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Great film. One of Carpenter's best I think. The realisation of what they're up against, mounting paranoia & suspicion, and remoteness - no-ones coming to help them.

The FX still look pretty good, even 30 years later. No CGI in those days.

The soundtrack is great too. Enrico Morricone I think.
 
It's that end scene that gets me. Which one is it?

The original "thing from another world" is worth a go if you like your old horror films. Can't remember straight off if it's Lon Chaney Jr or Douglas Fairbanks who plays the (very) humanoid THING
 
It's the black guy [Childs?] I think. His breath doesn't condense in the cold air like the Kurt Russell character's does...
 
Stu73 said:
The original "thing from another world" is worth a go if you like your old horror films. Can't remember straight off if it's Lon Chaney Jr or Douglas Fairbanks who plays the (very) humanoid THING

It's James Arness, Douglas Fairbanks was long gone by that time (and about two feet shorter than James). Doctor Who cheerfully ripped it off a few times.
 
BBC Four are starting a Gothic season with a three part Monday night documentary series, tomorrow at nine. Should be good, only to accompany it they're repeating Life and Loves of a She-Devil on Tuesdays, which has dated abominably.
 
Life and Loves of a She-Devil was dated when it was new. Awful music, risible special effects - like something on the Kenny Everett Show - and crap acting. :lol:

We'll look out for the other Gothic stuff though. :D
 
escargot1 said:
Life and Loves of a She-Devil was dated when it was new. Awful music, risible special effects - like something on the Kenny Everett Show - and crap acting. :lol:

Yet it won the BAFTA instead of The Singing Detective, which it's never lived down. WEHT Julie T. Wallace anyway?
 
THe Dracula Business on BBC Iplayer

As part of its "When Gothic Was Born" Series, the BBC has shown a 1974 documentary called The Dracula Business

Presented & narrated by Dan Farson who's great uncle Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, he looks at myth and the resulting fascination with Vampires.

And it's bloody brilliant! A real time capsule piece. From shots of 70s Whitby. It goes to Romania, and then back to the UK, to talk to some of the then luminaries of Hammer Horror and the British Horror fiction circuit. The it takes a really weird side lane into the Occult. With Highgate Cemetery (and its long suffering ground keeper) and some really strange interviews with members of the Church that are full of Fortean interest!

It seems to be (at time of writing) available for a while but worth checking out!

Iplayer link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0 ... p=p028l9bk

Mr P
 
Thanks for that, the iPlayer is becoming a real treasure trove for vintage TV.
 
This programme started on Radio 4 last night:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04v2ssq

It's Frank Skinner's new show called The Rest is History, and the premise is that he and his guests share what they think they know about historical figures and events, then an actual historian tells them, well, tells them what really happened, basically. A nice, simple idea and a very entertaining half hour. Next episode (2 of 6) is on this Sunday at 19:15.
 
Three surprisingly Fortean BBC radio programmes accidently stumbled upon over the Christmas season. I reckon all of these would be most FTMB members' cup of tea.

Jane Stevenson's 'An Uneasy Feeling' is very creepy, and rather puts me in mind of Walter de la Mare's 'A Recluse'.

As always on this thread, apologies if these have been posted before. Clickable links below:

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The Essay: I've Never Told Anyone This Before (BBC Radio 3):


Jane Stevenson - An Uneasy Feeling
Writer Jane Stevenson tells the true story of an unusual encounter during house-hunting.

Tod Wodicka - The Reluctant Shaman

Writer Tod Wodicka describes suffering terrifying night terrors when he was younger.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Pilgrim (BBC Radio 4):

...by Sebastian Baczkiewicz. A new series of dark fantasies featuring William Palmer, the immortal wanderer. Pilgrim discovers that an old friend is being haunted by a malevolent spirit. Meanwhile, homeless people are disappearing from a local shelter.
..

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This programme started on Radio 4 last night:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04v2ssq

It's Frank Skinner's new show called The Rest is History, and the premise is that he and his guests share what they think they know about historical figures and events, then an actual historian tells them, well, tells them what really happened, basically. A nice, simple idea and a very entertaining half hour. Next episode (2 of 6) is on this Sunday at 19:15.


Love this show so far.
 
