKp0Aawru0xfofshDrJKt31wBBYoUHHhtjHoSC1IQ26QcPgd8KfxKUuXuiPFcS6OoM/s1600/BLACK_CAESAR+1.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7wP7CqwE4XDb2VIBB6biZ1zY2glSsxks_M7Oz3LRhG8xSUOMF_BYUcIhBqoZfpC9nAqX5Gg4JhdjKp0Aawru0xfofshDrJKt31wBBYoUHHhtjHoSC1IQ26QcPgd8KfxKUuXuiPFcS6OoM/s320/BLACK_CAESAR+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525657184576088610" border="0" /></a>Such a story could easily be a generic shoot em up style film, but <span style="font-style: italic;">Black Caesar</span> has enough heart and message in it to make it more than worthwhile. The main morale in the film (as in <span style="font-style: italic;">Scarface</span>) is of course that money isn't the answer to all problems. This is highlighted in a particularly poignant scene between Gibbs and his mother who has worked as a maid for rich white folks all her life. When Gibbs is finally wealthy enough to buy her the very apartment she has spent so many years cleaning and gives it to her to live in, she is far from happy, claiming that she 'wouldn't know how'.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7DQ8VAcrMWERMotAO91oQa5WdKbI7i2C7PP4UPvGUxU4FmBVMD9uFM0N0DDet-AKRZtSi0f8v902eacHU1HE1PWXonMFU72lKx2zwDKay5VS1o04zE8tuDQZ16QBdlbDsU6cMKTLFpXu8/s1600/BlackCaeser+2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 173px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7DQ8VAcrMWERMotAO91oQa5WdKbI7i2C7PP4UPvGUxU4FmBVMD9uFM0N0DDet-AKRZtSi0f8v902eacHU1HE1PWXonMFU72lKx2zwDKay5VS1o04zE8tuDQZ16QBdlbDsU6cMKTLFpXu8/s320/BlackCaeser+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525660607829439362" border="0" /></a>The film also has a great sense of irony. As with most gangsters, Gibbs loses all sight of what's important in his quest for money and power and at the film's conclusion he is back exactly where he started (he is robbed and beaten to death in the derelict remains of his childhood home by a gang of young urchins none too different from what he once was).<br /><br />James Brown's soundtrack is also excellent with classic songs of the genre 'Down and Out in New York City' and 'The Boss'.<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RtHLunDsc2A?fs=1&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RtHLunDsc2A?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-22611293734155826612010-09-28T12:07:00.006+02:002010-10-10T19:29:56.211+02:00SAGA Entry 1 - 'The Door into Fire' by Diane DuaneSword and sorcery fiction has had a rough time of it since its rise to prominence in the pulp magazines of the 20s and 30s. The works of the likes of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, C. L. Moore and Henry Kuttner fell into obscurity as the pulp magazine vanished due to wartime paper shortages. After the war, the 1950s obsession with flying saucers, martian invaders and radioactive annihilation put paid to any hopes for a sword and sorcery revival.<br /><br />But then, in the early 60s, a small but talented group of writers founded an informal gathering called SAGA (The Swordsmen and Sorcerer's Guild of America). Including such genre giants as Lin Carter, Poul Anderson, L. Sprague De Camp, Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock, the group was largely responsible for redefining sword and sorcery fiction (Leiber in fact coined the term in 1961) and bringing it back to the public eye.<br /><br />Each member was admitted to the group based solely on their sword and sorcery output. Moorcock was in for his 'Elric' tales for example and Fritz Leiber for his 'Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser' yarns. Several other authors were admitted in the late 60s and 70s, one of them being Diane Duane for 'The Door into Fire'.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTkOVuw5wAuP44NkKPBgR2xn7W3LTMnovL4WnpCt1qOHr6Rjnr8fgdTl1NDEHvn5yAsUSowsdVszqsUOUXIPy-uuDptNDgoQMNBX7FmaVoHl6IyuaE6JHVe77X0-hqL9gnHwv6u9tviqe/s1600/door+into+fire+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 199px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTkOVuw5wAuP44NkKPBgR2xn7W3LTMnovL4WnpCt1qOHr6Rjnr8fgdTl1NDEHvn5yAsUSowsdVszqsUOUXIPy-uuDptNDgoQMNBX7FmaVoHl6IyuaE6JHVe77X0-hqL9gnHwv6u9tviqe/s320/door+into+fire+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521907806761949602" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9AzbPr3AznyJGpXgCRvGgiDJO5CEhgTWzwrOwD3b9MfLWRrhC7WZWAuSA-H4lGKjmL96LnDP9tL3I1AZIhEoDJ-IaauImyE4auRKaekuQ-yQh6qzgfDVv6oHMsu1bwsJIXsyrQzNo2rm/s1600/door+into+fire+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9AzbPr3AznyJGpXgCRvGgiDJO5CEhgTWzwrOwD3b9MfLWRrhC7WZWAuSA-H4lGKjmL96LnDP9tL3I1AZIhEoDJ-IaauImyE4auRKaekuQ-yQh6qzgfDVv6oHMsu1bwsJIXsyrQzNo2rm/s320/door+into+fire+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521913761461768578" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Published in 1979, 'The Door into Fire' was the first novel of the New York-born author. It tells the tale of Herwiss, a man with the potential to become a great sorcerer, possessing the power of 'the flame'. Desperate to harness this power and focus it into the blade of a sword, Herwiss decides to seek a castle in the wastelands which contains many doors to other worlds.<br /><br />Making the main character of a sword and sorcery novel bisexual and spending a good deal of time focusing on his homoerotic relationship with his best friend was a pretty bold choice for a genre that is famous for being about as heterosexual as possible. I mean, look at that cover. The classic dominant male pose instantly recognisable on a glut of sword and sorcery covers.<br /><br />But the book itself is far from orthodox. Mixing Celtic mythology (the concept of the triple Goddess is used here expertly) with Germanic cultures, and the divided loyalties of the protagonist (would he rather continue in his quest for power or sacrifice it to aid his lover in reclaiming his crown?), the book reaches a much higher place than the more generic entries in the genre.<br /><br /><br /></div></div>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-44135307455106550242010-09-10T10:00:00.003+02:002010-09-10T12:24:02.719+02:00Movie Review - Dr. Strange (1978)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfWr4V2IfhCmiHsK9xvTU_LCw3ghlJVsXhpPVLuyV14uDHvmZW5pqH2M2xDUePPi3hcfMjilF5dIxwseJX3lxcOyZprT2TnmVUuW0MT-FooV7xYOVLDqe9F0AAga618SotbspYR11teWW/s1600/dr+strange+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 98px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfWr4V2IfhCmiHsK9xvTU_LCw3ghlJVsXhpPVLuyV14uDHvmZW5pqH2M2xDUePPi3hcfMjilF5dIxwseJX3lxcOyZprT2TnmVUuW0MT-FooV7xYOVLDqe9F0AAga618SotbspYR11teWW/s320/dr+strange+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514906067673442130" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Y2RzD_KBh4z7hcpuP6sYTeH1wyQUdSieOxbyjoNZdZpf9Q4AdlOghDJgHtPZG4_tFzVuiTwD_KFadTquikt_iSLEMHQD4x2xRcQlo6E_x2FF7lP4mJOdqfyRXqejvWX757V5JwG5Xler/s1600/dr+strange+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 184px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Y2RzD_KBh4z7hcpuP6sYTeH1wyQUdSieOxbyjoNZdZpf9Q4AdlOghDJgHtPZG4_tFzVuiTwD_KFadTquikt_iSLEMHQD4x2xRcQlo6E_x2FF7lP4mJOdqfyRXqejvWX757V5JwG5Xler/s320/dr+strange+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514905386242226386" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxbhKzTEJnqirOBHb0y0HDTFn8XNA0vZC19_EnouHSnjqsbZ8i6MHGavdqEV_46lZSQrgVs_jNW91X8aZ5dqOSYeB-URJOBX8ZQGz8bM0pDRlRFA8WoyuYqGcOVjSJ3W3AZ5QixOzMXV9/s1600/dr+strange+3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 107px; height: 188px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxbhKzTEJnqirOBHb0y0HDTFn8XNA0vZC19_EnouHSnjqsbZ8i6MHGavdqEV_46lZSQrgVs_jNW91X8aZ5dqOSYeB-URJOBX8ZQGz8bM0pDRlRFA8WoyuYqGcOVjSJ3W3AZ5QixOzMXV9/s320/dr+strange+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514905494193340050" border="0" /></a><br /><br />My goodness, superhero movies were a different breed back in the 70s. Here we have Marvel's <span style="font-style: italic;">Dr. Strange</span> in a made for TV movie which was aired September 6th 1978 on CBS. Unlike most superhero movies these days, there isn't a single building demolished, car tossed through the air or suspension bridge torn up. In fact its all pretty low-key, gradually building up through character development and exposition to quite an abrupt ending.