I want to like “Rose Red” but it is just not a very scary or suspenseful movie. I don’t really like any of the characters so that impacts my interest toward this two-night Stephen King television movie. It used to be a regular event for network television to buy one of King’s properties and then create a TV movie. Some were good, others not so good. I think this is one lesser quality King works. A team of ghost hunters head off to a notorious haunted property to see if they can find any evidence of activity. Their search will [More]
H.G. Wells wrote the science fiction classic “The War of the Worlds” back in the 19th century and the setting was England. It seems that a civilization had evolved on the planet Mars and the inhabitants of that planet hatched a plot to conquer our planet. Falling stars land on Earth and reveal encased cylinders that house slimy Martian creatures and Martian war machines that proceed to decimate our world. Along comes this picture to update the story to the United States in the 1950’s. The screen is filled with dazzling color film work and a different continent to disrupt [More]
Here is a film documentary showcasing producer/naturalist Ivan Marx’s exploration to find evidence for the existence of Bigfoot, the mythical giant creature which is said to coexist with Man but can’t seem to pause long enough to ever get examined or clearly defined. I like this grainy film for its ample critter footage of bears, cougars, etc. and scenes of the wilds of the Pacific Sierra. Beautiful country. In addition to the charming and interesting film work, we also get Marx’s running commentary about his life in Nature and his thoughts about the big hairy guy and his examination of [More]
This is a very cool collection of optical illusions based on viewing angle, object build and perspective gathered under one roof. Enjoy!
If you thought the COVID-19 pandemic was bad, think about the never ending plague of remakes and redoes about the immortal movie killing machine Michael Myers. In “Resurrection”, there is a group, ultimately Myers’ victims (duh!), who win a contest to appear on an live Internet broadcast that takes place at Michael’s old home. The visitors are equipped with body cameras and there are other cameras setup around the place by the producer’s of the show to capture the action. It isn’t long before the murderous mayhem begins. At this stage of the “Halloween” movie cycle, this is the eighth [More]
An engaging 1970’s era documentary that examines reports of strange flying objects from ancient times up until the present which was 1974 when this documentary was made. Cool recreations of eyewitness accounts are interspersed with actual pictures and films taken by pilots, military personnel, NASA astronauts and civilians alike. The whole shebang is hosted by the great Rod Serling, the creator of “The Twilight Zone” and MC of “The Night Gallery”. It appears as though his recorded segments were filmed among the remains of his “Night Gallery” set: spotlight on Rod, and various illustrative props given a bit of highlight [More]
They ain’t kidding with the bit about “the end of Love”. This is a very violent, depressing environmental horror tale from the early 1970’s which sets the downbeat vibe with the title sequence showing a parched desert floor with the anguished silhouettes of contorted human figures laboring across it. We then see a montage of car exhaust pipes and factory chimneys spewing out ugly exhaust, polluted waterways and landscapes, and scenes of overcrowded, congested cities. (The title sequence from “Soylent Green”, another grim portrait of a futuristic nightmare society, nicked this montage.) It doesn’t help matters that folkie Roger Whittaker [More]
Great thriller, clocking in at a whopping 68 minutes, I think. Poor sap, Al Roberts, played by Tom Neal, is hitchhiking across the U.S. from New York to California to join his girlfriend. Along the way, he gets picked up by a “Big Spender” Haskell, in a new vehicle who agrees to take him all the way to Los Angeles. The two exchange stories during their journey but Haskell mysteriously passes out en route and never regains consciousness. Roberts panics and buries the body out in the desert and assumes the dead man’s identity and drives off with his possessions. [More]
Another collection of strange stories submitted to Rusty West by his listeners that West combines into a creepy compilation of bizarre and spooky audio narratives. These vignettes can be absolutely terrifying. A couple of stories from his prior collections have freaked me out and stuck with me. Plus, I am a sucker for the howling wind sound effect backgrounds that Rusty has used many times in these videos. Wonderful!
A black and white science fiction film from 1959 that asks the question: What is causing the disappearance of so many submarines in an area near the North Pole? A meeting of military experts convenes to try and come up with a plan to fins what is happening in the region. The nuclear submarine, “Tigershark” is dispatched to the area to investigate further. Be prepared for some crude but cool special effects miniatures work and a reveal of a USO, an unidentified submerged object, that is in fact a flying saucer. The military finds a way to temporarily subdue the [More]
My best movie screen memory of Brian Dennehy is playing Will Teasle, the hardheaded small town sheriff who sets off a war when he pushes Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo, ex-Green Beret character, too far in “First Blood” (1982). What a fantastic performance. Definitely worth checking out. Dennehy was a great actor!
Actor Robert Conrad recently passed away. I know him best from his role as super government agent, James West, from “The Wild, Wild West” TV series. He played a crime fighter in the mold of James Bond but in an earlier century, namely the Old American West! James West was an avid fan of hidden gadgets, throwing daggers, multiple firearms, explosives, what have you, that he sprung on the maniacal criminal masterminds that he confronted on a weekly basis. This was pretty exciting stuff for a young kid. I caught many of these TV episodes when they eventually went to [More]
More sad news from the music world. Neil Peart, the hugely talented drummer for the rock band Rush, has passed. He had been battling with brain cancer for the last three years. Rush was the first rock show I went to back in the dark, remote past. They were touring their long player, “A Farewell to Kings.” Lovely experience, lovely dope, lovely playing, lovely man. I chose the music video they released for “Xanadu”, the second track on “Farewell”. We bid farewell to this drummer king, Mr. Neal Peart.
Author Michael Crichton made a career of fabricating yarns about scientific pursuits which are intended for the advancement and betterment of Man going horribly awry. Whether it be an unfailing belief in the infallibility of scientific advancement being a good thing and absolutely essential to our well being or just a catastrophic domino effect of good intentions and can’t fail scientific method crumbling into chaos, Crichton offered up a bevy of such cautionary tales about our experts overstepping their bounds with regard to natural order and development. Case in point: The Terminal Man. This cinematic take explores what would happen [More]