Really good, isn't it? I'd never even heard of the London Stone.
 
It is...I also quite enjoy another new Radio 4 parlour game, 'Whispers', which meanders into areas of forgotten or misunderstood history at times.

BTW Had heard of the London Stone, but somehow thought it was incarcerated in the wall of a shop in the West End, not a bank in the City. I'll go for a squint at it next time I'm up that way. I like the fact that it's considered an important artefact even though no one knows what it actually is.


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Has anyone else seen Richard D. Hall's show Richplanet? Been watching for a while now and he's done some pretty interesting investigatory work and interviews. He's back on freeview this month apparently, on Showcase.
You do have to filter through the nonsense & nutjobs but old shows are on his site, http://www.richplanet.net/
 
I didn't realise but the excellent fantasy drama, Pilgrim is back on Radio 4 for a new series, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vdnbz

The first 3 episodes are already online. If you haven't yet heard the previous series I highly recommend them, very clever and dark (if you notice where ;)).
 
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Has anyone else seen Richard D. Hall's show Richplanet? Been watching for a while now and he's done some pretty interesting investigatory work and interviews. He's back on freeview this month apparently, on Showcase.
You do have to filter through the nonsense & nutjobs but old shows are on his site, http://www.richplanet.net/
Regular watchers at our house and we have been to some of his live events and on a couple of occasions we can be seen in the audience when the shows have been broadcast.
 
Adam Curtis is back with Bitter Lake. Only available on IPlayer, this is a mesmerising dreamscape view of the shift of power and the reasons for interventions in Afghanistan. Those familiar with his style should expect a narrative illustrated by jarring old archive clips.
At over 2 hours long, I drifted in and out of it, almost hypnotised by the visuals that were deliberately chosen to create a feeling of unfamiliarity and confusion that goes a long way to remove the benefit of hindsight.

Interesting stuff.
 
I didn't think this required it's own post, and thought it would be okay in this thread, anyway, the upcoming French film Réalité directed by Quentin Dupieux looks quite interesting from what I've read so far and seen from the trailer.


''Jason, a quiet cameraman, dreams of directing his first horror movie. Bob Marshal, a wealthy producer, accepts to finance his movie on one condition: Jason has 48 hours to find the perfect scream in the history of film. During his search, Jason gradually gets lost in a nightmare.''

http://twitchfilm.com/2015/01/watch-the-international-trailer-for-rubber-directors-realite.html?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_campaign=trueAnthem: Trending Content&utm_content=dCXihn#!dCXihn
 
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May I recommend Radio 4's 'The Sound of Space', feat. Dr Lucie Green:

'The previously silent world of outer space is changing. In this audio tour around the Universe, Dr Lucie Green explores the sounds of space.

Some sounds have been recorded by microphones on-board interplanetary spacecraft. Others have been detected by telescopes and sped up until their frequency is tuned to our ears. The rest are sonified X-rays, space plasma or radio waves that reveal tantalising secrets about the universe that our eyes cannot see.

Everyone can recall the sound of the singing comet - a symphony created using measurements from the Rosetta mission. But many other sounds have been created from space data, from lightning on Jupiter to vibrations inside the Sun. From spinning pulsars to black holes and gamma ray bursts, outside our Solar System space becomes even stranger.'
 
Ah, must try to find that, assuming it's still available (EVERYTHING'S on YouTube). I'm aware of its existence.

Absolutely love this kind of stuff. There was another BBC programme subtitled 'The Music of the Spheres' on the same topic, which is still sitting on my iPod somewhere.
 
If you're in the UK, The Sky at Night this month is worth a watch, they've done one of their occasional UFO programmes. Sceptical, naturally, but not obnoxiously so, and good for the science angle.
 
When Quantum Goes Woo

...looking at why quantum physics, in particular, seems to attract some of the more fringe elements of pseudoscience and alternative medicine, and whether there is anything about the frankly weird quantum behaviour of particles, like the ability to seemingly be in two places at once, that really can be applied to the human condition. When spiritual healers and gurus talk about our own quantum energy and the power of quantum healing, is it simply a metaphor, or is there more to this esoteric branch of science that we could all learn from?

BBC Radio 4
 
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