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzF5X7JilVyoduDC6Co2M231YaTsyUn52A655eIqqw12bmnL-8QW6LqAoBpsFyCOZoQMcuNVkno2fuiHtXmXWweuyg5RsPR_d8dSGx268s-sTYF4Bj9T6gij_mCkgFK8GFIIQllYwo4Ab/s1600/dr+strange+4.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 153px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzF5X7JilVyoduDC6Co2M231YaTsyUn52A655eIqqw12bmnL-8QW6LqAoBpsFyCOZoQMcuNVkno2fuiHtXmXWweuyg5RsPR_d8dSGx268s-sTYF4Bj9T6gij_mCkgFK8GFIIQllYwo4Ab/s320/dr+strange+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515224118536894770" border="0" /></a>I'm not familiar with the comic books, but after reading a bit about the character, I get the feeling that this movie doesn't stick too closely to its source material. Here, Morgan Le Fey (she of Arthurian legend, who originally appeared in the Marvel universe as a nemesis for Spider-Woman) is sent forward in time to the present day (well, 1978) to destroy the Sorcerer Supreme who is an old man called Mr. Lindmer (Merlin, presumably). Possessing a young woman called Clea Lake, Morgan has Lindmer tossed off a bridge into oncoming traffic.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOtd8GHcst73ewSbOagLsAZR0QMb-kl3P1mGbSHb4OC8dW9KJxILNQFuvWWBdf9WpYpxzfxr8pDi76T-WgHEtTuFFwJbqHfTSroLzy27nZzLHeLhL5faakTpGQ3wOMh3GylVkemNuPZeNB/s1600/dr+strange+5.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOtd8GHcst73ewSbOagLsAZR0QMb-kl3P1mGbSHb4OC8dW9KJxILNQFuvWWBdf9WpYpxzfxr8pDi76T-WgHEtTuFFwJbqHfTSroLzy27nZzLHeLhL5faakTpGQ3wOMh3GylVkemNuPZeNB/s320/dr+strange+5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515224954351060178" border="0" /></a>Enter Dr. Stephen Strange, a playboy type who works on a psychiatric ward. Witnessing the apparent murder of the old man via a psychic dream, Strange is surprised to see Clea Lake admitted to his ward in a state of confusion. As he tries to uncover the mystery surrounding her, Mr. Lindmer (who survived his fall at a great cost to his powers) contacts Strange and tries to convince him to join forces against Morgan Le Fey.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiynm1sphFAzMvj_qhQgzDO0uPWA8JJ3v_7u90RBA7EuR0Hlri4J7vtxGqaRBMIkK22TT3eQ2Xzg_Rar0D_FVIe_3BeObwBc1RvI8QV706xB84Jed_qbqI_yW7NpznnWaNKiksdl-AopqAS/s1600/dr+strange+6.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 155px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiynm1sphFAzMvj_qhQgzDO0uPWA8JJ3v_7u90RBA7EuR0Hlri4J7vtxGqaRBMIkK22TT3eQ2Xzg_Rar0D_FVIe_3BeObwBc1RvI8QV706xB84Jed_qbqI_yW7NpznnWaNKiksdl-AopqAS/s320/dr+strange+6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515225502293799602" border="0" /></a>Stephen Strange has the potential to become the next Sorcerer Supreme (and even has the inherited ring to prove it). As Lindmer attempts to explain the existence of magical forces, Strange realises that the battle between good and evil must be played out on a different plane of existence.<br /><br />Low budget to be sure, <span style="font-style: italic;">Dr. Strange</span> isn't all that bad. Originally devised as a pilot for a proposed TV series ala <span style="font-style: italic;">The Incredible Hulk</span>, the film was unfortunately shown at the same time as a re-run of <span style="font-style: italic;">Roots</span>. Such stiff competition meant that Dr. Strange received little attention and the movie (and any hopes for a TV series) drifted away into obscurity.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ZeXZ8ALUdwqP8M3ZJYa4Xbhvp8HXyi77Ot1YFNOaZa5Ezh6aK5p6961IoHillCq0ztrygAZ60snpc_z_gFFJLuU55DsvKmqJL3r6vnA2Hi1RiIj-SV1mrpIR3RGtULpC2heerSD6Qhil/s1600/dr+strange+7.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ZeXZ8ALUdwqP8M3ZJYa4Xbhvp8HXyi77Ot1YFNOaZa5Ezh6aK5p6961IoHillCq0ztrygAZ60snpc_z_gFFJLuU55DsvKmqJL3r6vnA2Hi1RiIj-SV1mrpIR3RGtULpC2heerSD6Qhil/s320/dr+strange+7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515226427707963138" border="0" /></a>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-47746018587852767622010-09-07T14:39:00.009+02:002010-10-10T19:30:15.077+02:00Chris Carlsen's 'Berserker' Trilogy<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhY1B3ZSRXpUXwG1O80WPLrGt5sTuVtWQUJ1Sa72fsAoewd7Qx6DNBAVb4aEi0YlvJK_DTmV5FBeHFeKTM_vKCDezgFORiEgP34q8bBxDreBT6vfRXq67m5INirJXMHxZhH5tQDctwUFFM/s1600/img104.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhY1B3ZSRXpUXwG1O80WPLrGt5sTuVtWQUJ1Sa72fsAoewd7Qx6DNBAVb4aEi0YlvJK_DTmV5FBeHFeKTM_vKCDezgFORiEgP34q8bBxDreBT6vfRXq67m5INirJXMHxZhH5tQDctwUFFM/s320/img104.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514150674509811106" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUnIe5U2PtAz68Nf4gO9xSZZjJoOyXxPuCAU7E0EPOWVJ4jnReYryg-yWzEGzu28q4ltw3Cl3itqfadjoB8J300svCztIwxjXuNyqWfryrnQnUOD7YS-HEmp_UsvnYf3FAbA-1pO6eRZ2/s1600/img106.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUnIe5U2PtAz68Nf4gO9xSZZjJoOyXxPuCAU7E0EPOWVJ4jnReYryg-yWzEGzu28q4ltw3Cl3itqfadjoB8J300svCztIwxjXuNyqWfryrnQnUOD7YS-HEmp_UsvnYf3FAbA-1pO6eRZ2/s320/img106.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514151094080348658" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFx5T4pNMjkijDJwR0m_Km1fbrCpWXyeCd-VI-b28iRFJwQ4R3jAH8DTmSGg3iF3U0tqdUZQaD0sJ4lJCZD_06_r4ASmB4bGts1H_hlCHe34JRtDzRaIhUsfzYhcCMmm9bK7k7N8QnSmW-/s1600/img108.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFx5T4pNMjkijDJwR0m_Km1fbrCpWXyeCd-VI-b28iRFJwQ4R3jAH8DTmSGg3iF3U0tqdUZQaD0sJ4lJCZD_06_r4ASmB4bGts1H_hlCHe34JRtDzRaIhUsfzYhcCMmm9bK7k7N8QnSmW-/s320/img108.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514151303047384562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I love me a bit of sword and sorcery. These books, published in the late 70s, were really designed to cash in on the 'Conan' craze of book covers depicting mightily muscled warriors swinging improbably large axes against a backdrop of slaughter and nubile female forms. Although the Conan movie would not be released until 1982, Robert E. Howard's mighty Cimmerian was at the top of his game in the 70s with the popularity of the Frazetta-illustrated Lancer paperbacks and the Marvel comic book incarnation of the character.<br /><br />As with any craze, there were a lot of crap imitations. And as always, there were a few gems too. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Berserker</span> trilogy is one of them. Chris Carlsen was a pseudonym for Robert Holdstock whose reputation would later reach more lofty heights as the author of 'serious' fantasy like <span style="font-style: italic;">Mythago Wood</span> and the excellent <span style="font-style: italic;">Merlin Codex</span>. As with nearly all of Holdstock's work, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Berserker</span> books depict a grim, gritty world full of bleak landscapes and earthy, dirty people. They are also brutally violent and contain more than a few scenes of rape.