TCM Genre movies schedule...

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Klaus, Sep 27, 2011.

  1. Nomad

    Nomad Commander Red Shirt

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    There are a ton of movies from that era that offend our modern sensibilities. It's just something I take in stride when viewing them. After all, who's to say that our attitudes would have been any different if we had lived back then. Very few people transcend the spirit of the age they live in; those that do are the ones that change things for the better. The rest just go with the flow.
     
  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I'm well aware of that, of course. But that doesn't mean I don't get tired of watching it after a while.
     
  3. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    More observations: Of the Hammer Films, The Devil's Bride and Plague of Zombies are particularly worth checking out, especially if you've never seen them before. And The Seventh Victim is one of my favorite Val Lewton movies, although I remain convinced that the movie is confused about who the actual protagonist is.

    The movie is told from the POV of Kim Hunter's character, a sheltered young woman searching for her missing, more worldly sister amidst the bohemian decadence of, er, Greenwich Village, but you can make a case that it's really the sister's story.

    (SF alert. Kim Hunter, who plays the young ingenue, is better known to genre fans as Dr. Zira in the original Planet of the Apes movies.)
     
  4. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    Is Plague of the Zombies voodoo or Romero style zombies?
     
  5. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Voodoo, absolutely.

    It came out two years before Night of the Living Dead, so Romero zombies weren't even a thing then.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2013
  6. sojourner

    sojourner Admiral In Memoriam

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    Just finished World Without End. Great movie. Could have been written by one of my favorite authors, H. Beam Piper. The characters, setting and plot felt exactly like one of his books.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2013
  7. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    Just saw World Without End (1956). It was like The Time Machine, except the Morlocks live above ground and the Eloi live underground. Some pretty girls and good old fashioned commentary about the dangers or war and the fear of stagnation. There's also something about how pride can cause one to resist progress but is that such a bad thing? It can be, but on the other hand, not everyone likes having an outside force imposing on them.

    Now onto The Omega Man.
     
  8. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    Finally saw The Omega Man. It had a very 70s exploitation feel. Not the best movie but it was nice to see my third version of I Am Legend. I didn't like that they made the zombies into a group of rogue albino humans. Didn't know until the end credits that Mathias was played by Star Trek Insurrection's Anthony Zerbe.

    My favorite version right now is the Vincent Price version... The Last Man on Earth.
     
  9. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    ^^ Omega Man does suffer from the grungy look, but not as much as Soylent Green. You'd think Charlton Heston movies would be made with a bit more care.

    That's a great schedule for October. As usual, there's quite a few I have on DVD (I love Mask of Fu Manchu-- it's not only got that great 30s ambiance, but it's got Myrna Loy at her most beautiful), but there's a ton of stuff I don't have and a few things I haven't seen. It will be a good month if I can actually remember to watch this stuff. :rommie:
     
  10. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    The first act bore an uncanny resemblance to the setup of Planet of the Apes, except that the discovery that they were on Earth came much sooner and with far less damning you all to hell. And when they got trapped in the cave and the door opened onto the corridor of the underground city, for a moment I could've sworn I was watching "Spock's Brain."

    Although this is basically an entry in the astronauts-and-short-skirted-spacebabes genre, it's better than the norm for same. The action and effects are really lame -- and it used the same giant spider I saw last week in Valley of the Dragons (which was actually made later). But the writing was fairly good, except for kind of a muddled message toward the end. (War and weapons destroyed us -- but a bazooka will save us!) And Nancy Gates was gorgeous.
     
  11. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, I was reminded of Trek too when I saw those hallways. "Spock's Brain" didn't come to mind specifically though. And I think Planet of the Apes did pop into my head for a split second even though I've yet to see it.
     
  12. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Oh, I watched Creature With the Atom Brain too, just for the hell of it. The description misled me; the German scientist who made the atomic zombies wasn't a Nazi at all. Rather, he was more the stock scientific genius who had intended to use his atomic zombies for good (although I don't think he really thought that one through) but allowed his work to be co-opted for evil for reasons that were never adequately explained. The villain he was working for was just an ordinary thug out for revenge, which wasn't too impressive; and the cop protagonists were grossly negligent in calling the bad guy's bluff and thus allowing hundreds to die in staged accidents, a decision that by all rights should've gotten them up before a board of inquiry at least. In short, it wasn't very good.
     
  13. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Sounds like the title is better than the movie!
     
  14. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    And it was written by Curt Siodmak! It's a fairly entertaining movie, but far from great. I happen to have it on DVD because it's part of a set of Sam Katzman movies which I mainly got for The Giant Claw, but also contains Zombies of Mora Tau, which was excellent, and The Werewolf.
     
  15. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Somebody really needs to remake Zombies of Mora Tau: spooky underwater zombies!

    They could retitle it The Wading Dead . . . .
     
  16. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    Everybody would wonder why they don't crave human flesh. :rommie:
     
  17. publiusr

    publiusr Admiral Admiral

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    Watched the end of Curse of the Demon. I'm glad they showed the monster there. Lovely work.
     
  18. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    No problem. Just rewrite the script so they do! :)
     
  19. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    Aw, but I want to see Voodoo zombies. It's been a long time.
     
  20. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    This is true. They are sadly neglected these days.

    Was Plague of Zombies the last "voodoo zombie" feature film? I recall a 1970s TV-movie, The Dead Don't Die, that involved traditional zombies, as well as an episode of Kolchak:The Night Stalker, but flesh-eating Romero zombies have pretty much taken over since then.

    Edit: Oops, I forgot about The Serpent and the Rainbow, which probably counts as a voodoo zombie movie. There was also talk of remaking White Zombie a few years back, but they ran afoul of legal problems. (Apparently the original movie in is public domain, but not one of the books that inspired it!)