26/07/2017

Things I've been watching on TV and on-line, good and bad (Pt 3)

This post is going to be all about the things I have been watching on YouTube. I will start with Films (both full length and shorts).


I thought I would start with the bad, or good depending on your point of view 😀


Let us start with an old horror, by old I mean 1969 and by horror I mean the cast and acting more than the story 😀 I stumbled across this film whilst looking for another, better, 60's British horror film. The film I found is called The Haunted House Of Horror (also known as Horror House). It is an American International Pictures film, but is a very British film. The first thing you have to get past is the casting of Frankie Avalon as a thuggish druggie, along with his druggie friends played by Mark Wynter, Richard O'Sullivan, Julian Barnes and Robin Stewart. Then there is George Sewell as a creepy, dirty old man and Dennis Price as the police Inspector. The plot, what there is of it, is fairly basic 60's/70's horror fodder with no great surprises. It is not very well written or acted, on the whole it has all the factors needed to make it a brilliantly bad film, unfortunately it just doesn't quite reach those high standards. Here is a link for you to judge for yourselves, if you want to:-
The Haunted House Of Horror


Ok, sticking with horror but moving on to short films, here are a few of the many dozens that are on YouTube that I've watched and liked. Firstly there is Rasp, a fairly decent short shock film that is well made and works well. It almost feels like part of a longer, bigger budget film. Here is a link to it:-
Rasp

The next one is called So Pretty, an interesting short film about the romanticism around vampires. Again very well made, if a little lacking in some areas of acting and dialogue, but on the whole very good. Here is a link to it:-
So Pretty

The last horror, although it is listed as a thriller, is called Amy. While some of the acting isn't as good as it could be, the story is good and it is filmed well. Here is a link to it:-
Amy


As a break from the horror stuff I watched a few other films, one of which that I liked was called Plastic. It is a look at the obsession with looking 'right' and is a really well made film with excellent effects. Here is a link to it:-
Plastic


Now we move on to Sci-Fi and start with two full length B-Movies that are worth a look for different reasons. The first is called 4D Man. I really don't know what to say about this film. It is a 1959 Universal-International film, starring Robert Lansing and Lee Meriwether. The plot sounds better on paper than it looks on film and the film itself is more than a little slow and dull. A sort of Sci-Fi/Crime film I honestly wasn't sure I would be able to watch it to the end, I did make it and when the film finishes and on the screen comes up "The End?" all I could think was "I really hope so!" Here is a link for you to judge for yourselves:-
4D Man

The second full length Sci-Fi B-Movie is called The Giant Claw. This is a well known monster movie with brilliantly awful special effects and not much better acting. It is a 1957 Columbia Pictures film starring Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday. It is one of the best bad movies I've seen in ages and is more than well worth watching. Here is a link to it:-
The Giant Claw


Next is a full length Sci-Fi film which is amazingly good. I have always been a fan of time travel and this indie film works the time travel/paradox theme brilliantly. It is called 41. It is an Australian film starring Chris Gibson. I was blown away by how good the story is and how well put together the film is. I would recommend this film to anyone, especially if you are into time travel stories. Here is a link for you to see it:-
41


And so on to Sci-Fi short films. I have watched a few of these and are the ones I liked best. After watching 41 I decided to start looking at time travel films. The first one I watched is called Stealing Time. Again it deals with time paradoxes, this time in a more amusing way. Here is a link to it:-
Stealing Time

The next one is called Beyond and this deals with time travel in a more serious way but also covers time paradoxes. Here is a link to it:-
Beyond

Another more light hearted, although at the same time making a good serious point, in called One-Minute Time Machine. Here is a link to it:-
One Minute Time Machine


Ok, so now on to TV shows on YouTube. Here I have been watching something a little different. I saw an American clip show on YouTube which was all about TV pilots that were not picked up and made into full series. There was some odd stuff on it, especially in the Sci-Fi part, so I decided to look for some of the full pilots and managed to find most of those I was interested in. So here they are.

Firstly, as some people might know, I recently posted on Facebook asking what old TV series people thought should be brought back, one I chose was Time Tunnel. Imagine my delight to find that a new pilot had been made for Time Tunnel in 2002, unfortunately it wasn't picked up. Having now seen it I can see why that might have been but I still think it had, and as an idea has, many possibilities for series development. Anyway, here is a link to the pilot for you to watch:-
Time Tunnel (2002)

Next is a brilliantly laughable idea that was basically just a vehicle for British actor Trevor Eve to break into America, it didn't work. It is called Shadow Chasers and, like all of these shows, is worth a watch even if it's just for a laugh. Unfortunately, as with many of these things, I could only find the opening credits and trailer. Here is a link to the opening credits:-
Shadow Chasers (opening)

Not all of the series pilots I watched were Sci-Fi, this one is a crime/detective series starring David Rappaport, it is called The Wizard. I don't have much to say about this one, just watch. Here is a link to it:-
The Wizard

Another non Sci-Fi pilot is called Six O'Clock Follies. I'm still not completely sure exactly what this was really about or who it was aimed at, but it's worth a look. Here is a link to the opening credits:-
Six O'Clock Follies

Back to the Sci-Fi now and a thing called Time Express. With Vincent price in it, it should really have worked but obviously didn't. Some of these series, even though they weren't picked up, had more than just the pilot made. From what I can work out they made at least two episodes of this show but I could only find clips and opening credits on YouTube. Here is a link to the opening:-
Time Express (opening)

Staying with the Sci-Fi theme we move on to a series with one of the most laughable titles and intros I've ever seen, it is called The Man With The Power. A half alien that becomes a government agent, why wasn't this huge? Anyway, here is a link to the opening titles:-
The Man With The Power (opening)

Another series that I find it incredible that it wasn't picked up is called Exoman. He was the Tony Stark of his age. For some reason this pilot has been put up on YouTube in parts. Here is a link to part one:-
Exoman (part 1)

A much more bizarre series is one called Steel Justice. A man's son is reincarnated (not sure that's the correct term) into a toy metal, electric dinosaur which grows to massive size in order to protect him from the bad guys. I don't know why they said no to this one. This is another one that is in parts. Here is a link to part one:-
Steel Justice (part 1)

Next is a "people shifted out of time and trapped" romp called The Outlaws. A bunch of gunslingers from the Wild West moved to modern America. Here is a link to it:-
The Outlaws

Well, that's about all from the YouTube files for now, and the last part of these blog entries. Please feel free to leave any comments at all about my blog or these films/TV shows. Thanks.


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