<br /><br />Dealing with the theme of reincarnation, the books use an interesting timeframe. Rather than living one life after another as we might expect, the protagonist (Harald Swiftaxe, a Viking warrior cursed by Odin) finds each life taking place before the previous one. Put simply, the first book takes place during the Viking Age, the second several hundred years earlier in the world of Arthur and the Saxons, and the third even earlier during Roman Britain where a certain Boudicca is making a nuisance of herself.<br /><br />I really love these books and intend to read them again soon. Holdstock... sorry, <span style="font-style: italic;">Carlsen</span>, certainly knows his Norse and Celtic mythology and blends them well. The protagonist is an anti-hero to the full definition of the term. He is not a nice guy. But the world surrounding him isn't particularly nice either, which kind of makes his actions alright, I guess.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMijXALoNBZPp6eLlZvFV1GEEuNZJgo4Qt45xbVN06lw2rTZEYkObwJFTihNa_DFB8SHxtCHemXmqrMI_Rmot3zccd2y2iqnJlz7DmHAdgdpd25IuHG9hJPUduxjV3t1otiCmES5OWaFJe/s1600/img105.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMijXALoNBZPp6eLlZvFV1GEEuNZJgo4Qt45xbVN06lw2rTZEYkObwJFTihNa_DFB8SHxtCHemXmqrMI_Rmot3zccd2y2iqnJlz7DmHAdgdpd25IuHG9hJPUduxjV3t1otiCmES5OWaFJe/s320/img105.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514153487446174114" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCMDsdq-0m4HQUnDjnbh-t2gxly6qQ_8hE9paxuqvA88h__MeWJiF8jgfeEYx6ZnmEa_tAJtzFZIv77na5pv3IAPc3pszyB9snMOIGu7Df_Unbi9g2iakIU3KRtelWXsRyd13DpFVnzIu/s1600/img107.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCMDsdq-0m4HQUnDjnbh-t2gxly6qQ_8hE9paxuqvA88h__MeWJiF8jgfeEYx6ZnmEa_tAJtzFZIv77na5pv3IAPc3pszyB9snMOIGu7Df_Unbi9g2iakIU3KRtelWXsRyd13DpFVnzIu/s320/img107.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514153790105020098" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIi7rMPXyUqaSXwUJqdcYqb0kaSc0VJRUjPnZ9OHR3SmpWYxuLFy-5RnZAhEH1O0FA1BcZ7sOHgyd9L5aRcupN82jjvwQmE5hLbRcuxckw-gyeUK8c_wY8TE-Sb91ZaNVoZL_X2AI2nckT/s1600/img109.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 199px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIi7rMPXyUqaSXwUJqdcYqb0kaSc0VJRUjPnZ9OHR3SmpWYxuLFy-5RnZAhEH1O0FA1BcZ7sOHgyd9L5aRcupN82jjvwQmE5hLbRcuxckw-gyeUK8c_wY8TE-Sb91ZaNVoZL_X2AI2nckT/s320/img109.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514153988063494802" border="0" /></a></div></div></div>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-57021875228024036362010-09-02T15:16:00.016+02:002010-09-02T18:09:00.470+02:00Movie Review: Torture Garden (1967)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9MpgDjZtuNucFR4VY4ZNtyIch7VPQIB0CxwryWFggApS6-tmGiH7UTXI5QNVAwHB5c60xUBY0KJp4vQ8Qm5XWtHfYkU-epq94eVoLTqQ06l6S9Ri13Fa6KmgmM9fGv99TfADxns4a7mk/s1600/torture_garden.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9MpgDjZtuNucFR4VY4ZNtyIch7VPQIB0CxwryWFggApS6-tmGiH7UTXI5QNVAwHB5c60xUBY0KJp4vQ8Qm5XWtHfYkU-epq94eVoLTqQ06l6S9Ri13Fa6KmgmM9fGv99TfADxns4a7mk/s320/torture_garden.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512306746722339698" border="0" /></a>As well as being the name of a fetish nightclub in London (I don't know why or how I know that), <span style="font-style: italic;">Torture Garden</span> is also the title of a 1967 horror film by British studio, Amicus. I already said in my post on Hammer Horror, that Amicus was one of the studios (along with Tigon) that were keen to cash in on Hammer's success with colourful gothic horror films, and Amicus put a new spin on them by crafting 'anthologies' of several stories based on a theme. <span style="font-style: italic;">Torture Gar</span><span style="font-style: italic;">den</span> was the second of these with 1964's <span style="font-style: italic;">Dr. Terror's House of Horrors</span> being the first.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kSPXoDxNDg9xNQfCp95gKM03KqyIEQxIu5K7134Y4bpyr-RcVsx63qg4kYHWrp7iryGTV0UcWe55yqzVSLga4GXYZIRK9KUGh6O8aNF96Y6KBwHi0UHPZ2JmGsAka_FQxFBlMLDabuPb/s1600/TG1.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 173px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kSPXoDxNDg9xNQfCp95gKM03KqyIEQxIu5K7134Y4bpyr-RcVsx63qg4kYHWrp7iryGTV0UcWe55yqzVSLga4GXYZIRK9KUGh6O8aNF96Y6KBwHi0UHPZ2JmGsAka_FQxFBlMLDabuPb/s320/TG1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512339639333256850" border="0" /></a>Written by none other than Robert Bloch (he of <span style="font-style: italic;">Psycho</span> fame) and helmed by veteran Hammer director, Freddie Francis, <span style="font-style: italic;">Tortu</span><span style="font-style: italic;">re </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Garden</span> is one of those films which probably had a name before it had a plot. At least that is the only explanation I can think of for the film includes neither a garden, nor much in the way of torture. Instead we have Dr. Diablo (Burgess Meredith), who runs a circus sideshow. Drawing in customers, he promises to show them unspeakable horrors relating to their futures. All the customer has to do is stare into the shears of a doll-like woman whilst Diablo murmurs hypnotic humbug, causing the person to see future events unfolding...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL34hmjYWoy82rjIyqOGL6MXLmB3ljO7ASOpMSijEmfMWEBlypTvi86AJgfFqn_eaZE3E6Hbd9AnPByk1xoxSIbTLOUJnhZq_Yk2DZb31-YY-4xP7gaL0DqHXj9M8GBG2HyzUs0d1v7JY2/s1600/tg+3.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL34hmjYWoy82rjIyqOGL6MXLmB3ljO7ASOpMSijEmfMWEBlypTvi86AJgfFqn_eaZE3E6Hbd9AnPByk1xoxSIbTLOUJnhZq_Yk2DZb31-YY-4xP7gaL0DqHXj9M8GBG2HyzUs0d1v7JY2/s320/tg+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512340834466626930" border="0" /></a>First up is Colin, who has a sick old uncle with a large stash of loot hidden somewhere in his house. Upon the old man's death, Colin frantically begins searching for the treasure and finds it buried in the basement, along with an old cat that seems to have been buried with it. Pretty soon things take a turn for the worse and Colin begins to suspect that his old uncle buried the cat for a reason.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81dlYcj1J1WKh8or_WWYpa6D5tB1xl_kq0q9HbPtWNZMWm2OYAiXMvU_55gDnCUn4QTtrChkNcYUCNcqPsarEOO6r0E7QZWCL8yFFtGKh4aohyJ0rVEAd-imsIM8X8YX_wLQ8u6BgUbSl/s1600/tg+2.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81dlYcj1J1WKh8or_WWYpa6D5tB1xl_kq0q9HbPtWNZMWm2OYAiXMvU_55gDnCUn4QTtrChkNcYUCNcqPsarEOO6r0E7QZWCL8yFFtGKh4aohyJ0rVEAd-imsIM8X8YX_wLQ8u6BgUbSl/s320/tg+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512347775469307122" border="0" /></a>Next is Carla, an attractive Hollywood socialite who starts dating a big shot movie type. When her new squeeze is shot and thrown from a moving car by a couple of hoods, Carla assumes that he is dead. But she didn't count on the brilliant Dr. Heim who can seemingly bring people back from the dead.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjibywzfFtEVMGvC_arCAV9qTJr_evvIWdgNzzI8aITA3qNY3c-Kc_v2W-9jj1p5XbSaO3qbg5Oi9H-bMLrsPbfeXurYgyM-rpgu5ZCmWuWbbYYdAjhP6Dn8uSv1DNgTKIiNrbykHJ1X31e/s1600/tg+4.