Showing posts with label Television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Television. Show all posts

TerrorVision (1988)

TerrorVision (1988)
Director: Mark Esposito, Terry Hamad
Writer: Jordan Horowitz, Philip Morton
Cast: Jonathan Gabriel, Lynette Perry, Nikki Waite
Before anyone gets confused, this is not the 1986 movie with the same name. This is the incredibly rare, short lived horror-anthology series that aired on Lifetime in March of 1988.
IMDB Page
Obscure seldom seen and even less remembered Terrorvision was a short running anthology horror television show, some genre fan thankfully compiled an hour and half feature so its not become lost forever. First tale up is called 'Closet Monster' and it's your basic tale of a young boy (wearing original Tron pjamas) not getting to sleep because he thinks theres a monster in his closet, turns out hes right and it gets his mother. Second tales called 'Final Edition' and follows the tried and tested formula of a woman being stalked while shes alone in her house. Third and my favorite out of the bunch goes by the title 'The Craving'and revolves around an obese man needing dental treatment so he can get back to enjoying his food, while under anestecic he has a nightmare the dentist and assistant are vampires, the twist being when the man leaves we see the dentists name on his door as Dr A Cula. Next is 'Reflections of Murder' and follows a crooked lawyer killing his partner only he won't stay dead. The fifth's 'One of a Kind' and follows a wannabe model who gets turned into a fashion manequien by potential employees. The sixth story is entitled 'A Cold Day in July' it follows a crooked husband who decides to lock his wife and partner in a meat freezer, because he owes them money. The seventh and final tale 'Rosemary's Lot' is about a pathologist whos current case involves a cursed hand. All in all a pretty tame yet harmless bunch of tales nothing you wouldn't see these days in Goosebumps.
(3½ out of 10)

Psychoville Halloween Special (2010)

Psychoville Halloween Special (2010)
Director: Matt Lipsey
Writers: Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith
Cast: Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, Dawn French
Psychoville returns with a spooktacular hour-long Halloween special. Four tales of terror unfold as location manager Phil Walker investigates the abandoned ruins of Ravenhill Psychiactric hospital. Does the ghost of evil governess Edwina Kenchington still walk the empty corridors? What other horrors lie within these crumbling walls?
IMDB Page
Hugely entertaining Halloween special that played homage to the old British Amicus styled anthology horror. Writers/Actors Pemberton & Shearsmith started as part of the group behind the dark British comedy series League of Gentlemen, they returned together last year for the six part Psychoville, which even though it contained great characters, plenty of laughs and macabre moments never really reached their former shows levels of comedy. Thankfully this anthology brings most their characters back in little self contained stories linked by a TV researcher who is trying to find a haunted building for a supernatural reality show hes developing. The stories contain a clown (psychovilles own Mr Jolly) who gets spooked by two undead trick or treating kids, Oscar Lomax our blind rare toy collector gets visions of the dead when he gets a new eye transplant, nurse joy gets her own unique way back at her husband after his constant nagging drives her nuts and serial killer fan David and his over protective mother Maureen hitchhike a ride from someone they suspect as being a lady killer. Was all very clever giving enough to previous fans yet still making it accessible to new viewers, a real BBC treat for a cold wet Halloween night.
(9 out of 10)

The Walking Dead (2010)

The Walking Dead (2010)
Director: Frank Darabont (Pilot)
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Cast: Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Laurie Holden, Lennie James
Police officer Rick Grimes leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies.
IMDB Page
Episode #1: Days Gone Bye
Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes gets shot during duty and ends up in a coma. On waking up he finds he's in what at first appears to be a deserted hospital. Doesn't take long until he finds the truth that he's been sleeping while his town, country and possibly the whole world as become overrun by flesh-eating zombies. Rick's only goal now is to find his wife and son, luckily he finds hes not the only living survivor.

Fantastic action packed debut episode of the Frank Darabont created television version of Robert Kirkman's epic zombie comic The Walking Dead. Having been a fan of the comic many years I'm glad AMC the American cable station behind it have done it justice. Just the right mix of action drama and gore which thankfully isn't too CGI heavy (though they clearly use it for some of the blood spurts). Andrew Lincoln as Grimes might take US viewers a little while to truly appreciate with brief signs of his British accent showing but I personally think he's well cast and can't wait to see him grow even more in the role.
(9 out of 10)
Episode #2: Guts
At the end of the first episode we learnt Rick's wife and child could of been taken to a local military camp, only he hadn't imagined the hordes of zombies (known in the show as walkers) had grown into this many and ended up trapped inside a tank. Thankfully a man named Glenn helps him escape to temporary shelter inside a local store, where he and a small group of survivors have been staying. Not being secure enough the small group makes a plan to escape that involves disguising both Rick and Glenn as walkers using the decayed guts of a zombie.