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjibywzfFtEVMGvC_arCAV9qTJr_evvIWdgNzzI8aITA3qNY3c-Kc_v2W-9jj1p5XbSaO3qbg5Oi9H-bMLrsPbfeXurYgyM-rpgu5ZCmWuWbbYYdAjhP6Dn8uSv1DNgTKIiNrbykHJ1X31e/s320/tg+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512343664767824018" border="0" /></a>Following that is Dorothy's story. She's a reporter who interviews a pianist. Now this young man has a rather special piano which was a present from his dearly departed mother. As Dorothy develops a more intimate relationship with the young musician, she begins to feel that the piano doesn't like her one bit.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgnAX6rjb_56Ltn_2Px9x0CPLvcCa8ZQG4OSjC9Sbg3qqKh1k96GACOpJFN7xXYmZaVyj1IRgDlaVkAUePbQVq5Ady2zdZ475rEZ4o9tUb2KQdJp-1dj3hqZ_eEcU0gdXQJt_gzV6jaFzU/s1600/tg+5.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgnAX6rjb_56Ltn_2Px9x0CPLvcCa8ZQG4OSjC9Sbg3qqKh1k96GACOpJFN7xXYmZaVyj1IRgDlaVkAUePbQVq5Ady2zdZ475rEZ4o9tUb2KQdJp-1dj3hqZ_eEcU0gdXQJt_gzV6jaFzU/s320/tg+5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512347976386254354" border="0" /></a>The final segment features Jack Palance as Ronald Wyatt, a fanatical collector of Poe memorabilia. Upon meeting fellow collector (Peter Cushing), Ronald is shown perhaps the most complete collection in existence, including several unpublished manuscripts written in Poe's own hand. But where this mysterious collector got such treasures is a dark and frightening secret.<br /><br />Of course the whole narrative is wrapped up in the dark doings of Dr. Diablo who reveals himself to be more than a mere circus trickster. <span style="font-style: italic;">Torture Garden</span> isn't a bad piece of 60's British horror. But nothing particularly stands out as brilliant from any of the segments and Amicus would go on to make much better anthologies in the years to come.Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-85752013227336119332010-08-29T19:51:00.001+02:002010-09-02T15:16:02.504+02:00Flash Gordon Movie Serial (1936)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzYWxeSOL14NTX6mjgHXgfZEyWk8TS9KssweFn1QtbkzuKKfGnzd18tDubbQK7z2tp1ZzSLXHklMQmo_Gphb9xbBZGbC_JQs5wZ_8_ucmsRnlzOxztbDxHmzn31AoYReBvmxn_PD_W9W2/s1600/flash_gordon+1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 203px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzYWxeSOL14NTX6mjgHXgfZEyWk8TS9KssweFn1QtbkzuKKfGnzd18tDubbQK7z2tp1ZzSLXHklMQmo_Gphb9xbBZGbC_JQs5wZ_8_ucmsRnlzOxztbDxHmzn31AoYReBvmxn_PD_W9W2/s320/flash_gordon+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509783602637650514" border="0" /></a>I've always loved Flash Gordon. The 1980 movie, the original comic strip, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Defen</span><span style="font-style: italic;">ders of the Earth</span> cartoon, whatever. For me it's always been the epitome of wonderful retro-pulpy goodness; total nonsense and thoroughly entertaining. This is demonstrated no better than here in Universal's 13-chapter serial from 1936. This was only three years after Alex Raymond began the weekly newspaper strip so the character was as fresh and as exciting as could be.<br /><br />Starring Larry "Buster" Crabbe (they don't name 'em like that anymore!) as Flash and Jean Rogers as Dale Arden, this was the first of three Flash Gordon movie serials. This was back in the days before TV of course, and so this sort of thing was shown in cinemas, one chapter per week, along with a cartoon, a newsreel and perhaps another short film before the feature presentation. When the advent of TV arrived, many serials were cut down to 90+ minutes and shown as 'movies'. This was no different with Flash Gordon which was renamed 'Space Soldiers' for the small screen.<br /><br />Also starring in this classic adventure is Charles Middleton as the wicked Emperor Ming the Merciless and the stunning Priscilla Lawson as his daughter Princess Aura. Nobody seems to know what became of poor Ms. Lawson. I heard that in a later interview, Jean Rogers related that Lawson lost a leg in a car accident during the war and drifted off into obscurity, and was last heard of running a stationary shop. Something about that story just makes me sad because I think she is great here and she should have gone on to do other things instead a few uncredited roles before vanishing circa 1941.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 1: The Planet of Peril</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUW52fW24pUU6zfDS2gInpKxsedobTWnSb6jXvNgS-R_KeUxm6TRO0l5XSpiOskDBcFBq3XzHSvZghLsip611xNPaOELLZge30iiYvyRj2FjSMBja_6WNAZxsNnhbHXbvTJoqIIa8pztx/s1600/flash_gordon+2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 203px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUW52fW24pUU6zfDS2gInpKxsedobTWnSb6jXvNgS-R_KeUxm6TRO0l5XSpiOskDBcFBq3XzHSvZghLsip611xNPaOELLZge30iiYvyRj2FjSMBja_6WNAZxsNnhbHXbvTJoqIIa8pztx/s320/flash_gordon+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510058564351047138" border="0" /></a>The serial is remarkably true to the original newspaper strip, particularly the first chapter in which the plane carrying Flash and Dale is hit by a meteorite and crashlands in Dr. Zarkov's back yard. Kidnapping them, Zarkov takes off in a homemade rocket ship headed for Mongo; a planet on a collision course with Earth. After encountering some giant lizards (iguanas with bits stuck on them) the trio are captured by Ming's guards and taken to the palace where introductions are made. After being thrown into the arena for insolence, Flash fights off several ape-men before Princess Aura (who has developed quite a fancy for Flash) steps in to his aid. The chapter ends with Flash and Aura plummeting into blackness as a trapdoor is opened beneath their feet...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 2: The Tunnel of Terror</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Fd16Bk9mKlSeqohKXJ1OEwvf1q9xMwzo7XVjZWl6ZHIplUDqdQZ5RBoKjPLAwKDZy2Boe_9j0XcH61eBvKX7mSr5pw2zZk0gphyphenhyphen_o-BuU0A6dFsQihKykBjAIA99gI7tC36X4oYt5Yf9/s1600/flash_gordon+3.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 149px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Fd16Bk9mKlSeqohKXJ1OEwvf1q9xMwzo7XVjZWl6ZHIplUDqdQZ5RBoKjPLAwKDZy2Boe_9j0XcH61eBvKX7mSr5pw2zZk0gphyphenhyphen_o-BuU0A6dFsQihKykBjAIA99gI7tC36X4oYt5Yf9/s320/flash_gordon+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510061353763304098" border="0" /></a>Caught by a giant net, Flash and Aura are saved from certain doom and make their way through the tunnels beneath Ming's palace. Hiding Flash in a rocket ship, Aura heads back to the palace whilst our hero changes into some Mongo attire just in time to witness a fleet of flying saucers attack the city. These are piloted by the Lion Men of whom Flash promptly shoots down two. Making pals with Prince Thun of the Lion Men, Flash is shown a secret way into the palace. Hurrying onwards, Flash hopes to save Dale from a forced marriage to Ming, but instead finds himself up against a dragon that dwells in the tunnels...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 3: Captured by Shark Men</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9AggZKY3cfBLJ2cvtLjDhM7bwX-6g928u7cMr7_e519btRmcvRGrROcneGjUsGId8-n5yttX0IutBMH7h7OMuhDF23zjLjTRmP0Tlf15t63PiUrYOfEw9O__U2_KqAa9see10WR6MWNXq/s1600/flashgordon+4.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 207px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9AggZKY3cfBLJ2cvtLjDhM7bwX-6g928u7cMr7_e519btRmcvRGrROcneGjUsGId8-n5yttX0IutBMH7h7OMuhDF23zjLjTRmP0Tlf15t63PiUrYOfEw9O__U2_KqAa9see10WR6MWNXq/s320/flashgordon+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510091322283123938" border="0" /></a>Defeating the dragon and rescuing Dale from Ming's clutches, the heroes escape back down into the caverns beneath the palace. Thun is caught up battling some guards whilst Flash and Dale tumble through a trapdoor that drops them into an underground river. Enter the Shark Men (swimmers in silver bathing caps). Taken by submarine to the underwater palace of Kala, King of the Shark Men, Dale once more finds herself in somebodies harem and Flash is again tossed into an arena to fight for his life. This time its against a giant 'octosac'...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 4: Battling the Sea Beast</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7l53HR7IDNjwYxyzWCRL4GdS905nrMyUIjWXy4baNZX7FIHfgwoxDNNY3WtXXqch5DcZi2xWnuSrrXS480nd2W3P4J68hVs91G7v_aarcdPNDlZ69yUSTrk7vZCrTYZlQaAYVETkqlQd/s1600/flash_gordon+5.gif"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7l53HR7IDNjwYxyzWCRL4GdS905nrMyUIjWXy4baNZX7FIHfgwoxDNNY3WtXXqch5DcZi2xWnuSrrXS480nd2W3P4J68hVs91G7v_aarcdPNDlZ69yUSTrk7vZCrTYZlQaAYVETkqlQd/s320/flash_gordon+5.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510393706222113250" border="0" /></a>Thun and Aura arrive at Kala's palace in time to persuade Kala to stop Flash's death. Split up, Aura and Flash make for the control room where Aura blasts the pressure controls resulting in flooding and loss of oxygen for the underwater kingdom. Flash heads back to rescue his friends but a wall gives way and all are swept away in the rush of water...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 5: The Destroying Ray</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzA-ooXtbyDd0pXny7vZy920tJahKsxwubRaQPsSSEawJDlpQ3asyaRQURmhQ8iUkgbNIeJm2uQ2zP2b0xecsNWkOkqXKFER5O_LXbVOc4nhh7pkMqgL8tMdH9XOtH3BTTkcOLwhRphMot/s1600/flash_gordon+6.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 157px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzA-ooXtbyDd0pXny7vZy920tJahKsxwubRaQPsSSEawJDlpQ3asyaRQURmhQ8iUkgbNIeJm2uQ2zP2b0xecsNWkOkqXKFER5O_LXbVOc4nhh7pkMqgL8tMdH9XOtH3BTTkcOLwhRphMot/s320/flash_gordon+6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510471332302424674" border="0" /></a>Controlling a device in his laboratory, Ming raises the city of the shark men to the surface, saving his daughter (and Flash) from a watery grave. Zarkov meets Prince Barin, the true heir of Mongo who pledges his allegiance and the two of them take off in his rocket ship. Flash and his companions are soon attacked by the Vulture Men upon leaving the risen city and as Barin and Zarkov arrive on the scene, Dale and Thun are captured and taken to the floating city of the Vulture Men where Dale is once again at the pleasure of a beastly ruler and Thun is put to work in the furnaces. Flash, Zarkov, Barin and Aura approach the sky city in Barin's rocket ship only to be targeted by King Vultan's 'melting ray'...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 6: Flaming Torture</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2E05xaERjuc0r4UOkTTYvDk9X42ugRWlqXg320RQ4uZ3rly4oxlmFl1oZlMxv_pPchkj16J0P2AjfEx0durZfsXQ6tfHQYWV9c19qgibopVfRKkATJlzPylfU0vaKg9fjmLXA66t-CmqA/s1600/flash_gordon+7.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 175px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2E05xaERjuc0r4UOkTTYvDk9X42ugRWlqXg320RQ4uZ3rly4oxlmFl1oZlMxv_pPchkj16J0P2AjfEx0durZfsXQ6tfHQYWV9c19qgibopVfRKkATJlzPylfU0vaKg9fjmLXA66t-CmqA/s320/flash_gordon+7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510475690712125666" border="0" /></a>Surviving the fall, Flash and his friends are captured by King Vultan and put to work in the furnaces alongside Thun (except Zarkov, of course, who finds himself at work in a new laboratory). Flash organises a rebellion which fails and soon he is chained up at the mercy of Vultan's torturers...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 7: Shattering Doom</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcbQ2Ms_ha3D5Y-RWk8FzL5JB_PJQY98lGtaBqqiyyPqMPlndcnkK0ZRz50upyXl5zUIdPyB5_ejhmAe4EFbQa2Db-sSmcSp_KOp7IrasEI5XB8XgeX_yua-N6ipba5dmLu5PoJpWlRzh/s1600/flash_gordon+8.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 158px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVcbQ2Ms_ha3D5Y-RWk8FzL5JB_PJQY98lGtaBqqiyyPqMPlndcnkK0ZRz50upyXl5zUIdPyB5_ejhmAe4EFbQa2Db-sSmcSp_KOp7IrasEI5XB8XgeX_yua-N6ipba5dmLu5PoJpWlRzh/s320/flash_gordon+8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510547091310546002" border="0" /></a>Aura rushes in with a ray gun and forces Vultan to stop torturing Flash. After being revived by Zarkov, our hero soon finds himself back at work in the furnaces, only this time with an electical wire around his ankle that will kill him if he tries any more tricks. Ming and his entourage arrive and argue with Vultan who seems to be double-crossing his emperor. Zarkov connects Flash's wire to his shovel which the youth promptly hurls into the furnace creating a massive explosion...<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 8: Tournament of Death</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyT3UptuzTnSR1HkGxorOXsvijwYK4jpfHzSqdG-wIbphOhzNEzdBTFeZkVnBNyzECrF5KlDRF3bpxC4tBZJo-TRGL_cucfDwL7V7tH1HzB4z7CdVYbCJk-84a49S0R6uw45_oUfYestDK/s1600/flash_gordon+9.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyT3UptuzTnSR1HkGxorOXsvijwYK4jpfHzSqdG-wIbphOhzNEzdBTFeZkVnBNyzECrF5KlDRF3bpxC4tBZJo-TRGL_cucfDwL7V7tH1HzB4z7CdVYbCJk-84a49S0R6uw45_oUfYestDK/s320/flash_gordon+9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510789942418576786" border="0" /></a>Flash makes a run for it during all the confusion and makes his way to the throne room. Ming orders his execution, but the gravity rays holding up the city fail due to the explosion and everybody starts to slide about. Zarkov promises to fix the problem if Vulatn and Ming let his friends go free. Vultan agrees and so Zarkov complies. But upon rectifying the city's gravity problem, Ming orders a tournament of death in which Flash must enter. First he fights a masked swordsman (who turns out to be Barin) and then a 'mighty beast of Mongo'...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 9: Fighting the Fire Dragon</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxx6jkwKdXaAlA38288kLoqDwHl-Ub-4yKD5-V4SWGrsWhd4KrIAkYEgUH-68H6D9bEEU_2f4vAS1tPBRzg5W1DmAKUK6UxpH_DGdaaFpYFyCGTuMeJ1sZAPR2UXKEVOeGL3S9u1FpeNk-/s1600/flash_gordon+10.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxx6jkwKdXaAlA38288kLoqDwHl-Ub-4yKD5-V4SWGrsWhd4KrIAkYEgUH-68H6D9bEEU_2f4vAS1tPBRzg5W1DmAKUK6UxpH_DGdaaFpYFyCGTuMeJ1sZAPR2UXKEVOeGL3S9u1FpeNk-/s320/flash_gordon+10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510803721151526834" border="0" /></a>Flash is saved from a grisly end at the hands of the beast man by Aura who hands him a spear which he promptly jabs into the creature's weak spot. Reluctantly agreeing to honor his word, Ming lets Flash and his companions live. But dastardly plans are afoot. Aura drugs Flash and has him taken through the tunnel of terror, intending to revive him in the Temple of Tao where they can live happily ever after. But Ming's High-Priest, for reasons of his own, rings the gong that awakens the fire dragon...