Even more action than the first episode, and featuring a great slice of acting by Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer actor Micheal Rooker as a racist redneck. I really enjoyed this had a smile on my face the whole episode, the use of the siren blazing car attracting undead masses was a fantastic ending to the episode. The good news is AMC have commissioned 13 more episodes for a 2nd season, as its become their the biggest viewed show, and even one of the most viewed shows in the history of cable.
(9½ out of 10)
Episode #3: Tell It to the Frogs
reviewed when aired
(not yet rated)
Episode #4: Vatos
reviewed when aired
(not yet rated)
Episode #5: Wildfire
reviewed when aired
(not yet rated)
Episode #6: TS-19
reviewed when aired
(not yet rated)

Ice Twisters (2009)

Ice Twisters (2009)
Director: Steven R. Monroe
Writers: Paul A. Birkett, Andrew C. Erin
Cast: Mark Moses, Camille Sullivan, Kaj-Erik Eriksen
Charlie Price, a former scientist turned science fiction author, starts living one of his novels when the Federal Science Foundation's weather experiments escape control and turn disastrous.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)





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Locusts: The 8th Plague (2005)

Locusts: The 8th Plague (2005)
Director: Ian Gilmour
Writer: D.R. Rosen
Cast: Dan Cortese, Julie Benz, David Keith, Jeff Fahey
A group of scientists try to stop a swarm of flesh-eating locusts that escape from a top secret government lab in the USA Midwest.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)






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Carny (2009)

Carny (2009)
aka Carny: The Jersey Devil
Director: Sheldon Wilson
Writer: Douglas G. Davis
Cast: Dominic Cuzzocrea, Simone-Elise Girard, Matt Murray, Alan C. Peterson
When a traveling carnival comes to a rural Nebraska town, the caged attraction everyone is talking about is the alleged Jersey Devil. When the beast escapes, tearing the citizens to shreds, local sheriff Sam Atlas steps up to form a tracking team. But the carnivorous fugitive is only one of Sam's problems. The local pastor, enraged by the death of his son at the hands of the beast, has plans for igniting his own brand of hellfire and revenge.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)


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Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon (2008)

Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon (2008)
Director: Paul Ziller
Writer: Rafael Jordan
Cast: Carly Pope, Marc Menard, Adam O'Byrne, Ed Marinaro
After their plane crashes into uncharted territory in the snowy Himalayan Mountains, the surviving members of a college football team led by quarterback Peyton Marino set out to find help in a freezing cold blizzard. As days pass with no rescue in sight, food and morale run low and some of the survivors, including team manager Sarah (Carly Pope) battle their consciences as they make the heartrending decision that in order to survive, they must use the dead bodies of their teammates as a food source. But their biggest danger is lurking nearby; a hungry beast that stalks them with an insatiable bloodlust. The Yeti.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)
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The World Beyond (1978)

The World Beyond (1978)
aka The Mud Monster
Director: Noel Black
Writer: Art Wallace
Cast: Granville Van Dusen, JoBeth Williams, Richard Fitzpatrick
Sportswriter Paul Taylor, after a near-death experience on the operating table, can hear the voices of the recently dead. These voices direct him to people who need help from supernatural dangers. In this story, his mission takes him to a remote Canadian island haunted by a creature made from mud and clay. The only thing which can harm this mud golem is salt.
IMDB Page
One of two made for TV horror stories the others called The World of Darkness, about sportswriter Paul Taylor who after a near death experience due to a motorcycle accident gains the ability to hear voices of the dead. In this one he gets told to go help the residents of Logan's island whom are under the threat of a golem or as called in this film a mud monster. Heaps of fun like all great creature features you don't see the monster till the end and contains a great pre Evil Dead crawling hand scene. Shame they only made the two movies Granville Van Dusen who played Paul Taylor would of been a great rival to Kolchak.
(7 out of 10)

The Watch (2008)

The Watch (2008)
Director: Jim Donovan
Writer: Ben Ripley
Cast: Clea DuVall, Elizabeth Whitmere, James A. Woods, Victoria Sanchez
In this paranormal thriller, Cassie, a psych student, was kidnapped and traumatized as a child by a disturbed person. To exorcise her demons and to finish her thesis, she decides on an experiment in isolation, working at a secluded watch tower as a fire lookout. But once she's alone, strange things start happening. Or is she just paranoid? Cassie is terrified that her past may be coming back to haunt her.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)



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CBS Library - Once Upon a Midnight Scary (1979)

CBS Library - Once Upon a Midnight Scary (1979)
Director: Neil Cox
Writer: Washington Irving, John Bellairs
Cast: Vincent Price, Rene Auberjonois
Vincent Price narrates three tales of terror: "The Ghost Belonged To Me," "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "The House With A Clock In Its Walls"
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)






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Being Human (2008)

Being Human (2008)
Directors: Alex Pillai, Colin Teague
Writer: Toby Whitehouse
Cast: Russell Tovey, Lenora Crichlow, Aidan Turner, Dean Lennox Kelly
Being Human is about George (a werewolf), Mitchell (a vampire) and Annie (a ghost), three seemingly normal flatmates struggling to keep their dark secrets from the world, and follows their struggle to fight both their curses and the enemies who want to bring them down.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)