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 10: The Unseen Peril</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunZT_A75N4UOu4Qu7tsQxfTiH0JiPBPfLq7eNty8QC5Bz5h1rBfKSG_tfYp6JENSlk1mesKJsqgLT6mve2s3nlLreNa0hszOZAiRVId6LeoS2f91X9WjUicaDw18w1xzSVgDvAoxnwfIg/s1600/flash_gordon+11.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 169px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhunZT_A75N4UOu4Qu7tsQxfTiH0JiPBPfLq7eNty8QC5Bz5h1rBfKSG_tfYp6JENSlk1mesKJsqgLT6mve2s3nlLreNa0hszOZAiRVId6LeoS2f91X9WjUicaDw18w1xzSVgDvAoxnwfIg/s320/flash_gordon+11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510830501806224114" border="0" /></a>Zarkov arrives just in time to destroy the fire dragon with a grenade and Flash is carried back up to the palace to be revived. Only, the effects of the drug mean that he has lost his memory. Aura convinces Flash that he is in love with her and Barin is his enemy. A fight ensues and Flash is knocked unconscious and taken down to Zarkov's lab where the professor tries to reverse the effects of the drug. Ming sends his guards down to execute Flash, but fail to do so as our hero mysteriously turns invisible before the order to fire is given...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 11: In the Claws of the Tigron</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhth4mSwTPSN4W0ksZFjKuEBkEiLcw7onbOv_6tXrSH8rIStsswbkLhdX3lziIaLyOeeAxIeUpaIxscuZx3iWv6yRsjoIyujlfJG1Mnu1nTe0a4dDG6RYSHVGZeg3k-HQnO1wpjpCYcgecg/s1600/flash_gordon+12.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhth4mSwTPSN4W0ksZFjKuEBkEiLcw7onbOv_6tXrSH8rIStsswbkLhdX3lziIaLyOeeAxIeUpaIxscuZx3iWv6yRsjoIyujlfJG1Mnu1nTe0a4dDG6RYSHVGZeg3k-HQnO1wpjpCYcgecg/s320/flash_gordon+12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510864445478750354" border="0" /></a>The guards, terrified by Flash's vanishing act, quickly flee, leaving Zarkoz to explain that he had targeted Flash with a newly discovered invisible ray. One it is established that the effect is not permanent, Flash takes a second dose of the ray and heads off to Ming's throne room to cause havoc and then down to the dungeons to rescue Vultan. Meanwhile, Barin takes Dale down into the catacombs. Unfortunately, this has been overheard by Aura who has the terrifying 'tigron' released (a pretty normal looking tiger)...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 12: Trapped in the Turret</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ682LUxMh7CcMdIN8C6p85ywcndgWMMzXlUGVh47McVpdogU7AxcsaRP5dophga36dAfVGY4ITv5bLjCqcSstOiB5mzEaNQYxfxjwwayUTG-vZcazXR5GZh-MmaE5Plpkpfrowz76QEh-/s1600/flash_gordon+13.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 235px; height: 167px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ682LUxMh7CcMdIN8C6p85ywcndgWMMzXlUGVh47McVpdogU7AxcsaRP5dophga36dAfVGY4ITv5bLjCqcSstOiB5mzEaNQYxfxjwwayUTG-vZcazXR5GZh-MmaE5Plpkpfrowz76QEh-/s320/flash_gordon+13.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510868049108759794" border="0" /></a>Flash arrives on the scene and defeats the tigron single-handed. Barin talks some sense into Aura who seems to come around to the idea of helping the Earthlings and the group head off to confront Ming once and for all. Once it is agreed that Flash and his companions can go in peace, they head off to rendezvous with Barin at the lake of rocks. The Prince's ship arrives but begins firing upon them, causing the group to scurry into a rocky cavern for shelter but are consumed by a fiery explosion...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chapter 13: Rocketing to Earth</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxE9dQokHjyJRqD_OPJ1ZnddnZy01sP4S2Fv2X44fUxj2wZ40gMmj0GuEjkLwrZIq2031SKHEtuCYF7vMYr8iuC5r1xPIDPdht-Q8tuGRJfQxu9Iox_I7ryj9U_ZNxDK-C4ZScFXyBcPJ/s1600/flash_gordon+14.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 167px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaxE9dQokHjyJRqD_OPJ1ZnddnZy01sP4S2Fv2X44fUxj2wZ40gMmj0GuEjkLwrZIq2031SKHEtuCYF7vMYr8iuC5r1xPIDPdht-Q8tuGRJfQxu9Iox_I7ryj9U_ZNxDK-C4ZScFXyBcPJ/s320/flash_gordon+14.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510875674210992146" border="0" /></a>Narrowly escaping the explosion via a trapdoor that leads down into the catacombs, Flash and co. head onwards, encountering Barin who had been captured previously. They make for the lab and try to barricade themselves in, but soon the palace is under attack by Thun and the Lion Men in their space gyros. Ming brings Flash and his friends to the throne room to witness the destruction of the Lion Men. Only Ming's forces lose. The Lion Men storm the palace and in the ensuing scuffle, Ming sneaks out and heads for the sacred temple of the great god Tao, where he is consumed by smoke and presumably meets his maker. Victorious, Flash, Dale and Zarkov head for home on a rocket ship, but discover a time bomb on board, placed there by Ming's high priest. Flash tosses the bomb out of the rocket ship and our heroes continue onwards towards Earth.Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-46800655605971602232010-08-24T12:00:00.002+02:002010-09-07T15:25:38.394+02:00John Norman's Gor BooksWhilst poking around in a second hand bookshop the other day, I stumbled across a shrink-wrapped collection of the first four <span style="font-style: italic;">Gor</span> books by John Norman. I've heard a lot about these books but have never read them until now. They have something of a saucy reputation and are often spoken of in connection with cults that involve BDSM. Naturally, I was intrigued...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWG042oY1VKaL6qSlhYPPhygZfTSBkVU5xwyGzeX4NPHMCjnHOFM7_WVHqje1TvL8hyIbZjfDE-y2Fxp2MJDUsGTM6it28V914ZDcZzu6CH18o_3uiqYf25mY-R93VcMgLxxGE5H30YPY/s1600/Tarnsman.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWG042oY1VKaL6qSlhYPPhygZfTSBkVU5xwyGzeX4NPHMCjnHOFM7_WVHqje1TvL8hyIbZjfDE-y2Fxp2MJDUsGTM6it28V914ZDcZzu6CH18o_3uiqYf25mY-R93VcMgLxxGE5H30YPY/s320/Tarnsman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505996442440956466" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1xxBY2VH-zYWAM3tiWFzvRW2v38B7djG9OiuJRYnJe9n0PX-fEaZjOy-tECkdx_h_KTAVwAvjGQVX_pEy-ZxXlH-yIl7BW5B0uAewcNnsp3uoZkquUlOaForvE0msbiLnGR-gBt3S_9f/s1600/Outlaw.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1xxBY2VH-zYWAM3tiWFzvRW2v38B7djG9OiuJRYnJe9n0PX-fEaZjOy-tECkdx_h_KTAVwAvjGQVX_pEy-ZxXlH-yIl7BW5B0uAewcNnsp3uoZkquUlOaForvE0msbiLnGR-gBt3S_9f/s320/Outlaw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505996526906882610" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TeWhX5mZ1iAWn-i6fUUdXYrE4U6KrKiQ8P9jymzlZoa8VxaG1onxBYLTyqoXhyUgEu78T9xdBOI_3q1W7hSmvifFg_Mo3bQK2d8os6ex3MWG2Cqv9BGy1xw4uouoFFLhnUxS-joAMc-r/s1600/Priest-Kings.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9TeWhX5mZ1iAWn-i6fUUdXYrE4U6KrKiQ8P9jymzlZoa8VxaG1onxBYLTyqoXhyUgEu78T9xdBOI_3q1W7hSmvifFg_Mo3bQK2d8os6ex3MWG2Cqv9BGy1xw4uouoFFLhnUxS-joAMc-r/s320/Priest-Kings.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505996624044057218" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-b4NgiXTHexy4SYOeMFEgHpnRCgcbCyE27-wbCO_4jfGvuvOHC-D4vSWQz33zwhqrpN2RYkF4JYWrc2AtY3vviPzmmFrEMa7g0INWoF2_8obRWVh0Q2lc2S3z6ONS0W2ljx8Ws_b1WAI/s1600/Nomads.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-b4NgiXTHexy4SYOeMFEgHpnRCgcbCyE27-wbCO_4jfGvuvOHC-D4vSWQz33zwhqrpN2RYkF4JYWrc2AtY3vviPzmmFrEMa7g0INWoF2_8obRWVh0Q2lc2S3z6ONS0W2ljx8Ws_b1WAI/s320/Nomads.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505996708790173858" border="0" /></a></div><br />I've read a couple of the <span style="font-style: italic;">John Carter of Mars</span> stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Gor books really take their cue from there. Beginning in 1967, Chicago-born philosophy professor John Norman has written them steadily ever since and now the series numbers around 28 volumes. The books chronicle the adventures of history professor Tarl Cabot on the exotic 'counter-world' of Gor, a world ruled by the mysterious 'Priest-Kings' who regulate the advancement of technology and keep the human population in a state of barbarity. Gor is a world of rigid caste systems where Social Darwinism is brutally apparent and women exist merely as slaves and sex trophies. Not exactly the books to introduce to any staunch feminist girlfriends fellas!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tarnsman of Gor</span>'s (1967) general plot is remarkably similar to Burroughs' <span style="font-style: italic;">Princess of Mars</span>. During a ramble in the hills, Tarl Cabot is whisked away to an alien planet with no explanation given other than a cryptic letter from his father (who he never knew). Here, Cabot meets his long-absent father (who has been living on Gor for many years) and begins his training as a rider of the 'Tarns' - giant hawk-like birds. Cabot is given the mission of stealing the home stone of the rival city of Ar and falls in with Talena, the beautiful (and very bitchy) Princess of Ar.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Outlaw of Gor</span> (1967) sees Tarl Cabot return to Gor after spending seven years back on Earth. Dismayed to find his home city of Ko-ro-ba razed to the ground and all of his former friends scattered across Gor, Cabot sets out for the Sadar Mountains where the Priest-Kings dwell but soon gets involved with Lara, the Tatrix of the city of Tharna and a conspiracy to usurp her throne.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Priest-Kings of Gor</span> (1968) sees Tarl Cabot continue his quest into the Sadar Mountains. Here he enters the nest of the insectoid Priest-Kings who keep many humans as slaves. Treated with respect by his hosts, Tarl gets caught up in a civil war between two factions; that of Sarm and Misk - two rivals who want different things for the future of the nest.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Nomads of Gor</span> (1969) follows Tarl Cabot in his search for the ferocious Wagon People who hold the last egg of the Priest-Kings and with it their last hope for survival. Infiltrating their violent culture, Cabot meets a prisoner called Elizabeth who is a fellow abductee from Earth.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6ZyY22BB611JtSir4IMO_5rfjaPMLJtqLiPBal1J_Jbq72Vl-RK5ZxDx9rnmcSGv2yVPZWFCVsNaHQlVrBzXXi_eMCC6l-G5gyFwTzXzTFJhzqdmGfDah-8i4R7kw4ttqLUxIUjuQWOP/s1600/gorean+slave.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6ZyY22BB611JtSir4IMO_5rfjaPMLJtqLiPBal1J_Jbq72Vl-RK5ZxDx9rnmcSGv2yVPZWFCVsNaHQlVrBzXXi_eMCC6l-G5gyFwTzXzTFJhzqdmGfDah-8i4R7kw4ttqLUxIUjuQWOP/s320/gorean+slave.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508249678105443730" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />The books are little more than pulpy fun but Norman does sometimes go off on a tangent in his descriptions of Gorean culture, and being a philosophy professor, he's pretty good at the old 'world building'. The books are also outrageously sexist (more so than normal in this genre) in that Norman's views on the role of women in society are less than appealing in this day and age. Tarl Cabot is an Earthman who encounters a world where a woman's role is completely subservient to that of a man. Rather than pronounce his disgust of such a society (as the reader might expect), Cabot in fact rather embraces it and likens the marriage traditions of his home planet to the rather more brutal ones of Gor (carrying a bride across the threshold = dragging a woman home against her will, wedding bands = slave manacles etc).<br /><br />Everybody goes on about the BDSM connections when talking about these books, but honestly, I was surprised at the tameness of these four. I understand that Norman really played up the sex element in later books, but any kinky business in these ones is pretty low-key. But I suppose that the whole 'sex-cult' thing should be addressed. Now, knowing nothing about such things (ahem!) I had to do a little digging. Here's what Wikipedia has to say;<br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">"As applied to non-fictional individuals, the word </span><b style="font-style: italic;">Gorean</b><span style="font-style: italic;"> means an adherent of the philosophies espoused in Norman's writings, especially someone who lives a lifestyle based on this philosophy. While the most conspicuous Gorean departure from mainstream modern norms is that Goreans allow and </span><span style="font-style: italic;">indeed promote sexual master</span><span style="font-style: italic;">-slave relationships, many who take the Gorean worldview seriously would insist that being Gorean is not necessarily about either sex or slavery, but about the general Gorean philosophy (so that one would not have to participate in a master-slave lifestyle or relationship in order to </span><i style="font-style: italic;">be</i><span style="font-style: italic;"> Gorean). Some of this philosophy is concerned with "natural order" and the relations between men and women, which may or may not take the form of a master-and-slave dynamic. Where there is a master-slave relationship, the level at which adherents follow the books varies.</span>"</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">These books were written at the height of the feminist movement, and John Norman apparently disagreed with such ideas, believing that women are naturally submissive (not inferior, mind). 'Goreans' just seem to adhere to this world view, regardless of sexual fun and games.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Also worth mentioning, are the two awful films based on <span style="font-style: italic;">Tarnsman</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Outlaw </span>of Gor. Produced by the infamous Cannon Productions (responsible for such classics as 1987's <span style="font-style: italic;">Masters of the Universe</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Superman IV: The Quest for Peace</span>) and starring Oliver Reed and Jack Palance, the films bear little relation to the books other than a few names and ideas. I haven't seen either, but if I ever get the chance, I shall certainly be reviewing them on this blog.</p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8aq7ZZSso-NrfEcP76RZAAZFWXZnTcrVsXQPCKQcW9fCZvVesCmXzBkgQXcN9rpY_GauMh1Q3uHX1TMEqpQS8KCj736oOBWxG1gLWUESFY8hWjZjIRHh_X_Hyhg9XxKowl2pzzEvHsN0i/s1600/Gor.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8aq7ZZSso-NrfEcP76RZAAZFWXZnTcrVsXQPCKQcW9fCZvVesCmXzBkgQXcN9rpY_GauMh1Q3uHX1TMEqpQS8KCj736oOBWxG1gLWUESFY8hWjZjIRHh_X_Hyhg9XxKowl2pzzEvHsN0i/s320/Gor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506008448218136818" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TQP-EDyVgENsyMvfI9i-LMUy2FA8j_1hPTPRPYih6omulWRAYx1YtrphQQz2cRy7a-2jyjbWEVL1tdWRFDnACF3IfFLl0MnSKLKTSDXEuxg7erDCFXNmUlir07MQYhbgg5785NqaLp_U/s1600/outlaw+of+gor.