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Black Swarm (2008)

Black Swarm (2008)
Director: David Winning
Writers: Todd Samovitz, Ethlie Ann Vare
Cast: Sebastien Roberts, Sarah Allen, Jayne Heitmeyer, Rebecca Windheim, Robert Englund
Intelligent. Deadly. And Out To Destroy Us. Meet The Ultimate Buzz-Kill.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)







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Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming (2008)

Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming (2008)
Director: Ernie Barbarash
Writer: Ernie Barbarash
Cast: Rob Lowe, Marnie McPhail, Ben Lewis
During the invasion of Iraq, the National Guard Commander Ted Cogan sees a van speeding up against his site without respecting the warning plates. He orders his men to fire, and later he discovers that in the van there was an Iraqi family. He tries to save a young girl from the fire, but the vehicle explodes and his group is attacked; he enters in coma severely wounded and his friend and neighbor dies. When Ted recovers, he returns home to meet his family, but he is increasingly haunted by ghosts of dead people, premonitions and guilty complex for the death of the innocent family. He seeks medical support but his financial situation does not allow him to pay for a treatment and the government denies helping him. However, one ghost gives the name of Jake Witzky, who tells him to find out what the spirit demands from him. When his son Max is severely wounded in a car crash where his girlfriend Sammi and their friend Luke die, Ted discovers the wish of justice of the tormented soul and he tries to do the right thing.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)
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Battle Planet (2008)

Battle Planet (2008)
aka The Suit
Director: Greg Aronowitz
Writer: Greg Aronowitz
Cast: Christopher Alexander, Kimberly Arland, Jen Bailey, Erik Betts
In the not-so-distant future, Captain Jordan Strider, a Special Forces Officer in the New World Alliance, is chosen for a top-secret mission. Sent to a desolate planet, Terra 219, to arrest possible traitors to the Alliance, Strider must survive with only a government issued experimental suit as protection. He quickly learns of a plan to end all humanity. The Captain now faces a choice; to continue as instructed on his mission or chose his new mission, to save the world.
[Synopsis by SciFi Channel]
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)

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Dead Set (2008)

Dead Set (2008)
Creator: Charlie Brooker
Writer: Charlie Brooker
Cast: Jaime Winstone, Andy Nyman, Kathleen McDermott, Adam Deacon, Chizzy Akudolu, Davina McCall
The dead are walking the streets and attacking the living - but the contestants in this year's Big Brother house remain completely unaware. During their time in the house, the contestants fall victim, one by one, to the hungry masses outside. Staying alive requires teamwork - which is tricky when you're a group specifically selected by TV producers to wind each other up. The five-part thriller features a number of cameo appearances including, the show's presenter, Davina McCall and a range of previous house mates.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)
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Anaconda 3 (2008)

Anaconda 3 (2008)
aka Anaconda 3: The Offspring
Director: Don E. FauntLeRoy
Writers: Nicholas Davidoff, David C. Olson
Cast: David Hasselhoff, Crystal Allen, John Rhys-Davies
The movie tells the story about a research into an immortality drug which goes wrong, turning test subjects into vicious, deadlier Anacondas. A mercenary (Hasselhoff) and his team, are sent to capture the snakes…but things go very wrong.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)





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Ghouls (2008)

Ghouls (2008)
Director: Gary Jones
Writer: Brian D. Young
Cast: Kristen Renton, James DeBello, William Atherton, Erin Gray
A college student returns with her father to his home country only to discover her family holds a dark secret that involves her.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)






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Vipers (2008)

Vipers (2008)
Director: Bill Corcoran
Writer: Brian Katkin
Cast: Tara Reid, Jonathan Scarfe, Claire Rankin
A set of vipers has been taken by the scientists, and they've mutated them to make a cure for cancer, Then their experiment goes awry, and all these vipers escape into the woods, and they're not only biting people, they're actually killing people, in a little town.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)




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Warbirds (2008)

Warbirds (2008)
Director: Kevin Gendreau
Writer: Kevin Gendreau
Cast: Jamie Elle Mann, Brian Krause, Tohoru Masamune, Lucy Faust
In the midst of World War 2, a OSS officer leads a group of female pilots on a mission to deliver a secret weapon, only to crash land on an island in the Pacific after an encounter with a deadly storm. On the island, they must not only contend with a small band of Japanese soldiers but the native inhabitants of the island as well - vicious prehistoric Pterodons.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)




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The Hive (2008)

The Hive (2008)
Director: Peter Manus
Writer: T.S. Cook
Cast: Elizabeth Healey, Mark Ramsey, Jessica Reavis
When ants, displaying never-before-seen behavior, seize an island, the controversial Thorax Team is called to stop the massive threat only to discover that the ants are controlled by something beyond this world.
IMDB Page
(Not Yet Rated)






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