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TQP-EDyVgENsyMvfI9i-LMUy2FA8j_1hPTPRPYih6omulWRAYx1YtrphQQz2cRy7a-2jyjbWEVL1tdWRFDnACF3IfFLl0MnSKLKTSDXEuxg7erDCFXNmUlir07MQYhbgg5785NqaLp_U/s320/outlaw+of+gor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506008581060926402" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Gor</span> (1987) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Outlaw of Gor</span> (1989)<br /></p> <span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8878677209185827647.post-29332513881195859152010-08-22T20:41:00.015+02:002010-08-23T18:31:13.271+02:00Movie Review: Batman (1966)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUlV3VpHckcd8qeaNVEsuUWUA2M1DUn3ZJmZzzT2E1GzMCYexa4P6wKd_yQvjtey-WqORL6dS46rHCRAY8XwZbUBjUnzaF16HhZE7AtU27vWJA5epngBB0PtslcscX-v04LXqUnsHAZCZJ/s1600/Batman+1966.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 335px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUlV3VpHckcd8qeaNVEsuUWUA2M1DUn3ZJmZzzT2E1GzMCYexa4P6wKd_yQvjtey-WqORL6dS46rHCRAY8XwZbUBjUnzaF16HhZE7AtU27vWJA5epngBB0PtslcscX-v04LXqUnsHAZCZJ/s320/Batman+1966.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508309504473814162" border="0" /></a>This film is often overlooked and remains in the shadow of the various Burton/Schumacher/Nolan movies that came after it. Of course, it's a spin-off from the lovably daft TV series, but it was released in cinemas after all and, other than the two Batman movie serials from the 1940's, it is really the <span style="font-style: italic;">first</span> Batman movie.<br /><br />Released between seasons 1 and 2 of the series, the movie was devised to sell the series to international audiences. Before the big-budget Batman movies of the 80s and 90s, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Batman</span> TV series, was the general public's only concept of the Caped Crusader, with its iconic and endlessly hummable theme tune, its 'Biff! Bang! Pow!' effects and its intentional silliness. Written by Lorenzo Semple Jr. the film is very much in the same vein of the series (of which he wrote many episodes).<br /><br /><center> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j6MdYiHq7J8?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j6MdYiHq7J8?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> </center><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Ihr9FDmOG5c1v_UK7RwqtVGGoAFsM_c2n4IVKG2LFl8CjGen_IzP2TXATFuFsUKrq7azAQ0Ma9YDMwBLOKtraQLXp0045ZaoVgsKPRlAjXT_gNzTHvokk5meW-RLlm4DUZSgwfyswYGU/s1600/Batman+Villains.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 274px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Ihr9FDmOG5c1v_UK7RwqtVGGoAFsM_c2n4IVKG2LFl8CjGen_IzP2TXATFuFsUKrq7azAQ0Ma9YDMwBLOKtraQLXp0045ZaoVgsKPRlAjXT_gNzTHvokk5meW-RLlm4DUZSgwfyswYGU/s320/Batman+Villains.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508313489257502034" border="0" /></a>The plot sees four major Batman villains team up and form a ludicrously devious plan to hold the world to ransom. Joining us from the series, there's The Joker (Cesar Romero), The Penguin (Burgess Meredith) and the Riddler (Frank Gorshin). Catwoman here is played by Lee Meriwether as the regular Catwoman from the series (Julie Newmar) had other engagements when the movie went into production. The 'Unholy Quartet' kidnap Commodore Schmiddlapp aboard his boat and steal an experimental 'dehydrator' device that can suck the moisture out of whoever it is targeted at. With this they hope to hold the members of the United World to ransom.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXu2Aguj_9DgUKEdTAqwB3zbMSQB1WasGI3dlJf1BHcNiQrgn6jsH3VyT7ZuJ1Xk1D1qs0WjN0QGiSzPHOLEDiu8Ay0Li0sPFJ-MZeqeb__LA6I8f1JQ5yWClJRKAavMLjk2EdDC2A6AYv/s1600/Batman+1.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 173px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXu2Aguj_9DgUKEdTAqwB3zbMSQB1WasGI3dlJf1BHcNiQrgn6jsH3VyT7ZuJ1Xk1D1qs0WjN0QGiSzPHOLEDiu8Ay0Li0sPFJ-MZeqeb__LA6I8f1JQ5yWClJRKAavMLjk2EdDC2A6AYv/s320/Batman+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508637277466895922" border="0" /></a>Once Batman and Robin try to crack the villainous plot, the foursome devise a plan to trap the Dynamic Duo by kidnapping Bruce Wayne and use him as bait. The lure for the trap is Catwoman (disguised as Russian journalist, Kitka) who Wayne has the hots for. Escaping the dastardly net, Wayne makes for the Batcave and returns with Robin to rumble the villain's hideout. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXuFj-SQRSOKt1Czq-lD7xs1HuZvqU1W875pve-p-9rRf6lDzlVo4lVhBdBmPD0i6ko2RqggzPnRk3yfzkvBrD6KmUrnGJ9Z0HKr_gLsqbQxNxnS2N1fj0HycZ_sAFy13zAZp5y2jU0Oy/s1600/batman+3.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXuFj-SQRSOKt1Czq-lD7xs1HuZvqU1W875pve-p-9rRf6lDzlVo4lVhBdBmPD0i6ko2RqggzPnRk3yfzkvBrD6KmUrnGJ9Z0HKr_gLsqbQxNxnS2N1fj0HycZ_sAFy13zAZp5y2jU0Oy/s320/batman+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508640918233750898" border="0" /></a>The Penguin then infiltrates the Batcave disguised as Schmiddlapp and armed with dehydrated henchmen who he re hydrates to do battle with the Dynamic Duo.<br /><br />The Penguin escapes and rejoins his fellow comrades in crime at the United World headquarters where they dehydrate and make off with the members of the security council. Batman and Robin, hot on their tail, bombard the Penguin's submarine with bombs from the Batboat, forcing it to surface where the climatic fight takes place.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1c-iY5jF94raP5WUWzp44BeyfpO18W1fIT-47KKsZO51Bpfgc_UiftrEWkpOScEaa5bCC5rg98BrsFYVVEc-AaAb90aYkgCLsPWoIXrTCV1ceR6-O1wVk7-HsbkkGxg6OwuCUFdTXgudV/s1600/Batman+2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 145px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1c-iY5jF94raP5WUWzp44BeyfpO18W1fIT-47KKsZO51Bpfgc_UiftrEWkpOScEaa5bCC5rg98BrsFYVVEc-AaAb90aYkgCLsPWoIXrTCV1ceR6-O1wVk7-HsbkkGxg6OwuCUFdTXgudV/s320/Batman+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508638932399293138" border="0" /></a>There's not a whole lot to be said about the quality of the movie as it's little more than a feature length episode of the TV series. Now you either like the series or you don't, but the film was pulled off quite well. Some extra money was clearly well spent with an enlarged set for the Batcave and the introduction of some new toys like the Batboat and the Batcopter.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNH2RezHltTsT7LJ-keVksSrgjhLOCNcQocAJglTZW91SeqIYVToYepK8fZevdD7lB567Lo5xzQkd3OJu8BgV1yoT6e9e_qWmBHfCbOisqzSyVJxTBVAtQgwsa3WcLQHqk2S1h8hlD4Qis/s1600/Batboat.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 144px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNH2RezHltTsT7LJ-keVksSrgjhLOCNcQocAJglTZW91SeqIYVToYepK8fZevdD7lB567Lo5xzQkd3OJu8BgV1yoT6e9e_qWmBHfCbOisqzSyVJxTBVAtQgwsa3WcLQHqk2S1h8hlD4Qis/s320/Batboat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508639087508812242" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyu4xT-cFDKt_CQnb58t6fYRk5FtnEHzEAIPvIoka3ZInmR5qgtDEavjONjR8WHDg1__kyX8CigfmaZS8lKx2wD0DB-ti9N9zp2O8hl01MN4yr79W_DYfumaNFycJQWFKN1nrLDdPiJqQ/s1600/Batcopter.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 144px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyu4xT-cFDKt_CQnb58t6fYRk5FtnEHzEAIPvIoka3ZInmR5qgtDEavjONjR8WHDg1__kyX8CigfmaZS8lKx2wD0DB-ti9N9zp2O8hl01MN4yr79W_DYfumaNFycJQWFKN1nrLDdPiJqQ/s320/Batcopter.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508639242309085186" border="0" /></a></div></div>Chris Thorndycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222413743438238164noreply@blogger.com1